Peyton's alive. That's the first thing they tell me when I walk back to the ambulance with Mia. Something about them getting there in time to save her. I don't really process much past the fact that she's alive.

They ask me if I want to accompany her to the hospital but one look at Mia's face makes me realise that it wouldn't be a great idea to leave her alone right now. She tries to look unbothered, but I can see that her hands are still trembling. Besides, I really needed to call my parents.

As soon as the ambulance speeds off, I turn to Mia, "I don't suppose you were kidnapped after you got out of your car at the graveyard?"

She gives me a dirty look which gives me my answer, walking it is.

As we exit the front gate of the cemetery, I take out my phone and try to switch it on. The screen remains black which means its either broken or dead which is weird considering I used it to make a call ten minutes ago.

"You good?" Mia asks suddenly, "maybe you should have gone to the hospital with the paramedics".

"I'm fine" I say, "nothing an aspirin won't fix".

She nods, "I'm sorry".

"About what?"

"Everything"

"Well, you did warn me about Peyton so that's on me, how did you know anyway?"

She looks away, "I didn't, I just didn't like how much you guys were hanging out".

My head has started to hurt again, and I don't think much before I blurt out, "so you were jealous huh?"

"I wasn't jealous, okay? Its just that you essentially replaced me with her".

"Oh, like you replaced me with Kevin?" I wince, "wait, that doesn't sound right, you replaced him with me".

"I didn't replace anyone" she sounds irritated, "he was my best friend back in high school and you're.... you"

"Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if you stopped speaking in riddles all the time".

She huffs but she doesn't sound annoyed anymore, "you're different, you're not Kevin".

"I think a lot of people would disagree, apparently we look the same and we walk the same and the difference between us was supposed to be that he deals drugs, and I don't but apparently he doesn't either which means...."

"God, I like you okay".

I raise an eyebrow, "and you don't like him?"

For a minute I think she's going to punch me, "not in the way I like you, you idiot".

"That's not the way to talk to a guy you like".

"You're the worst, you know that? I have terrible terrible taste in men".

"Wait wait wait" I chuckle, "is that why you were so mean to Peyton?"

She shakes her head, "if you didn't already have a possible concussion, I would give you one".

"Wait, you actually seriously like me?"

"No, I don't actually seriously like you, well here's where I get off".

I look around confused, "your house is at least five minutes away".

"Not if I run" with that she takes off while I'm still trying to figure out what the hell she was talking about.

When I reach home, the front door is wide open and for a minute I feel a sense of dread. Then my mom comes running out and before I can say anything, pulls me into a hug. Since she essentially has me trapped, there's nothing much I can do except wait for her to be done with it. That's when my dad barrels out of the house and joins in. I stand still as my mom goes on saying something I genuinely cannot decipher, through her tears. Then my dad leads me to the car, gently shoves me in and closes the door.

It is only once we're on the road that I finally snap out of my haze and ask, "did something happen?"

My mother turns around in the passenger seat and looks at me incredulously, "Cory called us and told us everything, then we couldn't get through to you, do you even know the kind of scenarios I had running through my mind? Then you show up five hours later with these marks on your hands..."

I look down at the rope burns, properly noticing how hideous they look for the first time, "wait, Cory called you?"

"We're so sorry".

I'm confused again which is becoming a frighteningly common occurrence, "for what?"

"For not being here when you needed us, for leaving you to fend for yourself, for not picking up the phone..."

"Mom" I interrupt, lying through my teeth "it really wasn't that bad, I'm fine."

"You're such a good kid".

"Maybe we can have dinner tonight? Just the three of us?"

"Yes, of course" my father says, "we're going to have dinner together everyday, I've already spoken to my boss, told him I'm not going to be available for a while".

******************

"Hey" Cory pushes open the door of my hospital room, "how are you feeling?"

"Great actually, which is ironic because I've never felt such physical exhaustion in my life".

"I heard what happened" he sighs, "Maya's a mess".

I nod, "it could've been worse, she could have been an only child".

"Dark"

"Sorry, it's the meds, I think".

"Yeah, they do that to you" he settles on the chair next to me, "thank you".

I'm really getting tired of having to ask this question, "for what?"

"Well, I can now sleep peacefully at night".

"Did you know Mia liked me?"

Now he looks confused, "you didn't?"

"No, of course not"

"Well why did you think she was hanging out with you all the time?"

"Because she wanted in on my investigation so she could steer me away from Kevin".

"She didn't know Kevin was out until five days ago, none of us did, his mom got the news that he'd been released from juvie three weeks ago, just two days before the whole..." he made a stabbing motion with his hand.

"How do you know all this?"

"Because I talked to her?" he slaps his forehead, "oh right, that's what I came to tell you, Mrs. Hayes is awake".

"She is?"

"Yes" he looks mildly annoyed, "that is what I just said"

"So, Mia didn't know".

"Nope, my guess is she was trying to keep you away from all of it, because apparently people just frame people for crimes they didn't commit now?" he looks exasperated, "let me tell you, the school authorities were not happy with the Miss Martin drug revelation and now Kevin's going to get a lawyer and sue...".

"She wasn't protecting him".

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Sorry what?"

He stands up, "I'm going to come back when you're lucid."

The door opens and Mia pokes her head in looking sheepish, "hey".

Cory gives her a mock salute and walks out. She looks confused as the door closes behind him, "weird dude".

"Hey" I say, "you're here".

"Yeah, I...." she twists her fingers together nervously, "I just wanted to uh, I mean I said some things back there that I probably shouldn't have and maybe it was the heat of the moment, and I don't want things to get weird between us because you know I really enjoy being friends..."

"I think I like you too".

"Wait what?"

"I think I've liked you for a long time, maybe ever since the day I explained to you what the formula to torque was".

She smiles softly, "radius into force into angle between force and the lever arm".

"I think you're the first person who ever made me feel like I could just exist the way I am and it would be enough, I thought that I was happy because Maya and Cory were nice to me, because Peyton, someone who was way out of my league thought I was cute, because I didn't feel invisible anymore, but it was you, all this time, it was meeting you on that first day in the study room, its what changed the course of my life, its what made me happy"

She shook her head, blinking back tears "I swear to God if you tell anyone about this and ruin my reputation as the weird creepy loner girl".

I smile, "I wouldn't dream of it".

Mia grins, "Well I guess you're lucky I was there to pull your ass out of the fire huh?"

"Oh, you mean the time when you locked me in a shed without a lock?"

"I didn't think Mrs. Hayes would take a stroll around the property and I was talking about the time you got locked in the guys changing room".

"It was a storage closet, huge difference"

"You get that that's worse right?"

"Peyton knocked me out okay, I don't have eyes at the back of my head".

She looks smug, "you know who never got knocked out by Peyton? Me"

"Really? Then how did you end up tied to a chair?"

"She pulled a gun on me" Mia mutters, "girl loved playing dirty".

"She also wanted me to kill you" I say, "I'm thinking she liked you about as much as you liked her".

Mia looks thoughtful, "Can you imagine? we never would have become friends if you hadn't gotten mixed up in these murders".

"And if you hadn't decided to make it your problem".

She smiles at me, "I'm glad I did and I'm glad you did too, you saved Cory and Maya and even Peyton".

I smile back at her, "I saved you."

"You wish"

"I know"

Goodbye Lucas, thank you.

"Thank you Cathy" I whisper as Mia goes on about how I didn't save her but merely aided her rescue while I stare at her fondly, trying to commit every inch of her smile and the sound of her laugh to memory, because right here, right now, sitting with her alone in this dimly lit hospital room, I finally know what it's like to be genuinely happy, no voices attached.

Well that's all folks!