It felt good to have her in his arms. Sara felt... alive! That was the word! Alive! It was a warmth he found strangely absent in himself and he wanted to cling to it tenaciously. It was also nice to physically feel something, as well! James still could not piece things together in his mind but had come to the realization that very few things felt... real. Only why did she looked so confused, so frightened? Something had obviously terrified her. While she seemed happy to see him at first, Sara backed away to sit down as though something was horribly wrong. He didn't even notice the lamp passing through him. Her words made even less sense.

As she scratched at her arms and drew blood, he hurriedly knelt down before her and tried to grab her arms. Only his hands never quite connected with her arms. Was she moving that fast as to avoid him? There was something about the sight and smell of the blood that fascinated him, something that he had read about once but couldn't recall. Why was his memory such a mess right now? "What are you talking about? What's your fault? Look, Sara, stop, just... please, stop that! Please! Listen to me!"

James gave up trying to catch up her hands and attempted to look her straight in the eye. "Sara, listen! I've got something important I want to ask you, alright? I was going to wait until after the prom," (Wait, hadn't they already gone to the prom?) "but now seems as good a time as any. Sara. Will you marry me?"

At her look he shook his head. "No, seriously! We've been friends for years, and we've got a lot in common. Who understands us better than each other? I've loved you for... a long time now, I just... couldn't find the courage to say it until now! We can do this! After we graduate, right after we walk across the stage, we'll go to your house and grab whatever you want to bring. I've got an offer at Cornell, Sara. Cornell! You could come with me to New York, I've got a lead on a cheap apartment in Ithaca and we could... we could leave all of this behind us! Your mother, my father, all the shitheads at school. It'll be a fresh start for both of us! So what do you say? Will you marry me, Sara?"