By Tenel Jade

Disclaimer: I don’t own Young Americans or Dawson’s Creek. Dawson’s Creek belongs to Columbia TriStar and the WB, and I don’t know who Young Americans belongs to, but I know it’s not me.

Author’s note: Polite criticism and praise only to [email protected]. Thanks!

Rating: For now, PG

Will Krudski trudged down the street to Bella’s garage. Life didn’t get much worse than this. He sighed, recounting the past few months.

His second scholarship to Rawley Academy had fallen through. Scout’s father was paying his tuition because if he didn’t, Will didn’t have a place to stay, and besides, Scout wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bella and her father were losing the garage to the auction people. After a long hard fight that both Scout and his father had helped in, the auction company and Bella’s mother had still won. The garage was already sold. Bella’s family had two weeks to get out.

Jake, as he had known her, had been kicked out of school, and Hamilton spent his days moping around the dorms. One-word sentences were about the best a person could get out of him. Except in poetry class. Hamilton seemed to have gained an instant understanding of dramatic poetry when Jake left.

Will’s father hadn’t spoken to him in six weeks, ever since he had taken the trip to St. Martin with Scout. Even his mother had been a little cold. When his scholarship had fallen through, his father had shown up one day at Bella’s garage, where he was staying, and deposited all of his stuff. Without expression, he had informed Will that he had no home.

He sighed again, mentally listing all the bad things that had happened to him lately.

“This sucks, Will,” he muttered to himself.

Bella, Grace, and their father were leaving town. There was nothing left for them here in New Rawley. Without the garage, they had no way to earn a living, and the town wasn’t big enough to afford them many opportunities. He was on his way to bid her farewell and collect his stuff.

When Scout had heard about the scholarship, he had immediately tried to fix things, but Will had been adamant. But after his father kicked him out, he had had no choice but to accept Senator Calhoun’s generous offer to fund his tuition. For a little while, he had seriously considered leaving town with Bella, but Charlie had refused to take him. Something about mending things with his father.

Anyway, he would get a new scholarship in a few weeks, and then he’d pay Senator Calhoun back. He really would have gone with Bella if he could have. But Charlie was more stubborn than a mule, and Will knew it was futile.

Shaking off the gloom that surrounded him like a suffocating cape, he entered the garage. “Bella? Grace? Charlie?”

When no one answered, he began a room-by-room search for Bella. He needed to talk to her. Who knew when he’d see her again? He didn’t even know where they were going. Hell, Charlie didn’t even know where they were going.

Ducking into the living room, his eyes widened. He ducked back out, and called her name again, pretending like he hadn’t seen her. “Bella?”

An annoyed sigh came from the room, but so did an answer. “Will?”

“Yeah.” Will entered the room once more, trying to keep a smile off his face. “Hey, Sean.”

Sean nodded stiffly, and looked at Bella. “I gotta go right now, but I’ll be back tonight, all right?”

Bella nodded, gave him a quick smile and a kiss, and watched him leave. When he was gone, Will looked her deep in the eyes, a knowing smile on his face, and watched her blush. “Hey, Bella, I’m not Charlie.”

Bella reached down, her gaze averted, and tucked her shirt back in. “I bet Sean’s pissed at you right now.”

Will grinned. “Yeah.”

The silence between them hung heavily for a minute, and then Bella broke it with a quiet laugh. Will looked up at her. “What?”

“Oh, I was just thinking about how Sean’s feeling right about now.” She smiled. “But honestly, Will, we’re distracting ourselves. I know I’m leaving tonight, and you know it, and neither of us wants to talk about it.”

His face somber once more, Will nodded. “Yeah.” His eyes looked suspiciously wet, and a single tear ran down Bella’s cheek. “C’mere,” He ordered, and Bella stepped into his open arms.

After a moment, they both disengaged themselves, and Bella followed Will into his room. She helped him carry all of his boxes out to the sidewalk, where he was waiting for Scout and his rental car, to get it all back to Rawley. When the car arrived, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed his cheek. “I’ll miss you, Will.”

“Yeah, I’ll miss you too, Bella.” Without a backwards look, he stepped into the car, and let Scout drive him away.

* * *

Andie McPhee was jumpy, hyper, and slightly high on caffeine when she pulled into the gas station in New Rawley. The attendant was a girl, a little younger than her; with the most flowing blond hair Andie had ever seen. A feeling of despair surrounded her, though, and Andie, though both overexcited and nervous, could still feel it.

When she left the station, with directions to Rawley Academy, she pondered her situation. It wasn’t every day that she was awarded scholarships to the most prestigious schools in the area, and she didn’t want to mess it up. Calm down, Andie, she ordered herself. This won’t do any good.

The driveway to Rawley Academy was dirt and pebbles, and she drove slowly. The sides of the road were lush and green, full of trees just beginning to lose their leaves, and bushes densely packed with dark green foliage. She parked outside the girls’ dormitory, and headed inside.

Her room was on the top floor, and her roommate hadn’t shown up yet. She picked one of the beds, and deposited her bags on top of it. According to her schedule, classes didn’t start until the day after tomorrow, and tomorrow was the new student orientation. But it was only two in the afternoon, and she wondered what she would do with the rest of her day.

Deciding she was sick of sitting still, Andie picked herself up, donned a swimsuit, and left the dorms. She started to walk slowly through the semi-forests, and emerged at the lake several minutes later. She knew she could have gotten there much faster, if she wanted, but the roundabout route was pleasant and quiet.

When she reached the water, she picked a secluded area, and dropped her towels and clothing on the beach. She made her way down the waterfront, petted some gloomy guy’s golden retrievers, and was about to enter the water when she heard someone call her name.

She turned slowly, wondering whom it was. As far as she knew, she didn’t know anyone yet. The teachers had her name, but they didn’t have a face to put with it yet, and besides Mister Gloomy, she hadn’t introduced herself to anyone, yet.

When she turned all the way around, she spotted two bare-chested guys headed towards her. One was obviously following, the shorter one with dark hair. The guy out in front…

Andie squinted until she could make out the sandy-haired boy’s face. Surprise was evident on her features when she figured it out.

“Will?” She called. “Will Krudski?”

He jogged up to her. “Andie McPhee. What are you doing here?”

“I assume the same thing you’re doing. Going to school.” A storm cloud passed over Will’s face for a split second, and then he was all smiles again.

“Yeah. Enjoying it?”

“I’m really not sure. I don’t know anyone here, except for Mister Gloomy, over there.” Andie answered truthfully.

Will took one look at where she was pointing, and cracked up. “Mister Gloomy! It’s perfect!”

Andie gave him a funny look, and he sobered. “Hamilton’s been like that ever since Jake left. Jacqueline, that is. I’m not used to calling her that. See, she…” Will paused. “It’s a long story. Anyway, perfect job picking a name for him.”