When Noah and the doctor came back into the room, his face was even paler than before.

Megan now knew he was more sick than confused, but she couldn't keep down the concern for her friend. "Is he okay?"

The doctor rested a hand on Noah's shoulder, avoiding Megan's eyes, looking at his patient instead. "I think it's safe to say you hit your head a little too hard when you collapsed. You definitely have a concussion. Why don't you go sit down?"

Megan stood up to guide her friend over to the patient's bed again, letting him rest his head on her shoulder. She knew the doctor didn't want to talk to her, but she was the one asking the questions, whether he liked it or not. "So will he be okay?"

Once again, he focused on something else instead, this time being the floor. He scratched his head. "Uh, it depends on how bad the injury is. But make sure to tell his father Noah needs to be watched for twenty-four to forty-eight hours."

"Dad's not home," Noah mumbled against Megan's shoulder. "He's on a business trip..." Megan held tight to her friend's hand. She hated how miserable he was.

"Oh," the doctor frowned, "that's not good. Noah, you really shouldn't be alone like this. Is there anywhere else you could stay?"

Noah didn't know anyone else; no other relatives in Parano, and only one friend. Suddenly Megan had a solution. She raised her hand. "Uncle Eli won't mind if he stays with us. If I can borrow your phone I'll call him-"

"Not mine!" The man froze, hand held in the air. Then he put it back at his side. "Uh... your uncle wouldn't pick up if he saw my number."

"Why-"

"There's a phone at the reception desk. You can use that one."

Megan eyed him, though he still wasn't looking at her. Why wouldn't Uncle Eli answer the phone? Does this man have a grudge against my uncle or something? "Okay, I'll go call him."

"Good idea," blue eyes explored the room.

Megan sighed, glancing at Noah. "I have to get up now. Will you be okay?" Noah grumbled quietly as she helped him sit up off her shoulder.

The receptionist was really patient with Megan and let her use the phone. She pushed every number a little slower than when she called Chief Seers; she didn't have to call her uncle anywhere near as often.

"Hello?"

"It's me, Uncle Eli," Megan spoke up above the creaking sound of the front door opening.

"Meg, what are you doing at the doctor's office? Oh gosh, are you okay???"

"I'm fine, Uncle Eli," Megan shot the words out before she accidentally gave him a heart attack; she didn't even realize he might jump to conclusions with her calling from the doctor's office. "It's not me, it's Noah."

Eli sighed with relief. "What happened?"

Megan bit her lip. "We're not sure. All I can say is that Noah collapsed at school and hit his head. The doctor says it's a concussion and that he needs to be watched for a while." She tapped the toe of her boot against the floor. "That's why I'm calling. Uncle Eli, Noah doesn't have anywhere else to go, so couldn't we take him?"

A few seconds went by. "You mean let Noah stay with us till he's better?"

Megan pulled on one of her curls, wondering why she felt so tense about the favor. "Yes? The doctor said he shouldn't be alone."

"How is he?"

Megan frowned. "Pretty miserable. He can't really walk in a straight line without someone helping him, and he's really confused about a lot of stuff."

"...and that's different?"

"Uncle Eli," Megan snapped.

"I'm kidding," he chuckled.

"Be nice." She narrowed her eyes. "Can he stay with us?"

"I'll send Harry to pick you up."

"Okay," she put a heart to her chest, forcing herself to relax. "Bye, Uncle Eli."

"Bye, Meg."

She sighed, hanging up the phone and thanking the receptionist. The woman smiled with a nod and Megan turned to go back to the room.

When she took a few steps, the doctor was suddenly walking past her.

He stopped briefly, muttering under his breath, "It's nice to see you, Megan."

Megan turned around, but he was already talking to the receptionist like nothing had ever happened.
...

Harry was there within fifteen minutes of the call and they were at the mansion in almost the exact same amount of time.

Megan sat at the table, counting down the minutes on her fingers for when she would need to wake up Noah again. Every three hours was what the nurse had told her; the doctor didn't show up again before they left.

She frowned. "Why did he say that? He seemed ready to jump out of a window instead of looking at me. So why tell me it was nice to see me?" She rested her chin in her hands. "And why wouldn't Uncle Eli answer his phone? It doesn't make any sense-" she turned her head towards the opening door.

Eli smiled at her, walking into the dining room. "He's going to be fine, Meg, stop worrying."

Megan wasn't worried. Realizing her expression was the aftermath of thinking about the doctor, she fixed it into a smile. "I'm not worried, Uncle Eli. I know Noah's going to be okay."

"That's good." Eli frowned, "what did you say happened again? Something about collapsing-" the phone ringing interrupted him.

Megan sighed, standing up out of her chair. "I'll get it."

Eli raised a confused eyebrow at her. "You know who it is?"

Megan exhaled with dread. "I've been expecting this." Without any explanation, Megan left the room, walking towards the shiny black landline with careful steps.

When she reached it, she lifted the phone to her ear. "Hi, Mr. Seers."

Chief took a breath to speak, then stopped. "Wait, how did you know it was me?"

"I knew you'd be calling soon." She pulled on one of her curls, letting it bounce back against her ear after letting it go.

"Oh," he sighed, "well you were right. I got a call from the school. How is he?"

Megan pursed her lips. "It's not as bad as when he broke his arm and you took a forty-hour flight just to get back here."

"Megan?"

She breathed out slowly. "Okay, okay. He's fine. I'll answer any questions you have, but altogether, Noah's going to live."

"Are you sure I shouldn't just come back? The school said he collapsed into some lockers. Megan what if he's really hurt??"

Megan closed her eyes. Nothing was harder to handle than a worried Chief Seers; in fact, it was a nightmare. "It's just a concussion."

"Just a concussion?? Megan don't you know people can die from concussions??"

Megan rolled her eyes. If only Noah could see his dad now. "Noah's fine, as I've said over and over again, Mr Seers."

"Megan, why did he feint at school?"

"I don't know. Trust me, I'd tell you if I did. It just kind of happened."

"Megan, if anything's wrong with my son."

Something's already wrong with him, he thinks he sees ghosts! But Megan wasn't going to say that out loud. She bit her lip. "Relax, Mr Seers. Noah's going to be perfectly fine. He's sleeping right now but I'm going to check him often for memory loss and such."

"Memory loss??" Megan winced at her loose tongue, knowing it was a mistake. "Has he... has he had that?"

Megan tugged at several strands of her hair. "Not...badly. But yes." Chief gasped. "But the doctor said it's fairly normal for someone to forget how they hit their head so... He's going to be fine." Megan was getting tired of repeating the same words. If she said fine one more time, Chief might start doubting her for no reason.

"Megan-"

"I've got to go. Promise Noah's fine-" she cringed, "uh, got to go!"

"Meg-"

"Bye!" She hung up, resting against the bureau. "He's probably upset now..." she glanced at the black landline.

But she didn't call him back.

Megan knocked on the door softly before she entered the darkly lit room. Her eyes lit up to find Noah awake, sitting up in the bed.

"Meg, come in!"

Megan smiled, sitting down on the bed and taking his hand. "Do you feel better today?"

He nodded. "I woke up a few minutes ago. I feel tons better than before."

"Good," she sighed, squeezing his hand. She was glad he didn't seem grumpy anymore. Now he was smiling, back to normal. "I was getting really tired of pouting you."

Noah rolled his eyes, sitting up a little. "I've been thinking."

"About what?" She rested her other hand on his.

His eyes sparkled. "It would be really nice to have some of my homework done." Megan dropped his hand. "What did I say?"

She frowned at him, sliding off the bed. "Noah Seers, you know the rules! No activities that require too much thinking! You can't strain yourself!"

"Why are you mad?" He laughed, "I'm not gonna strain myself. I think I know what my brain can and can't take?"

Megan raised an eyebrow. "Like hitting the lockers and getting a concussion?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "That's not fair."

"Doesn't matter," she put a hand on her hip, "you shouldn't do your homework. I'm keeping it hostage till you're all better."

"But I am all better," he insisted, "It's almost like I don't even have a concussion!"

"Do you remember why you passed out?" He froze. "And what about how you still need help getting places?" He frowned, answering her questions. "Then, no, Noah. You aren't all better, and lying won't make me allow you to hurt yourself."

He rolled his eyes, grumbling a little. "You're being dramatic."

You should've heard your dad, she thought to herself. Megan shook her head. "It doesn't matter if I'm being dramatic or not. I'm protecting you, Noah."

He sank back into the blanket. "But I remember what I said two years ago about vampires! Isn't that enough proof?"

"Just give it one more day?" Megan sat on the bed again. "Maybe tomorrow you'll feel a hundred percent."

"I don't want to wait for tomorrow," he groaned under his breath, "that'll take forever!"

"You'll live."

"Will I?" Megan slugged him hard on the shoulder. "Ow! Fine," he laid his head against the pillow. "But I'm getting seriously bored, Meg!"

She shrugged. "Then let's play a game together or something. I can be entertaining!"

"My homework would be a better use of time- ow!" Megan held her hand up, ready to slap him again. "Okay," he took her hand, sitting it down on the blanket, "I surrender."

Megan grinned at him. "Good."

Noah pulled on the edge of the blanket. "Your uncle said I could get a checkup tomorrow and if I'm feeling better then I can go home."

Suddenly she frowned. "So soon?"

Noah nodded. "I've been here too long. And even though according to you I'm not a hundred percent, I'm still getting better. So I asked Mr. Eli if I could go home." Megan's frown grew. Noah sighed, "Meg, you know I can't stay here, right?"

She looked down at her hand, still in his. "I thought it was kind of nice having you here."

"Well I don't," he shot back in a serious tone, "I shouldn't be here, Meg. I'm supposed to be the poor kid."

"Who's friends with me!" She contradicted, "If anyone asked questions, they would come to that conclusion and your cover wouldn't be blown!"

"It's not just that," he grimaced, "I want to go home. I know it's lonely when Dad's gone but I'm more comfortable there." He gestured to the fancy guest room. "And I can't keep taking advantage of your uncle's hospitality."

Megan bit down on her bottom lip. "but I'm going to miss you..."

Noah smirked, "It's not like we're never going to see each other, I'll just be going back home. And we'll get ice cream, my treat."

Megan raised an eyebrow. "Ice cream in October?"

"Why not?" Noah started to laugh. "It's not like it's that cold yet. We're only at the start of the month."

Megan laughed too. "You can be so ridiculous sometimes."

"I cheered you up though!" His eyes sparkled, "didn't I?"

"A little," Megan noticed her friend trying to move over so she could sit beside him. Suddenly he winced and held his temple, making her smirk, "And you said you didn't need help?"

Noah blushed. "I may have been wrong?"

"Just a little wrong," she teased.
...

Noah smiled at Megan across the table as she leaned against Eli's arm. He swallowed a quick forkful of meatloaf and cleared his throat. "Mr. Eli, I just wanted to thank you again for letting me stay."

"Of course, Noah," Eli smiled, running a hand through Megan's bouncy honey-brown curls, "you're always welcome."

Megan laughed at her friend as his cheeks turned a slight shade of pink. For his sake, she changed the subject. "So I took notes for you at school today, Noah. I figured it would help you catch up on some of the classes you missed."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Then I'm sure to get something at least half decent for schoolwork."

Megan kept down a panicked gasp, slowly sitting up off of Eli's shoulder to search his expression.

Noah was already realizing too late that he'd slipped up, taking a long sip of water from his glass to hopefully cover the earlier sentence.

It didn't work.

Eli sat his fork down on his plate, frowning. "What would make your homework half decent? Does Meg not take good notes in class?" Megan gulped louder than she'd meant to. Eli raised an eyebrow, "Megan, is this why we never talk about school?"

Megan felt like she'd choke under the question, but Noah spoke up before she could think of an answer.

"Of course not, sir!" He gave a charismatic laugh, "Megan's doing excellent in school."

"Then why did you say-"

"Because..." he laughed harder, "I'm actually the one doing absolutely awful. I said something, 'half decent' because I'll have good notes to work off of, helping me with my bad grades." He grinned.

Both Eli's eyebrows went up to the ceiling. "So you aren't doing well in school?"

"Completely failing!" Noah stretched his arms out, pulling all the attention towards him. Megan was a little worried her friend was overdoing it; he'd been doing that a lot recently. "Yeah," he shrugged, "I even sleep in class. Our teacher isn't happy about it, but I just have a lot of long nights these days!" He picked up his fork, waving it around, "but Megan could never do badly in school, in fact, she's acing it."

Megan wanted to hide under the table; he was definitely overdoing it.

Staring at Noah, Eli cleared his throat. "Noah, you might want to talk to your dad about this. I don't think he'd be very happy you're sleeping in class, or failing."

"Yes, I know that." It was exactly what Noah planned to hear, but he looked down at his plate as if he'd been scolded. "I keep meaning to let him know." Glancing up, he gave Megan a secretive wink.

Megan rolled her eyes and stood up. "Well, I've had enough to eat. Can I walk you to your room, Noah?"

Noah shook his head, slowly standing up. "I can take the trip myself; I haven't been dizzy in a while." He smiled at the concern in her hazel eyes, "I'm fine, Meg."

Megan nodded, watching as Noah walked out of the room. There was no reason to leave, so she sank back into her seat, resting her hands in her lap. "I wish he didn't have to go."

"I offered for him to stay till Chief came home." Eli shrugged, "but that boy just doesn't feel comfortable in this kind of world yet."

Megan straightened out a small wrinkle in her skirt. "But he belongs in this kind of world..."

"He'll get there, Meg." Eli glanced at her, "By the way, do you want to explain why Chief called me to see if he needed to turn around and come home?"

Megan looked away from her uncle. "I-I may have hung up the phone on him?"

"Why would you do that?"

She blushed in embarrassment, bowing her head towards the floor. "You know how he overreacts. I thought if we stopped talking he'd understand that Noah was fine. I guess not."

"Megan," Eli sighed, rubbing his eyes, "you can be honest with him. He just wants his son to be okay. And Noah getting hurt like that, it's just another thing for him to worry about."

"I'm sorry," she breathed out, "I won't hang up on him again."

Eli nodded. "That would be for the best." He pulled on his hair behind his ear. "I have to admit, Noah's been behaving a lot better than the first time he was here. Remember how much of a disaster he was?"

"Uncle Eli?" Megan flinched, "Can we not talk about this?"

Her uncle looked over at her, letting a few seconds of silence pass between them. Then he smiled. "Okay, but that doesn't mean I'm dropping the subject."

"Sounds good," Megan knelt down and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to bed."

Eli nodded, kissing the top of her head before she could straighten up. "Harry's taking your friend to the doctor in the morning. Do you want to ride along so he can drop you off?"

"No," Megan shuffled her feet, "I'll be okay. I can walk to the bus station, or just walk to school."

"Megan, I can take you if you want-"

"No!" She held her hands up, freezing in place. Eli raised an eyebrow and she laughed. "I'll just go with Harry. Promise!"

"Really?" She nodded. "You promise?" He held his pinky out towards her, making her roll her eyes.

"I promise, Uncle Eli." She linked her pinky with his.
...

Megan clutched her backpack strap, reaching the school after her long and secretive walk. She didn't know how to keep Harry from telling her uncle that she didn't ride with him, but she would come up with a solution later.

She smiled politely at her homeroom teacher as she walked into the classroom. "Good morning, Miss Merco."

"I wouldn't say it's a good morning for you, Megan." The woman handed a small stack of papers to her. "I really wish you'd do better, sweetheart."

Megan sighed, accepting the stack of papers and looking down at the top one. It was her test results, with a lovely D+ written in red Sharpie at the top of the page. The grade wasn't a shock, but seeing it there didn't make it hurt any less. She stuffed the test into her backpack and sat down.

"Alright, class, I'm thinking that today we should review some of the things from our last test. Some of you didn't seem to understand it." Her eyes were on Megan, and Megan wanted to hide under her desk. "But as sad as that is, no amount of money can get a person through life's problems. So you're lucky I've decided to give one of you a chance."

Megan twirled a number two pencil between her fingers, looking over to where there hadn't been a dark brown head of hair in two days. Noah's not being at school made her day harder to get through than before; it felt empty; she hated it.

"Megan?" Megan's eyes jumped up to the teacher's. "I'm picking you for this project."

Some students were grumbling and Megan looked around, confused at what she'd missed. Looking back at Miss Merco, Megan forced herself to smile sweetly. "Me, ma'am?"

"Out of everyone, you need the test pardon more."

"Test... pardon?" Megan knew she was giving away the fact she hadn't been listening, but she wanted to know what she was being chosen for.

"A test pardon is something I came up with," Miss Merco's eyes sparkled patiently, "I need you to write a speech to give to the class. This speech will be about who you used to be and who you've become by the end of October. Really dig deep and work hard on the assignment. Because if you do well, I'll cancel the grade I just gave you on your last test."

Megan felt herself tense up,