Rio didn’t want to be alone. But he didn’t want to talk to anyone. The one person he always turned to had betrayed him. He was as angry with Jerrica as he’d ever been, and they had had some stormy moments in their relationship. But he also knew that no matter what, he had found the truth. It was cold comfort beside the cheated feeling in his heart.

So he walked. He wandered, really, no destination in mind. He simply left his apartment and started strolling aimlessly down the sidewalk. There were a hundred places he could have ended up. But he stopped at the park…the one with the carousel. The one where he and Jerrica went on their first official date.

He sighed and dropped into a bench. How could she have done that to him? What could she have possibly been thinking? He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands, watching the carousel spin around, thinking of how he’d taken Jerrica on it…she’d almost fallen off the horse, and he’d been able to wrap his arm tightly around her. They’d been so happy then. Before Emmett died, before Jem complicated his life…before he’d found out that she was really Jerrica.

Someone stumbled over and sat down hard on the bench on the other side of the bushes. A woman, crying in that sniffling, disappointed way that meant that while tragedy had not been averted, it was not recent, either. He stood a little, and looked over. A woman with curling blue hair was leaned over on the bench, her hands over her face.

She seemed to sense him standing over her, and she glanced up with red-rimmed, pretty eyes and snarled, "What are you looking at?"

"I…uh…"

They recognized each other, suddenly and completely. The girl stood up, startled, and stared at him. He stared back.

"Aren’t you Jerrica Benton’s boyfriend?" she demanded.

"Aren’t you a Misfit?" he asked at the same time.

And in unison they responded. "Not anymore!"

And then there was silence. "What do you mean, not anymore?" he asked her.

She dropped back down on her bench. "What’s it to you?"

He shrugged. "I don’t know. Just wondered."

She fell into sobs again. "I…I…They kicked me out…well, not really, but…"

Rio frowned. He hadn’t meant to upset her. He sat down cautiously on the bench beside her. "I’m sorry…"

"It’s not your fault," she sniffed, getting herself back together. "It’s not your fault."

"Well, listen, if it makes you feel any better…you were their talent. I mean, you wrote all the music, and they can’t perform without you."

She looked at him hopefully. "You really think so?"

"I know so. They canceled out on the party."

Her face lit up. "Oh…then maybe…" She smiled, and reached into her pocket, pulling out a tissue and daubing her eyes. "Maybe they’ll let me back in…"

"Or you could even strike out on your own."

She shook her head, disturbed by that prospect. "No, I don’t think I want to do that. I…" She leaned closer to him. "See, I need the Misfits. They make me feel important. Pizzazz and Roxy and Jetta…I’m part of a group with them. I have something to put all my energy into. Without them, I’m just plain old Mary Phillips. With them, I’m Stormer."

"But they’re always into trouble."

"That’s just one more way they need me. I know that if I keep trying, one day they’ll come around. I can make them better. Just think of all the trouble they’d get into if they didn’t have me at all."

Rio shuddered.

She smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Pacheco."

"It’s Rio."

Her smile widened. "Rio." Then her face fell. "Why aren’t you Jerrica’s boyfriend anymore?"

"You wouldn’t believe it."

"It’s too personal. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pried."

"No, not at all. It’s just…Well, it’s like…" He was surprised to find himself struggling to explain without revealing her secret. "It’s like she’s two different people…" Oh, what did he care anymore? And yet, he simply couldn’t come out and reveal her secret.

"I don’t understand."

"Well, it’s like one part of her is just Jerrica. Comfortable and dependable and always there."

Stormer made a face. "You make her sound like an old pair of shoes."

Rio shook his head. "It’s not like that. It’s just that, well…"

"Skip it. Tell me about the other Jerrica."

"She’s different…"

"How?"

*She has pink hair, for starters,* he thought. "She’s mysterious and exciting and fantastic. She’s a dream."

"Dreams," said Stormer wisely, "tend to lack substance."

"Exactly!" he answered. "The first one is so easy to be with and I love her, but she just doesn’t make me feel like the other one does."

Stormer looked at the ground for a long time, thoughtful. "Which Jerrica do you like better?"

He sighed in frustration. "I don’t like one more than the other! I just wish…I just wish she’d be one person."

"But, Rio, honey, Jerrica *is* just one person!" she laughed. "So she’s got two sides to her." Stormer paused. "She’s not crazy or anything like that…right?"

"No," he said, but he had to think about it for a second. "No, she’s not crazy."

"Then what’s the big deal?"

"She lied to me. She didn’t tell me she was…"

"She didn’t tell you she had that other side to her?"

Close enough. Rio shook his head. "No, she didn’t. And I hate that. I hate liars and deceivers."

Stormer gave him a cynical look. "Oh really? I suppose you’ve explained to Jerrica about this ‘thing’ you’ve got for Jem?"

"What thing?"

"Oh, come on, now. Everyone knows. So, Mr. I-hate-liars, have you told Jerrica about that?"

He looked back in blank-faced surprise. "Well, no, I haven’t…It doesn’t matter now…"

"But it does. You’ve been keeping something from her, too. Even if you’re finished for good, it still matters. Because you’ve got no right to be so offended when all this time you’ve been practically chasing down Jem."

He was quiet for a while. "It still doesn’t make what she did right."

"No. But it makes you a little bit wrong. And while two wrongs don’t make a right, they do make it a little harder to be so holier-than-thou, don’t they?"

He frowned darkly. "Alright, so I’ve been a little self-righteous. But she did lie to me. What am I going to do?"

"Like I said," Mary told him, standing up. "Jerrica is still one person. She’s just got different sides to her. And now that you know that, you can enjoy both of them. And she’ll be more comfortable being one or the other with you. What you really have to decide is, do you still love her even though you feel lied to? Once you can answer that, you’ll know what to do." She took a breath and flashed him a brilliant, beautiful, hopeful smile. "If you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment at Stinger Sound."

He waved to her absently as she walked away. He thought about what she said.

Did he still love Jerrica?

He looked up at the carousel, watching it spin around in the late afternoon sunlight.

And he knew the answer.

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