Kate closed her exam notebook with a fluttering heart. She gathered her things from the floor near her desk and stood, approaching Mr. Avaline's desk. She handed him the blue booklet and he nodded for her to go.

"Have a good summer, Ms. Wexler," he said as she walked away.

"You too, Sir," she replied before shutting the classroom door.

The halls were empty as she walked toward the greenspace. Students were crowded into their classrooms taking their final exams and it was so quiet that she could practically heart the scratching of pens and pencils on paper. The halls were empty and it took all of her strength not to let out a whoop of joy. When she got to her car in the parking lot, her phone vibrated.

"Hey," Jared said on the other end. "Finished?"

"No, I'm sat in Physics with Avaline glaring at me," she quipped. "Of course I'm done if I answered, you idiot."

"Good. Come straight home," her father ordered.

"Why?" she asked.

"Just come home," Jared insisted before ending the call.

There wasn't a sense of urgency in his voice, so she wasn't concerned, but still she rushed home. When she parked in the lot, she saw several other cars parked as well and her spidey senses started tingling.

"Jared! I'm home!" she called through the house as she flung her bag and keys down on the kitchen island.

"In here!" Jared called back to her.

Kate followed the sound of his voice into the family room and stopped in her tracks. Shannon and Tomo were sitting on the sofa, drinks in-hand, as though they had been waiting for along time. She let out a squeal of happiness and ran for Shannon, jumping into his arms just as he managed to stand up. He let out a loud grunt and hugged her back.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" she asked as he released her.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Shannon replied.

Kate hugged Tomo and looked at Jared. "Are you guys rehearsing for the tour?"

Jared nodded. "For the next few weeks, yeah. Tomo is staying here while we do. He said he'd be glad to help you dust the cobwebs off that violin of yours."

Kate blushed slightly. In the daily chaos, she had let her time and attention drift to piano instead. "Er - yeah, I guess."

"How was school? How did the exam go?" Jared asked.

"It was ok. I'm glad I'm done with physics," she sighed. "Tomorrow I have Government, so its gonna be an early night for me."

"Good," Shannon offered. "Because I'm tired as hell."

"I'm gonna get changed and try to cram a few more chapters of review in. Let me know when dinner's ready," Kate said, heading off to her room.

Jared watched her go, slight disappointment evident on his face.

"What's wrong?" Shannon asked.

"I mean...I guess I hoped she'd stay out here and spend time with you guys," he explained.

"Would you rather have her out doing the shit we used to do at her age?" Shannon offered.

"I know, I know. It could be worse," Jared answered. "She's studying, not doing drugs."

The three men disappeared into the studio for a couple of hours and didn't emerge until Kate appeared at the door asking about dinner. They ordered in Chinese food and Kate took hers to her room to continue studying. When the three men had finished their meal and began to drift off to their own activities for the evening, Shannon made his way to Kate's room.

"Knock knock," he said, rapping his knuckles on the door frame. She looked up at him and removed her headphones. "Got a minute for your boring uncle?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. Come on in." She turned her chair around to face him.

He sat on the end of her bed and nudged her ankle with his socked foot. "How have you been?"

"Good. School has been crazy. I'll be happy when this week is finally over though," Kate sighed. "These exams are kicking my ass."

Shannon chuckled. "You are already ten times smarter than everyone else in this family. You'll be fine."

She shook her head. "I'm not so sure about that. You didn't see the class rankings they released last week."
He arched an eyebrow at her. "I'm twentieth."

"Out of?"

"Fifty," she sighed.

"Is that bad?" he asked.

"Its not excellent," she groaned. "These kids are competitive as hell."

"You've got this," he assured her. "You'll be fine. And even if you don't move up any higher in the rankings or whatever, you're still at the top high school in the state - and probably on the West Coast. Any university would be lucky to have you."

Kate blushed. "Sure. But I'll lose my space at Winterlake if I fail."

Shannon scoffed. "Your grades aren't that bad."

Kate shrugged and turned back to her desk. "I'm gad you're back, but-,"

"You have to study," Shannon finished for her. "Its OK. I'll be here for a little bit. We can catch up later."

She smiled as he left her room but turned her attention back to the book in front of her.

* * *

The next afternoon, Nathan had gathered Kate and Jared in the kitchen for an announcement.

"Enough with the secrecy. Just tell us. What's up?" Kate asked, leaning against the counter.

Nathan paced back and forth, hands folded in front of him. "I finally made a choice about college next year."

Jared's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah," Nathan said. "I decided on UCLA. They gave me the biggest financial aid package. Plus its cheaper to live on campus there."

"Why would you need to live on campus?" Jared asked. "You can live here for free."

Nathan blinked in shock. "I - really?"

"Duh. I thought you knew you could stay as long as you wanted," Jared said.

"Oh. Well that's nice of you, but I don't want to -,"

"Shut up and take it," Kate said.

Nathan blushed and ducked his head. "Th-thank you. You don't have to -," he stammered. "I - I'll pay rent or something."

"Fine. But just accept it," Jared said. "You're part of this motley crew, whether you like it or not."

Nathan looked as though he might burst into tears. Instead, he hugged Jared tightly and sniffled into his shoulder. "Thank you so much."

Jared patted him on the back roughly. "I'm glad to help."

In reality, the only reason Jared was suggesting that Nathan stay was because he wasn't sure how safe the teenager would be otherwise. The Japanese were a proud people and Nathan had broken a cardinal rule: never embarrass the family. While the Suzukis would never outright say they wanted to wipe Nathan off the face of the Earth, Jared was sure the thought had been passed around behind closed doors.