A/n: I apologize if there are any mistakes. My computer is being wonky. Let me know if you like so far please :).

TW: for the "r" word.

Three years later…

"Is she retarded or something?"

"I think she is."

"Okaaaay, but what if they like get married or we have to live with her?"

"God,I hope not , we'd have a retarded step niece or something."

"It's already bad enough we have to go to school with the retard already."

The laughter felt like dull stings against her ears.

She let out a sigh and sat on the toilet with her knees up to her chin. Knowing those two, they will probably go tell everyone at school about her light up shoes if they spotted them beneath the stall.

Could it be possible to be mentally tired at such a young age?

Her stomach sank to her feet when her father arrived back in the restaurant with a very pretty lady and her middle school tormentors.

She quickly made a mad dash to the bathroom .

She didn't know why she thought that dashing off into the bathroom would make things any better. It simply made things worse.

Especially, since the two girls knew she was in there.

They made it their goal to speak loudly as possible while she was cramped up in the stall.

The woman called Natalia seemed nice enough...but her sisters on the other hand..made Aressa feel sick to her stomach.

"Come on let's go before Nat comes in and starts bitchin'"

"Totally,I DO NOT want to hear her mouth .Ugh, she finally gets a sexy guy and she wants everything to be PERFECT."

There was a pause before there was a hard kick on the door that surprised Aressa enough to almost lose her balance.

"Hurry up and come out freak. Your daddy and new mommy are waiting on you."

There was more laughter before the bathroom door closed signifying their exit.

She caught her breath for a moment before stepping out of the stall.

She stared at her reflection for a moment as if she wasn't didn't have the same pecan skin, two pigtails, and rugrats t shirt on before she went into the stall.

The only difference was the fire in her brown eyes that were so strikingly similar to her father's. The fire of wanting to pound their heads in.

However, that fire was soon extinguished when she returned to the table.

"Aressa, this is Natalia and her sisters Anya and Cristine."

Of course, Aressa knew who they were already.

And of course, they knew who she was already .

That's why she kept her eyes trained on the menu. She didn't want to look at them. She hated them.

Beneath the table, her free hand revealed her middle finger. She waved it and pointed it around beneath the table from Anya to Cristine.

They hated her too.

She just knew it.

They'd hate her even more now if their sister stayed with her father.

"Oh,Eric?Is it?"Anya said in a saccharine voice. "We know who she is. We go to school together."

"Yeah, we like totally help each other with homework like all the time."Cristine chimed in.

Aressa bit her lip and said nothing of course.

It was all a lie.

But, she would not say anything.

Eric smiled oblivious and winked at Natalia. "Hey baby, this worked out better than we could have imagined,huh? The girls are already friends."

The beautiful redhead woman smiled warmly at the girls and then back at Eric.

"I know right!" she said raising her eyebrows in excitement. "The girls could even have sleepovers . Cristine and Anya have a ton of makeup . They can share clothes . They could be best friends."

'Eat shit lady.'

Aressa thought darkly.

"Whoa, whoa, I don't know about make-up,"Eric said holding up his hands his overprotective fatherliness kicking in.

"I mean, she just turned thirteen let's not go crazy here Nat."

Aressa could hear the two of them giggling .

She thought they were empty headed idiots. It took all within her to not glare right into their cruel spider-like eyes. She shakingly put down the menu. She looked out the window trying to occupy her thoughts. It was another beautiful day. She'd rather be out swimming with her dad than being cooped up in some stupid Chilli's restaurant .

A seagull lazily landed near the window and began picking at an old piece of hotdog. Such a simple and stupid animal did not know how badly she wanted to trade places with it right about now.

She'd even pass on the chips and salsa for that old hotdog he was picking at.

Anything to get out of there.

Satisfied with its piece of meal, the seagull waddled lazily near a spilling trash can and looked on curiously tilting its small head.

'What's that?' It seemed to say.

A couple of rowdy surfer boys ran passed and spooked her little friend.

'Bye,' Aressa thought as it flew away. It went out of view of the booth's window, so she couldn't see what turn it made.

'Send my regards to-'

Her thoughts were interrupted by her father's voice.

"Aressa, what do you want to eat?"

She blinked and looked around the table. Finally,she could get a good look at thirteen year old Anya and fourteen year old Cristine. They were gorgeous.

Brunette and red hair styled into perfect waves that spilled down their shoulders. They both wore the make-up that her father didn't want her wearing because he feared that she would grow up too fast.

She quickly averted her eyes back away from their smirking expressions. She grabbed the menu and searched for the thing that would seem most desirable.

She looked at her father pleadingly .

He smirked. "Texas cheese fries..really Ari? You have to eat more than that."

She gave him an impish smile .She pointed at it on the menu again at the same time she held up three fingers signifying she wanted three orders of it.

She gave him a smile as if saying, "Take that old man."

"That is more. I have to give it to the girl." Natalia said with a laugh. Her eyes were bright and kind.

'Oh, shut up. No one asked you ginger barbie." she thought , she soon felt bad. Natalia seemed genuine to her.

Aressa wanted to hate her, but she couldn't at that moment.

Anya made a face.

"Ew, Texas cheese fries. Aren't you worried about getting fat?" she asked looking over at Aressa.

Aressa shrugged.

She wouldn't let them get to her like they always did in school.

Not here.

Not today.

Eric scoffed. "My girl?Getting fat? Not in this lifetime."he responded after placing their orders and after the waitress left. "MY girl is a ballet princess and can swim better than anyone in Miami, hell maybe even in the whole damned South."he boasted with his chest puffed out in pride.

Aressa blushed.

"Aw, really?"Natalia asked. "I'd love to see you dance one day. I bet you're a great dancer. You know Cristine dances too. Are you on the cheer-leading team too?"

Aressa shook her head vigorously .

Oh,boy why did she have to bring that up?

Cristine shot a glare of pure venom at Aressa as if to shut her up,but Anya answered for her sister.

"Didn't you join the cheer-leading team, but then you got off ?"

The girls exchanged conspiratorial looks.

Eric looked at his daughter surprised. "You're off the team? You didn't tell me? Why?"

'Maybe if you were home like you used to be you'd know that.' She could feel the annoyance prickling down her spine.

The sweet moment of the conversation between her father was gone. Fantasies of stabbing Cristine in the throat with a fork filled her mind now. She knew and her sister knew EXACTLY why she was off the team now.

They promised they would make it stop.

They promised that they would make everyone stop calling her a retard, freak, and psychopath if she gave up her spot to Cristine.

They were the ones who started it all in the first place after her mother died. Her cousin Esmeralda blabbed to her friend about what went on at the funeral and her friend's friend blabbed to Anya .It followed Aressa from 4th grade now to 7th grade.

"Aressa,"he asked her again. "Why did you get off the team?"his voice was firmer with her now. He had took a hit into his savings to get her the money for the cheer-leading team without her even asking. It hurt her that he sounded so upset with her.

The girls' smiling faces around the table pissed her off . Natalia's uncomfortable smile pissed her off. And her father's questions she didn't want to answer pissed her off too.

That's why she did it.

Impulsively, she grabbed the little cup of salsa and hurled it into Cristine's face when she was about to throw in another slick remark .

Her shrill screams followed Aressa out the restaurant.

But, Aressa did not care.

She wanted her to scream like she did on the inside every single day.

She was a whirlwind carried by the anger from the events from the dinner. Tears were in her eyes ,but they never fell.

She wouldn't cry. She just had to power through that's what she did until-

"Hey,watch where in the hell you're going!"

She collided with a boy who was around her age,but much taller. His hair had midas's touch and and his eyes were bright sapphire pools filled with irritation. He wore a ragged t-shirt and ratty blue jeans.

She blinked up at him. In normal circumstances, she would have apologized with her mannerisms but, the heat from the restaurant was still fresh.

Instead, she scowled back at him and balled her fist up.

If he wanted trouble, she'd give him trouble.

He eyed her back.

"Oh what, so you're just going to hit me because YOU ran into me?"He said his voice sounding gruff. Aressa nodded with tough expression on her face. She held up both of her fists in front of her . She'd punch him really hard! Even if she lost, she wasn't about to let this boy see her cry or admit defeat.

The boy stared at her for a moment .He advanced toward her and she did held everything within her not to flinch,but she did anyway. The boy burst out into laughter.

"Enough with the tough crap. I'm not going to hit you." His words still didn't cause Aressa to lower her fists. She was still charged up and looking for a fight.

"Besides, you have your thumbs tucked in your 's how you get them broken, dumbass."

Aressa nostrils flared. She was sick of people calling her names! With that, she stomped on his foot.

"Hey!What the fuck ?! These are my only pair of shoes! What is wrong with you?"he growled. She looked down at his feet and saw that the boy wore a ratty pair of black new balances. She instantly felt empathy for him. She quickly dug into her pocket to hand him the twenty dollars she had left from her birthday money. She held it out in front of her. He frowned at her.

"I don't need your stupid money. I'm not your charity case."

She shook her hand and shoved the money at him.

"Hey quit it!I said I don't want your money!"

He smacked the money out of her hand .He kicked the money back towards her.

"Here, get your money.I don't want it."

She crossed her arms stubbornly and turned away from the money at both of their feet as if to say nope.

"Oh man,"he groaned smacking his forehead. He bent over and picked up the money. He walked in front of her. She still had her arms crossed.

"Take it! It's yours. I don't want it."

Aressa shook her head.

"So you're really not going to take it?"

She shook her head again.

The boy shrugged.

"Okay,suit yourself."

And with that,he made a quick movement and stood behind Aressa before stuffing the money in the back of her shirt. She gasped and turned around to slap him, but she missed. The boy had taken off toward the row of dilapidated houses in the strange neighborhood that she had wandered into leaving behind his sketchpad on the sidewalk. As Aressa leaned over to pick it up she heard,

"Aressa Maria Cruz-Delko, get in the car now!"

She bolted upright hugging the sketchbook close to her chest. In his black Altima and with a look of pure anger, was Eric Delko.

She was in a world of trouble.

She prayed he didn't see the boy she was just talking to.

Because then, she would be in a galaxy of trouble.