My life is very boring, and I was given an equally boring name and body. My name is Mary Jane Nola, people call me Mary Jane to annoy me, which is alot. I'm a little shorter then the average height for my age(16) and have Red/orange long dead straight hair, with the typical green eyes and freckles which pretty much sums up my look. I'm not really into fashion or makeup, I just live life with whatever it gives me, whether I like it or not.

Every morning I wake up to the horrid smell of tobacco smoke. My parents don't care about lung cancer; they say they're going to smoke until they die. I always say that it might be sooner then they think. Then they get angry because they think I'm full of shit, but I am telling the truth.

After waking up, I just lie there for a while, staring at my ceiling of off white plaster, counting the cracks and judge whether or not it will be there the next morning. I continue thinking, but am brutally forced up, out of bed and down to the kitchen, trying to escape the sounds of my parents coughing up their lungs.

For breakfast I scan the somewhat empty fridge, cringing with disgust when I see the mouldy cheese. I come to the conclusion that there is nothing remotely edible in my fridge. The cupboards are next for me to scrounge for food. Some small brown biscuits are in a container, they look alright.

Later at my overcrowded, budget public high school, there's only one time teachers like me talking and it's to answer my name in rollcall. Everything else I say is "stupid," "pointless," "wrong," or I'm being a "smartass". I'm a very reasonable person. I listen to reason all the time. I'm not violent and I don't rudely interject. I just don't understand why I'm doing so terrible with the teachers. For me class is really bad. I suppose you could say that's normal, that I'm supposed to not like school and it will get a lot better when I hear the bell for break, most people would be glad that the bell rings for break, but for me, it gets worse.

Walking down the hallway to my locker is a nightmare. Waves of people push their way past me, I'm constantly shoved to the ground, feet are stuck out all the time as I walk past and when I eventually get to my locker, there is offensive graffiti covering my dented and warped door. I gave up a long time ago cleaning it off, they only put more on there.

After putting my things in my locker, most people would go with their friends and sit somewhere talking about what their going to do after school. Not me though, no one talks to me. I take refuge in the library, were to pass the time I read their books. I've almost read half of the fiction books. I know all the clichés and happy endings you can imagine.

After school, I go home as quickly as possible; I run all the way home, walk panting through my front door, into the lounge room. My sister and her boyfriend are on the couch intertwining their legs and kissing, I keep going, not wanting to watch. As I'm travelling through the kitchen I can see my parents outside heavily drunk, continuing to my room; I throw my stuff onto the floor and leave. It is time for me to go to my youth group.

In my world of rejection, youth is my acceptance. Here we play games, sing, eat, laugh and read verses from the book with the most morals you have ever herd. My caretaker here, Ted, is the kindest man you have ever seen, not perfect, just kind. Nobody is perfect, especially nobody from around here.

After a 9:30pm I start the walk home. It usually takes at least twice as long to get home because I really don't want to get home, I mean who would want to go back to the place that always smells of tobacco, there's hardly anything edible and you be "accidentally" pushed down the stairs by your moody sister? Nobody.

I end everyday with me arguing with my sister that she does not own what I own, after offcourse having found her going through my things. Screaming our heads off the neighbours dogs howling at us and our parents passed out, the only way for me to end it is to slam the door in her face. Of course that doesn't mean she will stop, what seems like an hour later my sister stops and I can finally have a chance to sleep, but not for long.

The smell of tobacco stealthily is moving up my nostrils. Urgh. My eyes open, everything is blurry from the light, I have to blink a couple of times so they can adjust properly. Looking up I can see that the main crack from yesterday is still only a metre long and very thin, though there is one more little one; it all seems very stable still. My guess is that it will still be here this afternoon. Good, I can't imagine life without my roof it keeps me occupied until I have to get up. Soon enough, yep, I can hear the horrible sound of my parents gasping for air through their chunky coughing.

For breakfast I manage to get a piece of bread with no mould and some butter and jam and luckily a banana and an apple for school. Its going to be a good day, I can tell. But at school, everything was not good, it was just as it was everyday, first period was a long and bad as ever and when the bell went, I was no happier.

Walking through the hallway to my locker was just as hard as any other day. People are pushing and shoving, well at least no one has spat on me. I finally get to my locker and put my stuff in it. I sigh as I start pushing my way through the crowd, what I would give to be somewhere other then here.

Looking around to find my way out all I see is a mass of people, pushing their way through the hallway. I didn't really notice anyone personally. I just see them as the normal animals they are. From my locker, the quickest exit is the one by the maths rooms, but is it the easiest? Looking around I don't see anything that will be too much of a problem, mostly people from other years, wait. Who's that?

There was a boy I'd never seen before. He was tall with long-ish wavy brown hair and bushy eyebrows. He was wearing very odd clothes, that made him stand out, he did not have the same fashion sense as most guys at this school does. He was just standing there, looking at me, undisturbed by the annoyingly violent crowd around him. In the middle of a huge mess of commotion, he was peaceful. To me, that is what stood out the most. No one from around here is peaceful.

He's still staring at me with his big brown unblinking eyes. I wanted to turn away, but I was mesmerised. It is an odd thing, watching someone, watching you. He turned and walked away, but for some strange and unknown reason, I followed.

Shoving my way through the crowd, I tried to keep up with him, but his legs were longer then mine and I had to quicken my pace and half run to keep him in view. The corner to the English block is coming close, and he swiftly turned round and went down that corridor. Panicking I bolted to the corner, not knowing what would happen if he wasn't there. When I go there, I turned and took about two steps and found myself on the ground.

Crap! I could feel the blood rushing to my face. Embarrassment is an understatement for what I was feeling. I was on the floor, at the feet of a complete stranger, who I had just ran into after only forcing myself through an overcrowded hallway just to follow him. Why did I do that? Why didn't I just listen to reason and go to the library instead?

He smiled at me, which only made me blush more. As I got up, I mumbled sorry and went to continue down the hallway as if I needed to go down there. He held my hand to stop me from going; then he led me into an empty classroom and shut the door behind us.

"I am very sorry for taking you away from your friends" He started
I gave him a dirty look, was he mocking me? But he seemed confused as to why I was insulted, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt and let him continue.

"Mary Jane-"

"Its Mary" I cut in. I hate it when I'm called Mary Jane

"Miss Nola, my name is Lucas" he continued

He knows my name? Probably the other kids told him not to talk to me.

"I need you to come with me; I will take you away from your nightmare and show you the life you were meant to have a life where people appreciate and value your opinion. A life where you are respected and people will go out of their way to make you happy. You will wake up to sweet silence and the sweet smell of the ocean"

It sounded like heaven. A place I could be happy, live to my potential and no one would want otherwise. I have wanted that for only my whole life, but as perfect as it sound, nothing that perfect has ever come to me before in my whole life, why has it come now?

"Why would someone do that for me?" I asked cautiously, praying that there wasn't a catch.

"I can't tell you. I'm not aloud, but I promise you, this is not a lie. You just need to come with me" He pleaded.

His voice told me to trust him, but looking at him up and down, he is the sort of person I know that would take advantage of me. I looked at the door. Would it hurt his feelings if I just left? I mean its sounds great, but nothing like that is without a catch.

He seemed to know what I was thinking, because he put his hand on the side of my face and softly pressed it so that I was looking him in the eyes.

"You must come with me" He said

I was looking into his big brown eyes, and all I could think of, was how I would be happier.

"You must come with me" he repeated

"I must-"

The door came crashing to the floor, with an awful clatter. I jumped away from Lucas. The hallway outside was empty. The only person that was there was a middle-aged man, I didn't recognise as any of the teachers.

He was almost as tall as the doorway. He was wearing some sort of uniform that was a deep blood red coloured suit that was covered in grease and grime, with a symbol across his chest. It was ripped in places, looking as if he has had rough life for the last week, maybe he was living on the street. His hair was black, matted and very greasy, with his eyebrows matching his hair. His face was pointy with red, bloodshot eyes. His expression showed that he was ready to kill.

"Lucas, you rotten, second-rate bastard. Hand her over now or you will regret ever looking at her" The man screamed

Lucas stepped in between me and the man and made himself look as tall as possible

"Why would I hand her over? I found her, she's mine!" he sneered

What? Was I property now? I new he didn't mean it! How dare he lie to me! I will never go with him. I need to get away…

"Yours? She will never be yours, you didn't even know about her until I told you!"

How, that idiotic man is in the only door…

"But I found her first, making her mine"

The window, it's open, if only I could get to it without either of them noticing…

"What if I kill you? Then she will be mine"

My only chance is while they are arguing.

"Maybe she isn't the one you're looking for"

Now or never…

"What do you mean boy?"

NOW! I ran as hard as I could; not wanting to know what was going on behind me. I threw aside a table that was in my way. I dived through the open space, all I could hear was air rushing past my ears. I was falling… still falling, it seemed like forever. The ground couldn't have been that far away. My left shoulder hit the ground with a crunch.

The pain that went through my body was sharp, as if knives were stabbing me. Tears were filling my eyes but I couldn't just lie there, I had to go. I didn't want to be caught by Lucas or the other man. With great difficulty and speed, I heaved myself up. Placed my left hand over my right shoulder and ran. I had to get home, there is no where else I could go. Youth was closed at this time of day.

As I was running, the pain seared every time my foot hit the ground. I ran up my driveway and onto the front porch. The door was already open. My sister was nowhere to be seen, probably still at school, my parents playing a drinking game in her place on the couch. Everything seemed normal. Still panicky I sat in the kitchen to catch my breath.

What had just happened? Why did Lucas pretend to be nice? Why was that man so angry? Why did they treat me like an object? Was there something I was missing? So many questions with no answers filled my head. But I knew to find them I had to go find Lucas; even If that means looking into his eyes and falling to pieces. Wait! His eyes! I never see any reason when I see into them. I don't know how he does it, but he manipulates people.

I had to go. Those questions won't answer themselves. I walked down the driveway and stood on the sidewalk. Living in that house all my life it didn't seem that special, but now looking at it, I might never see it again if I run into that crazy man, so now it seems, different. Like it was the building of what I'm going to do next. Now I guess it was sort of… sort of beautiful. Slowly I turned and walked away.