Everyone stays still, shocked at first. Did he just say...? Is he serious? I watch him carefully, trying to read his expression. In searching for some sign as to why he would do this. He's not even looking at me.

"Was it something I did?" I ask, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He still refuses to look at me.

"What's the matter with you Brendan? What's this crap all about?" Drew stands up, walking over to Brendan looking even more furious than earlier.

"I have reasons," Brendan defends, shaking his head.

"Really? I can't imagine it has nothing to do with us dating and your jealousy," Drew says angrily.

"The photos aren't in on time. I only have one conversation recorded for your entire fake dating thing. We need someone you aren't distracted by and can get stuff done. That's why Mandy's here," Brendan explains.

Mandy looks extremely uncomfortable standing beside him right now. She's looking at her feet, playing with her long locks of hair.

"The stupid photos aren't here on time? Good excuse, Brendan," Drew runs his hand through his hair. "The girl's working harder than you or any of us!"

Brendan glances at me, a look in his eyes unreadable. He looks me over quickly, as if seeing how I'm taking it. Even with as much confusion and sadness I feel, I can't let them see it bothers me so much.

"It's okay," I say quietly, standing up from the couch.

"No, Lili, stay here, we're going to figure this out right now," Drew tells me, grabbing my hand.

"No, really, it's okay," I give him a small smile that I have to force.

"It's not okay, you did nothing wrong," Drew shakes his head. "Brendan, you idiot! Tell her she can stay."

Brendan just watches me with that same look on his face. I turn away from him and start walking towards the door. Drew tries to stop me, but I shrug him off, telling him I'm fine.

"Really, Drew. I'm fine. You go do the article. I'm fine," I say, opening the front door.

"Drew, get in here, we have some things to discuss," Brendan yells from the living room.

"Go," I tell him. "It's okay."

Drew looks genuinely upset by this whole thing. He just looks at me sadly, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."

I try to smile, but I guess all my fake smiles have run out. I look back into the room where Mandy's meeting everyone, smiling and laughing. Danny's already laughing as well. For some reason, the sight stabs at me.

"I should go now," I say quietly, turning away.

"Wait," Drew says, grabbing my shoulder. He pulls me towards him and presses his lips to mine softly. "I'll come over after, okay?"

I nod my head. Then Brendan calls him again. I turn to leave, closing the door behind me. I walk slowly down the stairs and towards the car.

That's when I remember we took Danny's car. I look back, about to go back and ask Drew if he could give me a ride. But I see everyone through the window. Drew is there by Danny, talking to Mandy happily, laughing. Her beautiful smile and perfect hair make my insides burn. I can never amount to that. I decide to leave any thought of getting a ride from Drew.

I start walking down the sidewalk, arms crossed, cheeks pink from the cold. My ears are frozen, my eyes having trouble staying open because of the cold wind blowing at me.

I can't help myself from being sad, no matter how hard I try. It's not even just the fact that I can't do the article anymore. I just didn't think I did anything wrong. I don't understand. It has to be personal.

And I can't erase the memory of Mandy. As soon as I left the room, everyone started chatting. They all talked with Mandy happily, laughing. Lili's gone? Oh, the new prettier and funnier girl's here now. It's okay.

I feel tears welling up in my eyes as I walk. Maybe Mandy will be a better one for the part. She's far more beautiful. I bet she's talented with a camera. Everyone seems to love her. She can take my spot easily. She had no shoes to fill whatsoever.

I bet that even Drew isn't too horribly sad. I also bet deep down inside, he wishes he'd waited a little longer to ask me to be his girlfriend. I bet he wishes he didn't commit to me yet because with this new girl who's so much better than I am coming in, he could've had her. He could've taken the girl that's every boy's dream. Maybe he still can. He's fake dating her, isn't he?

And Brendan, I thought he was my friend. I thought he wasn't ashamed to have me as a friend. That must be why he doesn't want me to be a part of his article. He's embarrassed. He wants a better dressed, better looking, less nerdy girl to take that role.

It all makes sense.

I'm being replaced. Not just from the article. They don't want me to be friends with them anymore. None of them want to tell me. They all think it, though. Mandy will be a good change for them all.

Maybe Caleb will take me back.

And if he doesn't, maybe I can just lock myself in my room and stay there for a year until I graduate. Then I can go to college and start over. New friends.

I'm fine. I'm okay. I'll find new people. These aren't the only ones left.

I turn into the driveway of my house, wiping the cold tears off my face with my sleeve. My mom's car isn't here. She's still at work. And my key is in my purse which I left in Danny's car.

What good luck I have.

I walk over to the porch and try to unlock the door for good measure. No. It's locked.

The back door could possibly be open. Besides the fact that we never even use the back door. I go anyways. I open the gate on the side of the house and walk through the cold lawn of dying grass. The sliding door won't budge either. I rest my back against the door and slide down. My head falls onto my knees, my arms wrapped around my legs. Eventually, I fall asleep.

*•*•*

"Lili? Lili?" A voice calls in the distance. "Oh my gosh, Lili!"

Someone shakes me. My eyes open slowly, and I lift my head up off my arms. I take a deep breath and rub my eyes. My mom stands in front of me, looking frantic. She holds onto my arm and helps me stand up. Immediately, she pulls me into a hug.

"We've been looking for you for an hour, Lili," she whispers. "Drew called sounding so worried. He said that he forgot he drove you, you must have walked. I got here and the door was still locked. I was so nervous, Lili. You can't do that to me."

"I'm sorry," I whisper.

"Come here, everyone's worried sick. We have to let them know I found you," my mom says, dragging me to the front yard with her.

I'm surprised to see how many people are here. Danny, Drew, Brendan, even Missy, Karen, and Mandy. I feel immediately awkward walking over to them.

"Lili," Drew says when he sees me. He rushes over to me and pulls me into his arms. He runs his fingers through my messed up hair and lets out a sigh. "I was so nervous. I'm sorry, I'm so stupid. I should've taken you home. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I'm fine," I tell him quietly.

"You don't have to keep saying that, Lili. You can let me know when you're upset about something," Drew tells me. "You don't always have to be okay."

If only you knew. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm not okay."

"Let's go inside, get you warm. We can talk about it in there," he tells me, releasing me from his embrace.

We walk over to the others. Everyone looks relieved to see me over here.

"Look who's alive," Danny smiles and waves.

"I feel like I'm coming home from a four year trip to Africa. I just fell asleep in the backyard," I laugh.

"We're glad," Danny says.

Brendan doesn't say anything. He just watches me with the same look on his face that he's had all day. His focus is so strong that I have to look away.

Drew tells them all that I'm pretty tired and he's going to take me inside. I thank them for trying to find me and wave them goodbye. Drew and I go inside the front door and up the stairs to my bedroom.

"You're upset," he says finally, sitting beside me on my bed.

"Not necessarily upset. I'm just..." I sigh, not being able to find the words to describe my feelings. "I'm feeling very exchangeable, maybe."

"Exchangeable," Drew repeats, looking at his hands.

"I'm not too set back by not doing the article. That's not what's making me feel this way," I try to explain to him, looking up into the mirror across from me. That's when I notice my smearing makeup from my earlier shed tears. I try to casually wipe off my face, ridding my cheeks from the remaining stains.

"What is it that's setting you back, then?" He asks curiously.

"I think it's Mandy," I say with a drawn out sigh.

"Exchangeable," Drew nods. "You feel replaced."

"Not only in the place of the article," I tell him. "I already feel like my place has been filled... As a whole."

"In our group?" He asks, looking at me carefully.

"Yeah, I guess just seeing you guys talking and laughing when I left made me think that maybe I just was easily exchangeable. And someone like her can obviously fill any place I could have possibly left," I say, looking away.

"Lili," he says, lifting my chin so I look at him. "Your place is impossible to fill. No Mandy could replace you. You're beautiful just the way you are."

"Yeah, you're kind of required to say those things to me," I mutter under my breath, turning away from him, "as my boyfriend."

"Don't doubt yourself," he tells me, shaking his head. "Everyone loves you just the way you are. Everyone wants you here."

"I don't think that if I were to leave it would make a big impact," I shrug. "I don't mean to sound like a pessimist, or like a depressed high schooler, but I'm just... I don't know..."

"You are wanted. Did you see how many people were out there looking for you today? All of them. They all care about you. You should have seen Danny. He was running up and down the streets calling your name, knocking on your neighbors doors, trying desperately to find you. Brendan looked about the most frantic I've seen him in a long time. Missy and Karen were even worried about you. We all care," Drew says, smiling.

"I still think it's ridiculous that you didn't just look in the backyard before deciding to search the neighborhood," I tell him with a small smile.

"We didn't think you'd go back there when you found the locked door, we thought you'd wander," he defends.

"Okay, okay," I say, shaking my head.

"Trust me, Lili. You're loved. You're wanted. You're cared for. You're irreplaceable," Drew tells me, his eyes searching mine. As much as I may try to doubt, I actually believe him.