This is my very first story...so...please R&R to tell me how it is and if you want more chapters! These characters are not mine, and James Cameron created some of the situations.

Chapter 1: Realization

Walking down the hallway to Hillview High, Rose thought about her life.

I shook my head realizing that my life practically consisted of nothing. Every single day, I woke up at 6:00, got ready for school, and got on the bus. At 3:00, I got on the bus again, listened to my school mates make fools of themselves, seeing who could spit out of the window the farthest or actually hit somebody. When I got home, I did my homework...ate some dinner...and some nights I went to the mall to spend money my mother didn't have.

I shifted my purse to my other shoulder. Walking into the cafeteria, I heard Bobby yelling across the room to his best friend, Sahara singing her newest written rap/R&B song probably waiting to be recorded, and everyone else just sitting around the table chatting.

In line, I got a salad and iced tea. Not that I needed it. I needed to lose weight, but could never convince myself to actually go on a diet.

"Hey, wait up sweetpea."

I heard a voice call, and tried to keep my stomach from rolling. Cal. Ugh. He was one of the most obnoxious, egotistical, rich, jerks I had ever met. And he was my boyfriend. 'I must have been hallucinating and out my mind when I said yes to a date with him.' I thought to myself, also trying to keep a look of disgust from my face. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, and the 'perfect' jock, on the basketball team, and always at the gym. His 'beauty' was not I, it was a Black 2004 Mustang Cobra.

"I've got something for you, today, Rose."

Of course. Trying to buy a love that I didn't have towards him. Always.

"I can't wait to see it, Cal." I changed my voice to be a syrupy sweet.

He smiled indulgently, showing off his pearly white teeth.

"Only a salad and tea today sweetpea? Oh, well, just as well, I suppose. You're not as thin as you used to be."

Anger filled me. How would he know if I needed to go on a diet? He spent more time on his car than he did with me. And he was supposed to be my boyfriend. If this was what a relationship consisted of, I wanted no part in it.

I was miserable, but I couldn't break up with him. He was too powerful. And too abusive. He would probably rape and beat me. He'd come close before, but my ex-best friend came and saved me from that ending. My mother did not listen, even when we had come to her and was desperately pleading with her to break it up. Nope, Cal was an absolute angel who did no wrong. He was the perfect boyfriend, and my mother probably expected me to marry the gorilla.

I was planning to run away. From everything. This was my last year at school, and I wouldn't miss much. I'd run away from my mother who paid no attention to my welfare, from Cal who was abusive, and from the school, who recognized me as just another one of the crowd.

It would be very easy to feign being sick, and staying home Friday when my mother went out with whatever guy she could seduce at that time. And Cal had a basketball game. He would probably call me and ask if I was coming. I had last week, and he paid no attention to me, which was no surprise anyway, and ended up walking home by myself. My mother was still out, and when she did come in she went straight to bed, drunk as a skunk.

I hated my life. And I would do whatever it took to get away from it, even if it meant running away and never coming back. And that's what I would do. I didn't know where I would go, but I would go somewhere. There was money in my savings account, and enough there to get me wherever I decided. Nobody would miss me. I didn't really care if they did anyway. I sat down at the table and poured my disgusting fat free ranch dressing onto the salad then took a bite, planning my life.