Michelle

by TrishaMichellee

I've been slowly but surely working on this, might take a while to complete

(WARNING! Before u guys get all confused..First of all..I re-named David, now his name is Jett. I just took out the old chapter to change that, also there's a significant more of the story on this new and improved chapter! Enjoy!)

I was 13 when I found the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with, 16 when I lost my virginity, 17 when I was proposed to, 20 when I was married and 23 when I had my children. Now, most would say… "Lucky brat, my boyfriend just dumped me." But I am not here to tell you about my fairytale. This story is full of hardships I wish upon no one. Between the ages of 15 and 23 I was constantly tortured by the men in my life, the choices I had to make, and the people I left behind. I am 29 now and I am still not too sure if I am happy with the decisions I have made. My name is Michelle Jane Woodland, previously Michelle Jane Freemont, and this is my story. Let's go back to the beginning, shall we?

"Here we go…" I whispered to myself as I stepped off the plane, in the airport I tried to spot my now foster mother, but to no prevail. I didn't even know what the hag looked like. Huffing, I sat on a stiff bench and pulled out a dried up roll from my bag and began to chew on it. I believed I had a perfect reason to be a little sour, here I was, a 13 year old girl in a completely new town in a completely new state with a new "mother" and no one to rely on but myself. Though I guess I should be somewhat appreciative of being extracted from my devil of an uncle who had, since my parents had been murdered, done nothing but nefariously abuse me mentally and physically, but I refused to look on the brightside of things, for there were much more awful events for me to dwell on.

Welcome to Denver, Colorado!

I read the sign hanging across the ceiling with much distaste. "Yippee." I murmured then looked up as a stalky middle-aged women came stumbling up to me, papers in her hand.

"Michelle Freemont?" She asked, reading of the paper. I nodded my head solemnly. "Great, let's go." And just like that she turned to leave; I jumped off the bench and ran after her.

"But what about my bags?" She looked at me with annoyance in her eyes.

"Shouldn't you have collected them before I had gotten here?" I stared at her blankly. "Go! Gather them quick!" Well I am so very sorry to inconvenience you lady, I thoughtand rolling my eyes I ran quickly to luggage pick up, grabbed them and returned to her breathing hard. She didn't say a word to me and continued on her trudge outside, I followed quietly.

When we had stepped outside I was slightly overwhelmed at how fresh the spring air was, how wonderfully beautiful the sky was and how far I could see into the valley. All my life I had never been out of the boundaries of southern California, there, the air was constantly thick and smoggy, compared to that this place was paradise.

We made our way out to her car, a little beat up Camry; I crawled into the cramped backseat, my bags barely fitting in the seat next to me. Well this was going to be a lovely drive. Our true destination was Brookside, one hour and thirty minutes from Denver. From what I had looked up, Brookside was a very small town in someplace called Fremont Country. This place only had about only 250 people; I was surprised it even had a school system, but it did. A very small school system.

The lady and I rode the whole way without speaking a word, but when we finally got to her house I think I understood for the first time why she even bothered housing the poor souls that found their way into her care, it was for the money. Her home was crowded with kids of all ages, there was screaming, fighting, thrashing and banging coming from every corner of the place. I had not been there for 5 minutes and I was already scared. The lady followed me in, slamming the door behind her. "ANASHA!" She screamed over the crowd, I jumped.

A teen about my age rose from a crowd of toddlers, her eyes found mine. She had short bright red hair and piercingly beautiful blue eyes. Her face was very unique in a gorgeous way, as if it had been sculptured perfectly. She had a strawberry nose, extremely thin lips, and a sucked in face with very prominent cheek bones. Her body was thin and slightly awkward, she smiled at me. "Anasha, Michelle will be rooming with you. Please show her to the room." Anasha nodded and the lady walked off, ignoring the children tugging at her pants for attention.

"Follow me." She said and started up a winding staircase, I followed silently. "What do you think so far?" She asked with a knowing grin.

"Uh…." Was my only reply, she laughed.

"This place isn't really that bad once you get used to it, sure Leslie is a raving bitch, but she won't hit you or badger you, you can do whatever you want. And it's really only that loud downstairs; it's usually pretty quiet up her." She led me down the hall and opened the door to a medium sized room with very few belongings, two white beds and a small bathroom attached. The only thing hanging on the pale blue walls was a full length mirror. "I know it's not much, but it works." She shrugged and beckoned me in. I sat on the bed that I assumed was mine and looked around.

"Leslie? That's her name?" I asked. Anasha nodded, watching me curiously. "We're the only two in this room?"

"Surprisingly yes, but the only reason for that is because we're the only kids here older then 9, if it wasn't for that, this room would be stacked with probably 5 to 6 kids, like all the others." I didn't say anything; I didn't feel I needed to. Anasha left after a few moments of watching me, I probably seemed pretty stuck up, but at that moment it didn't really matter all that much. I turned and looked at myself in the mirror. I was a mess. My hair was in coils and my eyes were swollen.

I was very thin, but shapely. My medium brown curly hair reached to right above my waist. My face was oval shaped with big bright, bright green eyes and very full lips. I was gorgeous, and I suppose a part of me knew it; but admitting it was a different thing. I flopped back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, absentmindedly playing with the ends of my curls.

Tomorrow I would have to face school, a school with only 20 to 30 people in just my grade. Everyone would see me and stare at me; they wouldn't talk to me, for I was an outsider. I wouldn't talk to them, for I was afraid. I lay down on my back and slowly began to drift into a deep sleep.

"Michelle, come on wake up." Someone was shaking me. "It's 5:30, we leave at 7." I opened my eyes slowly and groaned. "The showers open, you might wanna hurry." Glancing at the clock I realized it was already morning. I had slept 15 hours straight. I dragged myself up, digging through my bag I found what I needed for the morning; a decent pair of clothes and some makeup. I shuffled into the bathroom and started the shower. It didn't take me long before I was ready for the day.

I was carefully applying my eyeliner when Anasha walked in, tossing me a packaged pop tart. "You ready?"

"No…" I answered honestly and with a sigh I unwrapped the pop tart and started to peel off the ends, dropping them into a trash can. "I don't even have any supplies."

"I packed you up a bag last night with the basics, a binder with some paper, pencils and pens."

"Oh… Thank you very much." She softly smiled.

"No problem, but I'm guessing that's not the main reason for you not being ready." I didn't answer her, I just smiled and moved passed her. On my bed I found the bag, I shrugged on a light coat and threw the bag over my shoulder. With the pop tart in my mouth I followed Anasha down stairs and out the door. "It's only about a 15 to 20 minute walk from here to the Junior High. The buses are just too nasty to ride, plus we'd have to share with the elementary kids, which is never fun."

"Very true." I wrapped my coat tighter around my body, the air outside was chilly, and it was still slightly dark. Plus my body had close to none body heat.

In front of us an apartment door slammed shut and three boys filed out. One with very blonde, messy hair and the other two with perfectly styled dark and medium brown hair. "Hey guys." Anasha called, the two dark headed boys turned and whispered a hello to her and nodded at me, one even ruffled her hair. The blonde boy just barely recognized we were there with a glance over his shoulder. "Michelle, this is James." She gestured to the medium brown haired boy, "Jake," the dark brown haired one, "and Jesse." She nodded at the blonde one. "Guys, this is my new foster sister, Michelle." James and Jake shook my hand.

"Hey there, where you from?" Jake asked me with a big grin plastered on his face.

"California." I muttered back shyly.

"How you liking the hell hole of Leslie?" This was James asking.

"Oh, it's just the most pleasant thing I have ever experienced." They laughed and Anasha smacked James over the chest with a smile.

"Don't scare her." He rubbed his chest with his lips in a pout, whining. I couldn't help but smile at his immaturity. "Jesse, aren't you going to say hello or something?" Anasha frowned at him as he turned and looked me over.

"She has no interest to me." He said this almost acidly, Anasha just rolled her eyes, but I took it offensively. What a jerk! He had no right to treat me like an inconvenience.

"It's called common courtesy." I shot back, avoiding his gaze as he eyed me with little interest.

"It's alright Michelle, he's been an ass to everybody since his slut of a girlfriend moved to good ol' Cincinnati and hooked up with another guy, dumping him in the process." Anasha knew just what buttons to push. He looked almost sad as he quickened his paces to get away from us.

"That was kinda harsh, don't you think?" Jake stared after Jesse with a guilty expression, Anasha shrugged.

"Maybe he needed to hear that, because quite frankly, I'm getting slightly annoyed with him and his PMSing problem." James rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets. We continued our walk in silence.

When we arrived to the school James and Jake retreated into the boys' locker room and Anasha left my side and went with some of her friends after dropping me off at the front office. "Do you need something?" I looked up from my feet to find an older women peering at me from over her glasses.

"I'm a new student…" I replied awkwardly, fidgeting with my jacket sleeves. She jumped up from behind her computer screen, with a sudden big grin spreading across her face

"Of course! Right this way sweetie." She led me into the counselor's office and instructed me to wait there while she went to "fetch" the counselor. I sat in the big comfy chair in front of her desk and placed my bag in my lap. Sighing, I looked around the small room, on a nearby table there was candy laying in a basket; I unwrapped a piece and popped it in my mouth, sucking on something always calmed my nerves. As I was pondering whether the candy I just shoved in my mouth was supposed to be cherry or strawberry, an overly cheery young, blonde woman bounded her way in.

"At last! We have a new student!" I just stared at her. She smiled apologetically and went to sit at her desk "I'm sorry, but we hardly ever get a new student. I guess a town with only 300 people isn't the most appealing place to live." She chuckled at herself, I continued staring. "Anyways…I'm Ms. Jackson and I'm printing out your schedule now, I'll have one of the office TA's help you find your classes, they're pretty basic courses, nothing to special, but you should know that…" Blah, blah, blah…meanwhile, the flavor of this candy was still really bothering me. "….Do you understand?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." She watched me for a few moments, and then chewed her lips.

"Hey, I know everything about your past. Please, don't be afraid to come and talk to me if something is going wrong. Is there something you want to get off your chest?"

"Nope." I said, standing up and pulling the bottom of my shirt down. She sighed heavily then got up and walked over to the printer and pulled out my schedule. I watched as she went over to a short Asian boy and talked to him, as she was explaining to him he threw me a few startled glances. Had these people never seen a new kid before?

The kid nodded to the counselor then walked over to me, handed me my schedule and started down the hall. As I shuffled behind him, he looked around anxiously. He must've thought it to be awkward, but I didn't, instead I took in the very large school. Weird right? I thought that it would be very tiny, but I guess not. People in Brookside must have money to spare if they found it necessary to build such a big school for such a small population of students.

He stopped in front of a class room and looked at me. 'Mr. Anderson. Biology' the little plate on the door read. "Thank you…" I whispered, and taking a deep breath I opened the door and stepped into the class room. Of course, all the students turned and stared at me, the teacher did too. I walked over to him and handed my schedule, after studying it he cleared his throat.

"Right… class! We have a new student, her name is Michelle, please be kind. Michelle, you can take a seat where ever you like." He smiled at me encouragingly then turned back to continue writing something on the board. Carefully, I picked a seat in the back away from everyone, already; certain girls in the class were giving me dirty looks.

After the first class, came gym, the class I dreaded the most. Especially being new. It wasn't that I was bad at it, I just hated it. Miserably, I dragged myself to the girl's locker room by navigating myself with the school map. The locker room supervisor just threw me a lock and some clothes, instructing me to pick a locker and change, and that I would just have to jump right in to whatever activity we had that day.

Again, I picked a locker away from everybody and changed in a bathroom stall. I kept my head down as I found my way into the main gym. When the bell rang for class to start, teachers started barking orders at us to run 4 laps around the gym then circle up to stretch. I ran quickly then followed other kids as they made a circle and a few students sat in the middle, chatting with each other and occasionally shouting out to switch positions.

I took advantage of this time to stretch out my muscles, going through every stretch pushing them as hard as I could. I could reach much farther than most of the kids in the class, I've always been careful to stretch every once and a while.

I didn't pay much attention for the rest of the class, I moved when I was told to move and only talked when I was asked a direct question. No one paid very much attention to me. I did notice that Jesse was in my class, I also noticed a long blonde haired, very pretty and tan girl following after him, grabbing him when she could. As I watched she would flip her hair and look over her shoulder at me, either smirking or scowling; I couldn't tell the difference. He kept pushing her off, which I found amusing. At the end of the period we all filed out, barely breaking a sweat the whole period. I changed back into my normal clothes and stuffed my gym shirt and shorts back into my locker. As I was leaving, the same girl I had seen flirting with Jesse smashed her shoulder against mine, and it hurt. I didn't say anything and when I was out of her sights I rubbed it gingerly.

Math passed by boring but quick, then I was in lunch.

Possibly the worst 45 minutes of my life.

I stepped out in the middle of the cafeteria, a lunch tray in my hands and looking for a place to sit. I spotted an empty table and made a beeline for it, keeping my head down and ignoring all the strange looks I was receiving; I noticed people here didn't particularly like newcomers. I was only few steps away from my table when I spotted the same tall blonde, stepping out in front of me. I ducked my head and attempted to move passed her, but she grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back fiercely.

I was sent sprawling across the floor, my food tipping over and soiling me. I looked up with wide eyes and found her smirking down at me and the entire cafeteria hysterical with laughter. Tears sprang to my eyes. "What the hell is your problem Kaitlyn?" Anasha ran to my side and knelt down next to me, James by her side. "Are you okay? Please, don't cry, not here."

"Oops, I'm so very sorry." With a snort Kaitlyn stepped over me and joined her preppy little group, giggling and touting. Anasha shot her a dirty glare and pulled me into a sitting position, I could hear nothing but laughter everywhere. To make things worse, Jesse strolled on by and stopped mid-stride, looking down at me with a single eyebrow raised.

Then, he asked me. "What are you doing on the floor?" Why? Why did he want to make this moment worse than it already was? Why did he hate me so much?

"Jesse!" Anasha hissed. I sprang off the floor and sprinted to the bathrooms, wiping my eyes. I ran into a stall and slammed it closed, then collapsed on the toilet, my head in my hands, crying my eyes out. For the first time since my parents died I realized how truly alone I was, I had no family, no friends, the only person I had to rely on was myself. Tonight I wouldn't be able to bury my face in my mother's lap and cry to her about how mean kids were, that had been robbed from me when I was only six. I hated them for leaving me, and I hated my world.

After the end-of-lunch bell rang and I was sure most of the students had filed out of the halls I dragged myself into the front office. I ignored all the 'what's wrong honey?'s and the 'would you like to talk?'s and requested just to sleep. The counselor led me into the nurses' office and motioned at a stiff cushion laying on a bench, I curled up onto it. She watched me for what felt like forever, when I finally thought she was going to ask me something, she left. I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.

I slept all through fourth, fifth and half of sixth period. When I shuffled out into the main room I received uncomfortable glances, looking down on myself I found I still had dried food clinging to my shirt. Sighing, I went into the counselors' office, flopped in her chair, and spilled my guts. I told her about my parents, my uncles abusing, how hated I always was from girls at my schools and everything that had happened at lunch. By the end of it I had returned to my bawling, sniffling hysterically and clutched several tissues in my hand. All the while she just sat there, a sympathetic look on her face and nodding slowly. When I finished, she didn't really say much to me, she just sent me home early. Which I suppose I appreciated, I just wanted to talk, not to be talked to, she probably knew that.

Even though it was still 10 minutes before the bells rang, I ran, dreading running into someone. I made it back to the house in just 5 minutes. Not wanting to go inside I sat on the front porch trying to catch my breath. This place was honestly very beautiful, the sky was so blue and everything I saw seemed so crisp and sharp, even the air smelled fresh. Too bad the people who inhabited this gorgeous town were awful. Across the street a little old lady buzzed around in her front yard, watering the lawn. I couldn't help but smile as she busied herself by frantically trying to spray away a little bee that was innocently feeding off her flowers.

Behind me the door slammed, startled I jumped and looked over my shoulder. Leslie stood over me with a broom in hand, she looked insane. "Oh! Michelle! Here, take this and please run to the store for me!" She dug a list and a 20 dollar bill out of her pocket and shoved it at me.

"B-but I need to change! And I don't even know where the store is!" I tried handing her back the money but she ran back into the house

"Change! I don't care; the store is just around the corner." I followed after her trying to come up with an excuse, but she wasn't paying any mind to me. I grumbled and slowly made my way up the stairs and to the room. I peeled off my shirt with a shiver and tossed it into a corner, after digging through my bag I found a black pull-over sweater and tugged it on. I moved into the bathroom and made a face when I saw my reflection in the mirror, I looked like crap. I wiped off all my make-up and pulled my hair into a pony tail.

As I was coming back down the stairs and little blonde boy, only about 4 or 5 sat at the bottom of the stairs staring at me with big brown eyes. I smiled at him and as I was passing by he reached out and grabbed my pants, I turned and kneeled in front of him. "What's up cutie?"

"C-Can I go w-with you to the store?" His voice was heavily laced with baby talk and he wouldn't look me in the eye.

"Of course you can, come on." I grabbed his hand and started out the door slowly, he waddled after me with a big old grin plastered on his face. It took a while to reach the store, his strides were so short, and I also had no idea where I was going. After 20 minutes of aimless wandering I came to the storefront of Albertsons, I sighed with relief. I squeezed the little boys hand as I started across the street to the store; I stopped when I heard a few little muffled peeps. The little boy looked up at me, his eyebrows knit in confusion. I heard it again, then another several times. I looked around and spotted a nearby dumpster where the sound seemed to be coming from. "Let's go over here really quick" I muttered to him and walked over to the dumpster.

The sounds became louder as I got closer, once there I lifted the top off and peered inside. I gasped, inside 3 little pairs of eyes stared up at me, absolutely terrified. "What's up there?" I looked down and saw Daniel tapping his feet in excitement. I reached down inside the mostly-empty dumpster and pulled out the box the kittens were in.

"Awwww! They're adorable!" I cooed. There was one striped orange one, a fluffy white one and a gorgeous calico one. They were still very young, probably only four weeks; their eyes still had the blue hue all young kittens do. They were also very sick looking. The boy reached his hand in to pet one, but I took his hand and pulled it away. "No, no honey, not yet, they're too scared." He pouted at me. "What's your name anyways?" I asked.

"Daniel." He mumbled quietly. I smiled.

"Well Daniel, looks like we have some new pets." I instructed him to stay there and ran inside the store. I grabbed 20 jars of soft kitten food, cat boxes, litter, some toys and what Leslie had put on the list. In the end I had to use some of my own money to get all of it. When I walked out of the store Daniel was sitting on a curb with the box in his lap, staring inside at the kittens with wide eyes. I walked over to him carefully and picked up the box from his lap and replaced it with the plastic grocery bags. "Let's go."

Lying along the stairs of the front patio several hours later, I heard a shriek then Anasha screeched past me and into the house, James chased after her; I watched as they collapsed on the stairs leading up the second floor and dissolved into fits of laughter. I shook my head with a small smile and stared up at the sky.

After me and Daniel had gotten home I set him and the kittens up in our bathroom, setting out the food and litter boxes and instructing him to keep his distance for now, his eyes were probably still glued to the little fuzz balls.

Judging by the position of the sun in the sky, it was probably already five. And I haven't even begun on the loads of homework I had been given. I looked up when I heard more footsteps and saw Jake and Jesse walking a couple yards down on the sidewalk, they were both laughing and smiling about something. When Jake spotted me he flashed me a grin and jogged over to me, flopping next to me on the sidewalk. "So how's it crackin' tutz?" I rolled my eyes, laughing. Jesse stood at the base of the staircase awkwardly with his hands in his pockets. Annoyed, I turned back to Jake. "You recovered from earlier?" He asked I nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, it's whatever. I didn't do anything to her; I barely even glanced at her!" I was frustrated, he chuckled at me.

"She's just a bitch. She hates any girl prettier than her." I blushed and looked down, fiddling with the ring on my finger.

"Are you kidding? She's gorgeous."

"Gorgeous she may be, but she doesn't even compare to you." He smiled a cheesy smile at me, and I was pretty sure my face was as red as a tomato. Then he turned and looked up. "Which means she probably despises you." With a shrug he turned his attention to my finger with the ring on it. "You engaged or something?" I laughed.

"No. My father gave it to me before; you know…I was only four or five. The ring used to barely even fit me." I smiled as I looked down at it. It was silent for a few moments before he locked his hands behind his head and stood up.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." I watched as he winked at me and started towards his apartment, him and Jesse exchanged words and he left. Just Jesse just stood there, shifting his weight and looking like he wanted to say something. I huffed and stood up, turning towards the door. I was done with him, I was sure the only words that would come out of his mouth would just further hurt my felings. My hands got as far as the doorknob before he grabbed my wrist, but he retracted his hand when I turned to look at him.

"Just hear me out." So I did, I stood there with my arms crossed and watched him. "I….I didn't mean to be so rude, I just, I don't know…" He shrugged and smiled a very light smile. "I guess there's really no excuse for the way I acted, and I hope I can prove to you I'm really not that big of an asshole." I didn't really know what to say and looked over my shoulder. I watched Anasha and James who were still sitting on the stairs with their foreheads pressed together, whispering to each other. I turned back to Jesse, who was still watching me.

"Do Anasha and James have a thing or something?" That was all I could think to say. He laughed, and I felt stupid.

"Yeah kinda, they've been together since they were like, six." I blinked in surprise.

"Are you serious? That's really weird…" He was silent for a few moments.

"So, me and you, we're alright?"

"Yeah, we're alright.

"Good."

It had been almost two years since that day, now I was 15 and he was 16. Jesse and I were almost inseparable, we were best friends. Today Jesse corned me, literally, in the lunch room. "I'm dating Kaitlyn." My breath caught in my throat, my heart stopped and I stiffened.

"W-w-wait…what? Jesse…you have got to be kidding me! That…that…that bitch? Jesse!" He frowned at me and sighed heavily, shoving his hands in his pockets like he always does when he got uncomfortable.

"Michelle, she's my girlfriend now, I don't appreciate you talking about her like that…" I pressed my hand to his forehead; I really thought he was sick.

"Have you gone mad?" He smacked my hand away, annoyed, and turned away from me. Like clockwork Jake appeared at my side and placed his hand on my lower back, steadying me.

"Yeah, Michelle. He really has gone mad." His eyes were narrowed at Jesse, and Jesse didn't look particularly happy either.

"Jake, please."

"No Jesse! She has done nothing but treat Michelle like crap since the very moment she laid eyes on her! And you're just going to go and be with her? Yeah, Jesse." He scoffed. "You really are a great friend." Jesse's fists clenched and his eyes flashed, he always had a really quick temper. They continued arguing, well, more like fighting for the next couple of minutes. But I was too caught up in the situation to pay any attention, before I knew it Jake was steering me away by the shoulders and whispering in my ear. "Don't worry about him; he'll come to his senses sooner or later." But I was still in too much shock to register anything at the moment; he sat me down across the table from Anasha and James, who were probably playing some inappropriate "nervous" game, and slid his hand into mine. I squeezed it as hard as I could and glared at Jesse as he made his way over to his new pretty little girlfriends table and slid an arm around her waist, kissing her. I'm pretty sure my nails broke through Jake's skin, and he flinched but didn't pull away.

This was the first time in two years that I was genuinely pissed at him, I wanted to wrap my hands around his neck and…"…Michelle!" I blinked in surprised and turned my attention to Anasha, who was impatiently snapping her fingers in front of my face.

"What?" I swatted at her fingers and pulled my hand out of Jakes, crossing my arms and huffing.

"I said…" She rolled her eyes at me and sighed softly. "Do you want to go with us later to pick out James' new ride? Now that he finally got his license." James shot her an irritated look.

"It didn't take me that long…" He muttered, Anasha opened her mouth to argue with him but I cut her off.

"I can't, I have a huge paper to work on." I pulled a piece of crust off of the pizza Anasha had on a tray in front of her and popped it in my mouth, she watched me with a frown.

"Come on, please!"

"Anasha, you should be working on it too." She grumbled at me and turned back to James, trying to avoid another one of my lectures, but I wasn't in the mood. When the bell rang I took my sweet time making my way to my fifth period, Jesse was in that class. I, as a freshmen, was taking a sophomore biology class. I was, as usual excelling with an A and Jesse, as usual, was barely passing with a D+. I walked into the class only seconds before the bell rang and made my way to my seat avoiding Jesse's gaze, which seemed pretty pointless since he wasn't even looking at me. So that was how he wanted to play it. I positioned myself in my seat so that my back was facing towards him, for the entire period the teacher lectured, lectured and lectured some more. I took notes and literally copied down everything he said. Staying concentrated on class seemed to be the only way for me to not concentrate on how bad I wanted to slap Jesse.

When class ended I was the first one out the door and into the arched hallways, not even giving him time to try to talk to me. When I rounded a corner, little Miss Kaitlyn was there to greet me and oh-so pleasantly knocked all of the books from my arms. My temper flared and when she was walking away, for the first time since I had met her I didn't let her, pulling her shoulders back and turning her around. "What the hell is your friggen problem?" She opened her mouth to say something that was probably just going to piss me off even more, so in my calmest, most even voice –even though I felt like screaming- I said, "Look here, I'm sick of you messing with me, I'm sick of you belittling me, and well, I'm pretty much just sick of you in general. So I'm going to tell you a little something that I'm hoping will pop that huge ego of yours. The only thing you've got going for you is that pretty little face and your miraculous ability to spread your legs whenever some new guy asks. So why don't you just go and run off and pick on somebody with an identical loathing personality." I turned on my heel, scooped up my books and pushed through the crowd that was slowly engulfing us.

As I was leaving I heard her call me a few questionable names, I laughed. Pathetic.

After the sixth and final period, Jesse was waiting outside my classroom. I tried to move passed him smoothly but he just followed me. "Can we talk?" He asked.

"Honestly Jesse, I would rather not."

"Why not?" I turned to face him and gave him a bored face.

"I just don't! Okay?" He stared down at me.

"Why are you being such a brat?"

"Why are you being such an idiot?"

"Who says I'm being an idiot? You don't even know her, I do."

"I know that I hate her. And I know that you know she's a whore. Maybe that's why you've decided to entertain her." He looked generally taken back, and a little wounded. Not that I cared, I was livid.

"You know that's not it Michelle, you know that!"

"Do I Jesse? Because I thought I knew you, and based on your actions lately, I've been wrong." He just stood there, looking down at me, his bright blue eyes swimming with hurt. I turned and began to walk away. "Just give me some space."

He didn't follow after me.

"Anasha, can't you just stay home tonight?" I looked up from my feet and into Anasha's eyes as we were walking home with James and Jake, who were a few feet behind us, discussing something quietly.

"How come?" I shrugged and she gave me a knowing glance, I simply nodded. A few brief moments later she turned to face James, walking backward. "You think we could go look for the car tomorrow? I'm really super tired."

"Yeah I suppose we can, I'm in no rush. That fine with you Jake?"

"I don't care."

All of my friends knew about my 'mental' issues if you will. It was pretty darn obvious, but only Anasha and Jesse knew the full extent of the disturbing thoughts I had, they were the only ones I had ever told. When I am alone, my mind begins to twist into some sick demon nest or something, I thought awful things. I knew that if I was left alone tonight they would reappear.

Anasha and I had this weird connection, we could sense everything the other person was going through, so no questions were asked on Anasha's part when we finally got home and I collapsed on my bed, head buried in the pillow, sobbing. She just hugged me tightly and stroked my hair. "IhatehimIhatehimIhatehim!" I cried into her shoulder until there was nothing left, and even when I was done crying I just sat there. Gypsy, my fuzzy orange kitty, jumped up on my bed and meowed obnoxiously then laid down and rolled over, exposing his white stomach. I lifted my head from Anasha's shoulder and kissed his stomach and rubbed his head with a soft smile. When I looked up and at Anasha's face, I saw that her own cheeks were streaked with tears. She wiped at them sheepishly.

"You know I hate it when you cry." I laughed weakly, brushed her bangs back and hugged her tightly. Whispering thanks into her ear. "You gonna be okay?" She asked, breaking our hug. I nodded.

"I just needed a good cry." We both sprawled out across my bed and just talked; we talked about the past, the future, serious stuff. She told me how upset it made her that her mother didn't want her and dropped her off at some random ladies house when she was just nine, and taking her own siblings away from her. I told her how terrified I was that my uncle was going to find me again.

I sat up with a grin and looked down at her. She looked scared as she perched herself up by her elbows. "What…?" She asked suspiciously.

"Well….I was just wondering, if you know, you and James have screwed yet." She flushed, and then her face got a deep red color.

"What kind of question is that?" I smirked and waggled my eyebrows at her.

"Well?"

"Don't you think I would tell you if I had?" I shrugged, she sighed. "No, well…not yet…"

"You planning on doing it anytime soon?"

"Well…I'm not. But, you know, he's a seventeen year old guy. I'm sure he's starting to wonder."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well…good luck with that." I ended the conversation there, because I could tell how awkward she felt.

Later, around 12, when everyone else was asleep, we quietly made our way down the stairs. Anasha was in the kitchen putting together a sundae and I was in front of the TV, setting up an area for us lay on and putting in the movie The Titanic. It was a tradition for us to do this when one of us was depressed or butt-hurt, like I currently was.

Anasha walked in and handed me the big bowl of ice cream, I dug into it and played the movie. We would occasionally have little side conversations, and at the end when Jack died, I laid there on my back sobbing like crazy while Anasha watched me from the corner of her eye with an amused expression on her face. When the ending credits began to play I turned on my side to ask Anasha if she wanted to go upstairs, but she had fallen asleep.

I pulled my phone out from my back pocket and turned it on; I had turned it off after school, not really wanting to talk to anybody. The clock read 3:30, a few seconds later my phone began to buzz with the arrival of text messages, after the last message beeped in, I scrolled to the first messages, one was from a girl in my English class asking what the format was supposed to be on the paper, it was sent at 4:06. I answered her. The next two texts were from Jake.

Sent at 4:53pm

From: Jake

Hey, how are you doing?

Sent at 5:17pm

From: Jake

I know you Michelle, try to relax a little, alright?

I answered him, telling him I was fine so he wouldn't worry too much. The next one was from James.

Sent at 8:04pm

From: James

Can you tell Anasha that we're leaving 1 2morrow? You come too.

The last message was from Jesse.

Sent at 1:49am

From: Jesse

Plz michelle, I don't want 2 leave it like this…

I scrolled back to James' message, and answered.

Sent at 3:36am

To: James

Is Jesse going to be there?

My answer came a few moments later, my phone vibrated, I opened the message.

Sent at 3:37

From: James

No.

James didn't have to tell me why Jesse wasn't going to be there. I already knew where he was going to be, with his new girlfriend. I didn't reply to James and I sure as hell wasn't going to answer Jesse. I was so pissed; I didn't want to talk to him.

I tucked my phone under my pillow and shut off the TV, as soon as I closed my eyes, I was out.

The next morning I rolled over groggily and directly into the sunlight. I groaned and pulled my blanket over my head avoiding the light. Right before I fell back asleep my phone underneath my pillow began buzzing loudly, someone was calling me. I pulled it out and pressed the talk button, not bothering to see who it was.

"Hello?" My voice was muffled against my covers.

"Michelle? Hey! You ready to leave?" Jake's voice chirped in my ear, I groaned louder.

"What time is it?"

"It's already 12:50. You just got up didn't you?"

"I went to bed at like 3:40 okay? Give me a break." I heard him sigh softly on the other line and faintly whisper to somebody who was with him, probably James.

"How much time do you need?"

"Give us like 45 minutes. I promise."

"Fine." Then the line went dead. He was so impatient. I rolled over and smacked Anasha in the face with my pillow, she was still sleeping the day away. She mumbled something and pulled her blanket over her head.

"Anasha. We have 45 minutes before Jake and James leave without us, and then James will pick out an awful yellow car with blue rims and it'll be your entire fault for sleeping instead of going." That woke her up; as she bounced upstairs I gathered the heavy blankets and pillows in my arms and dragged them up the stairs. I folded them and stacked them neatly in the closet, when I turned around to head back to the room, I nearly smashed into Daniel, I jumped back. "Jeez! Daniel! You scared the crap out of me! What is it?" He fiddled with his fingers and peeked up at me under his long dark-blonde hair, his brown eyes glowing.

"May I go with you guys today? Leslie's going to make me clean something." I ruffled his hair and moved passed him.

"Sorry bud, but I can't. James invited me." He crossed his arms, wearing a pout on his lips. "Why don't you give Trixie, Gypsy and Hobie a bath? They could really use one."

"They'll scratch me."

"Well I'll help you when I get home okay?" He grinned at me, his eyes wide.

"Promise?" He asked. I laughed and nodded.

"I promise." I squeezed passed him and back into my room, I closed the door behind me and turned around to find Anasha standing in the middle of the room, naked with her hair in a towel. I raised an eyebrow at her, she smiled sheepishly.

"I kinda forgot to do my laundry…" I rolled my eyes and walked into the bathroom.

"Take whatever you need. You're such a butt."

"I love you!" She said, then moved to my dresser and started tugging out various articles of clothing. I shook my head and turned on the shower, I undressed and stepped in, letting the warm water run down my hair and shoulders. I quickly did the regular shower routine, by the time I got out Anasha was already straightening her short dark red hair. I wrapped my hair in a towel and dried off the rest of my body, then went to my dresser and threw on a pair of holey jeans and a tank top. I washed my face then applied my foundation carefully, followed by my regular amount of eye shadow, eye liner and mascara. I flipped my hair out of the towel, brushed it and pulled it into a high ponytail. I looked over at Anasha, who was scrambling to throw her make-up on. I sat on my bed and tied on my black converse, Anasha slipped on a pair of my gray slippers and pulled out a tube of lip gloss from her back pocket and smeared it on her lips. "What're you waiting for? Let's go!" She tossed me the tube and ran out of the room. I caught it then got up to follow her, putting on the lip gloss.

"I was waiting for your slow ass, thank you very much." For once, she decided to stay silent, and simply just walked out. When she opened the door, she walked straight into James, who was looking over his shoulder. "Why hello James, what brings you here?" I teased; he stumbled back and blinked in surprise, then held Anasha's elbows to steady her.

"I-I was just about to knock." He stammered. I smiled at him, rolling my eyes.

"Don't freak, I was just messing around with you." I watched as Anasha stood on her tippy-toes and kissed his cheek, he scratched the back of his head and beamed at her. For some reason, their exchange dampened my mood and made me a little sad. I slipped around them and into the warm air; I looked to the side and saw Jake and Jesse, obviously in an argument, a few yards away. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I could tell they were on the verge of yelling. I heard Anasha slam the door behind me, both of their eyes flickered in our direction; Jesse quickly looked away and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"They've been going at it all morning." I turned and found James at my side, Anasha in hand, staring at them. Jesse's and Jake's voices quieted as they continued their discussion.

"Do you know what they're arguing about?" I asked, James shook his head.

"I don't. They're always in a different room; I can never make out exactly what they're saying." Slowly, I nodded and looked from James and back to Jake and Jesse. Anasha broke away from James and made her way down the steps and over to them, neither of us tried to stop her. When she got there, she grabbed Jake's arm and started towing him over to where James and I were, after a few seconds Jake broke his stare-down with Jesse and jerked his arm from Anasha's grip. He stormed towards us and threw the keys to his car at James then got into the backseat.

Anasha and Jesse had a quick conversation; he looked extremely frustrated as he stomped up the steps to his apartment and threw the door closed behind him. Anasha gave me her worst I-am-so-annoyed look and took the passenger seat; James sighed and mumbled a quiet "C'mon." And started to the car, I followed and moved into the back with Jake, who had his arms crossed and was staring out his window. I buckled up and looked out my own window; James got in. The car rumbled to life and swung out onto the main streets.

The air inside the car was stuffy and tense, no one dared to speak and break the awkward silence. I cracked down the window to clear the stale air, the car soon filled with the sounds of passing cars and busy streets. "Close it." Jake ordered, a little stunned I risked a glance at Jake. His gray eyes glared at me behind his hair that was falling in his face, the look he only gave me when he was in a very foul mood. I did as he asked and shifted uncomfortably in my seat, biting my lip. I felt his gaze leave me after a few moments, my phone beeped loudly in my pocket. "If that's Jesse, do not answer it." He said, I looked up at Jake, who was still staring out the window. Hesitantly, I pulled out my phone and opened the text; I bit down on my lip harder.

Sent at: 1:59

From: Jesse

Can we talk, later tonight?

I guess Jake could tell from my expression that it was Jesse, because he took the phone from my hand and skimmed the screen, scowling. Anasha turned around in her seat to look back at us. "It's her phone; don't you think she has the right to text back if she wants, Jake?" She said, he handed me back my phone, the text had been deleted.

"Be quite Anasha." He replied. Anasha shot him a dirty look and opened her mouth to retort.

"Why don't we all just shut the hell up?" James cut in, sounding very calm, but I saw his hands tighten around the steering wheel. Anasha huffed loudly and turned back around, sagging audibly against the seat. A few minutes later we pulled into a used car lot; James threw the car into park and pulled the keys from the ignition then he got out. I un-buckled myself and followed after him, happily gulping in the fresh air, Anasha and Jake got out after me and we all made our way into the main building. Inside, it smelled like a mix between those pine-scented car fresheners and Clorox, it was also several degrees cooler than necessary. I stood at the counter next to Anasha, who was holding hands with James; and Jake, who was busy sniffing at all of the car fresheners and making faces.

We only had to wait a minute or so, thanks to Anasha's fascination with the little bell they had on the counter, before and oldish looking guy, 50 or so, came shuffling out, his dark eyes looked tired. "Whatchya folks need today?" He asked. Jake stopped fidgeting with the car fresheners and looked up.

"I'm looking to purchase a vehicle." James replied, trying to sound all smart. Anasha giggled under her breath. The old guy nodded, and pulled out some papers.

"What's your budget?"

"Around 7,000 dollars."

God. I didn't know James had all that money stored up, no wonder Anasha was always living pretty. James was packed, but he was also working all the time. "Well, since my son is off being an idiot, I guess I'll be the one to help you guys out today. Now what kind of car are you looking for?" I tuned out of their boring guy-talk and rested my elbow on the counter, placing my chin in my hand.

I couldn't understand what Jake and Jesse were so upset at each other about, other than the obvious that Jake was still annoyed with Jesse being with Kaitlyn, but hell, we all were. But Jake was more than annoyed, he was pissed and it made no sense. As I was pondering this little situation, I barely noticed the others had gone on without me, into the back lot. I chased after them and hissed a "Thanks." To Jake, who just shrugged.

"You should've been paying attention." He whispered back coolly, I mocked him like a baby, he ignored me and I huffed at him. We wandered around the lot for a good 30 minutes before James seemed satisfied with his choice; a big dark-blue truck. We were all standing in a circle on the lot, discussing the type of car freshener that should be purchased when a man came tumbling out of the back door of the main building.

"Hey dad! There are some people inside who want to know…" He trailed off when he spotted Jake, then James, then lastly, Anasha. I felt Jake tense beside me.

"Well, who looked what the cat dragged in." Anasha sneered leaning in on her hip. The man groaned. I, who was busy examining my nails, looked up for the first time. The man stopped walking towards us and crossed his arms.

"What the hell are they doing here?" He spat at the old man, who looked confused.

"What do the people inside want?" The old guy asked carefully, eyeing our group, then his son.

"Why don't you come see for yourself?" Then the younger man walked back inside, slamming the door behind him. Well, that was an interesting little exchange.

They all went back inside to fill out paperwork and stuff; and not wanting to go back inside the shop I told them I'd be waiting out by the car. I slowly made my way back to the front parking lot and perched myself on the hood of Jake's car, resting my arm across my knees. The sun was beating down hard on me, making me feel grateful that I wore a tank top. I moved my hands to my ponytail and gingerly pulled the hair tie out, my long hair fell over my shoulders, and I shook out the wavy-curls and brushed it out with my fingers. I leaned back on my elbows and closed my eyes, taking in the sun happily. I swear I was almost about to fall asleep when I heard someone call out a soft "Hey." I opened my eyes and squinted against the sun, shading my eyes with my hand and sitting up. A figure stepped in front of me, blocking the sun. I blinked a few times to adjust my eyes and dropped my hand into my lap. The man standing in front of me was the old guy's son, the man who everyone else obviously hated.

Now that I got a closer look at him, he wasn't really a man yet at all; he was maybe a couple years older than Jake and James, who were seventeen. He was really tall, the top of my head would probably reach to his shoulders, he had black hair and equally dark eyes, he was built, but not bulky and had toned arms that I sure as hell wouldn't have minded wrapping my arms around; he was a grade A hottie. He also reminded me of a darker version of, well, Jesse.

No. Bad. Jesse was a stupid butthead.

"Uh...Hi." I replied stupidly, embarrassed and positive my face was turning red; I averted my gaze to one of the holes in my pants, fingering one of the strings absentmindedly.

"I'm Jett." He said, offering his hand out to me. I took and shook it.

"Michelle." I said, pulling my hand from his. He nodded and looked over his shoulder, towards the front entrance. I was just about to ask why my friends had seemed to have hated him so much, and why he hated them equally as much, but he turned his head back around to face me, I bit my lip and stayed silent.

"I'm assuming you're around the same age as Anasha?" He asked.

"Yup. 15." You would think the silence would've been awkward, but it really wasn't. Maybe it had something to do with how confident he seemed to be, not a cocky arrogant asshole, but just confident. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen." He replied quickly. He looked as if he wanted to say something else, but the front door swung open, revealing Jake, James and Anasha filing out, all of them laughing. Jett sighed and held out his hand to me once more. "Nice to meet you." Raising my eyebrow I took his hand once again and shook it, this time he pressed something into my palm. I wrapped my hand around it and felt a piece of paper, not daring to open and read it; I tucked it into my back pocket. He flashed me a smile and strode off, by the time Jake turned and looked at me, Jett was already passing them and walking into the building. Jake shot a dirty glare in his direction then walked over to me, pulling his car keys from his pocket.

"Did he say anything to you?" He asked, not looking at me and getting into the driver's seat. Something about his tone and the look in his eyes caused me to shake my head, saying no. "Get in." I slid off the hood of his car and got in the passenger's seat, I was really starting to get annoyed with the way he was treating me. He sped out of the parking lot, and instead of taking the rode to get back to our house, he went deeper into downtown.

"Where are we going?" I asked, playing with the ends of my hair and looking out the window.

"James and Anasha wanted to get something to eat." I pulled out my phone to check the time; it was already 4:30. I sighed. "Is that alright with you?" He asked, looking at me from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, it's fine. But I don't have any money on me…"

"I should have enough." I sat up on the front half of my chair and turned towards him.

"No, really, Jake, it's fine. I'll just eat at home." He scoffed at me.

"How often does Leslie have anything in the house that you'll eat?"

"Bu-" He cut me off, giving me a hard look.

"But nothing Michelle, it's fine." He reached and flicked on the radio station, the car filled with cheesy rock music. I sat there and stared at him; he carefully avoided my gaze until I reached over and turned off the radio station.

"Are you severely pissed at me or something? Did Jesse say something to make you severely pissed at me, or are you just severely pissed at Jesse and you're taking it out on me? Because I honestly don't understand why you're giving me the cold shoulder." I said. His expression didn't waver and his eyes stayed locked on the road.

"Could it possibly be that you think that if I'm not kissing your ass I'm being a jerk?" He said, still not even glancing at me. I fell back against my seat and looked away. He had never, ever, in the two years I have known him said anything like that to me; tears sprang to my eyes and I hastily wiped them away; he was right.

"For your information I do not take advantage of how nice you are to me, you don't have to be so nice to me all the time either. But you are being a jerk, and you've been being one ever since this afternoon after you and Jesse got done arguing." My voice cracked.

"Maybe I like being nice to you." He said, his voice softer now that he knew I was getting all upset.

"Then don't accuse me of taking advantage of it! Because I don't!" Frustrated, I clenched my fists.

"I'm sorry…" He whispered as we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant.

He parked the car and took the keys out of the ignition, after a few seconds of just sitting there with a blank expression; he took my chin between his fingers and turned my head so that I was looking at him.

"I'm not upset with you at all, I'm just in a really bad mood, that's all, I promise." With that being said, he released my chin and pressed his lips to my forehead and then got out, ending the conversation. I heaved a sigh and got out as well, just as James was pulling in, the stereo blasting and Anasha bouncing around in the front seat. When they got out James grinned at me and dangled the keys to his car in my face.

"Haha, little freshmen still got another year before she can be as stylin' as me." He teased; I snatched the keys from his hand and held them out of his reach, laughing at him.

"Not if your keys magically up and disappear…" He paled and grabbed for them, whining. I tossed them back at him and shook my head with a smile. "You better watch your back."

"But that would involve him knowing what's best for him, which he doesn't." Jake chimed in, winking at me and flinging his arm across James' shoulder. Anasha came around my other side and hooked her arm through mine; Jake took my elbow in his hand and led me into the restaurant, towing Anasha along behind us. James followed muttering to himself.

As we sat at the table I couldn't help but grin at my friends, at Anasha's childish and perverted jokes, at James's attempt to be respectful and failing miserably, at Jake, who was being his regular goof-ball self but still worrying about me at the same time and giving me a stern look when I refused to order anything, and ordering me the exact food I would've gotten myself if I had money.

But, something was missing, Jesse was missing. Jesse and his inability to be mature, his devious smirks, the way it took forever for him to catch on to everything, the way he smiled, how sweet he was, his lightning-fast temper, his stubbornness, the innocence that flowed in his eyes despite his inappropriate comments, how god damn good looking he was. I missed him, I missed my best friend.

So why had he changed so suddenly? Why did he chose to be with the girl he always declared his hatred for, and turn his back on the people he had always put first in his life? How could be happy with that Barbie doll? Why couldn't I be truly happy without him?

But, I was still incredibly pissed at him, so, so, so, so pissed…Jake reached out and gave my hand a squeeze as if he could read my thoughts, and sometimes I really thought he could. I looked up and into his very brown eyes and returned the hint of a smile that played along his lips. He was always so good to me, he was always there and was always holding me on my feet when Jesse was not, but in my head he couldn't replace Jesse, he was just a backup. Guilt washed over me, hitting me so hard tears clouded my eyes that I quickly blinked away. It was more than obvious to me, and everyone else, that I was more than just a "good friend" to Jake.

I honestly did wish I could give Jake what he wanted, even needed. In my heart I knew couldn't be with Jake, he was like my big brother. If something went wrong we would never be able to completely regain the bond we had now, and that would destroy both of us. Besides, the whole boyfriend thing? Yeah, it never really seemed to work out for me.

I was too distracted by the whirlwind of thoughts to notice that we were already leaving the restaurant, that is until Anasha enveloped me in a huge and proceeded to crush me. "Hey, I'm gonna stay the night with the guys." I nodded wordlessly, she always did that.

"You going to too?" James questioned, snaking his arm around Anasha's slim waist.

"I can't I promised Daniel I'd help give the cats a bath, he was really looking forward to it." I shrugged apologetically and gave Jake a sideways glance. I really did have to help Daniel, but the main reason I didn't want to go was because if I did, staying the night with Jake and James also meant staying the night with Jesse, considering the three of them had an apartment together.

So Jake drove me home and seemed rather content as he hugged me good night and walked the six doors down to his apartment. I turned away from him and closed the door behind me, letting go a long sigh. I had about a full five seconds of peace before Daniel seemingly materialized in front of me, grinning at me and holding a very ruffled up Trixie by her stomach. I tried to hide my smile as I took the beautiful calico from him and petted her gently, making my way upstairs. "Catch all of them and bring them into my room." I said. Satisfied that it would take him forever to catch Gypsy and Hobie, I laid across my bed and tried to steal a few minutes of quiet.

What I did not expect was that within five minutes Gypsy, Hobie and Trixie were trapped in my room, hissing and growling and just plain mad. Sure, piss the cats off before you put them into water, good going, Daniel. I thought to myself and went into the bathroom and started to run the tub water. The next hour or so was thoroughly amusing, for me anyways, between watching Daniel scream like a girl every time Gypsy lashed out at him and the squirming, skinny and dripping wet cats (that I must say, had the funniest reactions) I couldn't really keep serious.

After I got Daniel out of my bedroom; I left my poor, disgruntled and towel dried kitties sprawled out on different part of my bed. I finally collapsed on the bed, which further annoyed the cats and caused them to change positions and shoot me dirty looks while they were at it. I made a face at Hobie, who was particularly giving me the I-will-claw-your-face-off look. I folded my arms across my eyes and flicked on the stereo over my bed. Finally, relaxation.

Then my hands went to my back pocket, and I pulled out the folded sheet of paper that Jett had given me earlier. Hesitantly I unfolded it.

6023347699

Before I knew what I was doing, I had my phone out and was punching in the number in the new text message box. I knew it was a bad idea, Jake would absolutely murder me if he found out, but there was something about the guy, but maybe that was because he was just so hot. And not in the Jesse buff-but-sweet-heart way, in the dangerous I-make-them-good-girls-go-bad way.

Sent at 8:32pm

To: 6023347699

Hey, it's Michelle.

I was hoping you would text me. He replied.

I would have answered sooner, but I've been busy.

I figured as much.

Why did you want to talk to me so bad? I didn't really know I had asked until it was sent, but I didn't have to wait very long, he was fast.

I don't really know, there's something about you, something that I like.

With that text message, I was hooked. I spent the rest of my night texting him, turning my ringer volume on max and positioning it under my ear so every time it went off, it jolted me awake. Around three in the morning, the texts finally stopped. My brain whirled, right before he stopped texting, he asked me to meet him at the park tomorrow, and I had agreed. What was I getting myself into?

The sun shined through the blinds brightly the next morning, throwing me into a restless slumber. I only fully awoke when my phone chirped at me informing that I had, yet again, another new text message. Groggy as heck, I opened the message. It was, of course, from Jett. Letting me know that he would be at the park in an hour, I groaned inwardly. I could've slept for another ten hours I was so damn tired. But I dragged my butt from my bed and into the bathroom. I flinched at my reflection.

Making myself look decent was quite the effort, actually, not really, I just had to splash my face with cold water ten times, slap myself, wipe off the remaining make up from yesterday and add extra cover-up under my eyes, shielding the nasty dark circles I had. Then, of course I had to reapply my make-up perfectly and find a way to tame the out-of-control waves in my hair. Finally, I was satisfied with myself and changed into a pair of shorts and into a gray tank top. I was just leaving when Anasha called me, guilty, I tapped the answer button and held the phone to my ear. "Hello?" I asked as I walked as quickly as I could from the house, good thing the park wasn't that far away.

"Hey Michelle! We all thought we'd chill at the mall since we don't really have anything better to do." I bit my lip, I hated having to lie.

"I really want to, but I have a real nasty headache and I feel super drained, I need the day off." That sounded like a good excuse, I was just hoping she didn't come to 'check' on me.

"Oh…" She said, than I heard her whisper a sharp, "Shut up, Jesse!" A pang of envy shot through me, along with sadness, and a lot of it. She got to sit around with Jesse and I didn't. But that's what he deserved for everything he's done, I didn't need him anyways. I had better things to do. "Things have calmed down a lot between Jake and Jesse if that's what you're worried about." She said softly.

"No, I really do need a break Anasha; I'm not ready to talk to him. I'm still really mad." That was true; the line went so quiet I was afraid I had accidentally hung up on her.

"I understand I'll see you tonight, Michelle." She said, sounding normal as always, I told her goodbye then tucked the phone in my pocket, rubbing my forehead.

"You're right about not telling them that you're seeing me." I turned around and saw Jett standing behind me, looking dark and handsome. He was wearing a white tee that clinged, very nicely, to his frame, and a dark pair of jeans. He stepped out from under the shade of a big tree and towards me; I shifted positions, suddenly feeling small.

"Doesn't make lying to them any easier." I answered moving my gaze towards the small stream that flowed steadily through the park. He gave me a thoughtful look then followed my eyes to the stream.

"I suppose it does not." He looked up, then down at me. "You're really short." He said, I couldn't tell by his expression whether he was teasing or serious, so automatically I went on the defense.

"Am not! You're just really tall! I am average sized for my age." I crossed my arms and turned away, he chuckled.

"C'mon." He whispered and started down the hill to the stream, I followed pathetically, I couldn't help but resting my hands against his back, trying to steady myself. It was a really steep hill. "May I be of some assistance?" He half-smiled at me, eyes full of amusement, instantly I pulled my hands away from him.

"I stumbled…" I murmured, blushing and looking down. He laughed, and continued to tease me.

"Sure…" I kept myself from something saying anything else that was just going to make me look stupid and let him lead me deeper into the park.

Let me assure you, I have never, ever been a very boy-crazy stereotypical teenager girl; I hardly ever gave guys the time of day. Of course expect for Jesse, Jake and James, but they were my friends. There was something different about this guy; he could charm me without even speaking a word, and I wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing.

He led me to a bench that sat very close to the stream, we were surrounded by trees and flowers, it was absolutely gorgeous, and we were completely alone. He sat on the bench, and I sat beside him, crossing my legs and staring into the clear rushing water. "You like it?" He asked, bringing my attention back to him.

"I love it! It's so pretty, I never even knew it was here." I replied, watching him. He smiled and picked up a rock that was lying at his feet, and then tossed it into the water.

"Not a lot of people do." He looked down, meeting my gaze. "You just got to look."

We remained there for the rest of the day and we just talked. He listened quietly to everything I had to say, and when he did say something they weren't just empty words. I trusted him, and I told him everything about myself that I could think of, even things I had only told Jesse and Anasha before. He never really said much about himself, other than that him and his father never got along. When it got too dark and too cold for shorts and a tank top, he drove me home and asked if he could see me again the following day. I told him he could pick me up after school, and I left.

When I got up to my room I was relieved to find that Anasha was not back yet, I crawled under my covers and curled around a very happy Gypsy. I glanced up at the clock, it was only six, and I had a report due on marijuana usage the next day. I rolled over and unplugged my laptop from its charging spot on the floor and began working on my two-and-a-half page report.

Around 7:30 Anasha came home, she didn't say much to me and just sat on her bed and asked to see my phone, I was too concentrated on my paper and just tossed her it, thinking she just wanted to listen to music, which she did. I was just finishing my paper when she got up and stood in the middle of the room, glaring down at me. "Michelle." She said.

"Hold on." I replied, saving my paper to the school website so I could print it out in the morning, I shut down my laptop and put it back on the floor and finally looked up at her. "What?"

"Where were you today?" She demanded, taking a step closer to me. I slinked down under my covers and rolled away so my back was facing her.

"I already told you, I was here." I lied; she grabbed my shoulder and pushed it back so that I was facing her again.

"Don't lie to me! I came home and you sure as hell weren't here! Oh, and I see you and Jett had a nice little conversation last night, you went to see him didn't you?" She dropped the phone onto my stomach and stared down at me accusingly, I grabbed my phone and sat up, returning the dirty look I was receiving.

"You have no right to look into my texts without my permission. And so what if I went to see him? That's none of your damn business! I don't even understand why you guys hate him so much! He's a good guy!"

"You don't understand! He's not a good guy!"

"Then why don't you explain that to me?" Frustrated, a clenched my sheets in my fists and met her angry gaze steadily. She threw her hands in the air, paced in a circle then sat on the edge of her bed. "I'm waiting." I pushed.

"He's in this awful gang; he has been since he was like our age. A couple years ago, about a year before you came, he was after Jesse. Literally he tried to kill him; he's bad news Michelle…" I stared at her blankly; I didn't know what to say. I couldn't, wouldn't believe it; she had to be lying to me.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes and turned back over, closing my eyes. "Can you wait until tomorrow to lie to my face some more? I'm a little tired right now." That pissed her off, just like I knew it would.

"Fine! Don't believe your best friend of two years; believe him, the guy you've known for about a day!" She got up and stormed out, slamming the door behind her. I forced myself not to cry; great, now she was going to go off and tell Jesse, and Jake and James and I would be in for a huge ass chewing. Angry, confused and upset I fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning when my shrieking alarm woke me up, I found that Anasha was still not around. She wasn't downstairs when I was done getting ready, and she wasn't outside when I was getting ready to walk to school. But Jake and James's cars were both gone, which meant she probably went whining over to them and they were both pissed at me, which is why she got a ride to school and I did not.

When I finally got to school, I saw no trace of Anasha, Jake or James, even Jesse was nowhere to be found, not that I was looking. So I went straight to my first period and waited for the bell to ring.

When lunch started I ducked into the nearest girls bathroom, so far today I had been given dirty looks, shoved, slammed against lockers, called names and threatened by little miss sweet Kaitlyn. I had also come to the realization that I had lost all of four of my best friends. I knew the second Anasha told Jake I was hanging out with Jett he would refuse to talk to me. How was I supposed to know what was going on with Jett if no one ever told me? They can't be mad at me just because I'm friends with someone they hate, it's immature and their own fault for never telling me anything.

So then why was I so torn up about it?

I had succumbed to my emotions and was sitting on one of the toilets crying when I heard a faint knock on the door to my locked stall. "Michelle, honey? Is that you?" Ms. Jackson's concerned voice comforted me. I unlocked the door and looked at her tiredly; her arms were around me in seconds. "I was worried, I didn't see you with your friends at all this morning and I saw you walk into the bathroom. Come with me; let's go into my office and talk." I took a step away from her and turned on the sink, splashing my face with cold water then carefully dapping away the dark smears of mascara from under my eyes.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" I asked her, while staring in the mirror, checking to make sure there were no other signs of me crying other than having red, glassy and puffy eyes. As if that wasn't obvious enough.

"Well, you look better then you did a minute ago." She answered honestly. Despite myself I cracked a small smile and flung my bag over my shoulder, letting her lead me out.

We were in the right wing of the building, where most of the classes were held, so in order to get into the left wing, where lunch was held and where most of the administrative offices were, we had to cross through a courtyard. I followed Ms. Anderson silently, assessing the courtyard with bored eyes. It was especially bright that day, and there was a slight breeze that kept blowing my hair off my shoulders. It was really nice and I could've stayed out there forever, that is until I saw what was awaiting me a few yard ahead, and made me want to hurl my non-existent lunch into the nearest trash can.

I saw them before Ms. Anderson did, although they were a little hard to miss. Jesse had Kaitlyn between the wall and himself, engaging in a very obviously passionate lip-lock. His hands were resting on her lower back, his thumbs rubbing circles across her hips and her arms were wrapped around his neck tightly with her legs tangled between his. I could've killed them. Here I was, crying over his sorry ass, and what was he doing? Making out with the biggest slut in the entire high school.

I was mere seconds away from storming over there, screaming at the top of my lungs at how big of a jerk he was and throwing the tissue I was clutching at him immaturely. But, lucky Ms. Anderson got to them before I did. "Mr. Woodland! Ms. Miller! You know better than that!" They broke away slowly, Kaitlyn looking very annoyed and Jesse looking half-asleep from their steamy make-out session. Jesse's eyes found mine and suddenly he looked wide awake, a fresh set of tears sprang up from behind my eyes; but I refused to let them fall, to let him know he had hurt me. So I put on the best amused face I could muster and shot it back at him, he looked away from me and Ms. Anderson continued to chew them out.

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and grabbed Jesse's hand, tugging him back into the lunch room. When I squeezed passed them and into the counselor's office, I heard him whisper my name and he reached out to touch my arm; I flinched away at the same time Kaitlyn pulled him sharply in the other direction, glaring at me. I watched them argue under their breaths until the counselor tugged me into her office and sat behind her desk. I took the seat in front of it and crossed my legs, rubbing my temple. "You wanna tell me what's wrong?" She asked, pushing on her glasses and crossing her fingers under her chin.

"Well you just saw half of the reason. I mean, he knows how she treats me, and he's supposed to be one of my best friends. Why is he doing this to me?" My voice cracked and I felt the tears well up in the back of my throat.

"I thought you and Jesse were a thing?"

"A thing?" I choked, she raised her eyebrows at me.

"Yeah…you know, a thing."

"Oh, well…" I pressed my mouth into a tight line. I never really thought about being in a relationship with Jesse; partly because I knew if I started I probably would never stop. Obviously there was some attraction between us, but…a thing? I liked Jesse, yes, and I couldn't stand seeing him with another girl. But chances were, he probably didn't feel the same way, or else I would be the one he was making out with, not Kaitlyn. Was I jealous of Kaitlyn because she had Jesse and I didn't? "I don't know…" I whispered. My mind was thrown into a new level of chaos and I remembered the night we spent together the day before he told me he was going to be with Kaitlyn.

We were walking home from school, several steps behind Jake, James and Anasha. "Are you going with them tonight?" Jesse asked me, gesturing his chin towards them.

"I don't know, I've had a long weekend, I kinda just want to stay home tonight." I said, he nodded.

"Me too, you want to just hang out at my house? Do you have any homework?" He asked.

"Yeah, that'd be nice. I only have a little bit, but..." He chuckled at me.

"You're already several assignments ahead of your entire class. I think you can afford a night off." I nodded with a smile.

"Agreed."

It was later around six when Jake, John and Anasha left to go to the movies and dinner, Jesse and I did the same, just at his place. I watched as he did a lame attempted of one of the chefs on Food Network and nearly burned down the entire apartment complex (we ended up ordering in some pizza) then around eight we sat down on his couch to watch a movie. We talked through most of it, I didn't even know what the story line was because what Jesse was saying was much more important, he was constantly making me laugh and setting off butterflies in my stomach. I can't remember how but we ended up falling asleep, but I do remember that I slept like a rock; and in the morning when we woke up his arm was around my waist with his cheek pressed against my hair. We must have woken up at the same time because right after we awkwardly separated, but all worries disappeared when we realized that we were incredibly late; and later that day was when he told me he was with Kaitlyn.

At the time, I didn't think much of how happy he made me because being in love with him was just impossible, but now that I think back, maybe he really was more to me than just my best friend. None of this helped; if anything it just made the hole in my heart bigger and blacker then it was before, so what did I do? I started crying again. Ms. Anderson moved around her desk and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, whispering "hush"s, "shush"s, and "there there"s, which didn't make me feel any better.

At the end of the school day I did my best to avoid running into Jake, John, Anasha, Jesse or Kaitlyn; which was hard and in order to do it I had to take the back exit and wait twenty minutes until I knew they'd be gone. I inched my way slowly around to the entrance and was relieved to see that Jett's car was already waiting for me; I darted into the car and closed the door as quick as possible, keeping my head down until we pulled out of the school parking lot. I heard Jett quietly laughing at me and looked up at him. "What?" I whined, he looked up from the road and glanced at me.

"You look a little, um…." He paused, rubbing his chin. "High strong…" I sighed, collapsing in my seat.

"Yeah well…It's been a long day." I mumbled and pulled out my phone, no texts, no calls, zilch. They hated me.

"You want to tell me about it?" I played with the ring on my finger, remembering what Anasha told me about him and suddenly getting a little uncomfortable.

"Well…Anasha found out I was with you, now she's pissed and probably has Jake and James pissed at me too and some other stuff I'd rather not talk about."

"Oh." I stole a glanced at him and saw his mouth was pressed in a tight line, I took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge, it couldn't hurt, right?

"She told me some stuff about you…" I started, his hands stiffened around the wheel.

"Oh? Like what?" His tone was light, but tension was written all over his face.

"It's gonna sound crazy but, she said you once tried to kill Jesse." He didn't deny it, I started to panic. "She's lying right? I mean, she's just saying that to get me to hate you, right?" My voice raised a couple octaves as he started straight ahead, his face blank, giving away nothing. Great, now I was stuck in a car with a potential killer. "Maybe you should take me home." I whispered, as the silence stretched out. A few moments passed, then he sighed and pulled into an abandoned alley. I admit it; I totally freaked out, I was out of that car the second it pulled to a stop and I booked it. Unfortunately, he was much faster than me and caught me around the waist before I could even reach the mouth of the alley. I should've listened to Anasha, I should've listened to Anasha, I should've listened to Anasha kept running through my head as he back me up against the brick wall. I breathed in and let out an ear-piercing scream, his hand clamped around my mouth and I started kicking and punching; I felt him sigh against my hair and he took the beatings without even flinching.

"Michelle." He breathed, looking tired. "Are you going to calm down and let me talk?"

"If I let you talk you might take that chance to kill me." I replied. He nailed me with a hard but slightly amused look.

"You don't really believe that Michelle."

"You don't know that." I spat back, he rolled his eyes.

"You didn't even let me explain anything before you started freaking out." He had me pinned against the wall of the alley, holding my upper arms with no chance of escape and his head dipped down towards mine.

"Fine, spill it." He sighed again, but heavier and racked his fingers through his hair, releasing my arms but still keeping me trapped with his body. I tried to ignore how good his body felt so close to mine, although a few seconds ago I was positive he would be the cause for my demise; I truly was pathetic

"When I was 15 I thought it would be fun to join a gang, I was dumb and reckless. But the leader of the gang was completely obsessed with revenge; and if any member dared to go behind him and leave the gang, he goes after their loved ones and kills them." He paused for a moment, searching my face and eyes and once he seemed satisfied he went on. "I had just been recruited when Jesse's dad, dropped out of the gang and my first assignment was to go after Jesse, and kill him. Am I proud of it? No. And I couldn't go through with it, I roughed him up pretty bad and told the leader that he got away, the next day Jesse's dad killed himself and there was no reason to go after Jesse anymore."

My mind whirled, I knew Jesse's dad had died a while ago and that he had to do odd jobs around his apartment complex in order to keep it and Jake's parents had signed for Jesse so he didn't have to go into the foster care system, but he never whispered a word about being stalked and almost killed or his dad killing himself. I felt a pang of resentment towards Jesse, I had opened up so much to him, I told him everything about my past but he was keeping something this big from me.

I looked up at Jett, who was watching me carefully. "Are you still in the gang?" I whispered. He nodded grimly. "Have you ever killed anyone?" He grimaced.

"Not by my own hands, no."

"What does that mean?"

"I never delivered the killing blow." I swallowed hard, I felt as if I was going to be sick.

"Are you going to kill me?"

He actually laughed, then gave me an incredulous look. "Michelle." I simply stared at him. "Just give me a chance, I promise I'm not going to hurt you." I closed my eyes, pressing the heels of my hand into them. I knew I should say no, that I wanted him out of my life; but, I didn't want that. There was something about him, sure part of him now terrified me, but just because of all the secrets he held; deep inside I wasn't afraid of him and I knew he wouldn't hurt me; I let out a sigh.

I got back in the car and halfway through the car ride I knew we were going; to his dads used car lot. "Up for washing some cars?" He looked at me sideways with his lips turned up into a half smile. I put my feet up on the dashboard; mimicking his expression.

"Sounds like a good day to waste the afternoon." I twirled my hair around my finger as he placed a hand to his chest.

"Waste? I didn't know spending the afternoon with me was a waste." I rolled my eyes, shaking my head.

"We'll see."

We pulled into the parking lot and he switched off the engine, climbing out; I followed him. "Is your dad around?" I asked, scanning shop as he led me through it and into the back-lot. He threw his keys on a shelf and started tugging out car soap.

"The shops closed today, so probably not. Why? Afraid to be alone with me?" He smirked at me under his lashes and started to pour the soap into a bucket; I turned away, not wanting to answer the question and show that I really was afraid to be alone with him. What was I even doing?

"I thought this was just a used car dealership, not a shop." I asked, looking around. The garage was huge and all cement, one half was filled with tools and the other half with cars. The garage door had been ripped off and led into the back-parking lot where they kept most of the cars they sold. Jett sighed.

"It's both." He filled the soapy bucket with water and tossed me keys, nodding to an oldish black car that was sitting in the middle of the garage. I looked down at the keys and then back at him; his vision was focused on the water spilling into the bucket.

"What do you want me to do with these?" I asked.

"Move the car out of the garage and into the lot." I looked at him like he was crazy.

"I'm fifteen! I can't drive!"

"Well then I guess this is good practice." I gawked at him for a few brief seconds then went over to the car, slipping into the driver's seat.

"It's your own fault if I crash this thing." I closed the car door and placed my hands on the wheel, studying the car controls; I took a deep breath. I can do this I told myself and shoved the key into the ignition, turning it all the way to the right and feeling the car rumble to live under me. I put the car into reverse and placed my foot on the gas; I pushed down on it a little too hard and went screeching backwards a few feet. I shrieked and slammed on the brake, which jerked me forward; I turned off the engine and sat with my shaking hands on the wheel trying to catch my breath. I glanced up at Jett; he hadn't even looked up, he was just shaking his head with a small smile on his lips.

I pushed the door open and kicked the door shut behind me I stomped over to him and ripped the hose out of his hand. "I can do this, you go move the damn car." He chuckled and walked over to the car, stepping in and starting it again, then smoothly pulling it into the lot. I huffed and crossed one arm across my stomach as I watched the bucket fill to the top with water then went to shut it off. Jett got out of the car and came over to lift the bucket and move it by the car, I followed him; tugging the hose along with me.

"Ready?" He asked, grabbing another hose and aiming it at me.

"Oh, you better not. Jett. Jett!" I instinctively scrambled away from the nose of his house and behind the car. He smirked at me then flicked on the hose, showering me and the car with water. I let out a small scream and nailed him with the full power of my hose.

"C'mon!" He called over the sound of spraying water. He dropped his hose and held his hand out to block the spray. I turned the hose away and smiled smugly at him. "Okay, you win."

I stood behind him as he showered the car with water and when it was thoroughly drenched we both grabbed a soapy sponge and started washing down the car. We talked, laughed, flirted and messed around. It must've taken us almost two hours to clean that one car and by the time we were done we were both drenched. We both fetched water bottles out of the refrigerator in the garage and sat out in the sun to dry off.

"So." Jett started as we settled on the warm concrete. "How'd you become to be so buddy-buddy with Jesse and them anyways?" I cracked open my water and tipped back a few sips, clearing my throat.

"When I moved here and into my foster home, I shared a room with Anasha. She introduced me to Jake, James a Jesse." I shrugged. "We just kinda clicked. Since then all five of us have been pretty inseparable."

"Anasha's in a foster home? I always took her as one of those…privileged types." He had a slight scowl on his face, and his feelings for Anasha were clear.

"Yeah well…you learn something new every day." I rested my elbows on my knees and fixed my gaze on the ground. "How do they even know it was you who was following Jesse? I mean, aren't gangsters supposed to be sneaky?"

"Like I said, I was new. He, and them, saw me on several occasions. I went to the same school you go to now, Jake and James were in a few of my classes; and when Jesse was a freshman he wasn't very happy to see me in the halls. Then I dropped out and I haven't seen them for a year." He leaned back on his elbows with his legs stretched out in front of him and his eyes studying me. "Actually, I haven't ever seen you with Jesse." I sighed and laid on my back.

"We've been…having some domestic issues."

"Oh?" His voice was tinged with hidden laughter. "Domestic issues? What kind of domestic issues?"

I grumbled. "I don't want to talk about it." My mood being rapidly changed, I rolled onto my side and covered my eyes with my arms. Jett fortunately didn't ask any more questions and remained quiet.

"Jett?" I heard someone inside the shop call, I sat up and Jett looked in the direction of the voice.

"Who is that?" I asked. He sneered.

"My dad." A few beats of silence then he looked back to me. "Wanna go grab something to eat? I'll take you home afterwards." The offer didn't really seem up for argument since he got to his feet, then grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. I followed him into his car and we were gone before his dad could make it into the back lot. Part of me wanted to ask what was wrong between him and his dad, but the topic seemed to be voodoo.

A few minutes later we pulled into a popular burger joint and got out. I silently prayed that I wouldn't see anyone significant and was glad I remembered to grab my wallet before I left this morning. We walked in and I kept my head down as we made our way to the counter. There was one couple in front of us and when they were done I ordered a small shake and some curly fries. Jett handed me the money and I pushed it away, digging in my own wallet and barely coming up with enough. "Are you sure? I can pay." He said, I shook my head and smiled at the cashier as I handed her the money.

"I hate people paying for me." I told him; he shrugged and ordered his food.

"Hey, I'm gonna go use the restroom. Grab us a table and I'll be right back." He said; I nodded and he made his way to the back. When the food was ready I grabbed it and scoped the room for an empty table; I found one towards the front and off to the side and slid into it. Finally, sipping on my chocolate shake I decided to asses my surroundings. The restaurant wasn't completely packed, which was good, and it was mostly filled with seniors I recognized from around school. Just as I was starting to calm down; I caught Kaitlyn's eye, her eyes brightened mischievously and I inwardly groaned, dropping her gaze and pressing my fingers to my temple. I sucked harder on my straw and tried to calm my pulse; good news was I didn't see Jesse anywhere around. Bad news, I was pretty sure Kaitlyn was worse without having Jesse at her side. At least Jesse wasn't around to see me with Jett, now that would be bad. I came to the conclusion that I would much rather have to deal with Kaitlyn then deal with Jesse's wrath. As Kaitlyn came towards me; that seemed to be exactly as I was going to have to do.

Just as Kaitlyn walked passed me, she "tripped" and the soft drink she was holding went flying all over me. She pressed her hand to her chest with a shocked look on her face. "Oh, I am just so sorry." She spat, and then bubbled into giggles as she walked away. I felt all the hurt and anger well up in me and my eyes narrowed.

"Hey Kaitlyn." I said as I stood up and turned to face her, my hair plastered to my face with coke and my fists clenched. She spared me a look over her shoulder and laughed harder, sending me straight over the edge. Now, I'm the type of girl who likes to avoid conflict, so grabbing her and slamming her down on the floor would be completely out of my character, but that was exactly what I did.

"What're you doing?" She screeched and kicked up her bony knee straight into my rib cage as I was getting on top of her. I gasped and faltered slightly, then wrenched back my fist and slammed it into her cheek. "You jealous whore!" She screamed at me as her hands went up to cover her flowering cheek bone.

"Jealous? Of you?" I let out a dry laugh. "Never." As I was going in to give her another piece of my mind someone grabbed my waist from behind and ripped me off her.

"You are more trouble then I bargained for." Jett whispered in my ear, but I could hear the smile on his lips. I started kicking my feet into the air.

"Let me go! Let me at her!" I felt my teeth clench as Jett pushed through the growing crowd and into the fresh air outside. I yanked away from him and paced around angrily. He watched me; one hand shoved deep into his pocket and the other hand dangling car keys.

"You want to tell me what that was about?" He asked me, earning a dirty look. I continued to pace the parking lot for several more minutes than resolved myself into the front seat of his car. I buried my face into my hands and as the anger faded, this disbelieve took its place. I was acting totally unlike myself; spending alone time, and even flirting, with a gangster and now I was punching people in the face.