We get home and Alex closes the door behind him. I break down immediately and Danny guides me to the couch. Alex sits down on my left and Danny sits on my right. A few seconds pass in silence before someone bursts through the door. I look up, shocked to see Emily. “Lucy, are you okay?” She sits down on the coffee table across from me, and puts her hands on my knees.

    “Aren't you supposed to be gone by now?” I ignore her question. It's obvious that I'm not doing well.

    She nods and says, “I am, but the state closed down all the airports. They aren't letting us leave. We got a letter in the mail telling us about the new rule. They are making sure that everyone is tested. And I mean everyone. If anyone is gone on a trip, they're making them come back. They are very serious about this one.”

    I shake my head. “That isn't right. They shouldn't be allowed to do that. I'm really scared now. This secret that I have hated my whole life is the only thing I need to protect right now. If they find out I've been lying my whole life, I'm dead.”

    “Maybe if you confess, they'll forgive you,” Danny says. “You never know. They might.”

    “I doubt it. This lie has been going on for eleven years. I've had plenty of chances to tell people that I'm really not deaf or mute. I have told that same story over and over again. I've lied to countless people. They won't just forgive me. I need to keep this secret for the rest of my life,” I cry. I bury my head in my hands and I feel a hand rubbing my back. I know it's Danny's.

    “How do we keep this lie hidden? When the people ask you tomorrow about your illness, they'll go in depth, since you have the illness right now,” Danny says.

    “We just have to be prepared. We need to run Lucy down with every question they might ask. We need to prepare her for every answer she might need to say,” Alex says. He pauses and tucks my hair behind my ear. “but most importantly, you need to stay calm while they question you, Lucy. If they see that you're nervous and scared, they'll know for sure.”

    “We can't let them find out. If they do, they'll find out that all of us know, and they'll punish all of us,” Emily says. “I don't want to scare you guys, but we all need to be prepared for the questions they'll give us.”

    “There's no way we can prepare for this,” I mumble. I sit up straight and look around. “There is no way we can guess what they're going to ask. Yes, they will ask me lots of questions, more than others, but we don't know what they're going to say. Yes, I will have to stay calm, but so will the rest of you. Let's just relax and do something right now. I need to get my mind away from this. Please.” I look at Danny.

    He nods. “She's right. There isn't anything we can really do to get ready for this. We just have to be patient and be ready for anything. We all need to focus on something else for the time being.” Danny stands and helps me up, too. “Let's go watch a movie or something.” I nod. Danny helps me get downstairs.

    “Thank you. I just can't take this anymore. I'm not ready. I never can be,” I sit down on the couch. Danny goes to the shelf to find a movie. “Where are Alex and Emily?” I see Danny shrug. “I'm going to go find them.”

    Danny quickly gets up and stops me. “No, I'll go. You need to relax.”

    He reacted really fast to me standing up. “Okay... Is something wrong, Danny? You seem on edge.”

    “No, nothings wrong. You just need to rest,” Danny sits me back down. “I'll be right back.” He walks up the stairs and he disappears from my sight. Only a few minutes later Danny comes down without Emily or Alex. “They don't want to join us. They wanted to prepare themselves for tomorrow.”

    “Okay.” I believe him, for some reason. Danny has gotten to a certain point with me that I don't think he would lie to me. If it was just a few days ago, I wouldn't have. Danny starts to ask me a question but I say, “I don't care what movie we watch.”

    He laughs, “Are you a mind reader, too?”

    “Not exactly, but I can tell what some people are going to say sometimes. You started walking towards the shelf so I knew what you were going to ask me. Sometimes I'm just magical though.” I smile.

    Danny picks out an old movie I've never watched and puts it in. He sits down next to me. I didn't realize how cold I was until his body heat started to warm me up. I shiver. “Are you cold?” He asks. I nod. “I can fix that.” He reaches over and grabs a blanket. He opens it up and puts it over me.

    “Thanks.” I grab the blanket and wrap it around myself better. I lean against Danny and close my eyes. I don't know what caused me to do this, I'm not tired. Maybe I want to get more comfy? Maybe, maybe it's him? The thoughts leave my mind when Danny puts his hand on my shoulder and I go stiff. It’s definitely him.

    “You're going to miss the movie.” Danny pauses, “But you can sleep if you want. I can watch it on my own.” I open my eyes for a minute to see the movie title, so I would remember it, so I could watch it again, for Danny. My eyelids droop and I fall asleep.

    I wake up to Danny talking to someone. I look up. Danny is talking to Alex. “She is just sleeping. Let her be. She has a big day tomorrow. We all do.” I look at the television screen, the credits are rolling. I've been asleep for a long time. I try not to make it look like I'm awake, so I close my eyes again. I want to know what they are fighting about.

    “She is only 16. She's not ready,” Alex says. They're fighting, over me? “She doesn't know what she's doing. She's stressed out. She doesn't need to be dating too.” Dating? Alex doesn't want me to be dating?

    “Let her decide for herself what she's ready for. Maybe you don't know her as well as you think you do. She's not a little girl that you need to protect,” Danny argues. He's fighting for me. He's taking everything I've told him I wished that Alex knew and he's telling Alex for me. “Believe me. She's told me how she feels.”

    A piece of hair falls in my face and it makes me sneeze. They know I'm listening. I open my eyes and look up at Danny. “Don't fight.”

    “Way to go. You woke her up. That's what you get for being a 'protective brother',” Danny says.

    “Stop fighting! Please.” Danny and Alex look at me.

    “Lucy, is what Danny said true? You feel like I'm protecting you too much?” Alex looks shocked. Does he think he's doing his job by being over protective?

    I shoot Alex a look. "Yes. I'm stronger than you think I am. I can handle myself. It's nice of you to protect me, but I don't need it as much as you give it.” I stand up and walk towards him. Danny stands up, too. “I really do appreciate what you do, Alex. But I'm old enough now, I don't need it.”

    Alex looks hurt. I didn't mean to hurt him. I reach out to touch his arm but his pulls away. “I... I need to go.” Alex turns away and walks upstairs.

    “Alex! Please, come back!” Danny holds me still. “I didn't mean to hurt him, Danny. I just wanted him to know how I felt.” I turn and sit back on the couch. “Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe I was too hard on him. Do you think so?”

    Danny hurries and sits down beside me. “No, no, I don't think you were too hard on him. He needed to hear what you had said. He needed to know that you didn't need protecting anymore.” He rubs my back again. “How much of our fight did you hear, Lucy?”

    “Not very much. It went from me sleeping to dating, then I sneezed,” I hesitate at the word 'dating'.

    “Oh. Well that was pretty much the whole thing.” He lets out a nervous laugh and he rubs the back of his neck. “I'm sorry we were fighting.”

    I shrug, “It's fine. It's what boys do anyway.” I smile at him. I lean against the back of the couch and I rest my head on his shoulder. He puts his arm around me. “Maybe he's right though. Maybe I'm not ready.”

    Danny lies his head on top of mine. “I guess we'll just have to wait and see.” He rubs my shoulder. “Wait and see,” he repeats, as if he's telling himself.

    “It's not because of you that I might not be ready. It's because of me. I've never dated before. Alex has. He would know better.” I close my eyes and focus on the rise and fall of Danny's shoulder, I try to find his heart beat.

    “If he has dated, you should be able to date, too, Lucy. But it's always up to you. If you aren't ready, just let me know.” Danny lifts his head and sighs, “I should really be getting home. My mom will wonder where I've been.”

    I lift my head and look at him, “Okay.” He lifts his arm from around me and stands up. He gives me his hand. I grab it and pull myself up, but I don't let go. He guides me up the stairs and to the front door. “I'll see you tomorrow then. In English.”

    “I guess so. Before you go into the classroom, wait for me,” Danny squeezes my hand then lets go. “Bye.” He turns and leaves.

    “Bye,” I say after the door is shut. I turn and see Alex. “What?”

    “Emily left, you know,” he leans against the leather chair.

    “I gathered that seeing that she's not here. When did she leave? Where did she go?” I ask. Even if Emily left without saying goodbye to me, I still want her to be safe.

    “She just went home about 10 minutes ago. When Danny and I started to fight. I guess she didn't want to be here anymore if you were going to spend all of your time with him,” Alex takes a step closer to me. “And frankly, neither do I. You hardly even know him, Lucy. You've trusted him with the biggest secret you have, do you realize that? If he betrays you, he won't keep that secret. It'll be the first thing he gets rid of.”

    “I don't need your protection, Alex! I know what I've trusted him with, and I do trust him with it. He's not going to tell everyone! He's better than that! He won't betray me,” I walk past him and go to my room. If Alex won't trust me, and Emily left me, Danny is all that I have.

    That night, I dream about the two most important boys in my life, Danny and Alex. Alex was threatening me, saying that if I didn't get rid of Danny, he was going to. I wasn't able to make a decision. I woke up mangled in my blanket.

    When I get to school I do what Danny had told me. I wait outside the classroom door. It only takes Danny a minute to get there. “Follow me.” He grabs my hand and pulls me away from the door.

    “Where are you taking me Danny?” Gary asks. I struggle to keep up with him. He has longer legs and more stamina. “I can't run forever!”

    Danny doesn't respond. He doesn't stop or even slow down. After a few minutes he finally stops in front of a door. Danny releases my hand. He looks around us to see if anyone is following, when the coast is clear he says, “Alex and I have been talking. We are going to get you out of here.”

    “Out of here? How are you going to pull that off? How are you going to sneak me out of school. People have already noticed me here.”

    “Turn down your volume, Lucy,” Danny replies. I do as he says. “Just do what I say and do. Give me your backpack.” I obey. He opens the door behind him and tosses it in there. “We'll get that later.”

    “What is going on?” I ask. “Danny, tell me. How are you going to get me out?”

    Danny looks down at me. “You'll see.” He tucks my hair back. He grabs my hand again and we just stand there, looking down the busy hallway. The bell rings and he runs. “Come on.” I can't protest. He leads me down several hallways, through some doors, and suddenly we're outside, but he keeps running. We run until I can't see the school when I turn around. “Okay. We're good.”

    “What are we doing? Where are we?” I say between breaths. I sit down and lean up against a tree.

    Danny sits down with me. He takes a few breath before we answers me. “We aren't going back to school.” He smiles at me.

    “Ever? We can't just not go back to school. They'll catch us and put us in jail.” I remember suddenly that Alex was involved in this plan somehow. “Where's my brother?”

    “He and Emily are causing a distraction. They should come here after its done,” Danny puts his hand on my shoulder, “They are going to be fine.” I nod. I wish I could believe him this time. Alex isn't the kind of guy who just gets out easily. He'll get caught, and he'll drag Emily with him. I choose not to tell Danny, I don't want him to think that the plan won't work out.

    “Whose plan is this?”

    “Mine. We figured it out yesterday, after I left. He called me and said that he wanted you safe, more than anything. I came up with this. He agreed and it was set. Apparently he told Emily and she agreed to help.”

    “Danny, what is the distraction that they're doing?” I turn my whole body to him, so he knows that I'm serious.

    “Does it matter?” He asks. I glare at him. “Okay. They brought paintball guns and started shooting everything everywhere. Emily rang the bell, which is what I was waiting for. It was the sign that I could start running.”

    “No.” I turn away from him and rest my head against the tree. “Alex won't make it. He'll let Emily escape before he does. He'll get caught.” I pull my knees in and I hug them. “No matter what Alex made you think, he won't get out. He's too nice. He'll want us make it out safely. He won't follow Emily out.”

    “Yeah. I know. That's what he told me. But he told me to tell you that everything would be all right. That he would find his way to you,” Danny says.

    “I knew it.” I lean forward and cry silently into my arms. Danny, instead of rubbing my back, pulls me in, closer to him. I turn my head and cry into his shoulder. He wraps his other arm around me, creating a bubble of safety. “Who knows if I'll see him again.”

    “You will, Lucy. You will. Don't worry. It's not the end of the world.” He slowly rocks me back and forth, to calm me down. I sit there, trying to relax, taking everything in. Danny holding me, the wind blowing through my hair, the smell of nature, and the texture of the grass under me. Everything would be perfect if the situation was different, happier. If I wasn't in tears. We stay like that for a long time.