Chapter Two

Paige's POV

"So how are you?" Jenna, my cousin, asked. "Oh, I'm okay. And you?" I asked.

"Great thanks. So how's your friend, Zara?" she asked me. Before I could reply, I heard the squealing of tires, the sound of a car spinning, then coming to a halt. "What was that?" Jenna asked. "I don't know. Listen, I'm gonna go check it out. I'll call later. Bye!" I said and hung up.

I ran out of my room. While passing Amber's room, I called "Stay right there, kids!" and ran outside. I was shocked when I saw Zara's Ferrari. She never has car troubles. I could see her head on the steering wheel, so I rushed over. When I was right next to the window, I saw she was crying her eyes out.

Worried, I knocked lightly on the window. She slowly lifted her gaze to mine, sighed, and opened her window halfway.

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?" I asked franticly. She ignored my question. "Is Nick and your Mum home?" She asked. Huh, why would she ask that? I shook my head. "Good. Paige, I need your help." She said. "Why?" I asked her quickly. She was scaring me. She opened her door and showed me how she looked. I looked down and looked at her. I took in her blood-covered skinny jeans, her boots, her brother's basketball jacket. Huh? Why's she wearing these clothes? Since when does Zara Whitlock not wear designer clothes?

Then I looked at her face. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. There were tears streaming down her face. There were also blood on her face. Her hair was a mess. I knew that it wasn't the car that caused it, it was someone else. My eyes went wide.

What the hell happened to you?" I whispered. She sighed. "Just ge'mme inside. I'll explain in a bit." She choked out. I nodded and helped her out of the car. Her blood dripped onto me, but I didn't mind. I helped her into the house, avoiding the younger ones, and helped her to my en suite room. I dragged her to my bathroom and sat her down on one of my chairs. I opened my bathtub's taps to fill it up for Zara.

When it was full, I turned back to my best friend. "Here, Zara. Lemme help you." I said. She nodded and I helped her to undress. Gosh, she looked bad. "Sorry, it may burn a bit." I warned, gesturing to the tub. She shrugged. I helped her get in. She winced, but other than that seemed okay. She lay back, closed her eyes and relaxed.

After a few minutes, I spoke. "Zare, what happened?" I asked softly. She didn't answer immediately. "I fell." She lied. I knew her too good. "That's bull, Zare, and we both know it." I said a bit angry. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Paige, but I can't tell you. I'm- I'm just not ready yet." She said softly. More tears were rolling down her face. "It's okay, Zara. But can you at least tell me who did it?" I asked.

Five minutes went by. I didn't think I was going to get an answer. "No." She whispered softly. She smiled. She climbed out and I handed her a towel. All of the blood was washed off now. After she dried, she put on her undies. I tended to all of her wounds, then handed her my bathrobe. She muttered a thanks and put it on over her clothes to hide bruised.

"Uh, I was mugged. Okay?" she said to me. I nodded. We made our way to the kitchen, only to find our sisters there. When Kate saw her sister, her eyes widened. "Zarie, what happened?" she asked her sister. She was quiet for a few seconds. Then, she whispered, "mugged." I bet her sister heard the double meaning as she ran to Zara and hugged her tight. "Are you 'kay?" she asked softly. Zara just nodded.

"Guess what?" Zare asked after a few minutes of both of them crying. "What?" sniffled Kate. "You know your Greek Mythology book, yeah?" she asked. Kate nodded. "Well, it was in my room. I hit him over the head with it." Huh? Kate giggled.

After a few hours, they went home. I hope Zara us okay.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

ZPOV

"Zare, wake up. We need to get to school. Last day, remember?" I heard Katie whisper next to me, waking me up. I groaned as I remember last night. At least Zach had disappeared. My sister spent the night with me, to 'keep me safe'. It was cute, really. It was still very early. Four hours before school started. I went to my closet. I picked out black skinny jeans, a cute purple tank top, the same jacket I wore yesterday, and some black stilettos.

"Do I look okay?" I asked my sister. She nodded. We walked into my bathroom. I looked into my mirror. I barely recognized the girl looking at me. She had dark bags under her eyes. She looked paler than normal. She also had a black bruise on her left side of her jaw. There were a few bruises on her arms. But that wasn't that bad. It was her eyes that were truly terrifying: they had lost their shine, their life. They looked dull and dead. If you looked carefully, you could see pain and sadness in them. They were a bit puffy and red from crying.

I sighed. I opened my make-up bag. First I covered up the bags under my eyes as best I could. Then I covered my left side of my jaw, then the rest of my bruises. At least my make-up was water proof. I put some eyeliner and mascara on my eyes. I did a bit of a smoke-y eye on me. I quickly straightened my hair, which went very quickly since I have a good straightner.

When I was done, Kate and I walked to her room. I opened her closet and peeked inside. I got her a pair of nice grey skinny jeans, a black tank top which had two beautiful owls on it, black boots with no heels, and to top it off, I put one of Blake's really small jackets on her. Blake was sleeping, so I had to sneak in. I straightened her curly blonde hair, and put a very light smoky eye on her. She looked awesome.

I looked at the clock. It read 6.30. We still had two and a half hours before school started. "Want to eat breakfast?" I asked Kate. She nodded and we tiptoed downstairs. We ate some cereal and went outside to my Ferrari. "Ready to go, kid?" I asked her. She smiled at me. "Hell yeah!" she said. I laughed and climbed in. As soon as she was in, we raced to the school. I put on the radio. The music blared through the speakers.

There were a few cars in the parking lot as we raced in. I stopped at a parking space right at the entrance for our school. We climbed out of the car laughing. We sat on the hood of my car. "Are you sure you are okay sis?" Kate whispered. I winced. "Yeah, I guess." I muttered. Just then Nick drove into the lot and parked next to me. He climbed out and sat on the other side of Kate. Meaning it was me, Kate then Nick.

"Hey baby." He said happily. I sighed. "Hey." I said softly. He frowned. "What's wrong? Why is there make-up covering your face?" he asked worriedly. I shrugged. "I've been mugged." I lied smoothly. I heard Kate sight softly. "You okay?" he asked me. I nodded.

We just sat there in silence for the next hour or so until the bell rang. "Bye guys." I said while heading to class. I walked into Spanish and sat next to Sarah. "Hey, you okay?" she asked me. I nodded. She was the only one besides Kate who knows what Zach does. The teacher told us we could do anything since it was the last day of school, but we had to stay in class.

Sarah grabbed a pen and paper and started scribbling on it. After a while, she handed it to me.
(Sarah / Zara )

Oh my gosh Zara! Are you sure you are okay? What happened?

Oh don't worry so much Sar. Yeah I guess I'm okay. In the beginning he beat the crap outta me. He touched me and started to- you know? I yelled at him telling to get off of me. He didn't. So I punched him. He fell off of my bed. I saw my Katie's thick Greek Mythology book on the floor so I hit him with it. I drove off and fetched Katie. When I arrived, there were obviously questions. I told them I was mugged. They bought it. Except Katie, of course. When we arrived back home, Mum told me that Zach had left saying he might not be back for about a year or two. :)

Oh well it's still bad, though. At least that asshole's gone! So, uh, did he use, um, protection?

Crap! No he didn't! Sick asshole! Ugh!

Oh, don't worry. It'll be okay. Are you excited for the move to Forks?

Ooh! Yeah I am a lot! How 'bout you?

Of course I am! Promise me you'll call every day 'till be get there?

I promise!

**End**

The bell rang and we headed to our next classes.

**Sorry, I'm skipping to lunch!**

Sarah and I walked out of Biology together. We didn't talk, just walked in silence. When we reached the cafeteria, I asked her if she was hungry. Neither of us was hungry after what I told her in Biology…

**Flashback**

(Sarah / Zara )

What's wrong Zare?

Um.. You know the time when he first raped me? Five months ago?

Yes?

Well, I haven't gotten my period since then…

Uh-oh! That's bad Zare. What are you going to do?

I don't know! I just feel like crying! In second period I got a text from Zach. He told me that he knew I was pregnant. He also said that I should watch my back. Then in third period he sent me a picture of a dead woman. He said that she had disobeyed him, so she had to be punished. Her punishment was death….

OMG! What are you going to do?

There's nothin' I can do :(

**End**

We walked in silence towards 'our' table. Sitting there was: Bonnie, Paige, Matt, Drew, Caroline, Alex, Megan, Jessica, Nick and, to my surprise, Kate. I sat down next to my sister without a word. My brother came over and sat next to me. Sarah sat down wordlessly next to him. Everyone at our table was silent because they could see something was wrong. The tension was so thick you could cut through it with a knife.

I tried to keep my thoughts from wondering, but it was impossible. I saw the dead woman again. She looked vaguely familiar. What was her name again? Michelle? That's it, Michelle. She was my uncle's widowed wife. Tears sprang to my eyes. I really liked her.

Just then, my phone buzzed, causing me to jump. I cautiously took out my phone and saw that I had one new MMS. I opened it. Big mistake. It was of Michelle, all cut up in millions of pieces. I let out a sob. "I think I'm going to be sick!" I choked. I quickly stood up from the table, tears running freely down my face. As I passed Sarah, she grabbed my hand. "The same one as last time?" she asked me. I shook my head. "Worse." I said. I ripped my hand out of hers and ran out of the cafeteria doors.

I ran across the lawns until I reached the forest's edge. I sat down and cried. Suddenly a twig snapped. I looked up and saw….

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

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