Oh hi. It's been a while since I uploaded a chapter for this story. I've been busy with college and I had writer's block for the longest time, but that doesn't matter now because I have the chapter out!

Hopefully she won't change her name anymore, but this story is co-written with BelleTheWickedWitch (previously WellNowWhat and GiveMeSomethingToBelieveIn). If you want to co-write a story with me, I'm always up for it, just saying.

So in case you forgot, Olivia is Trina and Tori's little sister. She has a twin named Francesca and I created both of them because they add to the story. So if that confused you, that's why they're here.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and stuck with me through this. There's still a lot more of the story to go, just saying.

Uh, I feel like I should tell you guys something else, but I don't know what it is. So instead, I'll tell you all to go listen to Marianas Trench because they're an amazing band. They make me wish I was Canadian!

Alright, enough of that. I hope you enjoy the chapter and leave a review telling me what you think! Be safe, lovelies.

-Skye

"Chapter 6 – Skin & Bones"

"It only hurt a bit; I still feel like shit. And I think you won't be able to recognize me now. It's easier to quit; it's harder to admit and you're pushing me…you're fucking pushing me…" – Marianas Trench

Without thinking, I'm on my feet and I dash over to Olivia, pushing her out of the way. "Go to your room!" I shout, not taking my eyes off the monster at my door. I didn't want him to ever see her!

Blake chuckles once more, keeping his eyes locked on mine.

"She can stay," he suggests. "I promise I don't bite."

I feel my blood boiling under my skin and my hands automatically ball into fists, almost breaking the remote in my left hand. I'm literally one more word away from punching him in the face…

"Olivia," I strain with clenched teeth, still keeping my eyes on Blake, "If you don't go to your room right now, I'll tell Mom you were the one that broke the pictures over the fireplace."

"But I didn't—"

I cut Olivia off by chucking the remote at the fireplace and knocking down everything on top of it. Glass shatters all over the floor and two frames slide away from the fireplace. Olivia screams and dashes up the stairs, leaving me alone with the monster in my doorway.

"You're still as cute as I remember," Blake tells me smoothly as he crosses his arms with an amused smirk.

That tears it.

How dare he? Who was he to come to my house and degrade me even more than he did so many years ago?

Before I could even register what I was doing, my fist collided with his face. He staggers backwards for a step or two but quickly regains his composure and holds the spot where I hit him.

"That wasn't very nice," he taunts with a grimace.

"Get out of here," I growl with a sneer. "Stay away from me, my family, and my friends."

Blake raises a dirty blonde eyebrow at me and smirks slightly as he continues to hold my face. "Friends?" he questions in that stupid…sexy accent of his. "I haven't really spoken much with anyone in town yet, but I did meet a delightfully dark young lady Friday night." He chuckles softly, staring deep into my eyes. "She wasn't nearly as beautiful as you."

Despite everything, I blush slightly and look away from him. A compliment is a compliment…even from a skeez like him.

Then I come to my senses.

"You stay away from her!" I scream, turning back to him with fiery eyes. "Stay away from me and go crawl under that hole you came from!" I try to slam the door in his face, but he blocks it with his hands.

"Hold on there, little lady," he breathes. I keep my body pressed against the door, refusing to let him inside. "You don't have to let me in, nor do you have to look at me when I talk to you, but I have something serious to say."

"Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it!" I shout. He starts to say something, but I practically body slam the door shut and I miss what he said.

"Go away!" I scream. "You're not welcome here!"

"Trina?" Tori calls from the top of the stairs. I gasp and look up to her worried brown eyes. "Is everything okay?" Her voice is frightened and her hands grip the railing tightly.

I can't have Tori knowing about him…

"Yeah," I lie with an annoyed scoff. "It was just this freak I met at the park the other day. He keeps following me everywhere trying to ask me out like he actually has a shot at perfection." I motion my hands up and down my body and Tori rolls her eyes. She heads back up the stairs without another word and screams two seconds later.

Cat probably jumped out at her to scare her like she used to do with me. Even in the same house, just a few feet away, I'm so distant from the girl I once called my best friend. I see her every day at school and sometimes on the weekend…but I really miss her…

With a deep sigh, I slowly turn around and contemplate opening the door. What if I did and he was still there? Would I hit him again? Yes. Would I want to? Maybe. Then again, what would I want if I opened that door? Would I want him to kiss me? Would I want his greasy hands all over my body again? I feel like…I feel like I want him…and I know I shouldn't. As much as I hate him, and even after all he's done to me and Jade, I can't forget what we did; I can't forget how I hoped I was good enough or how I thought I wanted to love him back then.

My mom used to tell me you never forget your first time and it would be with someone I would love even if I didn't know I loved them…

No, that's stupid! I can't love Blake; I can't. He hasn't changed though… He's still so handsome…so dashing…so charming. No way! Why would I ever want to love someone so…so…ugh! I'm so messed up for actually wanting his hands in my hair…or his body against mine…or his lips crashing down on my—

No! This isn't right. I can't think about this! My mom always says you never forget your first time, but I want to forget him! I don't want another stupid thought about Blake Hitchcock as long as I live! I don't even want to think about loving him!

Without thinking, I dart up the stairs and head to my room. I don't have to think about him if I'm in my room; I'm always safe there. After I slam the door shut, I fall onto my bed and grab the remote from my bedside table. I turn on the TV and some stupid music video is playing. I don't ever watch this stupid channel; I only play it loudly and jam my headphones in my ears so no one will bother me.

Right now I don't care if I'm alone or not, so long as it gets my mind off him. I start flipping through channels until I stop on the LMN channel. Sometimes I like watching Lifetime movies, especially when I'm bored. Right now, there's this movie with Jennie Garth in it. Deciding I'm too lazy to change the channel, I let it stay here.

For an hour and a half, I watch this movie. Apparently it's called Girl, Positive and it's about this girl who finds out she got HIV from all the unprotected sex she had; it's basically just one big PSA for HIV really. Oh, but what's a Lifetime movie without cheesy relationship drama? I guess aside from the majority of the movie being centered on the girl's budding relationship with her neighbor, it was a really good movie. The girl spread awareness about HIV and made all the students (sexually active and not) think about their lives and how to protect themselves.

But wait… That could happen to me. Oh God… What if…what if it has? No, no, no! What if I have HIV? I can't! I can't…but…I'd know if I did, though, right? I mean…it's been four years and I'd know if I had it by—what if you can't tell the signs? No, no, no! This isn't good. What if it takes a long time to—what if I'm dying? I can't tell my mom I'm…I can't even tell her what happened to me. Oh my God…what if that's the serious thing Blake wanted to talk about? What if he's dying and he's worrying I'm dying too? Does that mean he cares if I'm—

Oh my God…

"Mom?" I scream as I shoot to my feet. I rip my door open and peer down the hallway. "Mom?!" I dash out of my room and descend the stairs three at a time. "Mom, where are you?"

"What is it, Trina?" my mother calls as she opens the door to the basement. "I was in the middle of my new exercise routine." I rush up to her and hug her tightly, burying my head in the sweaty space between her head and shoulder. She's shocked at first, but quickly hugs me back. "What's wrong, baby?" she asks worriedly. My body starts to ache and a sob escapes my lips.

I quickly pull away from her and wipe my eyes, breathing deeply. "I…need to talk to you…alone," I respond quietly. My mother nods with a pained look on her face and she leads me downstairs. "Your father is doing errands so we've got some time," she tells me. I grimace at her sentence, but don't let her see; I don't want to think about what—no, stop!

"So what's wrong, baby?" she asks as soon as we're downstairs. She pulls a beanbag chair from beside the dryer and gestures for me to sit down. I do and she sits beside me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. I take in a deep breath, preparing for the worst. So many thoughts run through my head: Will she think I'm a whore? Will she hate me for lying to her for all this time? Would she go after him and beat him to a pulp? Would she make dad arrest him?

"You remember…that audition I had four years ago…after I got into Hollywood Arts?" I ask in a near-silent voice. I don't know how to put this into words; how can I find the right words to say?

"Of course I do, baby," my mother responds skeptically. "What about it?" Tears start to threaten my eyes, but I fight them back. I keep my eyes locked on the floor in front of me; I…I can't look at her and say this…

"The…the director..." I begin. A lump starts to form in my throat and I desperately try to force it down; it's finally time for me to get this off my chest. "When…you left me alone with him, he came on to me. He…he put his hands all over me…and he—" I try to finish it, but I can't. My body feels like it wants to collapse through my shuddering sobs. That night flashes in my head and it's the second time I've relived that night in just two days.

Wordlessly, my mother pulls me close to her and wraps her arms around my body, allowing me to press my head against her chest and cry. I try not to let out loud sobs, but a few escape as my tears fall onto her sweaty skin. Then…I start to hear soft sobs and I know they're not from me. I pull away from her only slightly and look up to see my mom crying softly with her eyes clenched shut.

This is the first time I've ever seen my mother cry…and it's all because of me…

Mom takes in a deep breath and wipes away the tears before she looks down at me. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I didn't know how," I whisper back. "Please don't tell Dad…"

Her grip tightens around me. "We have to tell your father!" she hisses. "That bastard hurt my baby! If your father won't do anything about him then I will!"

I shoot up from the beanbag chair, which was terribly difficult, and clench my head tightly. "No!" I cry out as I start to pace back and forth. "I don't want anyone else to know! You can't tell Dad; you can't!"

My mother climbs to her feet with determined eyes. "Trina, we have to," she defies. "What he did was illegal and we can put him away for a long time so he can never do this to anyone again. Don't you—"

"No, I don't!" I scream. I feel new sets of tears coming and I can feel my face getting hot. "I don't want anyone to know what happened to me! Please don't say anything to anyone…" My mother sighs softly and steps to me. She encompasses me into a warm, reassuring hug and sighs. She realizes I won't budge on my decision and she respects that. She pauses before she speaks, unsure of what to say to me.

"Alright," she breathes. "We'll do whatever you want." I let out a few loud sobs onto her shoulder again and she holds me all the more tighter.

I don't say anything for a long time. I don't want to. For this one moment, I'm protected, here in my mother's arms. She's holding me tightly like she used to do when I had nightmares when I was younger; she's keeping me safe from the Big Bad, as they say in the world of acting. Eventually my sobs die down and I clench my eyes shut tightly while I try to imprint her embrace in my brain; I don't ever want to forget this feeling of security….

But then I pull away from her, remembering the crushing reality of why I told her my secret in the first place.

"Mom," I choke out, "I think I might need to get tested."

"What?" She looks at me. That's not what she expected me to say, although I don't know why she wouldn't expect anything seeing as how I practically dropped a bomb on her... I guess it just looked that way,

"I, I saw this movie," I explain, "and this girl had HIV and I didn't think about it back in middle school but what if…." I barely manage the last few words before I start crying again. I don't want to fall back into my mom's arms, but I need her. I need someone to support me. I can't do this alone anymore. She wraps her arms around me, and pulls me close. She rubs her back as she murmurs low, soothing words in my ear.

"It's going to be okay, sweetie," she reassures, "I'll set up an appointment at the clinic, but whatever the result, it's going to be okay. It'll be okay," she repeats, "I'm here now, and I'm going to make sure that everything will be okay. You're going to be safe. I promise."

I want to stay like that forever, but another though crosses my mind. I don't move, though. I want to tell her about Jade—that he hurt her too—but I want Jade to know she can trust me. As much as I want to, Jade's business isn't mine to tell.

Instead of saying anything, I cling tighter to her. The next thing I know, my head is in her lap and I'm falling asleep. It's the first well-deserved nap I've had since I was a little girl...