Trigger Warning: Mentions of Self-Harm and Suicidal Thoughts in Dylan's POV

Cecilia did tell her friends what happened at the party, because she knew that they would rather hear it from her first instead of hearing it from other people. Elena had told Jeremy what had happened with Vicki. Jeremy had seemed worried over what happened.

When Cecilia woke up, she had a migraine. She had bundled herself up in the old owl quilt that she had when she was a young girl and had that owl phase. She sat up and ran her hands through her hair.

She got up and gathered some clothes so she can take a shower. She took some aspirin to try and get rid of the migraine.

When Cecilia got in the kitchen Elena and Jack were already in there. Jack looked disgruntled as he ate cereal, but that really didn't mean anything since he sometimes look disgruntled.

"I saw him outside, so I let him in," Elena said.

"That's fine, Elena," replied Cecilia.

"What's up with you?" asked Jack.

"Migraine," replied Cecilia.

Jack nodded, "Or maybe a hangover."

Cecilia glared at him, "No."

Jenna walked in. She looked at Jack and said, "Oh, hey, Jack, what do you think? Does my hair being up make me look like a sexy stewardess or if my hair being down makes me look like a boozy housewife?"

"Uh..." Jack started, looking confused. "I'd go for the stewardess look. Where are you going?"

"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference," replied Jenna.

"It's the third day of school. Why is there a conference?" asked Cecilia surprised.

"Apparently he's missing classes," said Jenna.

"Speaking of him, where is he, anyway?" asked Jack.

"He said that he had to finish a birdhouse in woodshop," Jenna told him.

"There's no woodshop class," Jack said.

"Of course there isn't," replied Jenna.

Elena ended up riding with them to school. She had texted Bonnie saying that she was getting a ride from Cecilia and Jack.

Cecilia looked at Jack and frowned, "All right, what's bothering you?"

"Nothing, my parents took me to the park at night and my mom ended up smashing her tit in my face, when she reached over me to get something from my dad," replied Jack.

Elena made a strange choking sound, like she was trying not to laugh.

"You poor, defenseless child," replied Cecilia dryly. "You did not deserve that hell."

"I know," replied Jack, sounding like he was pouting. "Do you know what attacked Vicki?"

"No," replied Elena.

"I don't know, either," replied Cecilia. "I even spent all night Googling it, to see what could have attacked her, but nothing."

"Maybe it was a vampire," replied Jack, trying to use a spooky tone.

"Ooh, spooky," replied Cecilia, mimicking the spooky tone Jack used.

"You two are so weird," replied Elena.

"Thank you," the two said in unison.

Alex and Dylan were at the school when they got there. It looked like Dylan was talking to some girl and Alex really didn't look like he was enjoying the show.

The girl walked away and Alex said something to Dylan, who gave him a smile.

They walked up to their friends.

"What's up?" Alex asked Cecilia.

"Nothing, gave Elena a ride though," said Cecilia. "And Jack took his mother's tit to the face last night."

"Well, his mother is hot..." Dylan said.

"And if I was thinking how lucky I was for that, I'm so going to hell," replied Jack.

Alex asked, "As opposed to the other valid reasons why you're going to hell?"

Cecilia looked over and saw Matt. She didn't really like Vicki, considering that she was probably the one who got Jeremy roped into taking drugs and drinking, but she was the one who found Vicki, so she had to ask.

"I'll be right back, assbags," Cecilia said and went over to Matt, "Hey, Matt!"

Matt turned to look at her, "What is it?"

"I just wanted to know how Vicki was doing," Cecilia said. "I mean I did find her and I just wanted to know if she's okay."

"She's fine, but they're going to hold her overnight to see if there's an infection," Matt said.

"Oh," replied Cecilia, "And maybe to see if she has rabies."

"I think they already did that," replied Matt.

"Does she know what animal attacked her?" asked Cecilia.

"She said it was a vampire," Matt said. "On top of that, that psycho put up more nooses and some campers went missing."

"I wouldn't put it past the psycho if he was the one who did something to those campers," said Cecilia.

"Me either," replied Matt. "Hey, what is going on with Elena and the new guy?"

Cecilia wondered if it was her place to tell him, but it would be better than to let Matt have false hope. "I think it would be easier for you to move on, sorry."

"Yeah, I better get going, your boyfriend is giving me a murderous glare," Matt said.

Cecilia turned to see who he was talking about and she looked at Matt. "He's not my boyfriend and that's just Jack's default expression. We're just friends."

"That's what Elena and I used to say, but look what happened," replied Matt.

"You broke up, we became orphans, and Elena is crushing on the new guy?" asked Cecilia. Matt grimaced at that. "Besides, Jack and I talked about it and we both agreed that, no, we're not deeply in love with each other."

"Hey, Matt!" Tyler called out. He was giving her and Matt a strange look.

"Just think about it," replied Matt as he started walking away.

"Think about what? There's nothing there!" Cecilia called out to him. She crossed her arms and turned to head back to her friends and nearly ran into Ricky, because of course fate flipped her middle finger off at her.

Well, it has always been said that Fate was a bitch. Or was it life is a bitch?

"Hey, Ricky," Cecilia said with a smile.

"I did some thinking and I realized that we're not going to work with how bored we became when we were talking to each other," said Ricky.

Was she going to get dumped? By a guy she wasn't even dating?

"Yeah, but I would still like to be your friend, though," Cecilia said. "Give it another try?"

God, it sounded like it was some desperate attempt to hang onto the relationship that they didn't even have.

It reminded her of her ex-boyfriend, Nate, who she had dated for a month before he decided to break up with her. She begged him to stay with her, but he was set on dumping her. As he walked out the door, she yelled at him, "Maybe you should stop being such a little bitch!"

That wasn't her greatest moment. She apologized to him but he still didn't want anything to do with her.

"Yeah, as friends though," Ricky joked.

"Yeah...friend," Cecilia replied and jokingly hit him on the arm.

Ricky laughed about it and looked over at something, "I better go, because your friends really seem like they don't like me."

Cecilia turned to see and Alex looked like he really didn't look like he was enjoying the show he was watching.

Dylan was busy looking at the ground and Jack just seemed annoyed now.

It was annoying really, how apparently she couldn't talk to other guys. She found it easier to talk to guys than girls. It seemed like some girls wanted to befriend her just so they can get close to her male friends because of the whole band thing. It was annoying as hell. However, Alex really had no reason to be looking like that.

She smiled at Ricky, "See you around." She went over to her friends. "What the hell is the matter with you three?"

"Many things," Dylan said with a forced smile.

"Good to know," replied Alex.

"But really? I can't have friends besides you people?" asked Cecilia.

Alex started, "There's nothing wrong with that, it's just that there are guys out there who would try to pretend to be your friend-"

"Who would try to get in my pants or take advantage of me because I'm in a band," finished Cecilia. "I heard that talk from my mother. But newsflash, you're my friends, not my parents."

"We just don't want to see you get hurt, okay? We don't care who you befriend, we just don't want to see you get taken advantage of," replied Alex, "Especially by a guy who's pretending to be nice to you only for him to hurt you."

Dylan and Jack were nodding in agreement.

Cecilia thought it was rather sweet of them to worry about her safety, but come on; she was old enough to take care of herself. "Thanks, but trust me, I can take care of myself."

"Maybe I should stab him as a warning," Jack said. His friends looked at him.

"What? No," replied Cecilia.

"Oh, I get it," replied Jack.

"Get what?" asked Alex.

"She wants to stab that guy as a warning instead," Jack responded.

Cecilia snorted. Amused, she said, "Yeah. You got that right Jack. I would, just to prove to them that I'm more dangerous than them."

"The comet was originally discovered nearly five centuries ago. It hasn't been seen over Mystic Falls in over one-hundred-forty-five years. Now the comet will be its brightest right after dusk during tomorrow's celebration. Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Miss Gilbert?"

"I'm listening," replied Cecilia, confused.

"Not you," replied Mr. Tanner. "I meet Elena." He knocked on Dylan's desk. "Am I boring you, Mr. Croft?"

Dylan looked at Mr. Tanner, "No. However, that shirt you're wearing is a lot more entertaining, though."

Mr. Tanner looked like he wasn't sure if that was an insult or a compliment.

The bell rang.

"Hey, I just remembered, did you decide on getting a part-time job?" Cecilia asked Dylan.

Dylan was messing with his slider phone, by sliding it back and forth. "I considered it, but my sleeping pattern is really screwed up, right now."

"Hey, if I can get a part-time job with me being tired all the time, you can get one," said Jack.

"That was a call-out," said Dylan, pointing at Jack. However, he had to grab a hold of his sleeve with the rest of his fingers, just to point.

"It was," replied Jack, smirking.

"It's not my fault, my body decides that it wants to sleep an hour at times," replied Dylan.

Cecilia chuckled because she did love her friends.

"Hey, are either you going to that comet thing?" asked Alex.

"I would," Cecilia said. "It's like once in a lifetime thing."

"My parents are making me," said Jack. "They're the ones setting up the Square for it."

"Let's hope that you don't take a titty to the face again," Cecilia joked.

"Stop bringing that up," Jack said. "It was traumatizing enough to live through that, I don't need to constantly bring it up." He looked at her, "You're taking to much enjoyment out of that."

"To be honest, I would enjoy it if your mother smashed her boobs in my face," Alex said.

Cecilia looked at Dylan was busy looking at his lunch, tearing into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Cecilia had been certain she hadn't seen him actually eat anything.

"Do you mind not saying that kind of stuff in front of Dylan? It's kind of rude," Jack said.

"Even though your mother is pretty hot," Cecilia admitted.

Dylan nodded, and Alex looked to the side.

"Who else here thinks my mother is hot?" asked Jack loudly.

Cecilia looked over to see that some others at the nearby table looked away.

"I would screw your mother," Tyler said, passing by.

"Get out of here, before I punch you in the dick," Jack said to him. Tyler hurried on.

It was strange, because Tyler was a general ass to everyone, even Matt, at times, but apparently Tyler was intimidated by Jack. It probably didn't help that Jack had a bit of a slasher smile to go with his murderous glare.

Besides, Tyler still tried to intimidate Jack, but Jack didn't even bite, just giving him an unimpressed look.

"Are you even eating?" Jack asked Dylan.

"Yeah," replied Dylan.

Alex took a piece of the sandwich, "Here."

Dylan turned to look at him and Alex crammed the piece of sandwich he picked up into Dylan's mouth.

Cecilia looked around and Dylan made a weird noise. She looked at Dylan.

Apparently Alex crammed another piece of sandwich in Dylan's mouth.

"I can feed myself," Dylan said, after swallowing his sandwich.

"Clearly not," replied Alex. "You're not eating." He took another piece of sandwich and was going to cram into Dylan's mouth, but Dylan smacked Alex's hand away from him. Dylan grabbed his backpack and took off. "Jesus, what's his problem?"

"Well, you were force-feeding him." Cecilia said, "Apparently he doesn't like being force-fed. I don't like force-feeding either."

"Well, if he would eat..." Alex grumbled.

After school, Cecilia had asked Dylan if he wanted to go home with her, to avoid being alone, Dylan declined, saying that he wanted to go home to take a nap. Cecilia looked unsure over that, and reluctantly agreed to let him.

To be honest, if Dylan wasn't dating (can he call it dating?) Alex, he would've gotten together with Cecilia. But he just wanted to hang out in the woods and pretend...

So, when he got home, he dumped out his school supplies on his bed, and took out some rope from underneath it.

He put the rope in his backpack and grabbed a pocketknife to take with him. He kind of wanted to meet the animal that mauled Vicki at the party yesterday. Maybe if he ran into the animal...but he also didn't want to die.

Sure he thought that his dad would have an easier time without him around, but he also didn't want his dad to lose his only child. His dad was young, being thirty-one. He could have more kids.

He missed his dad a lot. He missed staying up late watching movies on the weekends and he missed making oatmeal smoothies with him. He missed talking to his dad. He missed hugging his dad. He missed his dad calling him 'Dill'. He just missed his dad.

He made it to the woods and walked in.

He wanted to feel like he did when he was young, again.

It was troubling that everyone seemed to be worried over the stupid nooses, but not of the woodland animals disappearing. He had been in these woods long enough, but he didn't have an animal just randomly attack him.

Then again, maybe they were used to him.

He just...he didn't know what he wanted. He wanted his dad to pay attention to him, but he hated it because it made him sound needy. The same went with Alex. In the two weeks they've been together, they only kissed once, and that was when they got together. Maybe...maybe Alex realized that he didn't like him like that and the lack of...affection was his way of dumping him.

"Where are you going, Croft?" Lockwood asked him. Dylan almost jumped.

"None of your business, Lockwood," replied Dylan. "Don't you have five-year-olds to harass?"

"They're at home, probably taking naps," replied Lockwood. "Again, I repeat, what you are doing?"

"Huffing dead animals," Dylan said.

"For some reason, I believe that. You look like the type," replied Lockwood.

"Isn't your girlfriend in the hospital?" asked Dylan. Might as well try to have some kind of nice conversation with the asshole.

Back then, Dylan's many great-grandfathers ago, his great-grandfather and Lockwood's great-grandfather used to work together. Dylan's great-grandfather was an assistant to Mayor Lockwood. Then Dylan's great-grandfather started the whole witch hysteria, which led to the witch burnings over at the Witch Burial Ground, and for some reason, his dad believes the Lockwoods are werewolves.

"I can visit her at any time. They'll hold the doors open for me," replied Lockwood with a smirk. "The perks of being the mayor's son. Where's your boyfriend?"

Dylan gritted his teeth. He was sure that was a jab at his masculinity, even though no one, besides their parents, Jack, Cecilia, and now Elena, knew he was dating Alex. "I don't have one."

"I meant Cecilia," replied Lockwood.

"Are you an ass because your parents beat you? That's no excuse to take your shit out on people, you know," Dylan said.

Lockwood barreled down on him, grabbing him by the front of his jacket and pinning him against the tree, looking like he was going to punch him.

And for a brief moment, Dylan wanted Lockwood to kill him.

Lockwood shoved him away, looking disgusted.

Maybe he knew that Dylan wanted to die.

"I don't have time for your pettiness," Lockwood replied.

"You're the one who came up to me," Dylan pointed out.

They walked in silence.

"I'm looking for the thing that attacked Vicki," replied Lockwood.

Dylan stayed silent and said, "Me too."

"Why?" Lockwood sneered, "Hoping for it to kill you because you're too much of a coward to do it yourself?" He took Dylan's arm and was going to yank the sleeve up. "Don't act like I don't see the signs. I'm not blind you know. Spacing out? You saying that you're under-sleeping and oversleeping. Being irritated and impatient? Not eating? The long sleeves? I don't know why your friends don't see it, but I do." He looked at the cuts on Dylan's wrist.

Dylan yanked his arm back. "Don't act like you give a damn, Lockwood."

They continued walking in silence. It felt kind of nice, not being alone, even if the other person was a dick.

"You should tell your dad," Lockwood said softly.

"What?" asked Dylan.

"You should talk to someone about it," replied Lockwood. "It'll make you feel better."

Dylan knew that, he just didn't want to burden anyone with his problems. Mostly because he didn't know what his problem really was. He had been feeling like ass since the seventh grade. "I know."

They walked in more silence.

"By the way, I really meant Alex when I asked were your boyfriend was at," said Tyler.

"Oh, silly me," replied Dylan sarcastically.

"I think it's cool you're dating him," replied Tyler. "It's weird, but good for you and him. I told the other guys to leave you both alone. I mean, we're on okay terms."

"Thanks, you're a good Samaritan," replied Dylan dryly.

"I would say that this conversation was fun, but it wasn't. I'm going to go home and take a shower to rid myself of your stench," replied Tyler. "I don't want it sinking in."

"You go do that," replied Dylan.

Tyler walked away and Dylan felt a little sick. What was Tyler playing at? He didn't know anything, except he clearly knew. He saw. He told Dylan to get help.

Their ancestors go way back, like the rest of town though.

Once Tyler was gone, Dylan resumed his search to put a noose somewhere. He wouldn't put it past Tyler to know that he was the weirdo doing it.

He found a tree and was about ready to toss the rope over a tree branch when he saw movement from the corner of his eye.

Dylan turned his head when he thought he saw something blur past him. He stayed silent and listened, hearing a stick snap. He waited and saw something pass him by again. He listened to footsteps. He looked and moved as silently as possible, as he followed the person, holding his breath.

The person gone off in the distance, so he followed the person. It was Stefan, was it? What was Stefan doing in the woods? Doesn't he know what types of weirdos hung out in woods? And Dylan should know. He was one of those weirdos. He followed Stefan, keeping his head a little low, watching Stefan.

Great. Stefan was a fellow Woods Weirdo, and Dylan, being a fellow Woods Weirdo, was following him. They made a great pair, didn't they?

He watched as Stefan knelt down to tend to something furry in a clearing. Dylan didn't know why he was watching the strange scene. He watched as Stefan started eating the meat off a dead deer. Well, that was to much for him.

Should he tell Cecilia to tell Elena that Stefan eats raw deer meat, like some kind of weirdo? Who does that? Why would Stefan do that to himself? Woods Weirdos. He shouldn't question the logic that Woods Weirdos' follow.

He stepped on a twig, and he winced. Well, shit. Stefan was instantly bearing down on him, blood coming from his mouth.

"Don't mind me, I'm just going to hang this somewhere and I'll leave you to...eating that dead deer," Dylan replied, holding up a noose. "And as long as you don't stab me, I won't tell anyone if you won't?"

Stefan seemed to smile at that, "Right."

"And you should probably cook the deer. You might get sick," Dylan said.

"And you should probably tell someone about your...self-harming and noose hanging," replied Stefan.

Dylan looked at his arms. He was still holding up the noose and the sleeve on his jacket had rolled down, revealing the cuts he had made.

Well, shit.

"Yeah, I will," reply Dylan. "As long as you won't tell anyone about this." He motioned to, well, everything.

"Right," replied Stefan.

"Well, see you around, fellow Woods Weirdo," replied Dylan.

"You too, other...Woods Weirdo," replied Stefan with a small smile.

"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues," Elena said to Cecilia and Aunt Jenna after she got home.

"Don't we all?" asked Cecilia. "I mean Jack's parents raised him on horror movies, Dylan's mother ran off with his now ex-girlfriend, and his parents had him when they were fifteen, and Alex's parents...are normal, which is the scariest thing about this whole situation, really."

"I mean, Stefan had a brother than he didn't tell me about," said Elena.

"Maybe he couldn't bring his brother up, because it wasn't part of the conversation," replied Cecilia. "And when is it an appropriate time to bring up an ex anyway?"

"At least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait 'til you date a guy with mommy issues. Or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues," replied Jenna.

"You dated a guy who was addicted to meth?" asked Cecilia surprised.

"That's a story for a different time, Celia," replied Aunt Jenna. Jeremy walked in.

"Jeremy? Jeremy, where were you?" asked Aunt Jenna.

Jeremy seemed annoyed, "More stoner stories? Look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And so that's...that's cool." He gave her a thumb's up and started going up the stairs.

"Oh, no, no, no!" said Aunt Jenna. She threw an apple at Jeremy, hitting him in the head.

"Ow! Why? Why...why did you do that?" asked Jeremy.

"Listen up! Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion," replied Aunt Jenna.

"Parental authority, I like it. Sleep tight," replied Jeremy, going up the stairs.

"Here's your books," Jack said, hanging a bag of books over to a customer. "And here's a pamphlet to the comet thing tonight."

"Thank you," the customer said kind of rudely, before leaving.

"Wow, what did you say to piss him off?" Cecilia asked, leaning against the counter of the bookstore.

"Nothing," replied Jack. "I walked up to the shop and I just went..." He sighed and continued, "'Why it hasn't burnt down yet'? It was disappointing. Also, I just want to throw lamps at people who need to lighten the fuck up."

"I know the feeling. I want to throw scissors at people who need to cut it out," replied Cecilia.

"I want to throw knives at people who need to be stabbed," Jack said.

Elena walked in with Bonnie. She smiled at Jack, "Hey, Jack. I think your mom said that she had pamphlets she wanted us to hand out."

"Yeah, here," replied Jack. He handed some pamphlets to Bonnie, who took them. He made a face when her hand touched his, because he really didn't like any kind of touching, except apparently when it was Cecilia. He looked confused when Bonnie's eyes widened. "What the hell?"

Elena took Bonnie's shoulder, "Hey, Bonnie."

"That's weird," said Bonnie.

"You're telling me," replied Jack. "I don't like people touching my hands."

"I saw you and Cecilia making a blood pact of some kind," Bonnie said. "But you had short hair, but it was unmistakably you and her. You both said that you both will eternally be friends. In this lifetime and in another life."

"Yeah, okay," replied Jack, shrugging.

"I'm hallucinating," replied Bonnie. "I had trouble sleeping at night."

Jack looked highly unimpressed. "You're a witch, Bonnie. Embrace it. You have magic, and it's cool as hell."

Bonnie didn't look convinced.

"Dylan is a witch, the Lockwoods are werewolves, and Stefan is a vampire. And the thing that attacked Vicki was a vampire. It's practically Halloween every night for you guys," Jack said.

"What is this place? Halloweentown?" asked Elena, clearly not believing Jack.

"Believe me or not, your opinion doesn't mean a damn thing to me," Jack said. "Don't forget to pass those out."

Elena and Bonnie left.

"If Dylan and Bonnie are witches, the Lockwoods are werewolves, and Stefan is a vampire, what am I?" Cecilia asked.

Jack looked at her up and down, then said, "Fucking annoying."

"Thanks, man," replied Cecilia, with a smile, touched.

"No problem, bro," replied Jack, smiling back at her.

It was nearing dusk when Alex came up to Cecilia. "Here, have a candle." He gave Cecilia a candle. "Have you seen Dylan and Jack?"

"They went to get something to drink," Cecilia said.

"Okay," replied Alex. He played with one of Cecilia's fingers. "Dylan and I got to talking..."

Cecilia took her hand back, feeling dread. "Oh. Talking about what?"

Jack and Dylan came up to them.

Cecilia felt relieved, at not knowing. If Dylan and Alex broke up...they would've told her earlier. Right?

"Why do we need candles to watch a comet? Wouldn't it be better not to have extra lighting?" Dylan asked.

"It's probably a vigil for a thing that comes by every one-hundred-forty-five years," Cecilia said.

"I don't know," replied Jack. "It was my parents' idea."

"When is this thing coming?" asked Dylan.

"Why? You got something better to do?" joked Alex.

"Yeah, like sleep," replied Dylan darkly.

Tyler seemed to stomp up to them. He pointed at Cecilia. "Your pill pusher of a brother said that my girlfriend used to sleep with him and told me to ask you. Is he lying?"

"That...is the most bizarre thing to come up to someone to ask," Cecilia said. bewildered.

"Discounting that one weird guy asking you to sign his ass-cheek?" asked Dylan.

"Yeah, discounting that," replied Cecilia. Tyler looked irritated. "But, I mean, I once found her in his bed at one point, clearly naked, if you're wondering."

Tyler looked irritated all over and Dylan scratched at his wrist. Tyler glared at him, "You get some help. You're bothering me."

"You're the one that's clearly losing your shit," Dylan said. Tyler just left. "Too many freaks are out."

"What does he mean by 'help'?" asked Alex curiously.

"Hell if I know," replied Dylan.

"You do, don't lie," Jack said unhelpfully cryptically.

For a moment Dylan's face seemed to change slightly, before he smiled, "Again, too many freaks are out."

Jack made a face, "Calm your tits, asslamp, I was just messing around. Although, that face you made...what are you hiding?"

"Nothing that the police can't prove," replied Dylan.

"Just ask an for an alibi then," Jack said.

"We were all at my home watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise," replied Alex.

"Yeah," replied Cecilia, nodding.

"Got it," replied Jack.

"Speaking of my home, we need to rehearse for tomorrow's gig," replied Alex.

Cecilia almost forgot about rehearsal. Alex's and Jack's part-time jobs had kept them from rehearsals and she almost forgot about talking to them about playing Black Magic at the gig. They really needed to have a meeting for tomorrow.

"Here, we should light these stupid candles," Jack said. Alex took a lighter and lit the wicks on Dylan and Cecilia's candles. Cecilia lit Jack's candle and Alex lit his.

"There's the comet," said Dylan.

Cecilia looked at it. "It's beautiful."

"Yeah, it is," replied Alex, looking at Cecilia and Dylan.

Cecilia looked past Dylan to look at Jack, who actually had a smile on his face. She smiled at him and Jack smiled back at her.

"It's moments like these that is worth living for," replied Alex.

Cecilia nodded. Just four friends and band-mates standing together, watching a comet come by. Three of whom who didn't know that their lives were going to change and one dreading the change.