So their lives settled into a semblence of normalcy for the next two weeks. Jane, along with help from unexpected sources at the high school (who knew Bio Glass could be so helpful) had all the missing work sent to the girls in secret. It had been tricky but then Bio Glass seemed oddly suited to underhanded techniques. As far as the school board was concerned, the four girls were being home schooled at the moment. Mike, Gayle and Maria were clueless, too caught up in their own arguments with each other to notice Jane’s actions. It wasn’t the best arrangement for the girls, but it kept them from falling further behind in their classes.

Sam and Brooke spoke to Jane almost daily, getting the gossip from home and generally just staying in touch. Having the lifeline to their mother made them both calmer and more at home at Terri’s despite their homesickness. According to Jane, things with Mike, Maria and Gayle hadn’t improved any, but they hadn’t degraded any further either. However, they could hear the strain that the situation was putting on Jane and Mike’s relationship and that bothered them. Sam and Brooke agreed that despite the way Mike was acting at the moment, he made Jane happy and that was all they wanted for her. They didn’t want to see that relationship fall apart because of their own relationship. But they didn’t see a way to fix it at present either.

They had had Jane secretly pass on messages to Harrison and Carmen. Just simple ‘Hello’s’ and ‘We’re fine’. General stuff and nothing that Mike could use to find them. They knew that they were taking a chance that one of them would go running to Mike to tell him that Jane knew where they were but decided it was worth the risk. They all missed their friends badly. Besides, if one of them did decide to rat them out, then they’d know who their true friends were.

Right now, the four of them knew that they could count on each other. It was a strange arrangement, Sam decided as she listened to the steady thump of her feet on the concrete as she jogged. Brooke had been telling the truth, she did jog every chance she got. But she didn’t do it because she was a health nut. Working off the Oreos and other assorted junkfoods was just a side effect of jogging. For Sam running was a form of therapy. It gave her time alone to think and work through her issues. The pounding of her feet on the ground and the rhythm of her heart in her chest served as the soundtrack to which she solved her problems.