AN- thank you to those who reviewed. ok, heres a fun fact. i hadn't checked my email for 2 days and my inbox was 28. and only 3 of them were regular emails. 25 of them were from author/story alerts, reviews and my story getting favorited. so THANK YOU!!!!! to me it seems like forever since i last updated but it's only beenone day. hmm... i have issues, anyway i'll shut up and get to the story! :) (disclaimer: i dont own twilight, i do however own thomas, richard, and the plot)

"Ugh," I grumbled to myself. I woke up with a killer headache from all the crying and knocks to my head yesterday. Not to mention I got very little sleep.

I got up to go get some aspirin from the bathroom. When I got up I was kinda wobbly. I groaned and walked into the bathroom. When I took it I had to wait a few minutes for the pain to go away. Or at least diminish slightly. Just then I heard my brother get up. I quickly walked downstairs.

I instantly regretted this as I stopped in the doorway of the dining room. I was considering sneaking back upstairs when he looked up to see me standing there.

"Umm… do you want anything for breakfast Richard?" I asked nervously. He was usually grumpy in the morning.

"No." he grunted. "I ain't in the mood for your terrible cooking." He stood up and I saw an empty cereal bowl in his hands. They actually enjoyed my cooking, but I wasn't about to point that out. My head still hurt quite a bit.

"Oh, ok." I said softly. He just walked past me into the kitchen. Just then Thomas came downstairs.

"Yeah, we only keep you around 'cause we don't know how to cook. That's a woman's job." He laughed and got himself some cereal. Ugh! I screamed in my head. He was sooo sexist. However I remained calm on the outside and just smiled sweetly at him. He glared back. My smile grew.

He may enjoy bothering me, but I enjoyed it right back. I walked into the kitchen to make myself some toast. Luckily Richard had already left the room, so he wouldn't start bothering me. Once the toast popped I spread some butter and jelly on it, then ate quickly.

Right as I was leaving, Thomas walked into the room. I can't believe how much he's changed, I thought to myself. Of course we never got along. But that was always just sibling rivalry. Never anything so extreme. I just don't know what happened, I sighed as I walked up the stairs to get ready for school.

I went into my room to grab a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. I didn't want to explain my new bruises to Bella. I smiled at the thought of my new friend. It still didn't seem real. Me having a friend. I was still smiling as I walked into the bathroom to take a shower.

The hot water helped me calm down, and helped my headache. I stood there for a few minutes longer and decided to get out. I checked the clock on the wall, and yelped in surprise at the time. "Crap," I muttered to myself.

I dried my hair, got dressed, brushed my teeth and hair, and shot out of the room in record time. I quickly ran to my room to grab my stuff. Then I bolted out the door and into my car. I was surprised when I made it to the school with five minutes to spare. Wow, I must've moved faster than I thought. (AN- no she's not gaining super vampire powers, she's just really quick) I smiled to myself and went to my math class.

I had algebra II. I was really smart so they put me in higher-level classes. If my mom were here I would have someone to be proud of me. But I don't, so I pushed those thoughts out of my mind as I walked into my algebra class. Today was just like everyday. Boring.

Fourth hour I had biology. I groaned internally. This was the class I had with Jasper. But I kept my head held high and walked into the room. When I sat down I notices that the seat next to mine was empty. My lab partner, Jasmine Nikols, was never absent. Not at all within the past five years. I raised my hand. Some people looked at me curiously since I never raised my hand. Hmm… Jasmine and I match in that one respect, I suppose. But, whatever, I ignored the stares and raised my hand higher.

"Yes, Ms. Brandon," Mr. Banner asked me, looking up from his papers.

"Umm… where's Jasmine? She's never absent," I asked politely.

"She moved to Illinois," he replied then went back to his paperwork. Some people started snickering, as if this fact should be obvious. I turned to glare at them. And when I mean glare I mean the only kind of glare I actually know how to do, the death glare. They looked shocked by my expression; probably surprised such a small body could hold so much anger; and a little scared. I smirked, satisfied, and turned back around. I heard whispers erupt behind me. After another minute or so, the bell rang.

"Okay, class that's enough," Mr. Banner called the class to order. He started his lecture on cell anatomy. It was so boring. When there was twenty minutes left Mr. Banner had an announcement. "Alright class, I'm assigning you all a take home project." Everyone groaned in unison. He chuckled. "Lighten up kids. You're not doing it alone." The atmosphere instantly lightened. "I want you all to do this with your lab partners." I frowned. I didn't have a lab partner anymore. I frowned, unless…

"Mr. Hale?" Mr. Banner called. Jasper looked up. "I would like you to move up by Ms. Brandon, seeing as neither of you have a lab partner." My eyes went wide. Jasper as my lab partner. This was not helping my plan to ignore him. Dang it. He looked kind of uncomfortable but quickly covered it, shrugged and moved up. I quickly averted my eyes.

Mr. Banner then went on to explain the project. We had to make a 3-D model of a cell. Then an essay explaining the function of a cell, and two parts inside of it, our choice, of course. (Mr. Banner's words, not mine).

Right when he finished explaining, the bell rang. What excellent timing that man has, I thought to my self as I walked to lunch. I instantly got a slight spring in my step at the thought of seeing my new friend. But then I stopped. What if she didn't want to sit with me? I frowned, but started walking again. I'll just have to find out when I get there.

Right before I go to the door, I saw Bella standing there.

I snuck up behind her. "Waiting for someone?" I whispered in her ear. She jumped.

"Alice!" she complained, "You scared me." But she gave me a hug. I was a bit startled at first. No one had really hugged me in ten years. We had moved right after my mom died so I didn't have any friends either for about ten years. After a few seconds I hugged her back. It felt good.

"Are you sitting with me today?" I asked her.

"Yeah, but can Edward sit with us, too?" I hesitated but gave in, "Okay."

She smiled, "thanks." As if on cue, Edward showed up at Bella's side. He smiled at me and held out his hand.

"Hello, I'm Edward Cullen." I shook his hand.

"Alice," I smiled. "Wait, aren't you the Hales' brother?" I asked curiously as we headed into the lunch line.

"Yes, but my fathers last name is Cullen and my mothers was Hale."

"Oh." Was all I could say. We exited the lunch line and I led the way to my table.

All in all, it was pretty good. I learned that Edward liked to play the piano, even though I knew he was musical. I spoke very little about my home life. I just said who my father and brother were. I told him about my mom, and I told Bella more about my mom.

"What happened to her?" Edward asked. The small smile I hadn't realized I'd been wearing slipped from my face. I looked down. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want," he said quietly.

"No, it's okay," I quickly regained my composure. "Umm… she died ten years ago, from breast cancer." I looked down.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he put a comforting hand on mine, which was lying on the table.

I smiled at him, "it's okay, and I'm fine." I looked around; people were starting to go to class. "C'mon, Bella let's get to class." I tugged on her arm playfully.

"Okay, bye Edward." She gave him a quick kiss and got up.

"I love you!" he called.

"Love you too!" she kind of squealed on the last word since I just gave a sharp tug. He just shook his head and got up to go to his class. She glared playfully at me but I just busted out laughing. She started laughing to as we went to class.

Today in art I finished my project. I was the first one to be done. "Jeez, Alice your fast." She looked at my painting, "and good! Really good. Great job, Ali."

"Thanks Bella," I smiled and walked over to Ms. Barmes with my painting.

She looked it over, and raised her eyebrows. "Good job, Alice." She gave me a proud smile. "Class!" she suddenly called out, "right here is a good example of how your paintings should end up looking. But with your own pictures." I blushed, something I barely ever did. "A+ Alice. Good job," she repeated. I went back to my seat.

The rest of the day past quickly. When I got home I saw that Richard's car was in the driveway. Yikes. This couldn't be good.

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I swallowed hard. Get a grip, I ordered myself – it didn't help. It's not like this hasn't happened before. It's just that every time it does, he's in a bad mood from work, so he leaves early. However, every time this happened, he'd also been drinking.

Last time this happened, he broke my wrist. I had to go to the hospital, but I told them that I just crushed it in my car door. Close enough, his hand was extremely strong.

I looked up at the house. I closed my eyes. I couldn't leave. I already knew that he had seen my car. I took a deep breath, opened my eyes, and got out of the car. Maybe he isn't drinking this time, I thought hopefully.

That hope was quickly extinguished as I walked into the living room and saw beer bottles all over the floor. When I looked up, I saw Richard standing over me looking angry.

"Where have you been!?" he shouted at me. I resisted the urge to cringe and run out of the room.

"S-school," I said in a small voice. He came up and punched me in the stomach. I fell over and banged my face against the wall. All the breath whooshed out of me. Holy crap! That hurt! I just lay there not moving.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" he came and kicked me in the side.

"I'm not lying," I whimpered back. He leaned down and grabbed my neck. I was already having trouble breathing, and now he cut it off all together! He pulled me up into a sitting position…by my neck!

"C-can't breath!" I rasped. He let go of me and I dropped to the floor.

"Get out of my sight, you disgusting little creature!" I immediately got up to run upstairs. He hit me in the back as I ran past him. I stumbled a little but kept going.

As I turned the corner I heard him start laughing. I held back the tears as I grabbed some aspirin from the medicine cabinet. Then I ran into my room, if you could even call it that.

It was tiny. All I could fit in it was a bed and a dresser with a mirror in front of it.

I looked at myself in the mirror. There was a huge purple bruise covering my neck. That would be hard to cover up with make-up. I had a lot of foundation, compacts, and cover-up. I could always hide my bruises and cuts from people, they never suspected a thing. But this would be hard. But… if I wore a turtleneck sweater it shouldn't be too bad. I sighed as I looked back at my face. My lip was split, but I could say I fell.

If anyone ever asked about my cuts, I would say that I was clumsy. No one asked further questions. Nothing else looked too bad, but my stomach and side really hurt. I frowned. I'd just have to be careful at school tomorrow.

I was going to lie down on my bed when I heard my father calling me to come make dinner. I got up. As I did so I winced. I hurried downstairs to make dinner. At the table I saw Thomas. He smirked at me and I gave him my world famous glare. (At least, it should be world famous). Richard saw and gave me a warning look. I winced and made dinner as fast as I could.

I wasn't in the mood to make much so I just made fried chicken and green beans. When I set their food on the table I dashed upstairs. It wasn't long enough until I was called back down to do the dishes.

I did them in record time, then I was running back upstairs to finish my homework. I didn't like doing homework but I would do anything to get out from under his gaze.

It took me another hour to finish since my head was so muggy. I decided to take some more aspirin since it had been a few hours since I last took some.

Once I had taken it I realized that I was exhausted, so I got into my pajamas and fell asleep almost instantly.

AN- grrr... i hate that man,(but without him we wouldn't have a proper plot) and i hope you agree with me 'cause if you don't you need some serious help. we just figured out what he's really like. again i made it longer so you wouldn't kill me. please review telling me how you liked it. luv ya! :) :) :)