Will was staring at the alarm clock that sat on his night stand next to his bed. It told him that it was ten in the morning. It was also telling him that it was the last day of his summer vacation. He groaned and put his arm over his face to shield it from the sunlight that was coming through his window. He didn't want to go back to school tomorrow. He had finished all of the summer work way ahead of time, but he wasn't looking forward to getting up early in the morning and sitting around in a classroom all day. Worst of all Cece was starting high school this year, so he was going to have to see her in the hall ways every day. He knew he wasn't going to have any classes with her, but knowing that she was in the same building wasn't very comforting.

The one good thing about going back to school was that he was going to be able to see his best friend, Jem every day. Not being in school didn't stop him from seeing Jem as often as he could and sleeping over his house, but for July and most of August, Jem had gone to China to visit family, so Will was pretty lonely.

Jem had gotten back about two weeks ago. The weather had really gotten to him, and so had the jet lag, so he had been at home mostly sleeping. His mother said that he wasn't allowed to have any visitors, so Will hadn't seen him yet.

Will sat up in his bed and ran his fingers through his dark locks. They were sticking up in a tangled mess on his head. He would try combing it after a shower. Trying to comb it now would have been a pointless waste of time.

Will climbed out of his bed and rummaged around for his phone. Jem had tried texting him whenever he could, which wasn't all that often, so Will knew that he shouldn't get his hopes up. But he couldn't help it any ways. He felt the phone and turned it on. He had a new message. From Jem!

'My mum says you can come over today around lunch time if you'd like.'

Will smiled as he typed his reply. 'I'll be there.'

Will pulled on a shirt and went outside of his room to look for his mother.

"Mam? Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen Will."

Will went downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Did you need something Will?"

"Yes. Can I go to Jem's house for lunch? He just texted me and said it was okay with his mum."

"Are you all packed for school tomorrow? I know how you two can lose track of time," Linette said.

"Yes, Mam, I'm all ready for school."

"Well, I don't see an issue with it. I'm just going to be taking Cece to the store to make sure she has everything she needs. One of her teachers just posted the supplies she needs last week."

"Before you know it, the teachers aren't going to post what we need for class until class has already started," said Will.

"Oh Will, I hope not. I'm just hoping that the store has everything we need. I don't want to be driving all around New York the day before school starts. You know everyone is going to be out."

"Hopefully you find what you need."

"Did you need a ride to Jem's house?" Linette asked.

"No. I can walk. It's a nice day and I'm going to enjoy my last full day of freedom as much as I can."

Linette rolled her eyes playfully. "Will, you're going back to school, not going to prison."

"It might as well be a prison, with how much work they give us."

"You wanted to go to a private school you know. You didn't have to."

Will thought about the public school system in the area for a minute. Like most school systems, many of the students were behind in their reading. It was bad enough in his school. Will sometimes doubted it was a private school. The only thing constantly reminding him that it was a private school was the fact that he had to wear a uniform. That and how strict the teachers were about students wearing the uniform properly. If you tie wasn't tight enough, detention. Wrong colored socks? Detention. Forgot your blazer during the winter? Detention. Walked around with your shirt untucked? A teacher would probably yell at you to tuck it back in, but they wouldn't' give you a detention for it. Will was certainly grateful for that, or else he would have been in detention more times than he could count.

"Well, I'm going to get ready to go to Jem's house," Will said. He grabbed a piece of bread and stuffed it in his mouth before returning upstairs to get his things ready for the shower.

"Alright. You be good now. Don't stay over too late Will. I mean it."

"I'll be back in time for dinner," he said through a mouthful of bread. He walked into his room, grabbed and towel, then claimed the bathroom for himself.

Will got undressed and turned on the water, waiting for it to heat up. He was excited to see Jem, but it wasn't worth a cold shower.

Once the water was to Will's liking, he stepped in the shower and washed his hair and body as fast as he could. He turned off the water once he was clean and dried himself off with his towel. He then ran back over to his room and yanked his comb through his hair, trying to get out the tangles as quickly as possible. He picked out his outfit for the day, a pair of cargo shorts and a blue polo shirt to match his eyes, and put it on. It was still warm outside, so he decided to wear flip flops. They would be the easiest to take off when he got to Jem's house.

Will made sure that he had his wallet, his phone, and his set of house keys before going back downstairs.

"I'll be back later Mam," Will said as he rushed out of the door.

"Be good!" Linette called before the door shut behind him.

Will started the walk down the street to the next neighborhood where Jem lived. It wasn't that long of a walk, twenty minutes at most if you weren't in a rush. Will however was and he made it in a record eight minutes. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"Oh Will! I haven't seen you in so long. How are you?" Wen Yu opened the door with a smile.

"Hi, Mrs. Carstairs. I'm doing well. How have you been?"

"Good. We all just go back from China two weeks ago. Come in Will, come in." Wen Yu opened the door wider to let Will in.

Will stepped inside and took off his shoes, putting them by the rack with the rest of the shoes.

"Jem is upstairs in his room. Do you want me to bring you a snack? You've gotten so skinny since we left. You need to eat more."

"Do you have any wontons? Those are really good."

"I will bring some up." Wen Yu then disappeared into her kitchen.

Will went up the stairs and into Jem's room.

"Knock knock."

"You know, you could actually knock for once," Jem said with a chuckle.

"I know, but then I wouldn't be me." Will smiled and sat on the edge of Jem's bed.

"I know, but what if I was naked?" Jem was sitting on his bed as well, polishing the surface of his violin.

"It's nothing I haven't seen before."

Jem nodded. "True, but that doesn't mean I want you to see me naked."

Will laughed and ruffled Jem's dark hair.

"Hey!"

"I've missed you Jem. Glad to have you back."

"You sound like you haven't seen me in ten years, not two months."

"It definitely felt like ten years. I didn't have much to do while you were gone."

"Oh Will. Dramatic as ever I see." Jem stood up and put his violin away. He locked the case and put it on a shelf for safe keeping.

"It's not being dramatic, it's the truth!"

Jem rolled his eyes playfully. "Whatever you say Herondale."

"So, how was China?" Will asked, moving to sit cross – legged on the bed.

"It was alright. I just went to visit family really. I go every year so there's really nothing all that new for me to see. To be honest, it was a bit lonely. Since I don't live there anymore, I don't have any friends over there. And trying to get in contact with America is nearly impossible."

"I know. You didn't send all that many emails," Will said.

"I tried to, but my grandparents' internet is so slow. They only really got it for me, so they don't want to have to pay for something they aren't really going to use. They don't understand why I like to use it so much."

Will tried to stifle a laugh. "Aren't most grandparents like that?"

"I suppose." Jem smiled softly. "So besides missing me, how have you been?"

"Alright. Ella came home for the summer so we hung out a lot. She even took me to Coney Island for the day. It was really crowded, but it was a lot of fun. And then of course Cece was driving me up the wall like any usual day. I love her, but some days I really just want to strangle her."

"Is she excited about started high school?" Jem asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"Yes. She's beyond excited. She keeps telling me how she can't wait to be in school with her big brother again. It's been getting annoying."

"Tell me again how you two are two years apart, you're going to be graduating this year and she's just starting?"

Will leaned back and supported himself on his arms. "She's got a late birthday so she started school late. She should be a sophomore, but she's going to be a freshman instead. She just turned fifteen."

"So she's one of the oldest in her class?"

Will thought for a moment. "I think she is the oldest. I'm not really sure. I don't keep track of the incoming freshmen. Each new class is more annoying than then last."

Jem smirked. "Don't you think the seniors when we were freshmen thought we the most annoying thing on the planet?"

"What are you talking about? We were the best freshmen ever."

"If you say so."

Wen Yu opened the door and came in with a tray. She set it down on the nightstand. "There you boys go. Eat up." With that, she left.

Jem looked over the tray. "Wonton soup?"

"I may have asked for it."

"Admit it. You just come here for my mother's cooking, don't you?" Jem picked up one of the bowls and handed it to Will.

Will took the bowl and drank some of the broth, immediately wishing he had let it cool for a moment. It was scalding hot and burned the tip of his tongue.

"Ow! Dammit!"

"I was going to tell you to be careful, but I think you've figured that out on your own."

Will glared at Jem. "Yes, I think I have."

Jem handed him a cup of tea and they drank it together as they waited for their soup to cool off.

"Are you ready for school to start tomorrow?" Will asked, taking a bite into one of the wontons.

"It depends on what you mean by ready. I finished all of the work. I'm not really ready to go back yet. It doesn't really feel like I had much of a vacation with all the traveling we did. We ended up going to Beijing to see Tiananmen Square. It took a day to get there and then we spent the day walking around. Then it took another day to get back to Shanghai. Those trains may be fast but they certainly aren't comfortable."

"That sounds horrible," Will said with a frown. "How are you still able to walk?"

"By some miracle I suppose. Who knows?"

Will shrugged and ate more of his soup. Jem drank some of his tea.

"I for one wish summer vacation was longer. I'm not looking forward to school. We're going to have to start looking at colleges and take the SAT. I know it's not that hard, but that combined with school work is going to be nearly impossible."

"Don't forget that I have to do auditions too. I did a few while I was in China," Jem said.

"Really? You're thinking about going to college in China?"

"I'm thinking about it. I don't know yet. It depends on how my health holds up."

"Oh right. Your asthma gets really bad when you're around smog, doesn't it?"

"Yes it does. That's why I'm not sure if I can go to China. That's one reason why we moved away when I was twelve," Jem said with a frown. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I moved to America and met you, but I do miss China at times."

"That's understandable. I'm glad I came to America, but there's times where I just want to pack my bag and go back to Wales."

Jem nodded understandingly. "There's nothing like your first home."

Will nodded in agreement.

"Well, enough moping. I got a few new games for my Wii if you'd like to play."

"Sounds like fun. Let's play."

Jem and Will played the Wii for a few hours, racing and fighting until Will had to head home for dinner.

"Looks like I'll be needing to practice more while you're gone," Jem said, turning off the Wii.

"Yes. I want some competition next time."

Jem laughed and led Will to the door. "Hurry up and get home before your mother starts worrying.

"Don't worry, I'll get home. I'll see you tomorrow Jem."

"Bye Will."

Will leaned forward and gave Jem a hug. Jem smiled and hugged Will back.

Will put his shoes back on and left for his house, dreading getting ready for school the next morning.