The characters in this story are not of my own creation. They are from the book Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 2

After pulling in my driveway, I shut off the engine and sat there rubbing my stomach, somewhat grossed out and somewhat impressed at how much bacon I had just consumed at breakfast. The show went better than I had imagined it would. It was so great seeing Owen in his natural habitat.

I could see my mother in the kitchen with her coffee cup in one hand, and Whitney gliding down the stairs. She took her usual trip to her planters, which were thriving despite the cold weather we'd had, and turned on her heel to the kitchen. My mother looked up when she saw Whitney coming, smiling and touching her arm when she walked by.

I pulled the keys from the ignition and got out of the car. As I bent over to grab my father's paper for him, I felt my stomach churn. Yep, too much bacon.

When I walked through the door my mother looked over at me, "Good morning Annabel, how was the show?" She smiled and took a sip of her coffee. Since the trial, my mother had taken a genuine interest in what was going on in my life. My whole family had, really, but my mother more than anyone. I think it really messed her up realizing I was walking around with this terrible thing hanging over my head and she didn't even notice. At first, it was almost annoying getting all of her attention, but now I had to admit, I liked having my mother dote on me, and she seemed really happy that everyone was doing so well.

"It went really well. So much better than I thought." I leaned on the chair opposite my mom.
"That's wonderful. I'm glad," she paused pointing at Whitney in the kitchen, "Are you hungry? Whitney was just about to cook us up some eggs and bacon."

Whitney looked over and nodded, but my stomach did a back flip. "Oh, please, no! Thank you, but I had too much bacon at the restaurant. There's a good chance it won't stay down if I smell it. I actually think I'm going to go lay down for a bit, maybe take a nap." I pushed myself off the chair, walked over and kissed my mom on the forehead.

"Okay, Sweetheart, see you in a bit." I tossed my dad's paper on the table and walked towards the stairs. I was about halfway up when I heard my dad start coming down.

"Where you going? You know Whitney's cooking up some breakfast right?"

"Yeah, but I already ate, so I'm going to go lay down for a bit."

"Suit yourself, more for me," he said rubbing his stomach with a smirk and turned trotting down the rest of the stairs.

When I walked into my bedroom I closed my door, kicked off my shoes, turned my radio on, and plopped onto my bed. I couldn't have been laying there for long when I dozed off.

A knock on my door, then, "Annabel? Are you in here?" The voice was so familiar. "Annabel? I need to talk to you." I could hear the door open, and a rush of fear overcame me when I realized whose voice I was hearing - Will Cash.

What time was it? How long had I fallen asleep? Why was my room so dark? Where was everyone? I felt for my bedside table and slipped out of my bed and then under it.

I heard the door open and the sliver of light spread across the floor. My heart was racing. I couldn't breathe. "Annabel, what's wrong? I'm right here. It's okay." Suddenly the bed skirt came up and his face was right there. I threw my fist at his face and as soon as it connected I jerked awake.

I was still breathing heavily. I couldn't catch my breath and my knuckles hurt. "Damn it, Annabel. What the hell?" Whitney was holding her hands over her nose.

"Oh my God, Whitney! I'm so sorry." I tried to unravel the sheets that were tangled around my legs, but I was just making it worse. "There are tissues on my desk. Is it bleeding?" Still struggling with the sheets, I started kicking until I was free.

"Christ Annabel. You've got a hell of a right hook. What was that for?"

"I guess it was a nightmare, it seemed so real. I'm so sorry."

"I was going to my room and you sounded like you were crying, so I came in. I was trying to comfort you and you punched me in the fucking nose."

There was a little blood, but all and all it wasn't too bad. I ran to the kitchen and got ice before meeting her in her room. She was leaning over her vanity examining her nose. "Is it bad?"

"Nah, it's not too bad. It'll probably be bruised tomorrow, but for now I think ice will do." I handed her the towel with the ice in it. She winced as she put it to her nose. "Thanks. What was the nightmare? Normally I wouldn't pry, but since I came out on the wrong end of that one, I feel I have a right."

I stared at my feet. "Was it Will?" I nodded. "I know you don't think rationally in dreams, but he's in jail. He's not going to hurt you again."

"I know. I'm stupid. It just seemed so real. I wasn't thinking."

"Who could?" I was surprised, so I looked up at her quizzically. "Someone who went through a trauma like you did would be scarred for life, but you went through a trauma and felt like you had no one you could talk to about it so you just relived it over and over for months. Not just that, you dealt with my drama, and mom's pressuring you to keep modeling. You're a rock, Annabel."

She reached over and grabbed my hands. I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. "I think I've said it before already, but just so it gets through to you. I know I can come off as uncaring, sometimes even cold, but I'm still your big sister, and I will always be here for you. You know that right?" I nodded silently. She stood and hugged me. Not even ten minutes ago, I was physically inflicting pain on her, and here she is comforting me. Whitney had changed so much these past few months, and I was beyond happy for it. I finally felt like I had a sister I could lean on.

I sat on the wall at lunch waiting for Owen, examining the small red marks on my knuckles. Funny, I'd only hit her once, but with my skin tone, the red really stood out. "What happened to you Rocky? You punch someone?"

"Yeah, Whitney," he chuckled. I looked at him with a straight face. "Right in the nose." I then closed my fist and one eye, and pretended to throw a punch. POW!

"What happened?"

"She got a little mouthy. I think I made my point though."

"Annabel, take it from me, that's not how you want to deal with things. It seems right in the moment, but the aftermath isn't worth it." He shook his head and looked at me with so much disappointment, I almost felt bad about leading him on.

"I'm kidding, Owen. I mean, I did hit her, but only because she woke me up during a nightmare. I was defending myself," I said matter of factly.

His tone changed dramatically, "Was it another Will nightmare?"

"Yeah, but I had a nice talk with Whit after it. I'm okay," I grabbed his hand, he looked at me, "Really. I'm fine."

He pulled my hand up to his mouth and kissed it, "I know you're fine. I just want to break him in half. I hate him for what he did to you. Hate him."

"I know, but we have to move on with our lives. I have you, and he has his cell mate - Bubba." Owen laughed before grabbing his half of my sandwich.

I looked up to see Clarke walking to the parking lot. She saw me too and we exchanged waves. "Wonder where she's off to."

"Probably going to pick up Rolly. He text me about half an hour ago asking if I could take him home. Something about his pants and needing to change, but I have a history test that I can't miss, so he probably called her."

"Aww, how cute," Owen looked at me, "I mean, I've known Clarke forever, granted we hadn't talked in years, but Rolly is just not the guy I pictured her with."

"She'd probably say the same about you thought, you know?"

"Why so? You're great. Loyal, handsome, protective, and honest to a fault. Why wouldn't someone see us together?"

He brushed my hair from my face, "Flattery will get you nowhere with me. I'm a giant, I could snap you in two if I sneezed at you. You're telling me she'd see you with me?"

"I don't know. I honestly have a hard time judging how people see me. I mean, when I was friends with Sophie, I'm sure I know how they saw me. Cold hearted bitch just like Sophie - or Passive minion who doesn't speak up because she's afraid of being lashed by the boss. Now though, I don't know. I don't feel like the same person." Owen nodded agreeing with me. "You know, I never did ask, but what was your first impression of me?"

He thought for a moment, popped a chip into his mouth, washed it down with his water, and then said, "Well, when I first saw you, I wondered where Sophie was. I didn't really know either of you, but I don't know that I saw one of you without the other before that day. I know I thought you looked sad. Usually when someone looks sad, I think they're sad - better leave them alone. With you, it was different. I wanted to know why you were sad. I wanted to make you feel better. I felt a need to protect you."

I didn't say anything, partly because I didn't know what to say, but mostly because I wanted to hear more. "When you threw up after seeing Will, I went inside to grab you napkins, but when I came out, you were gone. I figured you were embarrassed. I saw a sad girl, who didn't seem like she knew who she was. I wanted to help you figure it out."

I felt a tear roll down my face. I was smiling. I knew Owen was sweet, but I'd never known how he felt right from the start. I grabbed the neck of his shirt and pulled him to me, kissing him. When he pulled away, I said, "I love you, Owen Armstrong."
"I loved you first Greene." I nudged him with my elbow, laid my head on his shoulder and we finished our lunch silently.

When I got home from school, the house was empty. I dropped my backpack at the stairs and walked into the kitchen. There was a note from Whitney:

Got a job interview with a catering company.
Probably won't be home for dinner.
Feel free to use whatever stuff of mine that's in
the fridge if you decide to cook.
WISH me luck!

When I turned I saw a message was on the answering machine, I pushed play. "Whitney, Annabel, its Mom. I have to work late tonight, we just can't seem to agree on the girls for the spring show. I'm sure Whitney's already got something going for dinner, but if not, there is some money I left on the fridge. Feel free to order some pizza. I love you girls. I'll see you later.

So, Dad was gone for a work thing, Mom was going to be late, and Whitney wasn't going to be home either. I was all alone. Normally I'd like this, but lately I had been so used to constantly being around someone my house felt huge. It was so quiet. I decided I was going to make dinner myself. I put my iPod on my mom's dock in the kitchen and played the playlist that Owen had uploaded for me. I didn't hate it. No techno, some 80's rock, a little country, some of what he referred to as Rockabilly, and one chant, because he knew I would "get it" one of these days.

I pulled out some chicken and began to season it while the oven preheated. Once the chicken was prepped, I went to the fridge and pulled some things out for a salad, a tomato, a cucumber, a pepper, dressing, and a bag of spinach. I hummed along to the song that was playing while I rinsed the vegetables in the sink, when I heard the oven beep. "Alright chicken, time for you to get to baking, I'm getting hungry. I don't know why I am talking to you, you're dead, but I'm all alone so it's okay."

I couldn't help but laugh at myself. I had been giddy all day since I told Owen I loved him. I didn't even mean to say it, but it came out, and he said it back. I'd wanted to say it for weeks now, but I was so scared, and it ended up being so easy.

I felt myself dancing to the music, my heart doing the same in my chest. Just thinking about Owen made me so happy. I turned to get my phone out of my backpack to call him, and when I started walking through the hall to my bag, my heart jumped into my throat - there was someone on my porch. The sun was setting already and it glared through the front of the house so bright, I couldn't make out who it was, just that someone was there.

I could tell their back was turned, so I grabbed my bag and ran back into the kitchen. "Why did they buy the glass house?" I said, now hiding behind the kitchen island. No way they didn't see me already. I pulled out my phone and text Owen.

ARE YOU AT WORK?

Three dots. He was replying already. Thank God!

YEAH. JUST GOT BACK IN THE TRUCK. WHAT'S UP?

THERE IS SOMEONE ON MY PORCH. I'M ALL ALONE. I CAN'T TELL WHO IT IS. I'M SCARED!

WHERE ARE YOU?

IN THE KITCHEN HIDING. FUCKING GLASS HOUSE! I'M SURE THEY ALREADY SAW ME.

I'M RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. STAY THERE.

The music was loud and then it cut out completely. I jumped and looked up to see Owen standing over me. "Oh thank God. Are they still there? Who is it?" I was peeking around him.

He looked a little worried when he said, "Well I told her to stay outside, because I wasn't sure if you'd want to talk to her."

"Who? Why didn't they ring the bell?"

I heard the front door open, and Owen darted for the door. "I told you to wait outside. I don't know if she wants to see you. I couldn't blame her if she didn't."

A sob, "I couldn't blame her either, but I needed to talk to her. She needs to know how sorry I am."

"Sophie?!"