Chapter 21

"You know him?!" Stephen and Carrie both exclaimed, turning to Rae. She nodded as Curly made his way over to the three.

"Yeah," Rae answered. When he got over to them, she looked at the other two. "Carrie, Stephen…this is Curly Shepard. My boyfriend." Carrie's jaw dropped.

"This is him?!" she exclaimed to her friend. Rae giggled and nodded. She turned back to her boy and gave him a rather large hug and a kiss.

"I haven't seen you in a while!" Rae said. "Where've you been?"

"I've just been trying to help manage the gang over on our turf. Tim's strong and a good leader, but some of the members are acting up and starting fights inside the gang. We've been trying to get it all back in order," Curly answered. She nodded. Then he bent over and whispered in her ear. "Let's go outside. I want to talk to you, okay?" She nodded again. He took her by the hand and led her through the crowd and out to the front porch.

"What did you wanna talk about?" Rae asked him. He said down on the top step and offered the space next to him to her. She said down.

"So…how's it going with…your dad?" He asked, quietly. She hesitated. He still didn't know she'd almost been strangled just says earlier. She didn't want to tell him that, but he'd find out one way or another.

"He…the only reason I'm staying with Carrie right now is because…I need to hide," she started. Curly gave her a confused look. "He…uh…found me one night. At the Curtis'. And they usually keep their doors unlocked. He came in and tried to strangle me. I have bruises on my neck, but I've covered them with Carrie's makeup. They'll probably disappear soon."

"What?!" Curly almost yelled. Raelee looked down and nodded. "Jesus…why won't he just leave you alone?" She shrugged.

"I don't know…I really don't. But for now I'm safe," she said, sadly. Curly looked down at her and sighed.

"I'm so sorry you've gotten into all this, Rae." He put his hand on his forehead.

"It's not your fault, Curly." He just shrugged. The door behind them opened. They both turned and saw Eric standing there, holding two cups.

"It looks like you guys could use these," he said. Rae looked at his face. He looked a lot like Stephen, but with a black eye forming, and obviously older. His features were quite attractive. He handed the cups to the couple. Rae eyes it suspiciously. "It's just beer, kid." He sat down in a porch chair that was sitting by them. "So, this is her, huh, Curly? The girl you're always talking about." Curly nodded and Rae blushed, but neither boys noticed.

"Yeah, this is Raelee Winston," he replied.

"Wow, this is a small world. Dallas's little sister, huh?" Eric asked her.

"Yeah, how do you know Dally?" she asked him after taking a sip of the beer he had given her.

"We're old buddies. We went to school together from when you guys moved here until he just stopped coming," he said. Rae nodded. "And now I'm a senior and he doesn't have anything to show for his hard work in his earlier years."

"To be completely honest, I don't think he ever worked really hard at school," Rae said with a giggle. Eric shrugged.

"He always used to work hard while in class. I guess he just never brought that home," he said, with a smile. "Tell him I said 'hi', okay?" She nodded. "Thanks, hon." He stood up, but before he could get to the door, Stephen came out.

"Hey, Rae, Carrie's looking for you," he said. He looked over at his brother. "Oh, hey, Eric. Nice fight earlier tonight." Eric looked back at Rae.

"You know my brother, too?" he asked.

"Yeah, it really is a small world, huh? Carrie and I have been friends for a few years and she just recently introduced me to Stephen," she answered. Stephen looked at the two, confused. She looked at the smaller boy. "Don't worry about it." He shrugged and Rae followed him inside to Carrie.

"It's almost time to go," Rae's friend said when the two reached her. "Mom said be home by 10:30 and it's almost 10:15 now." The taller girl nodded.

"Alright, then let's say our goodbyes." Rae started heading back outside where Curly and Eric were still talking. Carrie followed, pulling Stephen with her. When Rae was outside, she gave Curly a hug. He held her tightly, for a minute.

"I'll see you later, alright?" he said, quietly. She nodded and looked up at him. He kissed her and then let go. She turned to Eric and he held out a hand.

"Great meeting you, Raelee," he said as she took his hand.

"Rae's fine." He nodded and they released each other's hands. Carrie and Stephen were off in their little corner of the porch saying their private goodbyes. Finally, the small girl let go of her boy and joined Rae.

"Drop by anytime, Rae. And I'll see you later, Carrie," Eric said.

"Yup, bye, Eric!" Carrie exclaimed. Rae nodded and the two girls took off. They walked silently for the first few minutes.

"Oh, what's Stephen and Eric's last name?" Rae asked, trying to break the silence.

"Curtz," her friend replied in one word.

"Thanks…"

The two girls finally reached Carrie's house. They were greeted warmly by her mother. For a while, Rae and Carrie watched TV while drinking soda. Around midnight, they both threw away their empty soda bottles and changed into their pajamas. Then, they both laid down. Carrie was out like a light almost instantly. Rae stared up at the ceiling, which she really couldn't see because it was pitch black in the room.

What's going to become of me? she wondered. Maybe I should consider going to a foster home for a while, until they can sort this mess out and get my father behind bars…Then, she slapped herself on the head. What am I thinking?! If I do that, I may never come back. I can't put my brother and friends in that sort of situation…Why did any of this happen in the first place? Tears starting forming in her eyes while she thought of the past few weeks. What the hell did I ever do to him? The words "accident child" appeared in her head. He had said those words that night… If he didn't want another child, then why the hell am I here? Why didn't they just get an abortion? It wouldn't have been that…Dally's face flashed in her head. Was it something her brother had done? Rae didn't know. She grew tired from thinking so much and finally fell asleep.

(A/N: Goodness…two chapters in a day. I think after this chapter I'm going to start bringing in the stuff that I had originally written to be the start of the story. This was originally gunna be a shorter story…can you imagine? Anyway…yeah. Have fun!)