Em woke up gasping for air. Her clothes were damp and her lungs burned, as if she'd just been half drowned. She sat up and looked around and with a start, realized she was by the river. She got to her feet unsteadily, shaking.
          Footsteps were hurridly coming toward her. But they sounded different to Em's ears. Louder than normal. She soon realized why. These feet were protected by shoes and were running on a paved street rather than a dirt path. "Where am I?" she thought.
          "Are you alright, Miss?" A boy not to much older than Em was running toward her, looking worried. As he got closer, he slowed, confused. "But... you're... you're wet! That's... that's impossible! You look unharmed. And it didn't rain so... you must have... fallen in..." He didn't come closer. He was afraid the water might get on him. "You didn't. Did you?"
          "I... I don't think so. Last thing I remember is me and Scip..." At the mention of the name, memories came flodding back to her. "Scipio!" she cried out in anguish.
          The boy jumped back at the sudden outburst. He soon recovered himself and put his jacket around her, being careful not to touch the drops on her skin. "Where do you live? I'll take you home."
          She stared at him blankly. "I don't even know where I am, let alone where I live!"
          "Sorry, I wasn't thinking straight. I'll take you to my place, so you can dry up and think." He started to walk away.
          Em said nothing but started to follow him. What else could she do? And he seemed nice enough...
          For a while they walked in akward silence. Then the boy decided he should try and make small talk. "My name's Eric. What's yours?"
          "Em."
           "Short for Emily?"
           "No"
           "Emelia?"
           "No."
           "Anything?"
           "Music."
           Eric thought this was strange. "Music? Your name is Music?"
           "Yes. Scip let me pick it when I was younger. He always let me decide things for myself."
           "Oh." Akward silence descended once again. Once again Eric tried to break it. "Is... erm.... Scipio" he let the name sit on his lips for a couple seconds. He decided he didn't like it to much, but didn't point that out to Em. "Is Scipio your boyfriend?"
           Em laughed. Eric found that she had a beautiful smile. He tried not to blush at this thought.
           "No" Em said smiling "He's my brother. Not by birth though. He found me when I was a baby and looked after me ever since."
           "Found you? What happened to your parents?"
           The smile slid right off her face.
           "Sorry" Eric said "I didn't mean to upset you. You don't have to tell me."
           "Just... I'll tell you some other time. I just don't feel like it right now."
           "That's okay."
           "Thanks"
           He stopped walking. "We're here. Sorry for all the noise. Max, er, my roommate, is having a party after homecoming."
           Em stared up at the apartment building. She was temporarily blinded by the flashing lights coming from the penthouse.
           "What's homecoming?" She asked, trying to regain her sight.
           "Homecoming? Like, for high school? Where are you from?" He asked jokingly.
           "An entirely different world apparently." Em  said thoughtfully.
           "Sorry?" Eric was confused.
           "We don't have schools where I'm from."
           "Sounds like the Ghetto" Eric said, unconciously pionting his noise a little in the air and sniffing slightly. Em stared at him for a second. He looked so stuck up and rich when he was like that.
           "It is."
           Eric stood there, shocked, blankly looking at Em. "You shouldn't be here" He said, coming to his senses. "You could get arrested. You could get me arrested. Crap. You've gotta leave." Eric was frantic now. "Sorry, but my parents would kill me if they had to bail me out of jail." He turned away and started walking to his door.
         "Wait! What do you want me to do!? I've got no where to go and no one to stay with tonight. I'll freeze out here!"
         At this, Eric froze. He stood very still for a moment, thinking. "I guess... I guess you could stay here tonight. We'll try to find your friend tomorrow. Just promise you'll try to blend in."
        Em had been blending in her whole life. "No problem. Will you really help me look for Scip?"
         "Of course. After that, you're his problem." Em nodded. "Okay, are you ready? Remember, blend." Eric held out his hand and together, they walked into the building.