"T, come on. It'll be fun." Ivy said.
"Ivy, if I get caught, my parents will ground me."
"Since when did getting grounded ever stop you before?"
"Ivy, I won't be able to hang with you if we get caught for skipping."
"Wow, so you are no longer fun? Call me when I don't give a fuck Teddy comes back."
"Wait, Ivy… I'm in." Teddy said. "When we doing this?"
"Really, you are?" Ivy questioned. "Alright, tomorrow."
"Fine, tomorrow."
The next day Teddy called in sick pretending to be her mother so the school wouldn't call the house saying she was absent. Teddy met Ivy at the mall like they said they would the previous day.
"You know, I'm a little shocked you showed up. I had my doubts." Ivy said.
"I said I would and here I am."
Ivy was quiet thinking of what else she could get Teddy to do.
"Girl, come on." Ivy said pulling her arm. She dragged Teddy to a clothing store. "I bet you're too scared to steal something."
"I'm not scared and I'm definitely not doing this. I know it's wrong and it'll backfire."
"Come on!"
"No, I'm not stealing! If you are my friend you would respect that."
Teddy left the store and went back out to her car. She sat in her driver's seat thinking what to do and where to go. She can't go to school because they think she is sick at home and she can't go home because her mother thinks she is at school. Teddy decided just to go home and take whatever punishment she would receive from ditching. She wasn't in the mood to hiding more things because she was already hiding a mouth full of things.
When she arrived at her house, she saw that her mother's car wasn't in the driveway. She remembered how the night before her mother said Charlie had a six month checkup. Teddy thought she had gotten away with it. But an hour later, she heard a car pull up to her house. She looked out her bedroom window and saw her father's car parking beside hers. Moments later, he was standing in his daughter's room.
"H-Hey, dad, what are you doing home early?"
"What am I doing home early? What are you doing home early, young lady?"
Teddy didn't know what to say. She knew he knew she wasn't ill and if something happened at school that made her get sent home, the parents would have been notified.
"Did you skip school again? Huh, Teddy?"
"I'm going to try something new and be more honest with you." Teddy swallowed. "Yes, I skipped but it wasn't my plan to because Ivy wanted me to. And then she wanted me to steal something with her but I said no and I ditched her."
"You what!"
"Dad, I'm sorry. I knew I shouldn't have skipped but she wanted me to. At least I said no to the stealing."
Robert walked over to Teddy, who laid in her bed, and slapped her across her face. Teddy placed her hand on her cheek and started to cry.
"You are grounded for a month and you are no longer able to see Ivy. I don't care if she is your only friend, you can have no friends for all I care!"
The next day Teddy went to school upset. All night Teddy was getting yelled at by both her parents, telling her she should have known better than to ditch school. Her father even abused her more. Teddy came to school with some bruises on her body.
"Hey, where were you yesterday?" Spencer asked as he sat down beside Teddy during lunch.
Teddy sighed. "At home…"
"Oh, what were you doing at home?"
"I ditched yesterday with my friend but then I ditched her when she wanted me to steal. Long story short, my dad found out when he came home early, finding me home."
"Oh… Hey, do you wanna do something after school?"
"I can't. I'm grounded for a month."
Spencer noticed bruises on Teddy's body. "How did you get those bruises?"
Teddy looked at her arms. "My dad… When he found out, he slapped me." She started to cry. "My parents are abusive." Teddy wiped her eyes. "You should just stay away from me like everyone else does."
"Why should I do that?" Spencer asked.
"Look at me, I'm a mess. I've been through too much. You don't need to get involved with this…"
"Teddy, I like you. I don't care about any of that. I mean I do. Your parents shouldn't be beating you, no matter what you've done. They really should be turned in because look at you." Spencer said motioning to her arms. "Your daughter shouldn't be getting raised by them because they will treat her just as they treat you."
"My what?" Teddy asked.
"I know she's not your sister, Teddy."
Teddy looked up into his sensitive blue eyes. "How'd you know?"
"She looks too much like you and nothing like your parents. Plus you said she were taken out of school after your incident and I just put it all together."
"Another reason for you to stay away from me."
"Teddy, I don't care if you had a baby. It's not like it was your fault." Spencer gave Teddy a comforting hug. "Can I come over?"
Teddy shook her head. "I'm grounded."
"So, just say we need to do a project or study for a test."
Teddy shook her head. "I'm done lying because each time I do, they find out and I get abused."
"Well first day you are ungrounded, we're going out."
Teddy smiled. "Why do you like me?"
"Because I just do." Spencer smiled.
Secretly, Spencer was attracted to Teddy mainly because she's blonde. Yes, he found her attractive and liked her personality. He thought she was very beautiful and smart and he enjoyed being around her. But he has always been more attracted to blondes than brunettes or red heads. There was just something about blondes he liked.
When the month was up, Spencer kept his promise and that day when Teddy was ungrounded, he took her out for mini golf. Teddy enjoyed herself because it was the first time in a month she had any type of fun. Spencer had Teddy back home by nine-thirty that night and walked her up to her front porch.
"Thanks for taking me out tonight, I had fun." Teddy smiled.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."
"I'm sad the night is over now and I have to come back to hell."
Spencer chuckled. "I'm sure it's not hell."
"It's close." Teddy took her house key out of her purse. "I better go in now."
"Goodnight."
Spencer stepped closer to Teddy and gave her a kiss on her lips. It was their first kiss together besides him kissing her on her cheek. Teddy smiled when their lips broke and blushed a little. Teddy said goodnight to Spencer and headed in, straight up to her room and thought about her night.