January is almost over

 Rafe wasn't sure how to tell Mercer, but he felt he needed to know about Cade. "Have you heard from him lately?" Rafe said on his phone call to Mercer who still lived with Izzy and Cowan.

"Why would I?" Mercer mentioned he hadn't seen him in weeks. "Is he even going to the University?"

"Well," Rafe wished he knew more. He knew his mother was very sad about it. Maybe it kept her from being completely happy about the baby news. "I guess Cade's had burnout or something. I dunno. I think he's taking a gap year, or something like that. He went to Paris just after Christmas. He didn't even tell Mom or Dad until after he'd been there for awhile."

Mercer sighed. 

"I guess that's why he left me too."

"You aren't going to wait for him, are you?" Rafe wanted to know. Mercer laughed softly.

"What's there to wait for?" He talked about his full load this semester and was going to help out at the Children's Theater for the spring show. He was keeping busy. He and Sterling were even working on something. He might be in Sterling's film.

Before Rafe could say, "Why did I even call you?" Mercer said, "Thanks for letting me know. I hope he feels better about a lot of things. Maybe he'd worked too hard to get that four-year scholarship." He mentioned that Cade's major would take a lot out of him. He didn't know many who got through it, but if he did, it would pay off.

Mercer then asked how Rafe's classes were going.

"Aw, it doesn't feel like class, you know, not like Cade's. It's hands-on. The instructors are pros. I'm learning a lot."

Rafe was glad he asked. He knew they probably thought he wouldn't make it through the course, but surprisingly he felt he'd found his niche. He liked the other people in the class and he liked being there.