As soon as I step into the coffee shop I am hit with a warm blast of air, making me sigh in relief. It's freezing outside. I run my bare hands together, scanning the morning Starbucks rush for my friend Amber.

I find her sitting at one of the booth tables in the back. She has her nose buried in the open textbook in front of her, causing a curtain of immaculate blond hair to obscure her face. I shout her name and she looks up, her brown eyes confused. When she sees me she sends a little wave in my direction before going back to her beloved books.

Amber has all the smarts and all the looks, but she's not nearly as cool and collected as she seems. When we're alone she'll pour out her soul and rant like some one lit the house on fire, but in public she sits down and shuts up. I get in line for my coffee, smiling a little. That's Amber.

I drum my fingers on the counter impatiently as the fur coat wearing lady in front of me orders a Venti iced skinny hazelnut Macchiato with Sugar free syrup and extra shot, light ice, no whip. When I was on duty here, I hated people who ordered drinks with an obnoxious amount of modifications. That's one of the reasons I left in the first place. Once I bought the Corolla, my classes started to get harder and I was forced to quit. Honestly, I'm still a little bitter about the fact tat Amber's convertible VWBug was a present from her parents. She didn't spend a dime on it.

When the Macchiato lady gets her coffee I step up to the counter and order a caramel Frappuccino. My friend Benjamin drops me a wink from beyond the counter as he takes my order. I smile back at him familiarly. "Haven! I haven't seen you here in a while," he says.

"I've been busy recently, sorry. Can't get up early when you're studying 'til two in the morning."

His reddish blond head nods from where he works the Frappuccino machine. "It's been pretty lonely here ever since you quit."

"Yeah, I know. I liked it here." I tell him.

"Well, we miss you too." Benjamin turns around and sets my coffee on the counter. He leans in close and whispers, "the guy they hired as your replacement does not no know how to work the Cappuccino machine."

I laugh at that and hand him my credit card. He swipes it with a smile and hands in back to me without breaking eye contact.

"Bye Ben!" I call over my shoulder as I walk back to Amber's table. She has a huge smile on her face before I've even sat down.

"What?" I ask defensively, taking a sip of my coffee.

"You can't tell?" She laughs.

"Tell what?"

"The latte boy likes you."

I roll my eyes at her. "Benjamin does not like me." Amber usually has some sixth sense about these kinds of things, but I'm not sure she's right about Ben. We've been friends for a long time.

Amber rolls her eyes right back at me. "Wow Haven, you are so blind! He smiled at you and he said he missed you! He's a Senior, too."

"We're friends, Amber, just friends."

She laughs and shakes her head. "You're in denial. Anyway, what is it you wanted to tell me in person?"

I am snapped back to the present. "Oh! Right. Last night there was this lady staring at us from outside Bubba's BBQ . . ." I go on to tell her about my parents' meeting with Katherine and their conversation in the kitchen. By the time I am finished, telling her about the package, a deep frown has replaced Amber's smile.

"There's definitely something going on here," She decides.

I nod, a bit of the weight leaving my shoulders. I'm glad she agrees; I was half-afraid I might've been making things up.

"It sounds like your parents are in trouble or something."

"That's what I thought, but I don't know what to do about it!"

"There's nothing you can do. You don't have enough information to help them," she tells me.

"You think I shouldn't do anything?"

She shakes her head. "No. You confront them and make them tell you know what's going on."

"But then I'd be admitting that I was eavesdropping on them!"

She purses her lips. "They could be in trouble with some dangerous people from the sound of it. It doesn't matter if you spied on them, they could be putting you blindly at risk."

Amber was right, as usual. "Okay," I say finally. "I'll talk to them as soon as I get home."

"That's all I'm asking. Did you bring your math homework?" She asks, changing the subject.

I try to look as innocent as possible. "Well, I left it in my car, it's already finished, and I don't think you really need to look over it. . ."

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Maybe?" I give her a guilty smirk.

We sit in companionable silence for a minute, taking sips of our coffee every few seconds.

"Latte boy is staring at you," Amber says after a while.

"Amber!" I hiss.

"What? Be happy that someone has a crush on you! You haven't dated anyone since Nathan, it should be good for you!"

I consider it for a moment. I like Ben. He's been my friend for a while now, and he clearly likes me in a more-than-friendly way. But do I like him like that? "Come on, Amber. We're going to be late." I pick up my coffee and start towards the door.

"Haven!" Benjamin calls from the counter. Amber drops me a conspiratorial wink and whispers, "I'll be waiting outside." I roll my eyes as she sweeps out of the cafe.

"What's up?" I ask Ben, walking over.

He turns toward me, leaning against the counter. "Are you doing anything tonight?"

Taken aback, it takes me a minute to reply. "Um, no I don't think so . . Why?"

"Well, I. . . I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie."

I've never liked it when characters in movies ask the question, "like a date?" It sounds so cliche and dorky, but the words just sort of slip out.

"Like a date?" I ask.

"Yeah, like a date," he says, blushing slightly.

"Okay," I say after a pause. "Sure."

A smile lights up his face. "Great. Can you meet me here at seven?"

I agree and give him my number, cursing Amber for being right all of the time. When I finally step out the front doors to see her leaning against the VWBUG, I realize that I didn't even ask him what movie he wanted to see.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•

I hunch my shoulders against the chill as I jog through the school parking lot. It's unusually cold for this late in the year. My thin jacket does little to stop the biting wind.

With a relieved sigh I reach my car and quickly get in the driver's seat. The heat kicks in as I start the engine, gracing me with a blast of cool air before gradually warming up.

School seemed to drag on and on today. I was anxious about my date tonight and it was all I could concentrate on. I mean, if Ben and I are going out now, this is my first date in nearly a year.

When I pull up to my house, I find that my parents cars are already in the garage. That's strange. Dad always grades papers at school until five thirty and Mom gets home even later than that. Does this have anything to do with Katherine and their conversation yesterday?

"MOM? DAD?" I call put, letting myself in through the garage door. There is no answer. I frown at the silence and climb the stairs to my room.

I drop off my backpack and I head to the bathroom to take a shower. Despite the drama with my parents, all I can think about is my date with Ben. Is this going to be a date that leads to us kissing or one where we're half afraid to hold hands?

I decide to wear a navy blue dress that cinches at the waist and falls to just above my knees. It's five o'clock before I blow dry my long brown hair and head to my room to start homework.

I am struggling with the third problem when I hear the door swing open from behind me. I turn around, almost grateful for the interruption.

"What is it?" I ask my dad, seeing him standing in the doorway.

"Haven?" he asks. I am quite taken aback by his urgent tone.

"Um, yeah? What's up?"

"I need you to trust me. Give me your hand," he asks, brisk and businesslike. He's not acting like himself at all.

"What?"

"Please let me see your hand, Haven." I hold out my arm, still shocked.

Dad takes my palm in his and closes his eyes. It looks like he's concentrating very hard. I wait for him to say or do anything, but nothing happens. After the startling introduction, I half-expected to be in trouble for something.

Just as I am opening my mouth to get his attention, I feel a twinge from somewhere deep within my chest, as if some kind of plug was pulled. My eyelids droop suddenly and I can feel the energy draining out of my body like water going down the drain. The room starts to spin, and the lights seem to get dimmer. I try to move, but I am paralyzed. My body starts to go limp without my direction. I feel so tired. All I want is to go to sleep. But I can't. There's something that I have to do. I struggle to remember, but the answer eludes me. All that matters is rest now. I feel something soft at my fingertips. The carpet? I honestly couldn't care less.

"You'll see me again," he says. "I promise."

The last thing I see before sinking into unconsciousness is my dad's sorrowful green eyes above mine.