Why do I always have to pee so early in the morning? I'm asking myself this as I come out of the bathroom. On my way back to my room, I stop at Myrtle and Andrea's door. It's ajar, and there's a lamp on. I knock gently and push the door open enough to poke my head inside.

"Hey," I say when I see they are both awake.

"Join us," Myrtle says, patting the bed beside her. I notice Michelle is in here too. What the heck?

"What's going on?" I ask, closing the door and climbing onto Myrtle's bed, glancing at each of the girls. "Is there a cult forming that I should know about?"

Michelle snickers, "You nut," she says, shaking her head. "No one is starting or joining a cult. But there is something Myrtle would like to talk to you about."

I look at Myrtle who is visibly taking deep breaths to calm hidden nerves. I move a little closer and squeeze her hand.

"Take your time," I say softly. "Whatever it is, I'm here."

"I know you are," she replies softly. "It's just a little weird to bring it up. Since you and your sisters came here, my friendship with Maddox was zapped. Evaporated into thin air. We grew apart. But he's a completely different guy when he doesn't feel the pressure of believing you girls might turn against him when he's present."

"Is that why the two of you have had these secret signals and have been getting rides with each other everywhere? You get along best when we're not around?"

Myrle sighs, "Not exactly. The last couple of weeks have become a bridge to repairing that friendship. Part of the reason Maddox even started teasing me was that it was the only interaction he had. He felt threatened and that's how he chose to handle it. Probably the wrong choice, but we never know how we are going to react. Stuff just happens."

I glance at my twin and notice that she is watching me carefully. It's as if she's already heard this and wants to see what my reaction will be.

"If we can all try to get along," Myrtle goes on, pulling my attention back to her. "I won't have to choose sides. Because I really need all of my friends to lean on right now . . . Especially when I won't ever be seeing my dad again."

A tear falls down her cheek when she mentions her dad. I know the reason Myrtle is here in the group home is because he's in jail. And she has no other family. We are her family.

"Oh, Myrt," I say, pulling her into a hug. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"How could you know?" she whispers, clinging to me. "I've been keeping it bottled up inside for weeks. It's been eating away at me. I've only just come to terms with the fact that I've withheld a lot from all of you, including Maddox. When you came here, even though I didn't mean or realize I was doing it, I pushed him away and didn't keep the bridge open for him. That's my fault. But what happened to Honey weighs in the balance and he knows she's holding something against him that isn't even his fault."

Myrtle is crying now. I rub her back and look over at Andrea and Michelle. Their expressions are conflicted and saddened.

"Have you tried opening up about this to Honey yet?" I ask, pulling away and pushing Myrtle's hair out of her face.

"Not entirely," she replies, shaking her head and rubbing her nose on the bottom of her T-shirt. It's a Green Day concert tour shirt. I've seen her wear it many times, but I've never asked what it means to her. Somehow, I know it's important to her. I suddenly of the times she's worn it during the day, and not as PJs. Maddox would enter the room and glance at the shirt. It was one of the rare occasions that he didn't talk, just looked and then left the room.

"Random question," I say, tugging the hem of the shirt. "Did Maddox give you this shirt?"

"Uh, w-well," Myrtle stutters, blushing. "In a sense. He somehow got us concert tickets about a month before you came. He bought me the shirt and . . . It was kind of the last time we did anything together. And work doesn't count. Even though he was the one who got me the job."

"So, you've been stuck in a very awkward situation," Michelle says.

"Yeah, and Maddox is basically my boss, so it was really weird. We basically behaved the way we do here, in front of you. But not as intense. Like, I've been able to see over the walls he put up . . . but then, when the elephant in the room is mentioned, the walls a built higher."

"How did you manage to get him to where he was last night?" Andrea asks, which piques my curiosity.

"We came to a truce at work last week," Myrtle replies, pulling her hair into a messy bun. "And then, after some gentle advice from Mrs. Gonzalez . . . I've slowly been trying to mend things. The day before Maddox extended Charlie's party invitation, I wrote him a letter. I pretty much told him how I need him to work with me on this and I would approach each of you myself. But for it to work, I told him he is going to need to push through and let his old-self shine again. But it's not easy for him. Not when he enters a battlefield each time he needs to tell me something."

I frown, "I'm sorry."

"Trust me, I forgive you. I'm not going to hold anything against any of you. I just need all of you to get along. For me. I need all of you and I want to know I have friends I can lean on. I might have to call on Maddox once in a while. And if I'm sharing a place with Honey, I will need her to help me too."

I nod and pat her thigh. "You know I've always had your back. We all do . . . I will try to get through to Honey. Maybe she just needs a reason to let that issue go."

Myrtle nods and lets out a sigh of relief. A knock on the door makes all look, and Honey enters. Her hair is a mess and she's rubbing her eyes.

"Where's the party?" she asks with a sleepy smirk.

"No party," I reply, shrugging. "We just all woke up at the same time and didn't want to wake you."

"Oh," my big sister yawns and shakes her head. "I heard someone calling for breakfast. I think we'd better go before some of the guys eat it all."

She barely looks at Myrtle before leaving again. Myrtle has a partial pout as she gets out of bed and follows. I look at Michelle and Andrea.

"Let her bring it up when she's ready," Andrea says, offering me her hand as she stands. "It's Myrtle's choice how she wants to handle this."

I nod and let her pull me to my feet.

"Is it weird that I want to accept Maddox as her friend?" I ask because the question is making me wonder whether I've ever actually disliked the guy.

"No, it's not," she smiles, shaking her head. "I think we've all wanted to accept him as someone to trust. We just didn't know it yet."

I snort, but not because what she says sounds stupid. It actually makes a bit of sense.