I awoke early the next morning to someone knocking on my door. I sat up, my eyelids still heavy. I was sure my hair was a mess at this point. My mouth was dry and I had that early morning ache in my throat.

"Lucy, honey," Jade's mother said, "Are you awake yet? It's already noon."

I guess it wasn't as early as I thought. "Yeah," I said, "Just let me get dressed." I put on the same jeans and t-shirt I had on before and ran my fingers through my hair to straighten it out. I opened the door and she smiled at me.

"Let's go shopping," she said, grinning, "Your first day of school starts tomorrow, so today is kind of like your last day of summer."

"Oh, thank you," I said. I couldn't deny that I was desperately in need of clothes and other necessities, like a tooth brush perhaps. "Where's Jade?" I asked curiously, noticing that his bedroom was cracked open and it was quiet.

"He's at school," she said, "It's Tuesday."

"Oh," I said.

"Okay," she said, taking my wrist and leading me downstairs, "I've been saving up money for a shopping spree, but I guess shopping for you can be just as fun, right?" She grinned, leading me out the door and to the car.

After a couple of hours of shopping, Jade's mother took me home and did my makeup for fun, and had me try on a bunch of the clothes she got me. I was really thankful for all that she was doing for me so I did it willingly. I put on a skirt and a shirt that went with it, hoping to go for a walk. I sighed, opening the door slowly. I needed some fresh air and alone time. I stepped out and my gaze found Jade. He was wearing a t-shirt and green overalls, gloves on his hands and boots on his feet. He looked like he had just been gardening. His eyes sparkled as he gazed at me. He was gazing at me as if I was an angel who'd just descended in front of him. Here we were, gazing at each other in the middle of the hallway, our eyes speaking for us. He looked awfully cute in those overalls… no, wait, I couldn't think like that. I couldn't get close to him.

"Wow," he said quietly, "You look…"

Better with makeup on? I knew that. I also knew that I looked like a mess when he'd first seen me last night, probably more like a boy than a girl. I sighed when I realized he wasn't going to finish his sentence and brushed past him. I went outside through the back door and gazed around. This backyard was huge, and definitely very pretty. Behind his house was a lush forest and I could hear the sound of water trickling from inside of it. I approached it slowly and entered. After a few steps, I could see the little waterfall and stream. Tiny fish swam about in it and I saw an occasional toad. I sat beside the stream and drew my knees to my chest as I began to hum. Eventually my humming turned into quiet singing. I loved to sing; it was the one thing that would never forget about me. Everyone tended to; but I was used to being alone so it didn't matter much by now. I sang to my heart's content until I heard a footstep behind me. I immediately stopped and jumped to my feet, spinning around and preparing for a fight. I relaxed, but only slightly, when I saw that it was just Jade.

"Why did you stop singing?" he said, a hint of a smile on his face, "You have a beautiful voice."

I sighed, turning my back to him and sitting down again. He sat beside me, running his fingers through his hair. He was wearing a pair of black and loose skinny jeans with patches of disrepair here and there and he had a t-shirt on. The skater look definitely worked for him, but so did the gardener look. I thought for a second about what other looks would work on him and quickly pushed those thoughts away. Those weren't safe thoughts. I couldn't get close to him at all, and I could certainly never develop feelings for him.

"How did you know where I am?" I asked him quietly.

"I heard you singing," he said, "And this is my favorite place to go when I want to be alone."

"Alone," I repeated, "That's what I want to be. Why did you follow me out here?"

He breathed a chuckle. "Okay," he said, "I see you weren't just in a bad mood last night. Well when you want to stop acting like a brat, come and talk to me." He got to his feet and walked away. I fought the urge to call him back. I liked that he'd followed me out here but I just didn't want to get close to him. I nibbled on my lower lip for a few moments before turning.

"Jade, I…" I trailed off when I realized he was already gone. I mentally slapped myself for giving in to calling him back. It was useless; he will have forgotten about me this time, next year anyways. I'm used to moving from place to place all the time. I've met tons of people and I'm pretty sure most of them have already forgotten about me, including my own family.

I sat there for a few minutes longer until I decided being here made me feel disgusted with myself. I was used to pushing people away to keep them from getting close to me. I didn't want to see the side of people that Jade seemed to give hints of around me. I didn't want to become close with anybody. Nobody. It wasn't because of my selfishness. I just didn't want them to get hurt. Anyways, I'm not much. I knew nobody would be impressed with me, not physically or internally. My past wasn't just shameful, it was disgusting. It wasn't something I was proud of and certainly not something people would like about me. My personality loved to work against me. I knew it was better to keep people away but in my heart, I wanted someone, anyone, to know me; not just my name, someone to know what I'm really like.

I finally forced myself to my feet and slowly approached the house again. I kept my gaze on the floor, fighting back tears. Why were things like this? Why couldn't I just do what I wanted and be with who I wanted without risking their lives? I bit my lip hard, stepping inside. The second my foot touched the floor, Jade brushed past me, bumping my shoulder as he did so. I turned, my gaze following him as he turned down the driveway until he disappeared around the corner of the home. I shook my head, going inside. I sat at the kitchen table and buried my face in my arms and cried. Sometimes this happened to me when I couldn't keep up the act any longer; sometimes I just needed to cry. Jade's mother was at work by now and Jade had gone out. I sat there and cried and cried until I lost track of time. I sat up and rubbed my eyes dry. I was sure it would show on my face that I'd been crying. I got to my feet, planning to hurry upstairs, bathe and get to bed. I took a step and felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Why are you crying?" he asked me.

"Why are you so persistent?" I said, my voice shakier than usual.

"I'm trying to help you," he said.

"I told you from the beginning," I said, "I don't want your help."

I jerked away from him and wasn't able to take a single step before he spun me around and pulled me into his arms. Was this… a hug? I ended up crying again. Was this the first hug I've ever had? I don't remember. All I knew was that this made my insides feel so warm. I returned his hug as tightly as I could. After a few moments of crying into his chest, he broke the silence.

"Can you tell me now?" he asked quietly.

"You wouldn't understand," she said, her words sharp but her voice quiet.

"I don't care," he said, "You can tell me, I'll just listen. Even if I won't understand, I want you to get it off your chest."

"Get it off my chest?" I repeated slowly. Why did he care so much? This hug, and the way he was talking to me. It was making it difficult to push him away. Hugs were so comforting. Why did I have to be so deprived of affectionate things like hugs? Was it because I was just so unloved that I didn't deserve a hug? I bit my lip before saying quietly, "You wouldn't understand because you've had your mom your whole life. You go to public school? I'm sure you have friends. You probably even have a girlfriend, maybe even more than one. Me, on the other hand… I don't even know what love is."

"Why not?" he asked.

I shook my head, holding on to him tightly so that he wouldn't let go. "Can we not talk about this?" I said slowly.

He nodded, holding my waist tighter as he leaned forward and rested his head on my shoulder. I could close my eyes for a while and pretend I didn't even have a past, or problems or anything to worry about. I didn't even want to think. I just wanted to stand here, in Jade's arms, and pretend I was nothing. It wasn't long before I realized my tears had stopped. I gently pulled away from him until my forearms were on his shoulders so I could gaze at him. His face was so close to mine. He was so… perfect. I immediately pushed the thought away and hurried away from him, running upstairs and to my bedroom. I closed the door and locked it, leaning against it. I waited there for a while until I was sure he wasn't following me. I took a few deep breaths until I was sure I was calm before I gathered some pajamas and went into the bathroom. I bathed and returned to my bedroom. I pulled my long hair up into a bun. It felt nice to take a regular shower in a regular house with regular people in it. Every boss or 'family' I've ever had always made me hurry in my showers. It was aggravating after a while.

I crawled into bed and it never felt so good to lie down before in my life. I closed my eyes and sleep enveloped me within the same second.

"Lucy, wake up."

His voice was soft and fed my hungry ears selfishly, leaving me wanting more. His hands warmly touched my shoulder shook me gently. I wanted to stay like this, in this half-asleep, half-awake state where he was near me.

"Luke," I murmured, "Five more minutes, okay, honey?"

"Who the hell is Luke?"

I opened my eyes at the sound of his voice changing. Jade stood above me, looking irritated. Once he saw that I was awake, he stood up straight and I shrunk back, pulling the blanket over my chest.

"What are you doing in here?" I said, sharply.

"Waking you up," he muttered, "Mom asked me to. I wasn't like I wanted to."

"Why so early?" I mumbled, sitting up.

He rolled his eyes. "School, maybe?" he said before walking out.

He must not be a morning person, I thought as I got to my feet. I washed up in the bathroom and returned to my bedroom. I combed my hair, sighing as I wished it was shorter. Long hair was too hard to deal with, especially with the thickness of mine. And with the way it was, the only styles that worked on it were down or up. I sighed as I fixed my swept across bangs before changing into jeans and a random t-shirt lazily without much care as to how I looked. I tried to put on makeup the way that Jade's mother did it for me yesterday, but it only looked half as good. I sighed, forgetting out it and descending the stairs. I could hear quiet mumbling in the kitchen and although I couldn't make out words, I knew they were talking about me. As soon as I stepped into the kitchen, their mumbling died. I sat down at the table, ignoring that. I nibbled on the breakfast that was already set for me.

"Your bag is by the door," Jade's mother told me, "It has everything you need in it."

"Thank you," I said quietly. Although I accused Jade of not being a morning person earlier, I wasn't much of one either. I wasn't a night person, either. If it was my choice, I could sleep through the night and day and just never wake up. But then wouldn't I just be dead? Or in a coma?

"You can walk with Jade," his mother said, interrupting my wandering thoughts, "You'll walk together half the way and then he'll tell you the rest of the way to go. Sound good?"

I nodded.

"I'm leaving now," Jade said, getting to his feet, "If you're walking with me then hurry up."

I nodded again and hurried to grab my bag and slip a pair of shoes on to my feet before I rushed out after him. I walked at his side.

"Who's Luke?" he asked me suddenly.

I gazed up at him, the memory of this morning slipping my mind. "Who told you about Luke?" I asked.

"You mentioned him this morning," he said, "Who is he?"

"It doesn't matter," I said with a wave of my hand.

He rolled his eyes, clearly on a short temper this morning. He stopped at a corner. "You walk that way," he said, pointing, "And then turn left. It's the big building with the words high school on it."

I nodded, walking in that direction, wondering why he was making a fuss over my younger brother.