Chapter 14

AGE 11, JUNE

Will moved back to Philadelphia.

Izzy and I have been super bummed about it. We barely even got to say goodbye, before he was just…gone. He didn't even finish up fifth grade with us, because he got suspended for fighting a kid named Billy Sharpe. And then when he did come back from that, he got in another fight.

This time, with Waylon.

Will's parents pulled him out of school after that, and then his grandma passed away, and the next thing we know, the Fosters are packing a moving truck the following week, heading back to Philly.

Izzy and I were the only ones there the day he left to say goodbye.

Will seemed sad. But not because he was leaving…

He wanted to leave.

He told us we could email each other. But it's been over a week now, and Izzy tried emailing him twice from the both of us. So far we've got nothing back.

Waylon wouldn't tell us much about what happened—why they suddenly stopped being friends—other than something about Will and a girl in our class who they both apparently liked.

He's been quieter than usual since all of this. He'd missed some school too, when it all went down. Got suspended for fighting Will.

Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery have been worried about him. Izzy told me she overheard them talking one night, saying something wasn't right, but she didn't hear what that something was. Just that whatever it was had her mom crying.

The next day, Izzy told me Waylon's dad called them and told them he would be going away to camp for the summer. Izzy thinks it's some kind of boot camp, since his dad was probably real mad about him getting suspended.

She said her parents seemed relieved when they found out he wouldn't just be grounded for the summer. They were worried he'd be stuck inside and alone.

Summer's been weird without him, but at least I still have Izzy and Jeremy.

Though, Jeremy's been acting weird. He only seems to want to hang out with me if Izzy's not around, which isn't often, seeing as it's summer break. So it's mostly just Izzy and me these days.

But we still have our comics, and we've been rewatching the first season of Smallville on DVD at night before we go to bed, or Mom picks me up.

Izzy will watch the show with us sometimes, but usually gets bored and leaves us. She wants to start competing this year, so she's upped her piano lessons with Madam Elise to twice a day, and practices almost every free moment she has. Her parents tried to convince her to enjoy the summer, but she begged and begged and finally got her way.

She doesn't seem to regret it so far.

Still, her parents are strict about how often she gets to play. So she usually saves up all her hours for after dinner, and that's when I hang out with Jeremy.

While I'm kind of jealous at times about the whole competition thing, the idea of going against a bunch of people in packed auditoriums makes my skin crawl. I can barely play an entire solo in front of our families when we have recitals. I prefer to play with a group, like how we do it at school.

Maybe one day I'll feel better about it.

But I'm still nowhere near as good as Izzy, despite how hard I try.

Sometimes I just wanna give up.

Maybe I'm just meant to be a listener.

Maybe the music is only supposed to stay inside me.