Chapter 1

"Mallory!" I heard my father's deep voice yell from the downstairs of our house. I rolled my eyes as I drew my blinds to avoid him from noticing I had my window open.

"What?!" I screamed.

"Get down here right now young lady!" He yelled. I grunted and looked at my clock. I didn't have time for this. I ran to my door and saw my reflection in the full length mirror hanging from the back of the door. 'Shit' I thought seeing my tank top that barely covered my chest. I looked around my room quickly for something to put over it. I grabbed the first hooded sweatshirt I saw and threw it over my head. "Mallory!"

"I'm coming!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Jesus." I said to myself. I swung the door open and ran down the steps. My father stood on the opposite side of the kitchen counter with an unfolded piece of paper in his hand.

"What the hell is this?!" He asked angrily. I shrugged.

"You tell me," I replied in a dull tone.

"These are your grades missy! Two D's, an E, and a C-!?" His voice got louder with every word. I shrugged.

"Sorry," I replied and glanced past him at the clock. I danced around impatiently. "Look is this going to…"

"You need to work on your grades young lady! I have no idea what makes you think you can slack off on your school work just because…"

"Just because you're never around dad?! Maybe if you were I'd be doing better!"

"Don't you even begin to blame this on me!"

"You're right dad! You've been such an awesome parent; this couldn't possibly have anything to do with you!!" I screamed. Tears flooded into my eyes. I turned and ran back up the steps. So much for a good night. I slammed my bedroom door and locked it. I grabbed my cell phone off my desk and pulled the blinds up. I slipped my thin body through the window and climbed down the lattice that was nailed to the side of the house. I ran through my back yard and over our picket fence.

To those who didn't know the Makler family; which as of about a year ago had become just me and my father, we looked picture perfect. My father was this states most renowned cardio surgeon. He was constantly traveling. I spent about 3.5 weeks out of a month on my own in our large house. Now don't get me wrong, I loved it. I could do whatever I pleased. That just meant that the half of a week he did spend at home was hell. My mother had died just under a year ago from a car accident. She was driving home late from work one night when she was hit by a drunk driver. My mother and I were best friends. My father and I barely knew each other.

When I finally reached my destination I was at the backside of a cozy sized family home. I tapped on the window as quietly as possible. I stood impatiently doing the same little dance I had done earlier in the kitchen. Finally the window slid open. One of my best friends stood on the other side.

"You're late," he said with a smile.

"Well shame on me for keeping the great Rocky Merric waiting," I said sarcastically. He laughed and moved out of the way so I could climb through. My heart sunk a little when I saw his little brother Sam sitting on his bed with a bag of frozen vegetables to his eye. Not that I didn't like Sam. It was just that I had wanted to spend some time alone with Rocky. Since my mom had died I became the girl that had gotten around the block her share of times. That wasn't exactly something I was proud of, but after the accident I lost all self respect. I stopped caring about everything. Rocky was one of the few that I hadn't done anything with. We were best friends, and had been for a long time.

I realized that the frozen vegetables probably meant Sam had gotten hurt.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"You know that George Tooney kid?" Rocky asked. I looked over at him and nodded. "He beat him up."

"What an ass hole," I replied as I sat down next to Sam. "Let me see it." I said as I took the bag from him. I placed my hand on the side of his face. "I should beat the shit out of him. Teach that little fuck face a lesson." Rocky laughed.

"I'm gonna take care of him," he replied.

"Rocky, the kid is like twice your size," I replied with a smirk.

"Size means nothing," he said nobly. I laughed. Sam shrugged and took the bag back from me. He stood up and walked to the door.

"I'll leave you two alone for a while," he said. I laughed.

"Tell everyone else at your school if they mess with you again I'll kick their asses okay?" I told him. He smiled, nodded and walked out. Rocky laughed and stood up. He walked over and sat next to me. I looked at him and smiled. He looked in my eyes with a small smile. Then he began to frown.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Huh?" I replied.

"Rory, don't pretend like there isn't something wrong, I know you better than that," he said. All of my close friends referred to me as Rory, so did my mom. That's why I liked it. It felt good to hear it from someone that I loved.

"Nothing, my dad and I just got into it again,"

"What about this time?" he asked.

"Grades," I replied with a smirk. He smiled and laughed.

"Well jesus kid, you gotta work on that," he said. I laughed. I stood up and walked to the other side of the room where I saw a picture of us that was in a frame buried under some papers and other random clutter. I uncovered it and held up. He came up to me with an apathetic look on his face.

"Yeah umm… my brother," I laughed and slapped his arm.

"Don't go trying to blame this on Sam! I take the time to frame this all nice for you, and then you go and just bury it!" I scolded him.

"I'm sorry, hug it out?" he asked as he gave me the puppy dog eyes. I laughed and gave him a hug.

"Okay, but if I eve see this anywhere but right smack dab where everyone can see it than I'll be really really mad at you!" I replied as I gave him a hug. I took a step back from him and turned on the radio and began dancing. I slipped my sweat shirt off and threw it on the chair. I stopped dancing when I noticed he was looking me up and down. I laughed.

"Jesus kid, have some humility," I joked. He laughed. I took a step towards him and grabbed his hands placing them on my hips. I put my hands on his shoulders and made him dance with me. I looked up at him. He was looking down and smiling. He leaned down like he was about to kiss me when my phone rang. I laughed awkwardly. I picked it up assuming it was my dad. I looked at it and saw it was our friend Marty.

"It's Marty!" I said excitedly. Marty was one of our best friends and well known to everyone my number one booty call/ "fuck buddy" if you will. I saw Rocky's face fill with disappointment. I set the phone down and looked up at him and smiled. "He can wait." Rocky smiled.

"Hey Rory, I've wanted to talk to you about something," he said.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Well um…" my phone rang again. I groaned.

"Hold that thought," I said as I answered it. "Hello?"

"Rory?"

"Yes Marty, who else would be answering my phone?"

"I need you here right now," he said.

"Well you're going to have to settle for your sock or something because I'm a little busy, sorry," I replied.

"No, it's not that, I just need you here, I need someone to talk to," he said. I looked at Rocky. I sighed. I guess Rocky and I would have to save our moment for later.

"Alright, I'll be over soon," I said finally. Rocky looked very disappointed. I hung up the phone and looked at Rocky. "I'm sorry, Marty needs me."

"What just to get his dick wet?" he asked.

"Fuck you," I snapped as I grabbed my sweat shirt and walked angrily to the window. He rushed up behind me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way," he apologized.

"Well than how did you mean it? Because that kind of just explains itself," I replied with a biting tone.

"I just was going to tell you are one of my closest friends and well, I just think you're better than all that," he said. He shrugged. "Whatever, just be careful on the way over there. I'll see you tomorrow at school." I stepped forward and hugged him.

"Thanks Rock," I said as I gave him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled and nodded. I climbed out the window and walked in the direction of Marty's house. Whatever he wanted better be damn important to have interrupted me and Rocky's night of hanging out.