The next morning at school Stephanie was in a horrible mood. She hated Gia, and she hated Gia's friends. But mostly, she hated herself.

"Why didn't I just stand up for myself?" Stephanie would cry.

All of Stephanie's teachers realized something was wrong with her. "What's the matter?" They would ask, or, "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Stephanie lied every time someone asked her that.

At lunch, Stephanie wanted to escape Gia, so she had to eat her lunch in a bathroom stall. It was terrible, and uncomfortable. When she saw a roach run across the wall, she jumped out immediately.Stephanie hated bugs. Three popular girls were in the bathroom putting on makeup at the moment, and they all giggled when they saw Steph jump out.

Stephanie tried not to pay attention, but tears rolled down her cheeks. Finally she heard the bell ring and threw her PB and J sandwich into the trash can. "Six more hours," she whispered to herself.

The rest of the day was not much different, except when Stephanie was walking down to last period language arts, Gia came up to her. "Remember Tanner, seven sharp," she whispered.

Stephanie gulped, but cotinued walking. Language arts slowly passed by. Finally, in an amount of time that felt like three hours, the bell rang. Everyone jumped to their feet and went home.

When Steph got home, everyone was there but Michelle, who had a longer school day. "Hi everybody," Stephanie sighed.

"Steph," Danny said, "For the past to days you've been acting weird. Is something bothering you?"

"I'm fine," Stephanie lied again. "It's just that I really want Jenny to get better.

"Honey, I know you're upset, but there's nothing you can do about it."

"I know," she answered quietly. "I'll go do my homework."

Stephanie was concentrating on her homework for a really long time, when she realized it was already 6:30. She told D.J. not to tell dad, and Deej said she wouldn't, but she really wasn't sure she could promise that.

"Bye dad," Stephanie said. "I'm going for a walk with my friends."

"Okay Steph," Danny answered. "I'm trusting you not to get into any of that goosey night business. Be back in an hour."

"Ok,"Stephanie managed to say. Then she stepped out the back door, and began to cry.