"Next on our list," Owen says once the three of us are up and dressed for the day, "is the Falice Art Shop downtown."

"Really?" Joey groans. "That place is so boring. I can't stand it."

"You can stay," Owen raises his eyebrows. "Me and Brinley will have a nice time together."

"No," Joey sighs. Looks up in a dramatic fashion. "I'll go. I just think it's lame. I'll never understand girls and their need to stare at abstract things and find beauty in them. It's so boring."

"Do I look like a girl to you?" Owen asks Joey. "I find that entertaining too."

"Well," Joey says. "When you spend all your time around girls, they transform you, man."

"Right," Owen rolls his eyes.

"How far away is the art shop?" I ask Owen, placing my hand on his shoulder to grab his attention.

"About thirty minutes," he says. "Why?"

"Just wondering if," yawn, "I will have time to sleep on the way."

I lean my back against the wall, closing my eyes to yawn once again. It's hardly seven in the morning and I was up late last night rereading the Harry Potter books. I only got through the first two, of course. It's worth it, even being my tiresome self.

"You went to bed at nine last night," Owen says, looking confused. "Why are you suddenly so tired?"

"I-" yawn "-didn't go to bed right away," I shrug, taking long blinks. "Why're we leaving so early anyways?"

"I'd like to know the answer to that question, too," Joey says, placing his hands in his hips.

"Don't you sass me," Owen rolls his eyes at Joey. "I told you, you don't have to come."

Joey mumbles something under his breath that sounds quite a lot like 'Too early to suppress it.'

"And yes," he turns to me, "you can sleep in the car."

I don't take anything to the car except for a blanket that I'll be enjoying on the ride there.

Joey goes to open Owen's passenger side door, but Owen gives him a pointed look.

"She's going to sleep! She can do that in the backseat, don't you think-"

"You have no manners, Joey," Owen says. "Don't you think so, Brin?"

"Huh?" I ask, in the midst of another yawn. "Yeah... Sure... Right."

"See, there you have it," Owen says.

With that, Joey takes his place in the back seat and I join Owen up front. We listen to his favorite playlist, consisting of The Killers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Thirty Seconds to Mars. I fall asleep fairly quickly, the words of Beautiful Lie sticking in my head.

<•>•<•>

"Look at this one!" I say, smiling through my tiredness. I almost can't believe I fell asleep on that car ride.

"Absolutely stunning," Joey mumbles, rolling his eyes.

The painting is of a woman standing near a cluster of trees, the sun just hanging above the horizon. I can tell straight away that the warmer colors were used surrounding the woman to give a sense of comfort, yet the trees have hints of blue and green, giving a mysterious touch to the picture.

"Oh, and this!" I say moving a few over. It is a night sky, but the stars and planets create a woman's face.

"Exquisite," Joey grumbles sarcastically.

"I love this one," I gasp as I make my way towards a picture of a little girl holding a bundle of flowers to her nose.

"Truly magnificent," Joey mutters as he grudgingly follows me around.

"Owen, come here, come see this one," I say, turning and finding Owen examining a sculpture of three hoops stacked on top of each other, tiny metal figurines climbing up each.

I show him a painting of a mother and daughter holding hands in front of an ocean, their backs facing us. The sun looks like it's exploding across the water in yellow and orange streaks. It's beautiful.

"She looks just like you," he says. "Wow."

"Yeah, Brinley, do you have a child we don't know about?" Joey says. "Do you pose for pictures on your free time?"

"Well, duh," I smile.

It's not a large painting, only ten by twelve. It's so detailed all the same. Owen pulls it off the wall and walks off with it. I'm about to object, but Joey catches my attention.

"Look at this," Joey laughs.

It's a sculpture of a man with a mustache that touches the ground. I'm fairly amused by it, but I find something that interests me more. Owen's walking back over, a bag in his hand.

"Did you buy that?" I gasp.

"I might have," he smiles at me.

"You don't have to-"

"Hey," he stops me, "I wouldn't get it if I didn't want to."

"Thank you," I say to him as he hands me the bag. I pull out the framed picture and admire it once more.

"Um," Joey says awkwardly. "Not to ruin your moment, but I'm so starving that my stomach's caved in and sounds like a lawn mower."

"Fine," Owen says. "Let's go get some lunch."

"How about that one place?" Joey asks.

"You'll have to be a but more specific," Owen rolls his eyes.

"The barbecue place that Brinley used to love," Joey says with a grin.

"Oh, yeah, let's do that," Owen nods his approval. "You actually had a good idea for once, Joe, congrats."

Joey takes a low bow before we all exit the store.

The car is toasty hot when we get inside and it burns my fingers to touch the seat belt. My butt is burnt through my jeans.

"Roll down the windows!" Joey demands.

And so we begin to drive downtown, windows down, music blasting. I don't know what it is about this that makes my blood pump adrenaline, or make me feel this great. But all of a sudden I start singing along with the lyrics of the Killers song. I must have these lyrics memorized by heart from my past.

The wind is blowing my hair over my face but I don't care. I put my hand out the window as I sing, my heart feeling happy.

"How do you know that you're right if you're not nervous anymore? It's not so bad, it's not so bad... Higher and higher, I'm gonna take you down to the wire, we're gonna make it out of the fire, higher and higher, higher and higher, I'm gonna take you down to the wire, we're gonna make it out of the fire, we're gonna make it our home, higher and higher."

When the song ends, I see Owen staring at me, dark eyes wide. He looks happier than I've seen him in a very, very long time and that's saying something. He looks in awe.

"What is it?" I ask him, eyebrows raised. Joey's staring at me, too.

"I haven't heard you sing since before the accident," he says, sounding breathless.

"Dang," Joey says. "I forgot how good you are."

I smile at the two of them, feeling slightly embarrassed and slightly pleased. Owen takes my hand in his and continues driving now, the smile not leaving his face, and I hum the rest of the way to the barbecue.

<•>•<•>

"This is so good," I gasp as I take another bite out of my steak.

"Of course it is," Joey says, "this stuff is heaven. It used to be your favorite."

"Still is," I take another bite.

Owen ordered the same thing I did, and he seems just as content with it as I do.

About twenty minutes later, we're all full and happy. Owen pays, assuring both Joey and I that it's all good, and then we head to the car.

"Wait," I stop walking, "I left my bracelet at the table."

"I can come back with you," Owen says.

"No, no, I'm fine, I can walk myself into a restaurant. You guys keep going, I'll meet you there in a minute," I say with a smile. Then I hand Owen my bag with the painting. He gladly takes it with him.

"The car's right around the corner, okay?" Owen says.

"Yeah," I nod.

Then I head off back into the restaurant at a quick pace. I find the table pretty fast, grab my charm bracelet, and exit.

The road is completely empty. This isn't a very busy town, from what I gather. There shops are all open around us, but I don't even know if people are in there.

I start to round the corner, but someone catches my wrist. Thinking it's Owen, I turn around with a smile. When I realize who it is, my smile fades.

"Jonathan." My ex-boyfriend from Junior year that turned me into an unrecognizable person.

His name hardly escapes my lips before his hand is over my mouth and he's dragging me away. I try to thrash and scream, but he won't release his grasp.

"Help!"

But it only comes out as a muffled screech. There is nobody here to notice me, but I beg that someone does. Please, anyone, come outside, save me.

Where's Owen? Where's Joey?

I should have let him walk with me. I should have, oh gosh, and now Jonathan's going to kidnap me.

I step on his foot as hard as I can. I hear him wince, and his hand slips off my mouth for hardly a second, but I use that to scream. Nobody really seems to notice. I kick again between the legs, and he releases his grip completely, and I try to sprint. I scream as loud as I can.

I turn around and I see hope. Owen runs around the corner, looking frantic. He must have hear me scream.

"Owen! Help!" I yell, and Jonathan takes my moment of pause as a moment to regain his grasp on me.

Owen is running as fast as he can. Jonathan's dragging me away, and I am struggling as best I can. He's lifted me off the ground so I can't kick anymore. I do the only thing I can think of to protect myself, I spit into his hand.

Jonathan lets out a harsh gasp as Owen's fist collides with his head. I see Joey round the corner as well, looking terrified. Then determined.

Jonathan lets go of me and begins fighting against Owen. Their fists crash against each other, and I can hear winces and angry grunts. Owen knees Jonathan in the stomach, but he retaliates by punching him across the jaw.

"Run," Owen gasps, "Run, Brinley."

I hesitate for only a moment, then I begin to sprint. And then I see three large men jump out of a van and they're coming right at me. One grabs me, refusing to budge as much as I try. The other two go for Joey, who is now trying to fight against Jonathan as well.

Owen's on the ground. My head aches. I can hardly see. I think he's unconscious, but I can't tell. Jonathan seems to think he is. He stands up with a grunt, then walks away from Owen, smirking.

The other two men knock Joey to the ground. His eyes lock on me, looking terrified, and then they roll back in his head after a punch straight to the temple.

I'm officially done for, is my only thought as I'm thrown into the van.