Stephanie Johnson:

I wasn't sure what to make of Darcy. She seemed too happy and cheerful to have suffered through the same camp. She had a smile that lit up the whole room and brightly colored box braids that went past her waist.

"You know, I'm surprised you made it out." Darcy's voice came from across the room. The woman had been ill for a few years, making it difficult for her to stand for more than a few minutes. I had no problems helping out where needed, after all, I was a freeloader. Most of my injuries had healed up pretty well and I had apologized profusely for using up all their gauze. If helping out with cooking and cleaning was enough to pay for my stay, I was glad to do so.

"I still can't believe I did it. What about you?" Maybe I was pushing it, but I needed to figure out how such a dainty woman made it out of camp. Literally, she could hardly kill a fly.

"It's complicated. Our mother took the fall for it anyway." That answered absolutely nothing. The sibling's mother had apparently died last year, though, from Luke's tone, it was murder.

"Oh."

"Hey Stephanie, could I get your help?" Luke called me from another room over. His voice was oddly deep for his personality. The boy reminded me of a rabbit with his big eyes and cute dimples. Did I just say cute? Sauntering over to the next room, I came face-to-face with a shirt. Or rather the shirt that a body was in. A warm body at that.

"Sorry I didn't see you there!" I looked up to see Luke's goofy grin I had slowly grown accustomed to. His dimples held a charm much like Santiago's, but warmer.

"Hey, you're kinda red? You ok?" Shit.

"I'm fine!" It was a hasty response, and Luke's raised eyebrow indicated that he noticed.

"Here's a box of some of Darcy's old clothes for you to try out." Obviously I didn't have really any other clothes so I had been borrowing some of Darcy's current clothes. She was much slimmer than me, which meant the clothes were all a little tighter. I took the box from Luke, taking a peek inside. Oh my god, some of this is really expensive!

"I can't take this! It's all really pretty and nice stuff!"

"So are you."

"What?" If I hadn't matched my hair before, I certainly did now.

"Nothing." He rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.

"What're y'all doing back there?" Darcy's voice had a hint of giggles, she definitely knows.

"Nothing!" I snickered as Luke's voice cracked.

"Go try the clothes on!" He practically shoved me into the bathroom with the box. Now that I could actually inspect the clothes, I was amazed by their quality. Some of the brands were known for the price tags my friends and I gawked at. Digging through, I found a very familiar pair of shoes.

"Steph look at this pretty bag!" Audrey's overly excited voice came from behind me. Turning around, I saw the girl practically gushing over a designer bag.

"That's what you said about the last one. Where's Zoe?" The two of us looked for the petite girl.

"Zoeee!" Audrey tied back her dark wavy hair, one of the many things I envied about her. Literally, I would kill to have lush think hair instead of my flaming rat's nest.

"What d'ya want?" The girl in question wandered back towards us, eyes preoccupied with a pair of shoes in her hands.

"Oh my gosh, those are super cute!" They were relatively low heels, but the beautiful nude color could match almost any skin tone. Not to mention the adorable strap.

"Yeah. Check the price though." Zoe showed us the price tag, one that almost made my eyes water.

"Who the fuck spends two hundred dollars on a pair of shoes?" Audrey gave me a gentle slap, no doubt reprimanding me for my language.

"Obviously not us." Even though she tried, Zoe couldn't hide her disappointment. Her birthday was coming up in a few days, but her parents were away on some sort of missionary trip. Again.

"Let's go eat!" Audrey, making an attempt to brighten the mood, pulled Zoe out of the store, shoes abandoned.

The next day, Audrey and I returned to the store, set on getting those shoes for Zoe. I'll admit, it was a little painful to hand over my debit card, even though Audrey had agreed to split the cost. We painstakingly packaged up the shoes in preparation for Zoe's birthday the next day.

When she opened it, there was a flood of tears and about a thousand thank yous. No matter how much fun we had, the emptiness of her apartment was clear. Her parents, for the third year in the row, had skipped her birthday, telling her it was for a good cause and leaving fifty dollars on the table.

We stayed at Audrey's house that night.

"You okay in there?" Luke's voice drifted through the door, startling me.

"Yeah! The clothes are great, thank you." I carefully placed the shoes in the bottom of the box, trying to forget the emptiness I felt. I miss my parents. I miss Audrey and Zoe. Heck, I even miss Santiago. Wiping my eyes, I exited the bathroom, having put on a clean shirt and a pair of shorts.

"What're we doing for dinner?" As much as I liked helping out, if I had to cook another piece of chicken, I was going to die.

"I dunno, what do you want, Luke? Please don't say chicken" Darcy had obviously gotten tired of it, too.

"I'll go pick up something," he responded. I was about to ask to tag along when Darcy spoke up.

"Great! Steph I wanna talk to you, so stay here." Grabbing his wallet, Luke left, carefully shutting the door behind him.

"What's up?" I sat down across from Darcy, who was propped up on the bed.

"Do you like my brother or something?" Funny, I had the exact same conversation with...Becky.

"I don't know." I honestly couldn't give a better answer, "Right now I just want to get my own brother back."

"M'kay." Self-consciously, I went to play with the frayed hem of my shorts.

"How come you guys never sold these clothes if you needed money?" Oh my god, that was so insensitive.

"I think Luke wants to believe I'll be back to normal." Her smile was sad as she looked at me.

I wish everything was back to normal.

I wish I could rewind time.