I was cruising down the highway when my phone rang. I assumed it was Charlotte, so I answered it on the touch screen at the center of my radio. "Hello?"

"Hey," a male's voice said. My heart fluttered when I realized who it was. "Are you free to talk?"

"Uh, yeah," I said, frowning. "What do you want to talk about, Drake?"

"I'm actually not sure. I just didn't want to be alone in my dorm."

"Okay," I said. "I'm on my way back to the boarding school now, so we can chat until I get there."

"How was your vacation? Did you have a good Christmas?" Drake asked, almost awkwardly. I let out a giggle, and he said, "What?"

"Sorry, you sounded so awkward," I said, grinning. "Anyway, my vacation was great. I had a nice Christmas, though none of my siblings came home. They did call and I got to speak to them, so that was nice."

"Did they hate you?"

"No," I said. I rolled my eyes. "I guess you were right. They told me that I may have been a brat when I was little, but I matured as I aged."

"I told you everything would be okay," DP said warmly. "I don't think your siblings would ever abandon you."

"You have no other siblings, right?"

"Right."

"I want you to meet mine."

"Really? Why?" Drake asked incredulously.

"Because I want you to experience the absolute insanity life is with that many siblings," I said, letting out a short laugh. "I'm sure they would let you in."

"I don't know," Drake said quietly. "I don't want them to see me like this."

"I don't want to push you, Drake," I said, my voice soft. "But I want you to get help. I don't want you to be sad all the time."

"I know you don't want to see me this way, but it's hard, Luna," Drake said, his voice strangled. "I would never wish this on my worst enemy. This pain is so overwhelming that some days it's hard to get out of bed."

I sighed as I switched lanes. At least I didn't have to take any exits any time soon. "I have no idea what to say. God, I want to be a psychology major and I have no clue what to say to make it better. That's the problem, I guess. Words don't make things better. Actions and love and friendship does." I sighed and shook my head. "I don't want to push you to do something you don't want to do, DP, but I don't want you to be like this anymore. It'll kill you."

"I know it will. But I don't want to get help. I don't like accepting help, Luna. Talking to you about it is hard," Drake said quietly. "I don't want you to worry, though. I'll be fine."

"Like I've said before, telling me not to worry is like telling me not to breathe," I said sadly. "You've become important to me, and I don't think telling me to stop worrying will help."

"Luna," Drake said after a moment of silence. "I think -"

The call went silent, and I glanced at the radio. It started playing my music, and I frowned. Did the call drop? I glanced around quickly, and my frown deepened. I wasn't in a place that a call would drop. Maybe Drake was.

I waited a few minutes to see if he would call again, but he didn't. My heart dropped, but I continued on anyway.

---

The familiar blonde waves told me that Charlotte was already in our room. She was lounged on her bed, her back to me. "Hello," I said, dropping my stuff down at the door. "I'm back."

She looked back at me with a frown on her face. "Hi, Luna."

I kicked my stuff toward my bed, grinning. "How was your break?"

"It was great."

Sitting down on her bed, I leaned back into her pillows. She didn't smile at all. "Something's wrong. Spill, Char."

She sighed, closing her eyes. "Mom was on me again about Paul."

"Again?" I asked, frowning. "You've never told me anything about that."

Charlotte's eyes flew open, displaying an angry look. I've never seen her like that, and I hoped I never would. "She thinks she can tell me who to date. She doesn't like Paul because he's black. I've tried to talk to her about him, about how sweet and amazing he is, but she doesn't listen. She never listens, though, and I'm just tired of her. I'm eighteen! I think I can take care of myself, especially when it comes to my own personal relationships."

"Don't listen to her," I said, taking her hand in mine. I noticed that she was shaking, so she was either incredibly angry or sad or both. "I know Paul's a great guy. He treats you well, he's really cute, and he's the nicest kid in this school. Your mom doesn't know anything."

"Thanks," she said, smiling softly. She leaned her head on my shoulder with a sigh. "Hey, did you say that Paul is cute?" Letting out a laugh, I nodded. "You better not make a move on my man."

"Don't worry," I said, grinning. "I won't make him fall in love with me or anything like that. Anyway, I think he's too smitten with you to even give any girl a second glance."

"I know. He's the best."

"He is." I let go of her hand when something came to my mind. "Did you come back to the campus early?"

"Yeah. I couldn't stand my mom talking bad about Paul, so I left."

"And then Wes showed up," I said, getting quieter at the end of my sentence. "I'm sorry about him, by the way."

"He's a little pushy," Charlotte said, laughing. "Why'd he show up, anyway?"

"I don't know," I said, frowning. "I broke it off with him last year, but I don't think he's really over it."

"Oh, yeah," Charlotte said, her eyes growing dark. "I remember him."

"Yeah," I whispered, bringing my knees up to my chest. "I don't want him to come back, Char. I don't want to face him again."

"I won't let him near you. He's done way too much to you."

"How'd he get on campus? I don't understand how he got through the security."

Charlotte shrugged. "Beats me."

"Great." I sighed, leaning my head against her pillows. "I need to tell you about what happened over break."

"Was it DP?"

I lifted my head and said, "You literally read my mind."

"I'm magical that way."

I burst out laughing, shaking my head. "You are not magical at all. Anyway, he called me and had a little - um - breakdown. I won't go into detail about it, but I helped him through it. Then, he called me when I was on my way here. Oh, wait! I forgot to tell you something. He told me his name."

"Drake."

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "I figured out it was Paul's roommate."

"I wanted to tell you that it was him," Charlotte said, shrugging, "but he swore Paul and I to secrecy. He's a really good guy, I promise." She sat there for a second. "You're an incredibly smart person, yet you didn't figure it out. How?"

"I have no idea." I laughed. But I grew quieter when I said, "I might like him."

Charlotte grinned and said, "That's great! I'm glad you've moved on from the rat."

"Rat?"

"Brennan."

"Ah." I nodded, looking down at my hands. "We were supposed to meet a few weeks ago, but I blew him off. I was scared, and I let him down." My cheeks heated up so I shrugged. "I don't know what to do anymore."

"Let's go do something," Charlotte said, hopping out of her bed. "I don't want to be all sappy anymore."

"Good plan." She led me out of our room and away from my troubles. I didn't need to worry about Drake; he already forgave me. Wes wouldn't show up again. He's not one to get rejected twice. At least, I hoped he wasn't.