REAL

"You asked him out," Callie said walking up to them. "It's your fault he came into your life."

"I told him to think about what he was doing and that he was making the wrong decision," Kaitlin said.

"Kait," Bradin said, "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "It's too late for that."

"Can you just continue the story?" the cop asked. "We really need to know what happened and why."

THAT TUESDAY

Bradin walked into school and headed to his locker. Sean ran up to him.

"I heard that you and Kaitlin are an item," he said slapping Bradin lightly on the back.

"Yeah. We are."

"Are you happy?"

"Yeah," Bradin said with a nod, "I've never been so happy in my entire life."

Bradin went to his locker and dropped his books off in his homeroom. He left to go see if Kaitlin was in school yet. He saw her at her locker, went up to her, and covered her eyes. "Guess who," he whispered.

"Not now Bradin," she said taking his hands off of her face.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly. She shook her head, shut her locker, and began walking to homeroom. "Kait," he said as he walked next to her.

"Your friends won't leave me alone," she said turning towards him.

"Oh my god," he said when he saw a bruise forming around her eye. "What did they do?" he asked.

"What does it look like they did?" she asked. "They beat me again. I told you they would."

The bell rang for everyone to get to homeroom. "I want to talk to you at some point in the day." He kissed her as he dropped her off at her homeroom.

Bradin was happy that he had early lunch with Kaitlin. All he could do was think of her getting hurt by the bitches he use to be friends with. He waited by her locker before heading off to lunch. He waited from the first to second bell and saw Kaitlin walking with Callie. He ran up to her.

"Kait," he said.

She looked up at him. "She's going home," Callie said.

"I'll go with you," he said.

"Don't," Kaitlin said, "I don't want you skipping school."

"I don't care if I skip."

"But, I do. Promise me you'll stay here. If you do, you can come by later and I'll tell you everything."

Bradin wanted to say no. However, he didn't want her to get mad. "Okay. I'm coming by right after school. Please stay safe," he said placing his hands on her arms.

"I will." He kissed her. "Stop making out with me and get to class," she said.

He smiled and kissed her again. "I love you," he said as he pulled away.

"Yeah." Bradin hugged her tightly and went to lunch.

After the final bell, Bradin went to his locker, grabbed his bag, and went straight to Kaitlin's. He was worried about her all day. He walked up to her door and rang the doorbell. He waited there for a few minutes until the door finally opened revealing a lady who looked like she could be Kaitlin's mother.

"Are you Bradin?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I'm Kaitlin's mother. It's nice to meet you," she said.

"It's nice to meet you, too. How is she?" he asked.

"She won't talk to anyone. The only thing that she said is that people hate her and that she shouldn't be here."

"Can I talk to her?" he asked hoping for a yes.

"Go ahead. Her room is up the stairs and the first door you see on your right," she said pointing up the stairs.

"Thank you," he said as he headed up the stairs.

Kaitlin lied on her bed as she thought about the first half of school of that day. She rolled over so that her face was in a pillow. A knock sounded upon her door.

"It's open," she said.

She heard the door open and someone walk in and sit on the bed. She looked and saw Bradin there.

"Hey," she said sitting up.

He smiled. "Hey," he said as they kissed. "How are you?"

"I could be better."

"What happened in school today?" he asked.

"Tanner and Sarah were bullying me again and they threatened to kill me this time. I was upset, went to my counselor, and they sent me home."

"Did you tell them that they threatened you?"

"No. I couldn't. I didn't want them to hurt you."

He took her hand and said, "I hope you know that you care too much about other people and not enough about yourself. You should really care about yourself before you get hurt worse than you already are."

She nodded and looked at their hands. He lifted her head up and looked into her eyes.

"I mean it when I say this: I love you and don't want to lose you," he said.

"Do you mean everything you say?" she asked.

"If it has to do with loving and caring about you, then yes. I do mean almost everything I say."

She smiled and linked their fingers together.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Are you happy about being with me?"

She looked up and found his green eyes staring into hr hazel eyes. "I am," she said with a nod.

They both smiled and hugged tightly. "Why was Callie walking with you earlier?"

"She heard Sarah and Tanner talking about a plan to kill me. She came up to me and told me what she heard. While she was telling me, they came up and threatened me. Let's just face it. I'm a weak son of a bitch."

"Don't talk like that."