Chapter 3: Ann's Painful Memories

Ann was at her locker when Brandon passed her. "Hey," she called. Brandon turned around to look at her. "Uh... I'm Ann Oliver. You're thenew kidaround here aren't you?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm Brandon Thompson," he replied.

He shook her hand with a smile. "Where did you move from?" She asked.

"I moved from Florida," he replied.

"Oh, well, I shouldn't keep you from class," she mumbled.

"Well, I'll see you later. Maybe after class."

Ann watched as he walked away. "Yeah. Bye," she told him. She watched him with a dreamy look. She jumped when her locker door was closed and turned around to see Derek standing there.

"Hey, Ann, how about that date?" He asked.

"Nope," she replied.

She walked away and Teresa walked over to her. "Is Derek still bothering you?" She asked.

"Yeah, but I can handle myself," Ann replied.

They went off to class afterwards.

When Ann was walking towards her locker, Derek was standing there, waiting for her. "Derek, if you're asking for a date, the answer is still no," she sighed.

"Come on, what harm will one date do?" He asked.

"The harm will be that you are a like a dog, I can just snap my fingers and you'll do whatever I say. I hate guys like that. Not only that, in the first through fifth grade, you kept stealing my lunch money," she replied.

"That was before you turned beautiful."

Ann rolled her eyes and closed her locker. "Please, just one date," he begged.

"No," she sighed.

She went to walk away when he grabbed her arm with so much force that she dropped her stuff. She gasped when he pinned her up to the locker. "Derek let go of me," she snapped.

"Not until you agree," he snapped.

Ann felt pain go through her arm and tried to kick him away, but he was too strong. The painful memories came back.

(Flashback)

"Kimberly, where are you going?" Jake demanded. Ann was watching Kimberly grab her suitcase.

"I'm leaving, I'm taking Ann and leaving this place," she replied.

"You'll do no such thing," he snapped.

"Watch me," she hissed.

Ann gasped when Jake spun Kimberly around and slapped her. Kimberly tried fighting him, but he struck her so many times that she fell to the floor. "You're not going anywhere, Kimberly Hart, you're staying here and so is Ann," he snapped.

"Ann isn't your daughter," she insisted.

"She is mine, stop filling her mind full of these stories about her father being a man back in Angel Grove and that his name is Tommy Oliver."

"That's what he is. He is a man that lives in Angel Grove. Her father is Tommy Oliver."

"No, he's not."

He kicked Kimberly in the stomach and left. Ann ran to the room. "Mommy," she whimpered. Kimberly sat up and Ann saw tears in her eyes.

"Sweet heart, your grandmother is coming to town next week. Pack your suitcase because you're going with her," Kimberly informed.

"Mommy, I want to stay with you," Ann insisted.

Kimberly touched her daughter's face with painful eyes. "Ann, if Jake can hurt mommy like this, he'll hurt you just as bad. I would rather die than see something like that happen to you," she whispered. Ann let out a sob and hugged her mother.

"I love you, mommy," she whispered.

"I love you too, baby," Kimberly whispered back.

When Kimberly took Ann to the airport, Kimberly lied to Jake telling him that she was going to have Ann say goodbye to Ms. Hart. She knew the risk, but she didn't want her daughter to feel the pain she felt. When they saw Ms. Hart, she was waiting for them at the gate. Kimberly went on her knees and hugged Ann tight. "Be good to grandma okay?" She asked.

"Okay," Ann agreed.

"Remember that I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too."

Kimberly looked at Ann with tear filled eyes. "Mom, please take care of her until someone comes to get her, it'll probably be me," Kimberly informed.

"Of course, come along, Ann," Ms. Hart stated.

Ann looked back at Kimberly and that was the last time she saw her mother in pain.

(End Flashback)

"Derek please let me go," she begged. Just then, someone grabbed Derek and dragged him off Ann. Ann fell to the floor in tears. Teresa hurried over and kneeled next to her. They looked up to see that it was Brandon.

"Leave her alone, Derek, before I knock you all the way to Mars," he snapped.

Derek ran off scared and Brandon walked over to her. "Ann, are you okay?" He asked. Ann nodded and looked at Teresa.

"Teresa, I need to go home," she mumbled.

"We're still in school," Teresa reminded.

"I don't care, my dad's not in class at the moment, I'm going to talk to him," she stated.

Teresa watched her leave and sighed.

Ann walked into Tommy's classroom in tears. Tommy was looking at some tests when she entered the room and looked up to see his daughter standing there in tears. "Ann, what happened?" He asked. She was going to fall from the shock and Tommy grabbed her. "Ann, sweet heart, what happened to you?" He asked. He lifted her sleeve up to find bruises. "Who did this to you?" He asked.

"Dad, it was Derek. He attacked me. He was doing his normal routine you know, asking me out and I turned him down. I went to leave and he attacked me," she replied.

Tommy saw that there was more. "What else is there?" He asked. She then began crying and tried talking at the same time.

"Dad, it was awful, as I was pinned to my locker, I had a memory of when Jake was beating mom in front of me. When she was trying to leave. He hit her, punched her, and kicked her. Mom tried fighting back, but he was too strong for her. He told her to stop telling me all these lies about you. That was when mom planned to send me to France," she explained.

Tommy held his daughter close with a sigh. "Derek's going to be kicked out of here, Ann, he'll never touch you again," he assured.

"Dad, I want to go home," she sobbed.

"I'm taking you home, Angel, I'm taking you home," he assured.

They walked out of the classroom to see some classmates standing there, the ones that saw what happened. For the first time, they saw the flames in Tommy's eyes. They knew that Derek had angered Tommy terribly by hurting his daughter. They backed up as Tommy led Ann down the hall towards his jeep. He turned around and tried to stay calm. "Everyone, get into the classroom and wait for me. If I'm not back before the bell rings, then your homework is pages 145-147 and do questions 1-9," he informed. They nodded and hurried into the classroom.

When Tommy got Ann home, Kimberly came out to see Ann a mess. "What happened to her?" She asked.

"Derek attacked her in the hallways, Ann will tell you more. I have a class to take care of," he replied.

Kimberly took Ann inside while Tommy went back to school.

Ann was sitting on the couch. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her bottom lip was quivering. Kimberly sat next to her daughter. "I know there is more," she stated.

"Dad knew too. Mom I had a memory flash of the time Jake beat you in front of me. I started thinking that's what Derek was going to do with me. I couldn't stop him mom, just like how you couldn't stop Jake," she explained.

Kimberly took Ann into her arms and let her cry on her shoulder. "It's okay, Derek will never hurt you again," she whispered. Ann nodded and then Kimberly held her daughter as she cried herself to sleep.