I walk into my warm room, and head towards my guitar. I pick it up, and sit down on my floor. I strum a few chords. I needed to release some stress....

I decide to play I Believe by Christina Perri. It was a hard song to play on guitar, but I had managed to memorize, and almost perfect it.

I started to sing,

I believe if I knew where I was going I would lose my way.

I believe that the words that he told you are not your grave.

I know that we are not the weight of all our memories.

I believe in the things that I am afraid to say.

Hold on, hold on.

I believe in the lost possibilities you can see.

And I believe that the darkness reminds us where light can be.

I know that your heart is still beating, beating, darling.

I stop for a second, and just when I'm about to sing again, I'm interrupted by clapping.

I gasp and set my guitar down with a thud. Standing in the doorway of my bedroom was Scott Marko, my lab partner in science, and the most popular guy in school. He's also been my crush for 5 years now.

I stutter, "W-what are you doing here? You w-weren't supposed to b-be here until 5."

He ignores my comment, "You were beautiful. Your singing, I mean."

I blush, "Just leave, please."

I get up and start walking towards him, pushing on his chest. "Leave- please!"

"Why haven't you ever shown anyone?"

He grabs onto my wrists, and yanks me towards him. I freeze, refusing to look up. He whispers, "Lydia... Look at me. Please."

I slowly move my head up until I'm looking into his eyes. For a second I think he is going to kiss me, but he just says, "Your singing is amazing. You should let people hear you."

He lets my wrists go, and I take a step back. I'm still staring into his eyes, but then I clear my throat and look away.

"Um.. I have stage fright. Could you leave my room? Just uh.... let me pull myself together."

I look down and mentally slap myself. Did I really just say that? That basically just told him that him being that close to me made me flustered.

As he says, "Sure. Come out when you're ready," I can just hear the grin in his voice.

He closes the door behind him, and I lean against it, sliding down.

Oh my gosh.

What. Just. Happened?

I sigh in contentment as Danny pulls me closer. We were sitting at my favorite spot in the world. It was a cliff that looked out over Desert Lake. It's a really stupid name for a lake, but it was named a long time ago so there is nothing we can do.

We were doing the most cliche thing in the book: watching the sun set. It was so beautiful, and you could see the sun reflecting off the water.

I look up at Danny, and say, "Isn't this the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"

He smiles at me, "Nope. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

I laugh, "You're so cheesy!"

He squeezes me, "But you love me anyway."

I nod, "I love you anyway."

He sighs, "Don't you think we had better get going? Your dad might be getting worried."

"I guess your right."

He stands up, and pulls me up with him. Then we gather up our picnic stuff and head to Danny's truck.

As we pull away from the cliff, I ask Danny, "So Danny... Why'd we do this tonight? I mean I had no problem with it, and I had an amazing time. Just why did you decide to do it on such short notice?"

He doesn't look at me, but I can see his hands clutch the steering wheel tighter. There is something he wasn't telling me.

"Danny...."

"I'm moving to Jasper," he blurts out.

I'm shocked for a second. Then I stutter, "W-what do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm moving to freaking Jasper, dammit!"

I start to lose my breath. "Why? What? I mean.... why?"

"My dad got a job there. I'm moving next month. At the end of the school year."

I sink down in my seat a little. "Oh," is all I respond with.

Danny pulls over onto the side of the road. He takes my face in his hands, and presses our foreheads together, whispering, "Hey. Don't worry. We'll stay together, and I can come visit on the weekends. It's only about a 2 hour drive from Harland to Jasper."

"But.... What if you meet someone else? What if you like her more than me," tears fill my eyes as I ask this.

"Baby, I love you! I could never pick someone else over you."

I bury my head in his chest. "You promise?"

"I promise."

He pulls me back, and takes ahold of my face again, "I love you so damn much Olivia. Never forget that."

I nod and wipe away my tears.

"Let's get you home, before your dad actually goes through with his threat."

I laugh, and press myself close to Danny's side. He wraps one arm around me, and keeps the other one on the steering wheel. It was a 20 minute drive home, and I ended up falling asleep.

----------

"Liv. Liv! Wake up, we're here."

I groan and hold my arms out in front of me. Danny sighs, but picks me up anyway. I wrap my legs around his waist, and he hoists me up. I hear the truck's door slam shut, and then hear my front door opening and closing.

"Mr. Taylor?"

I hear footsteps coming towards us, "Hello, Danny. I see my daughter has fallen asleep again on you. Just take her up to her room. You know what to do."

Danny climbs the stairs, and then I'm being laid on my bed. Danny carefully removes my shoes, and then takes my sweatshirt off. He leans over me and kisses my forehead. As he is about to pullback, I grab his arm, open my eyes, and pull him into a kiss.

He smiles against my lips. I pull away, "Love you, Danny."

He chuckles, pecks my lips one last time, and answers, "I love you too, Livy."

"Karina?"

I groan and roll over in my bed. I very slowly open my eyes. My little sister, Alina, was peaking over the side of my bed. I smile at her, "Good morning, Alina. Did you sleep okay?"

She nods, and grins at me, "Guess who's here?"

My eyebrows furrow, "Who?"

She jumps up and down in excitement. "Get up, get up, get up!"

"Why? Who's here, Alina?"

"Just come on! Karina! Please get up!"

I sigh, "Fine."

I kick off my blanket, and plant my feet onto the floor. As I stand up, Alina grabs my hand and pulls me out of the room. My parents must have still been asleep.

She yanks me into the kitchen. I slow to a stop as she lets me go. I look up, and there he is. Right in front me stands Tyler Gregg. My big brother. Right here. Everything slows down, and the only person I can see is Tyler.

Everything speeds up again, and I pounce on Tyler. My hands wrap around his waist, and his arms encircle me. I squeeze him so hard I'm surprised he doesn't pop. Tears stream down my face, and I sob.

He pulls away, and takes in my face. "Karina... you've gotten so big."

I laugh, "I'm 15 now."

Alina butts in, "AND I'M SIX, TY-TY!!!"

Tyler drops himself down to Alina's level. "Wow... you've grown so much."

She grins and nods. I pull him back up and engulf him in another hug again. As I pull away, I notice that he's still in his uniform. "Do you want to go change? I can get mom and dad."

He smiles, "Sounds like a plan. See you back down here."

Tyler makes his way upstairs, while Alina and I head down the hallway to my parent's room. Before we go in I tell Alina, "You can't tell mommy and daddy that Ty-Ty is here. Okay?"

She gives me a thumbs up, "Okay!"

We enter the room, and Alina being Alina, jumps onto the bed screaming, "MOMMY, DADDY! WE HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU!"

"Alina, you know mommy and daddy always sleep in on Saturdays. Go wake up Karina," my dad grumbles.

I sigh, and decide to just scream, "AHHH THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!!!!"

I run out of the room, gesturing for Alina to follow me. She does as she's told, giggling all the way into the kitchen. Tyler is already there. He looks at me confused, "What was all the yelling-"

He is cut off by a gasp. I guess my parents are here now...

"Tyler, my baby!"

My mom rushes forward sobbing. She takes her 21 year old son into her arms. I can see that Tyler is crying too.

My dad comes up behind my mom, and removes her from Tyler. Then he gives Tyler some sort of man hug.

Because my dad seems to be speechless, and because my mom is unable to talk at the moment because of her sobs, I step forward and ask, "How long will you be home?"

He gives me a sad little smile, "Only three days, but at least I'll be here for Christmas tomorrow!"

I grin, "That's better than anything I could ask for."

I look around at my sobbing mom, my speechless dad, and at my little sister hugging Tyler's legs.

This really will be a good Christmas.

I stare at myself in the mirror. My eyes have bags under them, my skin is pale, my hair is lifeless. I pinch my cheeks to try to add some color to them. They stay pink for about 10 seconds, but then it fades.

Sighing, I throw my hair up into a messy bun, and then walk to my closet. I pick out a superman t-shirt that I got at Walmart in the boy's section, a pair of baggy sweatpants that need to be washed, and a worn, zip-up jacket.

I slip on my shoes, grab my backpack and head outside to wait for the bus. During the ten minutes that I have to wait, a car drives by too close to the sidewalk, hitting a muddy puddle in the process. The dirty water sprays all over me, and I gasp.

I look down at myself and sigh. Now I have to go change. I hurry inside and change my clothes, sprinting back outside when I'm done. I watch as the bus pulls off without me.

I swear loudly. I can't believe I missed the bus! Now I have to walk to school, and I'm going to be late!

I start walking at a brisk pace, keeping farther away from the side of the road this time. Twenty minutes later I'm walking into the school doors, ten minutes late.

I go to the office, and sign a sheet of paper that explains why I'm late. Then the office gives me a pass to my first class.

While walking to my locker, I bump into someone. I hit the ground, my things falling out of arms. I don't look up, just mumble a quick apology. I pick my things up and stand.

I'm about to walk away when a cold hand pulls me back. I gasp, and flinch away. "Do- Don't touch me!" I say as fiercely as I can.

I finally look up into the surprised eyes of the person who I ran into. I take a step back shakily, not expecting to see Dylan Thompson standing in front of me.

He is so tall, and his eyes are such an ice cold blue. I can't seem to stop thinking about him.

He looks at me weirdly for a second. Then he says, "Look I just wanted to apologize for running into you. Are you alright?"

I'm surprised to say the least, that Dylan Thompson was saying sorry to me. I nod hesitantly, "It's f-fine. I have to go....... I'm l-late to class, and I still have to stop by m-my locker."

He says, "Right. See you around Kali."

I shudder as he says my name. I wasn't freaked out that he knew my name, if that's what you're thinking. It's just the way he said it, the way he reminds me of his brother.

He seems to realize that I'm terrified, but before he can say anything, I'm off. I just drop my books and run. I speed out the door to the parking lot.

I grip my hair tightly with my hands, and sink down to the ground. I try to control the panic attack coming on, but it happens so fast....

FLASHBACK

I smile at the man standing in front of me, and he smiles back. He introduces himself as Joe Thompson. I shake his hand, telling him my name also.

"You know, we should all get together sometime. Dylan, and you and me?. What do you say?" Joe asks.

I nod enthusiastically, "That sounds great. When?"

He grins at me, "How about tomorrow? We can meet at Sally's Diner at 5?"

"I'd love that. See you then!"

Four months later

I shout at my mom, "I don't care if he's 20, mom! I love him!"

My mom yells back, "You're only 16! You don't know what love is. You are too young!"

I sigh in frustration. Then I storm out of the house, ignoring my mother's shouts for me to come back.

I keep walking until I get to Joe's house, I knock on the door. Dylan answers. He looks at me in confusion, "What are you doing here, Kali?"

"I need to speak with Joe."

Dylan looks at me wearily, "I don't know if that's a good idea right now. Joe isn't exactly sober, and when he gets like this.... he's not the nicest."

I shrug my shoulders, confident in my next words, "Joe would never hurt me."

"Kali...."

"Dylan! I need to speak to Joe!"

Dylan sighs, "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."

I humph in triumph, following behind Dylan up to Joe's room. Dylan knocks, "Joe? Kali is here to see you."

We wait a few seconds, and then the door opens very slowly. I stare shocked at Joe. His eyes are bloodshot, and when he speaks I can smell the alcohol in his breath.

"Hey Kali.... What are you doing here?" Joe asks in a slurred voice.

It takes me a minute to respond, but when I do I say, "I need to talk to you, Joe. It's important."

Joe sighs. "Fine," he snaps at me.

I flinch in surprise. What was that about?

He opens his door wider, and the overpowering smell of vomit, and alcohol invade my nose. I cough, and rub my nose, trying not to breathe in.

"Joe I think it's time to act on what we we're planning."

Joe suddenly turns serious, "Are you sure, Kali?"

I nod, "I want to get a house with you. I love you, Joe. I love you so, so much. I can't stand my mom containing that love anymore."

He comes to me, "Remember that other thing you promised me?"

I took a deep breath, "Yes. I'm ready. Right here, right now."

Joe grins at me, "Amazing."

The next thing I know Joe's lips are on mine. He's being too rough. He picks me up, and throws me onto the bed. I try to say something, but Joe's lips are already pressed against mine again.

His body weight is pressed against mine, his lips aren't allowing me to breathe. He's suffocating me. I try to push him away, but he is too strong.

My pants are at my ankles now, and so are his. I start to regret my decision to do this. I try telling him that. He isn't letting me breathe.

And then, I'm not a virgin anymore.

5 months later

"Kali! Get me a beer!"

I fast walk to the kitchen, and pull out a beer for Joe. Walking back to the living room, I set Joe's beer on the table. I'm about to walk away, but he yanks me back, "Don't be rude to our guests. Say hi."

I turn around, "Hello Bryan, John, Dylan."

They all nod at me, and I catch a look of sympathy in Dylan's eyes, but it's gone as soon as I see it.

I walk again, ignoring the slap on my butt I get from Joe.

About 2 hours later Joe is up, and walking into the kitchen. His friends just left. I force myself to smile at him, "Hi, babe. How was your game?"

He scowled at me. Oh no, I thought. My smile turns into a frown. This wasn't going to be a good night. When Joe loses at poker... well.....

Joe shouts at me, "It's your fault I lost, Kali!!! You brought me a beer and distracted me! It's all your fault!"

I flinch back away from him, but before I can get to far, Joe slaps me. Then he kicks me. And then my usual beating begins.

Flashback Over

"Kali! Are you alright?"

I close my eyes at the sound of Dylan's voice. He was always nice to me, always the one to help me clean up after getting beat up by Joe. I guess I was just happy I was living with my parents again, and Joe was in prison. But I'd never get over my fear of males. That would always be there.

I feel a presence sit down beside me, and look over. Of course it's Dylan. He looks at me in concern, "Are you okay, Kali? You're crying."

I touch my cheek. I hadn't even realized that I had been crying. I wipe away my tears, "I'm fine. Just.... just a flashback..."

Dylan and I were really close when I had still been dating Joe, but when we broke up, Dylan and I stopped speaking.

Dylan wraps an arm around my shoulders. I stiffen, but eventually relax against his side. He kisses the top of my head, "It's okay now. Joe's not here anymore."

I close my eyes, and I actually fall asleep. Right here in the school parking lot, pressed up against my abusive ex-boyfriend's little brother.

As I walk farther into the ocean, I hear a shout. Turning around, I see a bright orange object flying straight for me. I don't have time to duck, and the next thing I know, I'm in the water.

Water rushes up into my mouth and nose. I start to cough. There is a throbbing in my head where the object hit me.

"Hey! Are you okay?" A voice shouts at me.

I groan, "Stop f***ing shouting, you moron! What the hell did you hit me with anyway?"

"I'm not shouting. You might have a concussion. Lets get you out of this water, before you end up drowning."

The man picks me up, and a few steps later I'm being laid down on something soft.

I cough up a little water, and then am able to choke out, "Dude.... What the heck did you hit me with?! This freaking hurts!"

I hear a sigh, "I didn't hit you with anything. A group of younger boys-maybe between 12 and 15 -threw it. I don't know why, but they did. I'm Raymond. Are you alright?"

I slowly open my eyes, and above me I see a man that is probably in his early forties. So a hot guy didn't save me? Damn.....

Before I can reply, a female voice yells, "Raymond! What're you- Oh... who's this, dear?"

"Melinda, I watched this young girl get hit in the head by a baseball. A few boys threw it, but then ran away. So I took her out of the water, and brought her here. Can you run, and get Ryan for me?"

I hear footsteps briskly walking away in the sand. I turn my head to watch Melinda, who I guess is Raymond's wife, walk away to go get this Ryan kid.

I keep my head turned and watch as Melinda comes back holding on to a boy's ear. She's dragging him along, and even though I can't hear him, I know he is complaining.

"Here you are, Ray." Melinda says as she stands in front of Raymond once again.

"Thanks, honey," Raymond kisses his wife on the lips, and I watch as this Ryan kid pretends to be sick.

I snicker, but I try to cover it up with a cough as Melinda looks over at me. Raymond tells Ryan that he and Melinda are going to go get some ice from the little juice shack that's a little ways up the beach.

He says that they should be gone 30 minutes max, and that for that period of time, Ryan needed to watch over me, and keep me talking. You know, just in case I had a concussion or something.

Ryan sits down next to me, and shrugs, "Okay, Dad. I've got it."

Raymond gives his son a stern look, grabs onto Melinda's hand, and walks away. I look at Ryan.

He looks a lot like his dad. He has black hair, and bright green eyes. He was cute in that boyish sort of way, but nevertheless, he was good looking.

I sit up slowly, and reach my hand out to him. "Hi, I'm Dylan."

He shakes my hand, "And I'm Ryan, as you probably heard."

I smile, "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too."

We sit in awkward silence for awhile, but Ryan breaks the tension, "So you didn't see the boys who hit you?"

I shook my head, "Nope. All I know is that one minute I'm standing, and the next I'm laying down in the water, choking."

"Well... that sucks."

I shrug, "I guess. Wanna play Q & A?"

"Sure, why not. You go first," he agrees.

"Hmmm," I say, tapping my chin, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"I do. Do you have a boyfriend?"

I bite my lip shyly, "No... Well, I did. But I caught him cheating on me, so I ditched his stupid ass."

He grins at me, "Good for you."

"Your turn, Ryan."

"Right. How old are you?"

"18. You?"

"16..," Now it was Ryan's turn to be embarrassed.

"Aww!"

He glares at me, "Shut up! I'm not that much younger than you! Lets just keep going."

"Okay, okay! It's your turn."

"Can you get up?"

I shrug, "I'm not sure. Why do you ask?"

He smiles shyly at me, "Cause I want to go get an ice cream, and I have to keep an eye on you."

At the word ice cream, my ears perk up. Surely I could push myself to get up for that. My head had stopped throbbing.

I grin at him, "Help me up, Ry-Ry!"

He glares at me, "Dude, don't call me that!"

But he gets up anyway, and reaches a hand down to me. I place mine in his warm one, and push myself up. When I'm fully standing, the world spins for a few seconds, and I almost fall. Ryan steadies me, "Woah, there! You good?"

I nod, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just keep your arm around my shoulders."

He does, and we slowly make it to the ice cream booth that is a little ways away from Ryan's family's beach towel, and other belongings.

Ryan orders 3 scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and I get peanut butter chocolate ice cream. We walk back to the towel, and Ryan sits me down. I lick up all the little streams of melted ice cream that have run down the side of my cone.

"Thanks for buying this for me, Ryan."

"No problem. Does your head still hurt?"

I lift my hand up off my cone, and feel around on my forehead. I shake my head, "It's not throbbing anymore, so that's good. But when I press on this bump, then yes, it hurts."

He sighs, "Well that's good and bad. Good because you probably don't have a concussion, and bad because you're gonna have a nasty bruise. I hope you don't have picture day anytime soon."

I laugh, "Ryan! We're on summer break, remember?"

His eyes light up with realization, "Oh... right..."

I laugh again, and he joins in. We banter with each other for a little while, when suddenly Ryan asks me, "Where the hell are my parents?"

Right then, Raymond and Melinda walk up. It had been about 45 minutes since they left, and Raymond was straightening his swimming trucks, while Melinda was wiping around the edges of her lip glossed mouth.

I gave Ryan a look, and he pretends to throw up again, and this time I laugh without trying to cover it up.

"S-sorry it took so long, kids. Here's the ice for you're head...."

I perk up, "Oh, my name is Dylan!"

"Okay, well here is the ice for your head, Dylan." Raymond reaches down and places it against the bump on my head. I bite into the last of my ice cream cone, and then reach up and hold the ice in place.

Melinda continues, "Dylan, honey? Do you have a ride home?"

Ryan answers for me, "It's okay, Mom. I'll give her a ride home. I took my truck, remember? I might not be home right away, though. Dylan, and I are going to get something to eat."

Ryan's parents raise their eyebrows at each other. "Okay then. I'll see you at home I guess. Have a nice.... lunch."

I look at Ryan, "Did you ever feel the need to ask me if I had anything going on?"

He shrugs, "Not really. Now let's go!"

He pulls me up again, and this time I can walk on my own. Ryan opens the passenger door on his truck for me. I blush and step inside the vehicle.

"So where are we going?" I ask as Ryan gets in, and starts the truck.

He grins a face-splitting grin at me, "How would you feel if we went and got some more ice cream.... At a real ice cream place?"

I fake a scowl, "Are you trying to make me fat?"

Ryan's face reddened. "N-No. I just thought that maybe you'd want to...." He trailed off.

I start laughing at the disappointed look on his face. He looks at me confused, but then realized what I had done. He scowls at me. "Meanie," He crossed his arms.

I reach over and pinch his cheek, still giggling a bit. "Aww, is Ry-Ry mad that I tricked him?" I ask in a silly baby voice.

He bats my hand away. "Quiet. Now do you want to go get ice cream or not?"

I let a genuine smile slip onto my face. "I'd love to."

As soon as she got the call, she knew. The phone had dropped out of her hand, her mind had gone blank. She could still here the soft buzzing of the person on the other line trying to see where she had went.

Her knees had given out, and she collapsed on the floor by the phone. Although she was falling apart inside, it didn't show on the outside. No tears were shed until 48 hours later, when the shock finally disappeared, and the reality of the situation finally hit her.

Now it's been three days since his death, and she's cried herself dry. She very honestly had no more tears in her. She rolls over in her bed. The sound of snot-filled tissues rubbing against each other fill the room.

She checks the clock. It read, "4:00 PM."

It was a stupid thing that brought up the memory, but 4:00 was the time that Ronan and her had met 2 months ago. It wasn't a very long time to be able to fall in love, but they did. They fell in love.

Her college classes had just ended and she was trying to leave through the overly stuffed doors. Everybody was ready to get to their dorms, and get ready for the party that was happening later that night.

Someone had shoved her out of the way of their path, and all of her books spilled out across the floor. She checked the time; She was supposed to be home at 3:45 to get ready for the party with her best friend and roommate, Delaney.

She cursed as she saw that the time said that it was already 4. She sighs, knowing that since she is already late, it won't hurt her or Delaney for her to be even more late. Or maybe it will... but she didn't exactly care at the moment.

She takes her time picking up her books. One of them had slid all the way across the hallway. When she was about halfway to it, another person bent down and picked it up for her.

Her eyes trailed upwards, looking at all of this persons bony limbs. She was surprised to find herself looking at a boy. His face was hollow, his cheeks looking like they were about to cave in on themselves.

He was pale, and had dark, dark bags under his eyes. He looked really sick, even sicker than Gina's own mother, who had cancer.

But when he smiled, this light lit up his eyes. They were so blue, so very light blue. Gina couldn't even think of a color that would fit the color of this guy's eyes.

His smile was almost better than his eyes. Almost. It was crooked, so were his teeth, but it stretched across his face. Even though this boy was obviously sick with something bad, he still had the courage to smile a full blown smile, that wasn't fake. That wasn't small, or half-hearted. He was happy, she could tell.

He walks towards her, his boney arm outstretched towards her, book in hand. She spotted a large vein sticking out of the back of his right hand. She smiles, "Thanks. Stupid person trying to be the first to get to their dorm knocked these out of my hand."

"I figured as much. Here's your book."

Gina realized that she hadn't taken the book out of his hand yet. She blushes, "Sorry."

She grabs it and tucks it too her chest, along with the other ones. She puts her hand out, "I'm Gina."

"Ronan Ferdinand. Nice to meet you Gina," Ronan shakes her hand.

They talk for awhile after that, even decide to skip the party, and just go get coffee and food at this small dinner in a town an hour away, even though Gina knows that Delaney will be pissed at her.

Gina brings herself out of the memory. Suddenly, she feels her body fill up with more tears to cry. She curls into a ball. The tears spill down Gina's cheeks, silently... slowly.

She isn't sure how much more of this she can take. Why'd Cystic Fibrosis have to choose him as it's next victim? Why'd he have to go so soon? Why did he have to leave her?

Her silent crying turns into painstaking sobs. They're the worst ones yet, and her mother must be able to hear them downstairs. After Ronan left her, she moved back in with her parents and decided to take a break from school for awhile.

She falls asleep crying her eyes out. She wishes she didn't have to wake up again to a world without Ronan.

I can still hear my parents screaming at each other as I creep down the metal fire escape stairs. I left the door slightly ajar, actually hoping that one of our neighbors would get sick of the noise, and call the cops.

I finally reach the door, and slip outside into the cold night. I look up at my old, crappy apartment building. It was on the more dangerous side of town, but it was still my home, none-the-less. I would miss it.

I tiptoe towards the parking lot, and then slip into my father's old, beat-up car, dropping my small backpack into the passenger seat.

I felt slightly bad for taking the vehicle, but it was either that or walking through the bad part of town in the middle of the night. I think the better choice there is obvious.

Slipping the key into the ignition, I start the car. Just as I'm pulling out onto the street, I hear my mom's voice. Looking over towards the exit that I came out of, I see my mother.

"Julia! Get back here! You can't take your father's car, he needs that for work!" She shouts.

I scoff, of course that's what she is worried about. Not the fact that her daughter is running away in the middle of the night. I keep going, completely ignoring my so called mother.

In the rear view mirror I see that my dad has come out behind my mother. He opens his mouth, and I can hear him also yelling at me.

I move my eyes back to the road. First things first, I needed to find someplace to go. Tonight I would sleep in the car, but then I'd need to find a place to dump it.

After tonight I planned on dropping the car off someplace, and then I'm going to text my mom or dad the address that the car is at. Then I'll call Ashton and have him pick me up. Of course I'll have to dump my phone so that the police can't track it.

I drive to the edge of town, and pull over onto the side of the road. Pulling the blanket out of the back of the car, I put my seat back and hope that I'll be able to get some sleep tonight.

----------------

The next morning I do as I planned and text my parents. Then I call Charlie and he shows up about 10 minutes later. I hop into his truck with my bag, and kiss him on the cheek. "Morning, baby," I say in a bad country accent.

He rolls his eyes at my silliness, "What are you so happy about? You just ran away from home for Christ's sake!"

I sigh happily, "Exactly."

I chuck my phone as hard as I can out the window.

"Let's rock and roll, boyfriend," I say to him, and he starts the truck and we drive out of this small, crappy town and into a new life.

I picture the dress in my mind, I picture it on me, concentrating hard on the image. When I open my eyes, the beautiful dress is there on my body.

I squeal in delight. I had mastered the simple glamour, and magic of the Faerie. The next thing I do is my hair. I picture the waterfall braid that I had seen on the internet, and open my eyes to yet again see the new change.

I wave on a new pair of black flats, then a silver necklace, and a ring with a light blue stone. The makeup I conjure up is a light smoky eye, foundation, and lipgloss.

I make sure that my wings are not visible, and that my pale, almost white skin is now an olive color. I grab my clutch, the only thing not a glamour, and walk downstairs as the doorbell rings.

Paul, my boyfriend, is behind the door with a nervous look on his face and a bouquet of half dead flowers in his hands. I smile at him and he greets me, "Wow... You look amazing."

Paul peers into the house, and I chuckle, "Thank you, Paul. And no, my father is not here."

He visibly relaxes, and hands over the flowers. "Thank you again. Just let me put these in some water."

I hurry to the kitchen and search for a vase.  I then cut the stems, place the flowers in the water and dump in the packet stuff that helps keep them fresh.

I walk back out to Paul, "Shall we go?"

He smiles at me, "We shall."

I walked into the bathroom, checking under each of the stalls. I walked to the sinks across from the urinals then, looking into the mirrors. Rubbing at my eyes, I stared at myself in the mirror for a second before bolting to the stall farthest away from the door.

I sat down on the toilet seat, and then rolled and lit the joint as quickly as possible. I didn't have a lot of time until study hall ended. When I was done, I walked out of the stall with the familiar numb and fuzzy feeling in my brain.

I grinned at myself drunkenly, but luckily, I wasn't so high that I would forget to hide that I was. I put the eye-drops in my eyes shakily, and then sprayed myself with cologne and put a mint into my mouth.

I grinned again at my reflection, and stumbled out of the bathroom. I jumped when I felt a small hand plant itself on my back. I spun around, and seeing that it was only Tally, turned back around and continued walking. I knew she would follow.

"What do you want, Tally?" I ask, annoyed already by her.

"I just wanted make sure you were okay. You left the room pretty quick back there."

"I'm fine," I reply in my gruffest voice. "I don't need to be taken care of, Tally."

I refused to turn around, knowing that that would only make her more worried over me. Even with the eye-drops, my eyes still were a bit red. I needed to get her away, before the fuzziness in my brain took over and I slipped up.

She sighed, "Okay, I get it. You don't need me anymore. I understand. But will you at least turn around to talk to me?"

I walk faster, but I can still feel her presence following me. She grabs my arm and yanks me around. She gasps, "You promised you had quit!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah. I didn't mean it." I deadpanned.

She asks me, "Then why would you say that?"

"To get you off my back. To make you stop worrying over me. I don't know. Lots of reasons, I guess."

She shakes her head in disappointment. Then she turns around and walks the other way. Even though I had been wanting her to leave me alone all this time, I felt lonely when she was actually gone. I resisted the urge to call her back to me though. I was too stubborn for that.

Continuing on my way back to the room, I furrowed my eyebrows. A trivial question had popped into my head. If Tally was coming from the same study room as me, then why had she turned around and walked the other way? Like I said: Trivial question.

She must be skipping the rest. A large smile planted itself onto my face. I knew a mischievous glint had found its way into my bloodshot eyes, too. I swung myself around and started to stumble down the hallway as fast as a stoned boy could. Turning the corner I saw Tally turn, I come to an abrupt stop. There she was, exactly where I knew she would be. She was slipping out the school doors, looking around to make sure no one saw her.

I made my way out of the doors too, and watched as she walked comfortably down the sidewalk to the McDonalds down the street from the school. I ran to catch up to her, suddenly forgetting about the little fight we just had. You had to love being high. I knew it would fade soon, though. I needed another joint.

I fell into step beside her. I said, "Mind if I come with you today, big sis?"

She ignored me, jutting her lower lip out and sticking her nose in the air. So that was how it was gonna be, huh? I copied her, exaggerating my version of it a bit.

She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from me, and I almost lost my composure from the laugh that bubbled up my throat from her childishness. I pulled myself together and crossed my arms over my chest too, giving a little hmph. Finally, a small smile broke out onto her face. I grinned in triumph.

"So are you gonna pay?" I asked.

She glared at me, but still, a smile came to her face. "I will this time, but next time, it's on you. And, Miles?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you promise to keep it under control? Only what you're doing now? Promise me that you'll know when enough is enough?" I start to protest, but she interrupts me, "Promise me? Just this one thing."

I sigh, "Fine. I promise."

She grins at me, and throws her arm over my shoulder, even though I was way taller than her. She keeps it there as we walked the rest of the way to McDonalds.

I ended up paying. I always did.

"What the hell was that, Joanne?"

She looks down at her hands. "I- I don't know....," She stutters.

I back up as she comes closer and closer to me. Her eyes plead with me to not be afraid of her. But how could I not? I mean freaking lightning bolts had just came out of her flipping hands!

Joanne begs, "Please! I'm as scared as you are. I have no idea what just happened! God, Gina, stop!"

Suddenly I'm frozen in my tracks. I can't move at all. Joanne gives me a weird look, "I didn't mean it that way. You didn't have to freeze."

My body is still rock solid. Joanne seems to realize that she had literally commanded me to stop, and that I had listened. Her face reddens. Her eyes widened.

She hesitates before saying, "Unfreeze."

Nothing happens. She says the word more forcefully. Still nothing happens. "Unfreeze!" She finally just screams it.

Suddenly I fall back onto my butt. I was unfrozen, but I couldn't move because of the shock of what she had just done. It was unnatural. It went against human nature. But I couldn't help the excitement that was slowly building up inside me.

I stare up at Joanne wide eyed, watching as a grin spread across her face, "Oh my gosh! That was.... That was amazing!!!"

It took me a moment more to pull myself together, and I stand up. "Holy..... crap! What just.... happened?"

Joanne was now surprisingly calm. "I have no freaking clue. But it was so cool. And the feeling I got......"

Her eyes glazed over a little. I stood up, "Joanne," I shake her. "Joanne! Snap out of it. We need to figure out what this is."

"I'm sorry, Gina, but it looks like Joanne here will be coming with me. And you'll have to stay here," says a boy who looks to be a little older than us. He appears out of nowhere.

I almost jump out of my skin. Shrieking, I bring my hand to my chest, and respond, an incredulous tone to my voice, "Who the hell are you? And where did you come from? You just appeared-"

I cut myself off as the boy comes closer. He raises a hand, and in that hand he holds a gun. Or what I think is one. The end is weird though, and something pointy is sticking out of it. Joanne finally speaks up, "Gina. Just.... do what he says. I feel like I can trust him. Plus, I really don't want you to get shot."

The boy laughs, "Joanne, even if she does listen to me, I will still have to shoot her. She can't remember any of this happened. This dart gun has a dart in it that will erase her memory and knock her out. We need to go now."

Joanne hesitates. The boy sighs, obviously exasperated, "Look, you said you felt like you could trust me. That's because I'm like you."

Joanne's eyes light up, "Really?"

He nods. Joanne looks at me, "You promise that she won't be hurt by that thing."

My mouth drops open, and I know my face is expressing the hurt that I'm feeling. "You can't actually be-"

The weird guy cuts me off, "I promise, Joanne. It won't hurt her. Now go wait out in the hallway."

Joanne hesitates once again, and looks at me, "I'm sorry, Gina. I need to find out what is happening to me." She tries to come near me but I flinch away. Sadness passes through her eyes. She turns and leaves through the door, not looking back once.

The boy aims the special dart gun, and pulls the trigger. The dart lands in my neck, and I drop to the ground and everything goes black.

Ty plopped himself down on his bed. He didn't know how to react to what had just happened... Layla, his best friend since kindergarden, was in love with him. And she had known since 7th grade. And it was their senior year now. And she had not said anything to him about it. She had seen him shirtless multiple times since the start of ninth grade. Layla had even seen Ty in his boxers. She had been in love with him this entire time, and she had just sat back and enjoyed the show. Ty felt violated, somehow.

How does someone even react to that... They don't! You can't just drop something like that on somebody, Ty thought. He started to get angry. How could Layla be this selfish? How could she singlehandedly ruin their friendship like this. How could she? Ty wasn't coping with this new found information well. He knew that. He didn't have time to think anymore right now. There were sudden footsteps heading toward his room.

Layla was still in his house, he suddenly remembered. When she had told him, Ty had said that he needed to go to his room and think. S***. He had to get her out. Or he had to get out. The footsteps were growing closer. He couldn't breathe right. He couldn't face her right this second. He was not ready for that. He hadn't even comprehended the news fully yet.

Making a split second decision, Ty leaped for his window. He yanked it open, chilly air blowing into his room, and onto his face. He stuffed some flips on his feet, grabbed a jacket, and then hopped out the window. Just as he jumped off the low roof, he heard his bedroom door be knocked on.

Ty had made it out. Now he just had to get away before Layla realized he was gone.

------------------

Layla knocked on Ty's door again. She was worried about him. Right after she had told him about her feelings, he had basically ran to his room. She had given him nearly 20 minutes to think, and now she was growing impatient. Maybe she was being selfish with this whole thing, but she had been holding in her feelings since 7th grade. She could no longer take it.

Layla had tried to give him time. She had tried to see Ty's side of it all. He probably was feeling confused, she guessed. And he was probably thinking about all those times that she had seen him half naked. Layla could understood his worry there. Hopefully, he could move past that. Hopefully, Ty would see that he loved her, too. He would see that they were meant to be.

Ty hadn't answered yet, Layla noticed. She knocked once more, trying to keep her anger under control. Try to think like him, Layla thought to herself. Ty still didn't answer. Layla couldn't take it anymore; she threw the door open and stomped into Ty's room.

Nothing. No one. No one was in the room. Layla stared at the empty room in upset, her mind in a frenzy. Then, she saw the open window. Suddenly, Layla's mind exploded with a betrayed feeling. Ty had left. He left. How could he? How could he just leave her hanging?

Layla got a feeling, a feeling so strong, so... overwhelming, that she knew it was true. Ty doesn't like me like that. I've made a fool of myself. Layla's thoughts were everywhere at once. She was thinking too much about all of this. As soon as that thought went through her mind, it all cleared up. Only two words remained. Find him.

------------------

Ty ran to his spot. It was a small cave, tiny, actually. He could barely fit in the opening anymore. Ty had found it when he was 10, and back then, he could slip into it easily. Now, he had a hard time getting his torso in. He still tried anyway, and with some struggle, he fit into the small opening. The rest of the cave was actually okay sized. Ty could stand on his knees, and his hair would just brush the ceiling. He usually would just lay down. Luckily, it wasn't pitch black. There were little spots in the ceiling where the light from the sky shone through. This was the place where he went to think.

Nobody else knew about this spot. Or, at least, that's what he thought.

------------------

Layla drove her car speedily, engrossed only in her spinning thoughts. Find him. Those were the main two words in her head. The other thoughts were just ideas of what she would do when she found him. But, she couldn't read any of those thoughts. Layla didn't understand them. She didn't understand all of the strong feelings she was feeling. They were new; she didn't have a name for them. Layla couldn't decide if she liked them, or not.

Instead, Layla focused on where she was going. She had seen Ty go in there more than once, following him when she was bored... Which was a lot of the time. He was in the cave. She knew that for su-

And then it happened. Right in the middle of her finally straightened out thoughts, she figured out what her feelings were.

Bloodlust.

It was bloodlust. Layla slammed on her breaks all of a sudden, swerving over to the side of the road.

Bloodlust. How could it be bloodlust? What was happening to her? Why did she want to... kill Ty? She had known him all her life. She loved him. Then, it hit her in the face like a truck. It knocked the breath out of her. Loved. She loved him. She no longer did. She didn't love him anymore. Layla decided then, that she did like the feelings.

Layla pulled back out onto the road, a new determination showing in her eyes. If Ty didn't love her, then she no longer cared for him either. It took Layla about two more minutes to reach the cave; it was very close to Ty's house. As soon as she had parked her car, Layla grabbed the gun her father made her keep in her car, and then jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind her. She headed straight for the cave.

------------------

Ty heard a car door slam, and jumped at the sudden noise. What was that? He thought. No one knew about this spot. It was in too much of a hidden location for anybody to come hanging around here. Then, as a gust of wind came rushing in through the opening, all Ty could smell was vanilla. Only Layla wore vanilla smelling perfume. Layla was here. How'd she find him? Had she followed him before? Could things even get any weirder?

Apparently yes, they could, because at that moment, Layla shoved her head through the hole in the cave and smiled scarily at him. "Hi, Tyler," She said to him in a too calm voice.

"Hi... Layla... Um... How'd you find me?" Ty's voice shook.

"Oh, I've known about this place for a while now. I follow you here every once and awhile."

By now, Layla's small body was fit all the way through the hole and she was a few inches away from Ty on her knees. Her right hand was behind her back, and her eyes were wide, pupils dilated. Ty responded, trying his best to stay calm even though he knew something was terribly wrong with Layla, "I-I'm sorry I left. I just had to get away.... The house was.... too warm for me. I was... getting claustrophobic in there." Ty was coming up with excuses on the spot and they were unconvincing as hell. He could see that Layla didn't believe him.

"Then why are you in here, Ty? This is quite a small place. Wouldn't this make it worse?" Layla responded sickly sweet.

S***... Ty hadn't thought of that. What was he gonna do now? Before he could respond, Layla brought her right hand out from behind her back and what Ty saw made his breath hitch in his throat. It was a gun.

------------------

As Ty saw the gun Layla had pulled out from her back his eyes widened in fear. The fright in his eyes made her feel giddy. She giggled and traced her finger down the gun, waving in front of Ty's huge eyes. "Let us go outside then. Go on."

Layla held her arm out, gesturing for Ty to slither in front of her and out the entrance. He did so after a moment of hesitation, his whole body shaking. What a coward... Why did I ever like him? Layla thought to herself.

As soon as Ty's foot had escaped through the hole, Layla quickly maneuvered herself through it too. She knew for sure that Ty wouldn't try to run because she was the one with gun, and Ty was deathly afraid of guns. That was one good thing that came out of this stupid relationship: She knew all of his weaknesses. Layla, of course, wasn't stupid enough to reveal hers to him.

She stood straight and saw Ty a few feet away, watching her wearily. Layla held up the gun shakily and pointed it at him. "Get on your knees."

Ty slowly did so, still shaking badly from his fear. Layla smiled. This was what she wanted. She had to do this. She started to talk, "It's your own fault, you know? Your death, I mean. If you wouldn't have ran, this wouldn't happen. If you had just stayed and realized your true feelings for me, then things would've been fine. But, you always have to ruin things, don't you, Ty?"

------------------

Ty flinched from Layla's words. It wasn't true. Layla was insane. She was going crazy. He tried to reason with her. "Layla... You don't want to do this. I'm your best friend. Besides, you love me remember? Why would you kill someone you love?"

"Shut up!" Layla screamed.

Ty flinched again.

"I DID love you. Past tense, Ty. I don't love you any more. You stopped that feeling when you fled from your f***ing window! Who do you think you are doing that? Why would you leave me?"

Ty watched as tears flooded Layla's eyes. She kept the gun pointed at him and raised her other hand to wipe her eyes. His throat felt like it was swollen now; he couldn't talk.

Layla sniffed, "But, whatever. Fine. If that's how you want it to be."

Ty saw Layla tighten her grip on the gun, and her left hand came up to rest on it too. The gun stopped shaking so much, and it leveled with Ty's head. He shut his eyes, tears coming down his face now. He could talk again, and while shaking his head, he opened his eyes and pleaded with Layla, "Please, no... Please don't, Layla! I do love you!!! I swear, I do!"

Layla's face scrunched up and she screamed out, "You liar!!!! You f***ing dick! You're a liar! You don't! You don't love me!"

Her hands got tighter on the gun, and the tears flowed faster on his face. "No....." He pleaded one last time.

Layla screamed one more time, "You don't love me! You don't! And I hate you! I HATE you! I hate you, Ty! And I always will."

------------------

Layla screamed out one more time, and then she aimed at Ty's head with the gun. He sat there on his knees, his eyes shut again, tears streaming down his face. Such a baby, Layla thought.

Then she pulled the trigger.