Author's Note: Serena is going to be out of character through most of this story. So is the rest of her family. Bear with me on this story.

Enjoy.

Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites! Sorry guys for the long wait. I was busy with work and I got sick. I don't really do much of anything when I'm sick.

Warning: Depression and cutting is involved as well as a few other things.

Chapter 10

Serena woke up in the middle of the night in pain and she tried not to scream. Her father was pulling her up by her hair. He punched Serena dead in the face. Silent tears were running down her face. She wanted to know what she had done this time to receive this type of treatment. He punched her in the face again harder than the first time. He then proceeded to punch her in the stomach. Serena was crying a lot harder.

"You little brat, how dare you," her father yelled in her face. She still didn't know what she's done. Serena was starting to get her grades up because she was spending most of her time studying. She was helping more around the house lately too. She never went over the girls houses anymore. They did still try to talk to her, but she ignored them. She could smell the alcohol on her father's breath. She realized now that he was drunk. That was why he was doing this.

Serena didn't say anything back to her father. She didn't know what to say to him. Her father took his belt off and hit her with it. Serena just curled herself into a ball. She was still crying because all she felt was pain. She knew that she wanted to get away from him. After he finished beating her…he left the room. Serena picked her battered body off her bed and ran into the bathroom. She locked herself in. She grabbed the knife from her hiding spot and slit her wrists open. She didn't stop until she felt better. For some reason cutting helped make her feel better about everything. All the stresses in her life stopped when she picked up the knife.

Serena needed to get out of the house for a while. She was afraid that her father was going to rape her. He hadn't in a few days and she was happy about that. She snuck out of the house and went over to the park. She felt better now that she was out of the house. She looked up the moon with tears still running down her cheeks.

She was thinking of walking to Molly's house again because she needed her friend. Serena hadn't told her what was going on, but they had a lot of fun that night. Serena needed more fun in her life. While at Molly's she had received a call from Darien. He was talking about how he and the other girls were very worried about her. She didn't care how worried they were anymore. It's not like they ever cared about her before. Why would they start caring now? Plus every one of them had been treating her wrong for some time now. Serena was tired of being everyone's punching bag. She knew she needed to start standing up for herself more.

Serena ended up lying down on a bench and falling asleep on it. She hadn't noticed how late it was when she left. Under the moon and stars she felt safe. Serena slept more peacefully outside than she had in months.

In the morning Serena woke up and forgot where she was. She got off the bench and walked over to Molly's house. Serena knocked on the door and Molly answered. Molly smiled when she saw Serena at her door.

"Hey, Serena, what's up, girl?"

"Not much. Would you like to hang out," Serena asked. She was in a really good mood this morning. She didn't know why, but it was great to feel happy again. She figured it was because she's not at home studying.

"Sure, would you like to go to the mall or something," Molly asked.

"Yes, that sounds like fun," Serena responded smiling. She needed to get a couple of new outfits for school. When they arrived at the mall they went to Hot Topic. That was one of their favorite stores. They always had something cool in there.

Serena saw a lot of cute things that she wanted. Most of them were black. She was tired of wearing girly colors all the time. She wanted everything in black. She bought a couple of pairs of jeans and long sleeved shirts. Molly noticed this and wanted to talk to her about it. She didn't like what Serena was buying.

Molly grabbed Serena's wrist and then…