hello all! So this is my first fic and it's un-betad. (Sorry). Warnings in this chapter include mild violence. This story is rated M for future chapters. I'm posting two or three tonight then more every one or two weeks ( sooner if a bunny hits.) I hope you like it, feel free to say it sucks.

I don't own twilight and eat your veggies.

I stood in the shower stall silently, listening for the sound of footfall outside of the locker room door. The water wasn't running and my hands shook from hanging on the the metal piping. There was nowhere else to hide.

There were four exits to the school which wouldn't set off an alarm. One was down the music hall, one was down the second floor fire escape, one through the cafeteria, and the last through the main entrance. Unfortunately for me, the music hall was locked and in order to access either the stairs to the second floor or either of the other two exits I'd have to go through the main lobby. I knew they would have someone waiting there.

That's what lead me here. Hiding in the girls locker room shower, handing on for dear life so my feet wouldn't show from underneath.

I heard the clicking of multiple sets of shoes coming down the hall and tightened my slipping grip. I heard it groan under my weight and prayed it would last long enough to get me out of this mess.

The door creaked open to my left and I held my breath.

"Isa-bella!"

I'd never hated my name more then I did in that moment. I was sure it was sweet little Megan who had said it, but she made it sound like a curse. Kind Megan. She was only a freshmen and had been so kind to me when I'd first arrived here with my mom. It was amazing what uniting under a cause could do to a person. In this case, the cause was me.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!"

The group of girls teetered as if their companion was sharing some kind of inside joke.

"We know you're here Isabella." This voice was colder. Harsher. Jamie.

"We searched the rest of the school and there's no way you got out. Come on, Isabella. Maybe we'll go easier on you, hm?"

I knew it was a lie. They'd been planning too long. My sweaty hands began to lose their grip and I prayed to a god too cruel to exist that I'd make it out of this alive. The shower head I'd been gripping finally gave way and I fell to the ground in a flurry of limbs and water.

The curtain that had been hiding me was ripped open and there stood at least 3 girls from each grade. They laughed as they took in my crumpled form being slowly soaked by the out of control spray.

"Well, well. What do we have here? If it isn't little Red!"

I cringed at the name. Red. It's what they'd called me since I came here. Red like the name on my wrist. The red that signified my soulmate was dead.

"You're gonna learn today little Red. Just because nobody wants you, doesn't mean you can put your nasty little hands on something that isn't yours. You should have kept them to yourself."

I opened my mouth to protest. I didn't do it. It wasn't my fault! But my objections turned into a scream as an overpriced shoe heel came down on the back of my hand.

"You want to put your hands where they down belong?"

This time a shoe came up and hit me in the stomach. I crouched over in pain, but that only gave a third girl a shot at my head.

"We'll make sure you can never use them again."

The first girl brought the same shoe down on my second hand at the same time as the third delivered another blow to my head. My world went blessedly dark.

"-stretcher! Get me a stretcher, now!"

"- broken. We need to operate. Both legs, both hands, one arm a sev..."

"-ress charges. You can, of course, but there were so many."

"I'm here, baby. I'm here. I just need you to wake u..."

"...legal name change. Since she's a minor it will remain sealed."

"-et her out of here! It's not safe, Phil. I talked to Charl..."

I was surrounded by darkness. I wasn't sure how long that had been the case, but it seemed like ages. It was like a sleep that seemed to go on forever and you only noticed because you kept waking up.

Reality came in flashes. So did the pain. Every time I heard the voices the ache would overcome me and I felt them slipping away again.

I heard my mother, Phil, those who I assumed were doctors, but my mind was too consumed to retain any of what they said.

When I did come to, it was alongside the loud beeping of a heart monitor. My whole body ached and my mouth felt dry all the way down my throat. I blinked my eyes open, but the harsh lights made me close them instantaneously.

I tried to move my arm to cover up the harsh glare, but realized I couldn't. I began to panic. The attack came back to me all at once. Like an instantaneous upload of information. I opened my mouth to scream, but all that came out was a harsh cough. The steady beeping of the heart monitor began to speed and a banging sounded from across the room.

Three people in scrubs came rushing in and tried to steady my limbs as I panicked. I could hear them yelling to me, but couldn't comprehend what was said. A sharp pain rushed through my arm from the inside of my elbow and the world began to fade.

The next time I awoke, I felt a pressure on my shoulder. Ignoring the too bright lights, I blinked my eyes open to see a familiar head of hair resting there.

"Mo-"

I couldn't get the name out without coughing, but that seemed to jostle her awake. My mom shot up and her eyes widened as she took me in.

"Oh Bella, baby. You had me so scared!"

I opened my mouth to try to speak, but mom held up a hand and I paused.

"Don't try to talk baby. They had a breathing tube in you and said your throat'll be tender. Do you remember what happened baby?"

I thought back. The locker room. The water. The pain. I heard the heart monitor speed up and nodded.

"It's okay, baby. It's over. Calm down. Oh my, you must be thirsty. Let me get you a drink."

I took a few deep breaths and nodded. I *was* thirsty.

My mom ran over to a small sink and returned with a plastic cup of water and a straw. I took a drink and almost cried in relief as the ice cold water slipped down my throat. She turned to put it down and I squeezed my eyes closed.

"H-how... long."

Mom turned and gave me a disapproving glare.

"Now honey. I don't want you to panic..."

Despite her words, or maybe because of them, I heard the heart monitor begin to pick up speed.

"Breath, Bella baby. I'm gonna tell you everything, but I need you to keep calm okay?"

I nodded and took more deep breaths. The beeping slowed and mom coninued, apparently satisfied.

"Mrs. Ball phoned the police when there were still so many cars out front an hour after the final bell."

That was just like Mrs. Ball. She was a stern woman in her 50's who didn't enjoy the antics of teenagers. I'd always wondered why she became a teacher.

"Well the cops showed up and caught four girls guarding the door. One of them, a freashmen, cracked and told them what those girls were up to."

Her voice cracked and I tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"They caught a few girls just as they were running away. That's when they found you."

She wiped at her face but continued.

"They said... They said it was lucky you were alive. There was so much blood. They rushed you to the ER. You had one shattered hand, one broken wrist, a severe concussion, broken right arm, a broken femur on your right leg and fibula on your left. Three broken ribs, and had lost so much blood."

She listed off my injuries like a list. As if she had forced herself to be detached from it.

"They had to operate on your hand and your right leg. They didn't want to put you under because of the concussion, but your hand was so... mangled. After they brought you out, you just wouldn't wake up!"

Her face was turning red and I could see the heartbreak on her face. I wanted to hug her. My poor mother. She was never good with responsibility.

"You wouldn't wake up, baby. I was so scared."

I opened my mouth again and said the only thing I could think to.

"How long?"

She grabbed my shoulder and buried her head in it.

"You've been in a coma for five months.