CHAPTER 1 NICOLE
Some people might think I'm strange. I have very few friends. Those that I do have are quiet. Not really the outgoing type. To us high school is just another place you have to pass through before you get into the real world. Before it matters. My friends and I have fun. We do our own things and have our own ideas. We may fight occasionally, but when it comes time we have each others backs. People in our school label us as losers, geeks, Goths, punks, emos, or the most common Loner. Maybe we are loners. Maybe we aren't. Only we know. My name is NicolePierson, and I am a loner.
CHAPTER 2 JAKE
Jock. The word is meant to place me in a world with sports, cheerleaders, and popularity. But it doesn't. It puts me in a place where people are shallow, and the constant parties and drunken nights mean nothing. I'm surrounded by people who think high school is the most important thing and will end up working at the McDonald's down the road. I have friends. I just can't talk to any of them. I've had girlfriends too. They weren't serious relationships. Mostly based on appearances and popularity ratings. There's a girl I've had my eye on lately. I wish I could talk to her, but I can't. she's not part of my group. My name is Jake Michaels and I am pathetic.
CHAPTER 3 THE MEETING
As I'm walking down the hall I noticed her. She was standing in one of the many shadowed corners that filled our high school. I wanted to talk to her so badly. I was alone at my locker and she was also alone. This was my chance. I stood up and walked over to her.
I could see him staring at me from his locker. He was alone. I knew that if I wanted to talk to him this would be my chance but I couldn't bring myself to do it. He would just shoot me down. He kept looking at me for quite a few minutes. Then he started to walk towards me. I figured he was probably just walking to a class, but then he stopped right in front of me.
"Hi." I said to her
"Hey." she looked at me "Um….What do you want?" she asked me
"I want to talk to you." I said
He wanted to talk to me. Why would he want to talk to me? I'm nothing special. I'm not friends with his friends and I've never spoken to him in my life. Why would he have any interest in what I have to say?
Right now she's looking at me like I've got 6 heads. I think she's wondering the same thing I've been asking myself. Why did I come over here? It's not that I didn't want to talk to her, but if any of my friends saw us then neither of us would ever hear the end of it. Rumors would spread and I didn't want to put her through that, but I had to talk to her.
"Why?" I asked
"Look, I know you saw me looking at you" he said quietly
"Yeah, so? People have stared at me before, but you're the only one who actually came and talked to me" I told him
"I wasn't looking because I thought you were a freak or something. I was looking because I--" he was cut off by his friend.
"Hey Jake! Why are you over her with this freak of nature?" he said
"Hey Dane. I was just telling her how weird she is." he said
"Good. She needs to be put her in place. Bye loser! Come on Jake." he said as they left
Jake gave me a small, sad smile. If you were passing by you wouldn't have noticed it, but I saw it. It was a genuine smile, and it was perfect. For the first time in a while I actually smiled back.
I wanted to apologize for Dane being such a jerk, but I couldn't so I opted for a smile. When I smiled at her she seemed surprised. Almost like she hadn't expected me to actually care. Then she smiled back and it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.
CHAPTER 4 RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS
I came home with a huge smile on my face. I'm almost positive I looked like and idiot, but that's ok. I had just realized that I'm starting to like Jake and I didn't really care if I looked dumb. I walked over to my couch after tossing my bag to the floor and switched on my TV. It was Thursday night and I was watching Supernatural. It's my favorite show. When it was over I walked downstairs and noticed that my dads car was in the driveway. It's going to be a long night.
I think I'm starting to scare my mom. I came home and I had a big, goofy smile on my face. That smile hasn't gone away and I've been home for about 5 hours now. It's a little past 10pm. I started to think about Nicole. She was amazing. My smile grew even wider when I realized that she only lived 3 houses down from me. I ran out to my car and drove past. I heard screaming and then I saw her come flying out the back door. She was headed towards the park. I drove as fast as I could and when I got there I slowly made my way over to her.
I was crying like an idiot. I knew I shouldn't have gone downstairs. I guess my father had a little more to drink than normal. He went crazy. He was smashing things, throwing things at me, and he punched me quite a few times. I'm pretty sure my eye is swollen and my lip is pretty busted. I can hear somebody behind me. I turned around and standing right there was Jake.
"Nicole? Are you ok?" I asked her
"If I say yes will you forget you ever saw me here?" she asked me
"No. It'll just worry me more" I said honestly
"Why are you so worried about me?" she asked
"Because I care about you. Can you tell me what happened?" I asked her
"Nothing out of the ordinary." she said calmly
She was oddly calm. She looked so fragile and innocent. I wanted to kill whoever had done this to her and knowing that this had happened more than once just made it worse. She seems like she's starting to trust me and that gives me a little hope.
He seems like he cares. He's being honest and I really like that. He's different though. He's not like the rest of them. He's genuine and kind. I think I might be able to trust him.
"Do you want to talk about it Nicole?" I asked her
"No. and you can call me Nikki if you want" she said
"Ok Nikki. I think this is the beginning of something wonderful." I said to lighten the mood
"Ok, now that was cheesy." she said as we laughed.
There's something about him. I can't put my finger on it, but I really like it.
There's something about her. I can't tell what it is, but I know that I like it.
CHAPTER 5 A NEW FRIENDSHIP AND AN OLD BEST FRIEND
I walked into school like I normally do. My Ipod blasting my chemical romance in my ears. I can see the people staring at me. It's not like before though. It's Jake Michaels. It's almost like he meant what he said last night. It seems like he actually wants to be friends with me. Maybe, he wants it to be more.
I see her walk into school. I meant what I said last night. I want to be her friend and one day, her boyfriend. She looks at me almost like she can read my thoughts. Like she knows I want more than her friendship. She understands that it will take longer. Our friends wouldn't be very accepting. Despite her telling me she's ok, last night scared me. I can see the bruises. It's as if she's been beaten, and if that's the case, I want to help her. I don't want her in a place she could get hurt. I don't want to risk losing her. I won't.
"Hey Jake." I hear a voice from behind me. I turn around and see a girl. I've never seen her before.
"uh…hi. Do I know you?" I asked her
"No. But I know you. And what you're doing to my friend isn't right." she said
"what do you mean?" I asked confused. Who's her friend?
"Nikki. She isn't part of your world. I know what you're doing. Bringing her into what you are is like murder. I won't let her get hurt because you think you know what you're doing." she said
"I'm not doing anything! I have no idea what you're talking about!" I yelled
"I saw you with her in the park last night. I know you know something is going on. You had to have seen the bruises. I won't let you use her crappy home life as an excuse to get close to her and then trash her in front of all your little buddies and this school!" she yelled
"who are you!?" I yelled back at her
"my names Sam. And Nikki is my best friend." she leans in close and whispers "you may think you're fooling everyone with this 'I'm not a jerk' crap, but you don't fool me. I suggest you end your so called friendship now. Before things get ugly" she said as she walked away.
I stood there unaware of what to do. I wasn't sure whether to take that as a threat or a warning. Whatever it was had me thinking. I had seen the bruises. If she gets them like that at home, what would happen if our friendship doesn't stay a secret? Would she get hurt even worse?
CHAPTER 6 SAVING THOSE WHO DON'T NEED SAVING
"Hey Nikki, we still on for tonight?" my best friend asked as she walked behind me on my way to my car
"Sorry Sam, I can't make it. My dad wants me home right away. You know the drill. I'll probably be by later though." I said
"Nikki, just come to my house. We can keep you safe. He won't be able to get in. please?" Sam asked me
"Sam you know I can't. He's the only family I have left." I looked up to see Jake looking at me once again and then I remembered something. "Hey! Didn't I see you talking to Jake Michaels earlier?" I asked her
"Yeah, but it was nothing. Just the normal daily trash talk and name calling." Sam said rolling her eyes.
"Yeah ok. Listen I gotta go but I'll give you a call later. See ya Sam!" I yelled
"Bye Nick!" Sam yelled to me. I waved as I drove off and suddenly, I was scared.
I saw Nikki drive off and then looked to the girl. Sam. She had this look on her face. It was almost as if she were, scared of something. Or someone. I walked up to her.
"Sam?" I asked. She turned to me.
"Can't you take a hint? I mean I thought I made it pretty clear this morning that I didn't want you around me. Or Nikki" she said angrily.
"Listen, I know you think I'm some kind of liar or something, but I'm not. I really care about Nikki and I've seen the bruises. I saw them the night at the park and I saw them today. I need to know what's going on. Is someone hurting her?" I asked quietly. She turned and started walking away. I quickened my pace and followed.
"look, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into. Just go back to your cheerleaders and parties and leave this for me and Nikki to deal with." she said as she kept walking.
"Please? I know what I'm doing." I told her
"DO YOU!? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT EITHER OF US HAS BEEN THROUGH!?" she yelled at me as she turned around. She walked up to me slowly and started to whisper. "I promised Nikki that I would never tell anyone this. Her dad beats her and it gets pretty bad. What you saw was only a taste of what has happened before, but her dad is the only family she has left and no matter how many times her hurts her, she won't leave." she said to me. Before she left she turned around again.
"If you really do care about Nikki, make sure you know what your getting yourself mixed up with. She can't afford to be hurt by her father, and you." she said. She turned around and walked away leaving Jakes thoughts completely messed up.
CHAPTER 7 ENDED BEFORE IT BEGAN
I knew there was something about her. Every time I saw her there was this bad vibe. It's not that it was her. More like someone close to her. I should of made her tell me who gave her those bruises that night at the park. I have to help her.
Being home is one of the worst things I could possibly do. I knew Sam was just trying to help me. I don't know why I didn't go with her. They would have protected me. Jake even seemed like he cared. Maybe he can help me.
I was driving home when I decided to take a detour. I ended up driving down Nikki's street and right past her house. As I got closer I could hear the voices from my car. There was a girl and a guy both screaming at each other so loud I thought a window might burst. As I kept listening, I realized the voices were coming from Nikki's house, and they were getting more violent.
He was drunk when he came home. He started screaming at me like I was garbage. I knew I was in for a beating anyway so I yelled back. Screaming with all my might in hopes that maybe he'll listen to me and leave me alone for once. I could live my life without having to wonder if I'll actually live to be 18. If I do live, I'll leave and never come back. Suddenly, the world went dark.
I heard a crash from her house. I opened my car door and ran as fast as I could to her door. As I ran up the steps a man came stumbling out. He looked right at me and then kept walking. As he went past me I ran inside.
"NIKKI!?" I called out. There was no answer "Nikki?" I said again.
I walked into the kitchen and as soon as I did I froze. There was Nikki, lying on the floor, with blood oozing from her forehead. I ran over to her and tried to shake her awake.
"Nikki?" I said. "wake up." I said shaking her. She didn't move. "Nikki, wake up!" I said shaking a little more forcefully.
Her eyes began to flutter and she eventually opened them. She gave me one look and said "Why do you want to save me?" and she slipped unconscious once again.
I was at a loss. If I took her to the hospital she would be put with Child Services and taken away. I couldn't let that happen. I soon found myself on my way to Sam's house with an unconscious and bleeding Nikki in my backseat.
CHAPTER 8 DRUNKEN FIGHTS AND MIDNIGHT ARRIVALS
I ran up the steps of what I assumed to be Sam's house and I knocked as loud as I could. Within a minute Sam was at the door and she was staring, open mouthed right at me. I was holding an unconscious Nikki in my arms.
"What happened?" she asked me quietly
"I don't know. I think her dad hurt her. I was driving past and I heard screams and I stopped. Then there was a crash and I ran inside and found her on the floor." I said in a hurry "I didn't know where else to take her." I said quietly.
"Come inside. My parents aren't here." she said ushering us in.
I laid Nikki down on the couch in Sam's living room and stepped to the side so Sam could check on her. I watched as she tried to wake her up, calling out to her and gently shaking her. She even tried putting a wet cloth on her forehead.
"She won't wake up. She needs a hospital." Sam said.
I nodded quickly and picked Nikki up from the couch and we all made our way to my car. Once I had Nikki in the back seat with her head in Sam's lap, I drove as quickly as I could to the nearest hospital. Nikki needed help, and I was going to give it to her.
that's it for now!
what do you think!?
should i make another chapter or just quit now?
review please! :P