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We knew for certain that Marissa’s stepfather was back in jail, but being in the house that he’d found her in was detrimental. I agreed wholeheartedly that a change might do her good, and I found us a new house within days. I had to blow out our savings getting the money together to move, but I did it without reservation. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to help her get better.

Chapter Six
Dominique
    Marissa is slipping away a little more each day. She has been like a walking zombie for almost four weeks now, and it’s to the point where Dillon is going to have no choice but to put her in the hospital. She doesn’t eat, she rarely sleeps and she refuses to leave the new house. I’ve only seen her perk up once when she was talking about a garden Dillon was working on.
    I’m scared, so fucking scared. I’ve never had a friend that I love as much as I love Marissa. We were supposed to be on a new road, healing together. Now she’s trapped in the past and nothing any of us do is helping to bring her back.
    Her therapist has been doing home visits every other day, and she called Dillon last night and told him that she needs to speak with him tomorrow morning. It’s pretty obvious that she’s going to ask for Marissa to be checked into a mental hospital, and it’s breaking Dillon and Leah because Marissa has always been adamant that she can never be locked up like that.
    Leah is at their house every single day. I’ve grown close to her very quickly, and most nights after dinner she and I will lie on the bed on either side of Marissa and tell her how much we love her, begging her to find her strength and come back to life.
    Of course, I’m out and out lying to my family about where I’m spending all of my time. They know about my friendship with Marissa, but I never told them that she was so much older than me, or that she is married. They think I’m hanging out with my friend, and that’s that. It’s nothing unusual, not really. I hide a lot from them, even though I know that sounds terrible. I love them all so much, but I can’t burden them with all of my crap.
    They’ve given me some guff about spending so much time out and for missing family dinners, but I’ve basically shut them down by behaving like a brat and pointing out that I’m allowed to have a life. Pointing out that I’m an A student who has never done drugs didn’t hurt, and they’ve been pretty cool about me spending time with friends.
    This is where I want to be, even though none of us really know what to do to help her. Leah came in this afternoon with bags and bags of Christmas decorations that she started showing to Marissa.
    “See sissy? I used to make fun of you for decorating the day after Thanksgiving, but this year I’m saying we decorate now. Thanksgiving is only a month away. You love Christmas decorations! I went to the store and got all of the decorations that they had. Please get up and help me. You know I can’t do any of this without you.”
    For Leah, Marissa got up off the couch and helped to decorate. Dillon didn’t complain about setting up the monstrosity of a fake tree that Leah had bought, and I could tell that he was hoping against hope that the decorating would bring Marissa out of her depression.
    The process of decorating took hours, and by the time we were finished the interior of the house was festooned with lights and decorations. The happy appearance of the house didn’t do anything to change the unease that lived within. Marissa participated in the decorating, but she wasn’t all there mentally, something that was more than obvious to Dillon, Leah and me.
    Being with Marissa at this point is like being with a hologram of her. There is no real feeling, no happiness, no personality, no joy and no real signs of life. She is scaring the shit out of me and I fear that she isn’t going to survive. Honestly, I don’t always think she wants to go on anymore. I’m afraid to say that to Dillon or Leah, but I