Rain was picked up from the hospital by the last person she expected. Grace. She came waltzing in wearing a pair of gold strappy heels and short cut off shorts with the strings hanging. She signed all the paperwork, gave them permission to treat even though she did not have that authority. The hospital staff really disappointed her. Not only did that have no clue that this woman was not even related to her, but they didn't find the bruises on her arms in the perfect shape of someone's fingers alarming. If that wasn't obvious abuse the large welts on her back should have made it clear. She just had to accept the fact that there was no one who could or would help her. They would only ignore and turn their heads.

Having a male doctor turned out to be another problem. Rain couldn't believe this woman was back in her life making up stories that never happened.

"You should have seen the way she was flirting with that doctor. He was so young and I think she liked taking her shirt off for him. If you don't do something about the way she goes on she'll be knocked up before too long." Grace went on to her father, knowing exactly what set him off. Rain was in so much pain already that she was defenseless when he raised his hand and knocked her to the floor. She was so tired of being called a whore when she had no idea what being that close to a man felt like.

Jody was gone that week. The woman was the only person she could talk to when things got rough. Of course she never told her how she was beaten for fear she or her husband would confront her father and make the situation worse. But it was nice to have someone to talk to about what she endured at school.

Rain looked at herself in the mirror of the glass gym that was fixed to its original state the week before. She didn't know why they decided to fix it since it had sat in ruin for months after the storm and no one in the neighbor's household used it. She pulled her hair out of her face and wished she found a spark of beauty in it somewhere. When she saw herself, she saw fat. Layers and layers of fat and she was tired of hearing her parents tell her just how chubby she was. She decided that was one thing she could change about herself and stepped on a treadmill. She started at a slow pace and began to do it every day. A month later she still didn't think she looked any better.

Jody still hadn't returned and she began to wonder if she would ever return and feared she had left for good. The gym became her refuge. She spent nights there when her parents partied and thought about the boy she had spent the night with so long before. She was fifteen now with three years left before she was free. On the wall she pinned the calendar she had made and crossed off the days just like she had seen inmates do on the few movies she had seen in her life.

Her ribs finally heeled allowing her to move a little faster on the treadmill, but she didn't have the nerve to try any of the other equipment. She was comfortable with walking.

"What are you doing here?"

Surprised and scared she turned towards the door. Randy stepped inside and he did not appear to be joking.

She started for the exit of what kind of person he really was.

"If you're going to work out, you should do it right." He snapped at her. "Get back on."

She was ready to stop and she continued on her path, but he stopped her. "Get on!"

A little frightened and a little intrigued she did as he asked. Part of her wanted to know more about him.

Randy's father had died and she learned that he had been a trainer and his son had picked up his ways. He spent days pushing her on every piece of equipment in the shack. He did not let up and he did not have a kind word for her. He seemed mad at every one and she wondered why he let her come around at all.

Some days she wanted to collapse. Her everyday life already took a toll on her and when life kept her from arriving at the shack for her daily work out Randy would be furious and yell at her through the entire routine.

"You keep looking at yourself in the mirror wanting to change but it won't happen if you don't do the work." He would yell. She decided that Randy was a mean person but she couldn't stop appreciating the body he had. The day were getting hotter and he would take off his shirt after soaking it with sweat and she would steal a glance, sometimes stare when his back was turned. He was perfect.

The girls in school had all noticed it as well, most were crazy about him from the day he entered the hallways. Randy didn't want anything to do with no one. Eventually he joined the football team, but he wasn't much of a team player except during games. He did not want to join their click and he did not want to roam the halls with them. He was a loner, a mystery that everyone wanted to solve. Even Cecilia was unable to make him a notch on her headboard and she tried constantly and even sent the word out that he was hers and no one else was to even think about getting with him.

Before spring break, she was almost stuck to his side like a tumor that irritated him. Rain tried not to laugh at the cheerleader when she saw him roll his eyes and go into his class, dismissing and embarrassing her.

Spring break brought a true break. Grace's mother became sick and for the first time in her life her father closed the shop because of Grace's constant arguing and fighting with him. She had never known him to give in for peace's sake so she knew there had to be some kind of financial gain involved for him or he wouldn't have gave in.

The next shock came after days of Grace bitching at her and whining about what an embarrassment she was and how no one in her family knew anything about Rain. She did not want her around her family and they left her behind asking Jody to keep an eye on her. The house had never been so quiet, but she wasn't exactly free to do as she wanted. They left her no money and did not buy any groceries for her to survive off of telling her it would help her lose a few pounds if she didn't have anything to pig out on while no one was watching. Still, there was lots of food she enjoyed that no one else did. She lived off of tuna and crackers or canned chicken that she made salad out of and it satisfied her more than any extravagant meal.

She spent every moment she could in the gym. The days were so hot and her clothes became soaked before she'd even done a quarter of Randy's workout program and it tired her quickly.

"Take it off." Randy ordered her when he saw how soaked with sweat she had become. She ignored him setting a fire in his eyes. He stormed towards her and jerked her oversized tee shirt up. She resisted. "Look, you'll be much cooler. I know you're wearing a sports bra underneath. It's no different than wearing a bathing suit." Finally, she stopped resisting, but was uncomfortable because she knew he could see the belly she didn't want him to see. "Relax. You're wearing a normal work out outfit." Her awkwardness always seemed irritate him and she didn't understand why he cared what she dressed like.

Finally, she pulled out the shorts her father had forbade her from wearing the summer before. Nothing that would make her look attractive was ever permitted, not that they flattered her in the first place. But it was just too hot during her work out and she desperately wanted her father to approve and stop berating her about her weight thinking that if she could eliminate one stress, she would be able to survive the rest.

Randy was already shirtless and covered in sweat when she arrived that day and while she worked out she could not keep her eyes off him. He was so defined from his shoulders to his legs. Sometimes she thought he was stealing glances at her, but she knew better.

"Go faster!" he was in one of his worst moods. "Move! Don't stop!" he kept yelling. "Keep your back straight!"

"Stop!" she screamed and pushed him away from her. The lunges and squats were killing her and she just couldn't do another. He stared at her, the muscles in his cheeks jumping and she thought he was going to strike her, but she stood up to him. Staring back and returning his fire. She had never had the backbone before, but she was tired of being pushed around by him and everyone else. She was past tired.

He came at her and she lost all the strength she had found in an instant. Yet, he didn't strike her as she had expected. Instead he grabbed her and kissed her passionately. Her trapped her against the wall and himself and slipped his tongue inside her mouth and began to swirl it gently. He was rough, but he didn't hurt her, his hands traveling down her arms and lifting her legs so he was holding her around his waist.

It amazed her how fast her tense body relaxed, his hands slipping into places no one had ever touched before. She was laying beneath him on the small bed, his manhood finding exactly what it wanted before her mind could clear. She cried out, experiencing a sharp pain, but he kept thrusting, covering her mouth with his own to cover her moans.

Soon, the pain subsided and she felt a wave of heat rise into her face. What he did to her brought a pleasure that she would never be able to explain. He seemed hungry and wild refusing to slow until he had finally reached his goal. When it was over he did not jump from her, instead, he remained, staring into her eyes and trying to catch his breath. It had all happened so fast, but what did it mean?