Ronnie dazed out as he spun his beer around in a circle on his kneecap. The conversations were miles away and the movie was even farther as it just looked like colors popping up everywhere. He couldn't bring his mind out of the rut that it was recently in and it had Megan's name written all over it. At first, he thought it was because he liked her and loved the fact that she was so mysterious but now… he couldn't help but notice her. He noticed all of the things that everyone else in this small- ass town had missed and even wondered how could anyone be so stupid.

"Yo!" Sheila yelled from the other side of the couch.

Ronnie blinked before he turned to them, "What?"

"I asked if you were going to chip in for the pizza" Sheila nodded off to the side, "Max is ordering"

"Yeah, just, uh… tell me my half and I'll deliver" Ronnie looked back to the TV.

Sheila watched him closely before she asked, "Is something up?"

"No" Ronnie answered too quickly as he put his bottle to his lips but Sheila just waited until Ronnie's long sip was over.

"I tried to tell you, man" Sheila huffed, "Megan's the type that will leave a man high and dry, even if you had gone as far as drive her to school"

"It's not that" Ronnie told her.

"Then what is it?" Sheila countered.

Ronnie bit his lip before he mumbled, "Not sure"

Pounding stairs came down the basement as Max walked over to them, "Okay! Pizza will be here in a half hour… why does it feel so tense in here?"

"Lover boy is hung up on his cowgirl" Sheila said in a mocking tone that made Ronnie roll his eyes.

"Oh… Megan talk! We haven't talked about her this much since my try in freshman year" Max plopped himself down on the armchair facing the other two, "What did I miss?"

"Nothing!" Ronnie spat out, "Because there's nothing to talk about"

"Something sure is eating you up though" Sheila pressured.

Ronnie let out a low growl as he wanted to just get up and leave this room as Sheila and Max set their eyes on him. He didn't know how he suddenly got under the spotlight but something inside of him was giving him the go ahead with his theory. Maybe if he spoke about it he would figure out how ridiculous it sounded and would let it all go. Or maybe, it would just make him look like a fool in front of his new found friends.

"I can't confirm this but…" Ronnie looked at them intensely, "Not a word leaves this room about this subject! If I even hear one kid whispering about it I will whoop your guys' asses, both of yours!"

Sheila and Max seemed surprised as they both exchanged a look as if both deciding whether or not this subject was worth getting into before Max leaned forward and said, "You got my word"

"And mine"

Ronnie found it hard to swallow before he whispered, "I think Megan is being abused"

"What?" Max asked.

"He said he thinks-"

"I know what he said" Max cut off his friend, "But, are you sure? Have you seen bruises? What proof do you have?"

"Not much" Ronnie said, "But when I drove her home I had the heater blasting for her and her brother, it was so hot that I had to take off my jacket but they never did. They both just kept it on and when I first met her at the party, she jumped when I got close to her, both at the party, in the charity club and when I talked to her in the halls yesterday, and it's not just me, it's when all guys come close to her"

"Yeah, well she's-"

"PE" Sheila muttered.

Max looked over to her, "Huh?"

"I had PE with her last year" Sheila explained, "We had a heatwave in late spring, all the girls were wearing the shortest skirts they could find but not Megan. She came out in sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt that everyone thought that she was going to pass out"

The room got quiet for a moment before Sheila said, "I don't think I've ever seen her in a tank top since we all hit puberty"

"It could be that she's conservative" Max continued.

"Or that Arian is right" Sheila argued, "Max, think about it! Ever since 7th grade she hasn't been the same! She used to be loyal to her friends, caring, and responsive but now it's like she's a wallflower… oh, God we're seniors! What if she's been abused since-"

"Exactly" Ronnie let out, "That's why I need to know what her family's lifestyle was like before this happened and now"

Max turned to him, "What are you going to do about it?"

"We can't go to the authorities" Sheila sighed.

"Why not?" Ronnie demanded.

"Because Arian" Sheila told him, "Her father's a cop"

"Shit" Ronnie leaned back and ran a hand through his hair as the silence in the room felt so thick, you can cut it.

"Plus, seeing that you're a foster kid, he'll more than likely twist it that whatever put you in the system is why you're pinning it on his daughter" Max sighed, "We have to be extra careful or Megan might not come to school at all"

"We don't have a lot of time" Ronnie told them, "I think me being her chauffeur sped up the process, the other day she was moving around a hell of a lot slower and couldn't even bend down to pick up her book"

"But you still have to go through with it" Sheila said, "If Max and I start trying to act like we're her friends, she will definitely get suspicious and we don't know yet if she's right in the head or not which means-"

"She might tell her father" Max finished.

"I was afraid someone was going to say that" Ronnie whispered, "What do we do?"

"You need to get Megan to trust you and hopefully that will lead to a confession" Sheila looked over to Max, "We'll try to dig in deep about her father and what caused him to act this way"

Max didn't say anything but slowly nodded as Ronnie couldn't help but feel grateful that his friends didn't laugh at his theory. Even if it might seem crazy but it wasn't uncommon unfortunately. The only thing that was unfortunate was that a sweet person like Megan had to be living in a household like this.