Chapter 8:

Sharpay's eyes nearly doubled in size. Zeke slowly got up from his wheelchair, and took her hands in his own. Gently, he rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand.

"It's from a neighbor's cat, that's all," Sharpay said calmly. She mentally thanked God for her acting abilities. Zeke pulled her over to the couch, and onto his lap. He took her face in his hands, and began to kiss her passionately. Sharpay was so caught up in the kiss that she didn't feel Zeke gently pull up the sleeve of her blazer. She pulled back from the kiss with a confused look on her face when she felt him press his thumb against her wrist.

"I told you that that's from my neighbor's cat," she said quietly.

"So you made the same mistake twice? That doesn't seem like you at all," Zeke said calmly.

"What?"
"You played with a cat that clearly didn't like you, and got scratched in the exact same place only on the other wrist. Real smart, Shar."

"So I made a mistake, God Zeke! You're making me sound like the bad guy here."

"You know what, I'll tell you what I think in one second." Zeke turned and called, "Hey! Could someone close the back door please?"
"The screen door?" Jason asked.

"No, the glass door!" Zeke waited until he heard the door close before continuing. "there, now no on can hear us. Where did you really get those cuts?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Sharpay cried as tears began to swell up in her eyes.

"I have an idea, but I'm almost afraid to say it, so let's leave it at that. Could you tell me why you're doing this to yourself? Please, Shar. I want to help you. I love you."

"I love you too, and that's part of the problem. I've been so worried about you, and Ryan's been doing nothing to help me except give me shit about how much I love you. I didn't tell you, because you had so much on your mind. I also can't get over something else. Something I should have told you last week." Sharpay continued to go on, and she told her boyfriend of what happened to her at the shooting.

Zeke was extremely supportive of what had happened to Sharpay, but at the same time slightly mad that she hadn't told him earlier. Sharpay continued by telling him abou the letter Officer Duffy read to her before she came to his house.

"And, and after Officer Duffy read that letter to me, I became so mad. Mad at myself for doing this to my body, and the scary thing is, I locked myself in my bathroom, and did it again." Sharpay was now crying so hard that Zeke was having trouble understanding her at times. He gently stroked her hair as she buried her face in the front of his shirt.

"Don't worry, Sharpay. Now that you've told me, I can help you. Everything will be alright."

"Don't you get it? I can't stop even thought it's only been a week. Zeke, I need help. I'm scared."

A/N: Short chapter, I know, and I'm sorry. I'm going to crash for the night, and I felt bad for not updating for a few days. I've been working on one of my regular stories. To check my regular stories out, go to http/ www. fictionpress. com/ tina101. I don't know how much sleep I'll get tonight, the things (whatever you call them) from "The Village" are kinda creepy looking, good movie though! Lots of love (and even more if you review!)

Tina101