Melissa saw Bobbie Mason and Sarah Coombly sitting on top of a jungle gym. She and went up and tapped Bobbie on the foot.

"Hi Melissa." Bobbie smiled down at her, then looked around the playground. "Are they bothering you again?"

Melissa shook her head. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure come up. Can you get up here?"

"Uh-huh." Actually Melissa had never climbed to the top of that jungle gym, but she had had enough of being called a baby. She grasped the bars and pushed her legs through the opening, hooking the bar with her knees. She’d seen the other girls get up that way. She squeezed her upper body through the space and placed her bottom on the bar to adjust to a sitting position.

"Good," Bobbie said, as she were a teacher.

"What happened to Aimee’s sister?" Melissa asked without preamble.

Bobbie and Sarah looked at each other. "Oh, you don’t know?"

"Oh, she took a bunch of pills last year and tried to kill herself," Sarah said in low voice, as if Aimee could hear her from across the playground.

"Really? How come?" asked Melissa.

"Well, nobody knows that because she was smart and good in school and everything," Bobbie said.

"Just like Aimee," added Sarah.

Just like me, thought Melissa.

"Aimee thinks you picked that report on purpose because you were mad at her," said Bobbie, unknowingly giving her the final piece to the whole confusing puzzle of Aimee’s behavior towards her.

"I didn’t! Why would I do a report on her sister?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "That’s Aimee for you, she thinks she’s the center of the universe."

"She’s just the center of Erika Biswan’s universe," mumbled Bobbie.

Sarah burst out laughing. "That’s the truth," she said.

"She hangs around Aimee like an annoying little fly, " Bobbie said. She made a buzzing sound and waved her finger in Melissa’s and Sarah faces.

"Buzzzz...hi Blondie!" Bobbie said. Erika always called Sarah that.

"Get away!" Sarah swatted at her.

"Buzzz...hi Baby Snitch!" Bobbie waved her fingers at Melissa, doing such a dead-on impression of Erika’s voice that Melissa laughed.

They still laughing when Melissa heard someone calling her name. She looked down at the ground to see Christina Wong from GT.

"What do you want?" Melissa said. She knew she wasn’t being very polite to Christina, who had never been mean to her, but she was sick of the whole GT class today.

"It’s your turn."

"Oh, thanks." Melissa said goodbye to Bobbie and Sarah, and still giggling, did a neat twist that landed her on the ground directly under the jungle gym.

"Don’t forget the bug spray!" called Sarah.

Each of the GT students had to go in and talk to Mrs. Houston about the rough draft of their report, which was what the regular class was doing while they were at the planetarium. On her way into the school Melissa spotted Aimee. Erika and her friends were talking all around her, but Aimee was sitting a little away from them on a bench, her arms wrapped around her legs, head resting on her knees. She saw Melissa looking at her and turned away without whispering to any of her friends. Melissa remembered how Aimee ran out of the planetarium after what Melissa said to her and her red eyes on the school bus. Was it possible that she, Melissa, actually upset Aimee Bidarka? There was a switch.

Back in the classroom, Mrs. Houston wasn’t quite ready for her yet. While she waited she pulled out a sheet of paper.

Aimee, she wrote, Nobody told me about your sister. My brother gave me the idea for the report. You made me mad on the field trip, but don’t try suicide because I said so.

Melissa PS I never told on you and Mike that time. PS 2 Erika might be your friend but she’s mean.

She learned from Pat that PS was what you put in front of stuff you forgot to put in your letter.

Soon it was her turn. Melissa waited while her teacher leafed through her topic research.

"This is good, Melissa," she said, "but I would also like to see some examples of behavior in your report along with reciting what you learned from your research."

"Examples?" Melissa asked, shuffling through her papers.

"Yes, maybe from your research journal?" Mrs. Houston pointed to Melissa’s notebook.

"Oh, right," Melissa said. "Well, I have some observations of adolescent behavior," she said, trying out a new phrase.

Mrs. Houston was nodding, so she continued, searching for words that made watching her brother sound as much like an important part of the report as she could.

"And I’ve been putting down anything I thought was unusual too I guess." Melissa thought she was sinking fast, but Mrs. Houston suddenly looked down at her desk, pointing to a sheet of paper.

"I see," she said, "so you can compare these unusual actions to the warning signs you have listed here?"

"Yeah, right," Melissa said.

"Sounds good, let’s see what you have. Let’s take a look at some of the warning signs and you tell me if you can find any examples."

"Okay." Melissa opened her journal. She had no idea what she was going to say, but followed along.

"Let’s see, how about changes in personality?" said Mrs. Houston.

"Um, I guess that’s like when a subject that argues with people more than he used to or something."

"Sure," said Mrs. Houston. "And withdrawal from friends?"

"Oh I know! Like if somebody starts fighting with their best friend and other people stop talking to him. And, like in change in eating and sleeping patterns, I show how the person is staying up really late and not eating at dinner."

"I think you’ve got the idea. Use your knowledge from the books to form your own conclusions in your report."

Melissa nodded with relief. She thought for sure that Mrs. Houston was going to question all her Brian notes for sure. She was thinking how glad she was that she would actually be able to use her Brian notes for some good when it suddenly hit her.

All of the "examples" of the warning signs were things Brian did! Did that mean that he was thinking of suicide. The thought ran a chill down her back as the rest of class filed in and went to their desks.

Melissa opened her journal and looked at the warning signs she had copied down that morning.

Previous Attempts at Suicide. Well, so far Brian hadn’t tried that.

Changes in personality and mood. Definitely.

"Final Arrangements"-giving things away, etc.. Melissa tried to think of anything she had seen Brian give someone lately. Not in the family. She could ask Anne and Susan at the next game.

Withdrawal from friends. When was the last time she saw Richard, Anne or Maria?

Drug Abuse. Not that she noticed, but who knew?

Talk and Thoughts of Dying. Not that she noticed, but how close attention had she been paying?

Changes in eating and sleeping patterns. He skipped dinner and stayed up late!

Taking Risks. She couldn’t tell anything unusual.

Melissa looked up as a piece of paper fluttered across her desk. Aimee had thrown it. Melissa had almost forgotten about the crazy bus conversation and the note she left on Aimee's desk.

Melissa opened it. What’s wrong with you? it said.

Nothing about Erika or their talk on the bus. Still Melissa thought maybe Aimee was calling a truce. Sometimes when people didn’t bring up a fight again it meant that they just wanted to forget about. Well, thought Melissa, if anyone knew anything about brothers and sisters trying to commit suicide...

I think my brother’s in big trouble, she scribbled on the piece of paper. She folded it up and tossed it back to Aimee.