AN: Okay, I lied. I continued the story. I don't like it but . . . I don't want to see it uncompleted. So this chapter will be the last. It's been an.. okay experience : I love everyone who reviewed and payed attention to this story, even when I didn't. This chapter is in 2nd person, deal.

It's funny. People say California is where you go to escape. To the beach, to the palm trees and everything in between. It makes sense. The waves have a funny way of making you forget... but sometimes that's the probem. You forget too much. Forget who you are. What you've done. Forget exactly who Dawn Schafer is. You just look at the tide and let it wash your thoughts away.

And now you're back in Stoneybrook. Mary Anne is with you, of course. But it isn't as if you're magically happy. You've been unhappy for so long that you've nearly forgotten what happy is. Just another thing the tide took away. And you blame the tide because it's so conveniently there and you're not looking to blame yourself. You never are.

Your Mom was happy. Happy? Oh, she was excited. Richard was more-so happy that his precious baby was out of his step-daughter-turned-druggie-slut's hands. He didn't actually say those words but you could sense them almost as much as you could sense the cold stare in his eyes and he coldly observed your too-tight outfit. Fuck you.

"Eat, Dawn," your mom says. "Eat."

No thanks.

But it's Stoneybrook. You're here to grow, right? Or to grow away from your previous habits. You're basically kept on a fucking leash so it's not like you have time or space to get the shit you need. Or want. Crave. Whatever.

And now it's been sixth months. You've been clean for exactly that long, plus maybe a week. And it's satisfying and now you think, well, I'm nearly seventeen. I'm already suitable for rehab. But they won't send me there.

Because that just forces them to admit it. You need professional help. But they don't really see beyond the drags and hits and shots. It's not just for fun, it's not just 'addicting'. It quenched a thirst, a pain that no one could.

And another six months pass. You're seventeen. You're graduating at the end of the year in good ol' Stoneybrook where everyone pretends to be your best friend while they judge you inside. You've heard the rumours. They're almost amusing, in a cruel type of way.

Remember Dawn? That psycho hippie chick? Well, she's back. Total platinum blonde slut. Red lipstick, druggie, all that.

Well, maybe they weren't rumours after all.

And when you graduate, you're alone again. Mary Anne and the merry gang of Babysitters don't talk to you. You broke the rules. They've grown up, a little. Not nearly as quick as you were forced to and all they see is the exterior. Mary Anne loves you, you know this but.. being with you will only bring her down.

And they all leave for college, for jobs, whatever. And you're still in Stoneybrook with your Mom and Richard because you're not allowed to go anywhere else. Because you don't want to.

It's been two years and you're still clean. You're starting to think if you were offered a hit, you'd refuse it. That's freeing in its own way. No contact with Sunny. Last you heard of her, she left California. Everyone is gone, starting fresh. You've made a few new friends and that's good enough for you.

Not everyone gets a second chance. They did. You? Not so much. You're no longer binded by drugs, alcohol. Don't have to turn to sex or cigarettes. That's a second enough chance to you. You're not sure if you'll ever be able to leave Stoneybrook, if you'll ever want to. Memories plague you every step of the way but you start taking them with strides of indifference.

There's no tide here. No beach in Stoneybrook. Nothing and no one to blame but yourself. Nothing to help you forget.

But maybe, for once, you don't want to forget. Make new memories though as well, with these new friends. Except the old. Learn from the past, don't hate it. Don't regret.

Never regret.

Are you happy now?

Close enough.