I know this is late. Family came to visit unexpectedly and I couldn't get away. I know I didn't respond to reviews, so I am sorry for that too!

14th day


Wanda

Kyle met me outside of the gym after class. When I asked why he was here, he said that his math class right next to mine, for he was taking a junior level class, but it was the easier one. I thought Kyle would be angry that I, a girl who has never taken a math class a day in her life, was apparently smarter than him. He seemed to find it funny though. He walked me to my class then left me at the door, and he entered his class. That's how I found myself here, staring at the closed door, frozen.

I chant positive thoughts in my head as I open the door. The entire class, including the teacher, stops working and stares at me for a long moment. The only difference is that the teacher smiles, while the rest of the class looks either confused or angry. I quickly look down at my feet. I guess I made myself late by standing outside and looking at the door for a while. I blush and wrap my hair around my finger.

"You must be Wanda, the new student!" The teacher says excitedly, practically jumping on her toes. She looks quite young to be a teacher, like she was just out of college. I wonder why a pretty, young woman like her would want to teach high school math. I nod nervously, wondering what to do next. Before I have time to ask, the teacher starts to talk quickly. "Wanda, I'm Ms. Brandon! Welcome to junior level honors math!" Ms. Brandon is practically jumping up and down in excitement. She turns her attention towards the class. "Okay everyone, Wanda here is brilliant. She is a sophomore, but her entry exams for math were so high, we decided to move her up to this class!" I blush even more at her praise. I can feel they eyes of my classmates on me, but I refuse to look up from my feet. I absolutely hat being the center of attention. That just makes people hate you more. Ms. Brandon directs me to my seat, and I instantly flash back to my first class with Sharon.

Ms. Brandon tells the class to talk quietly for a moment, and she comes over to me. While she approaches, I can hear my name mixed into multiple conversations. I guess the class chose to talk about me during their free time. Ms. Brandon starts to catch me up on what she is teaching, and I realize I already practiced some of these problems with my tutor. She gets me a textbook, and then walks to the front of the classroom and begins teaching.

She hands out practice worksheets and I begin mine quietly. I can hear the rest of the class whispering to the people sitting next to them, but I don't have any friends so I work alone. "Hey, new girl." I hear someone whisper. I turn to my right and look at the guy next to me. "There is a party tomorrow at my place. You should come." I don't plan on going, but he hands me a sheet with his address. I smile politely and continue working. I finish the sheet in ten minutes then look at the clock. I still have thirty minutes. What could we being doing for the next thirty minutes?

I glance around the room and see that the other kids close to me are only on the first few problems. Maybe I did them wrong if the rest of the class is still working. Maybe I missed a step. I take out my notebook and do all of the problems again, just to check. I do these problems in five minutes, but I still get the same answers.

One of the things my foster fathers had in common was their need for perfection. When I cooked dinner, I had to have dinner on the table, the plates and silver wear set up straight, the flower arrangement had to be void of dying petals, and I had to be dressed. David, my second foster father, especially insisted I be wearing skin tight red dresses and heals. All of the labels on the food in the cupboard had to be showing and lined in height order. Even though I am free of them, this need for perfection still lingers, no matter how hard I try to shake it. I decide to start the problems again to make sure I am right when Ms. Brandon comes over.

"Wanda, are you done?" I can tell she tried to say this quietly, but her quiet voice is very different from her normal one, so the entire class looks up and stares at me again. I nod once, glancing around at the class. They are whispering again, and I know it is about me. Ms. Brandon picks up my worksheet and looks it over. "Wow, Wanda. You finished a worksheet that is supposed to take thirty minutes in half the time. And you completed it perfectly!"

I blush when she says it was perfect as I begin to think about what my foster fathers would say. They usually gave me a quicker beating, but David would stay in my room longer at night. "Finish the problems on the board." I look up and see Ms. Brandon smiling at me, wait for me to answer.

"What?" I say idiotically.

"I asked if you could go up and finish the problems on the board. That way the other students can check their work with yours." Oh. I really don't want to, but who am I to disobey a direct order?

I shakily stand up and walk to the board. I take one of the white board markers and start to copy my work. I finish and turn around to walk back to my seat. I've avoided looking at the class, but I need to glance up to look at my desk. I regret it immediately because the class is looking at me again. I meet their eyes and look back down at my feet. I've been doing that a lot lately. I turn to face the white board, my back to the class. My desk is in the front row, so I walk backwards a few steps, hoping to get there without meeting anyone's eye. As I go to sit down, I trip and fall backwards onto my back.

The class breaks into laughter and my blush grows. Ms. Brandon is asking me if I am okay. Of course, I had worse, but it still hurts. I nervously reach for my charm bracelet from Ian, and twist it. I start to get up when the guy that sits next to me starts laughing even harder. "Nice underwear new girl!" I sit up quickly and find that my dress rode up when I fell. I'm only wearing white cotton underwear, but I still feel like he saw me naked. Flashes of nights with David overwhelm me.

I begin to stand and I feel my throat start to close up. Oh no. Not here! I can feel the tears form in my eyes and I start breathing quicker. That boy, no that man, just saw my underwear. I get onto my feet and look at Ms. Brandon. "I, uh, have to g-go to the b-bathroom." I rush out of the room before she even responds.

Once I reach the hallway, I realize I don't know where the bathroom is. I don't even know what part of the school I am in. I try to think of what class Mel or Ian is in, but I forget. Then it dawns on me. I take a deep breath and wipe away my tears. If I am going to do this, I have to be believable. I put on my calm, numb mask that I wore when my fathers were beating me. I walk over to the door next to my classroom and knock.

The teacher, an old, balding man, opens the door. "Hello? What can I help you with?" I try to look into the classroom to see Kyle, but the teacher is in the way.

"Kyle Stryder is wanted in the office." I whisper to him. I don't know when I became so bold to lie to a teacher, but I remember a boy doing this in a movie Melanie made me watch. The teacher narrows his eyes at me, but then turn around and calls for Kyle. Seconds later Kyle is at the door, holding his stuff. When he sees me, his eyes widen and he almost drops his textbook in shock.

"You're wanted in the office, Kyle," The teacher explains. He looks at me. "How long will this take?" I can tell he is suspicious.

"I don't know. They didn't say," I whisper and the old man just nods his head tiredly. He obviously doesn't care, and he practically shut the door on Kyle.

Kyle and I are alone in the hallway now. "Wanda, what happened?" Kyle says in a rush. I open my mouth to respond, but then the tears start to fall. Kyle looks at me worriedly. I really just want someone to comfort me. "Come with me."

I follow Kyle down the hallway without question. He leads me to another big hallway then tells me to wait. I freeze and watch Kyle walk up to a door and knock. What's he doing? I lean against the wall, trying to slow my tears. "Can you send out Ian and Melanie Stryder? It's a family emergency." Kyle says in a very innocent, scared tone. The teacher immediately sends them out.

"What hap-" Ian stops when he sees me. I jump into his arms and sob into his shoulder. His arms automatically tighten around me, and I feel safe. While Ian's holding me, Melanie is asking Kyle a bunch of questions. When Kyle can't answer, Melanie turns to me.

"Math class. Fall. Boy. Underwear. Laughing." I gasp out. I am vaguely aware that my explanation made no sense, but my family doesn't seem to care. I am still in Ian's arms, so he lifts my feet off the floor and start carrying me. "What are doing?" I ask, shocked. My tears slow.

"We're going home." Ian says simply. I gasp.

"Won't we get in trouble for skipping?" I ask.

"No. This is a family emergency, and you are family," Ian whispers sweetly in my ear. I know he means well, but I can't help but hate the idea of Ian being my brother. He is my best, and only, friend. Ian carries me all the way to the car, and Kyle drives home.

When we get home, Ian brings me up to my room. I'm still sobbing. I can hear Melanie and Kyle trying to explain to Trudy what happened.

Ian sets me on my bed, and I hug the silly pig Kyle got me. Bentley's hugs aren't nearly as good as Ian's, but I can't focus around Ian.

"Wanda. Please tell me what happened," Ian takes my hand and sits next to me. I sigh and look down. What if Ian thinks it's funny too? What if he is angry that I made him leave school for something so stupid?

I try to ignore my negative thoughts and start to tell the story. "I finished the work in math early. The teacher asked me to do the work on the board, but when I finished, the entire class was staring at me. I was embarrassed and nervous, so I walked backward to get to my seat because I didn't want to look at them. That was so stupid of me."

"That's not stupid. You were embarrassed and shy. It makes sense." I smile at Ian.

"I tripped and fell. Everyone was laughing, but then a boy saw that my dress rode up and everyone could see my underwear. It j-just made me think about D-David and what h-he did. I-I c-could practically h-hear David. T-telling me I w-was going t-to bed late because he w-wanted to s-spend time with m-me." I pause, wiping away the tears. I don't look at Ian's disgusted face. "T-that's what he c-called it. When he w-was going to… going to…" I sob. Recently I've been thinking of David a lot. I don't know why all of the memories I've blocked for so long are coming back now.

"Wanda." Ian sounds like he is in pain. "Please, look at me." Ian practically gasps out. I wipe away my tears and look up at him. His face is calm, but his eyes are filled with anger, sadness, and some other emotion I've never seen before. "No one will ever touch you like that again. I promise."

I take a deep breath and smile widely. He needs to know how much I care about him. I tuck my legs underneath me and sit on my knees. Ian is still staring at me with that unidentified emotion. I look closer into his eyes and try to see what he is feeling, but I can't. I suddenly realize how close we are. Instead of being scared, I feel free. Safe. Happy. I feel perfect.

I lean in slightly and kiss his cheek. I've seen the family do this all the time, and I figure that is a safe way to show my feelings. "Thank you." I whisper against his skin and pull back, smiling widely. Ian looks at me in awe. He slowly leans in and kisses my cheek too. Feeling is warmth on me is even better than me kissing him.

"I will always protect you," Ian whispers back.


AHHHHH! So I know I might be rushing things but I defiantly needed this for the next chapter. The next chapter is going to be long (I hope. If it is too long I might have to split it.) But in the next chapter or the next two chapters there will be: Ian point of view. Wanda goes back to school. Romance advice. Parties. Mysterious brownies ;) AND A WHOLE LOT OF FUN! Also, based on last chapter's poll, having Ian and Wanda date even though they are siblings is dominating. Keep voting if you haven't yet! I am sending out sneak peeks for the next chapter!