xxx

B.K

My door suddenly swings open. I know what you're probably thinking - Why don't I just simply lock my door? Not too long ago, actually, the first day we moved to Pittsburgh my dad made sure that the lock was removed. Smart little bastard. If I can't lock him out he can have all the "fun" he wants to with me. I quickly pick myself up off my bed, my hands automatically making fists, and my form quickly switching from laid back to extremely tense in about five seconds. In Jack Kinney's right hand is a beer bottle - half empty. His left hand is clenched and ready to punch me in the face and I'm waiting for it too. He staggers into the room looking around suspiciously. Because everyone just knows how much trouble I cause at home - like being born.

"Wha-you doin', Sonny Boy?"

"Nothing."

"Fucking liar - what was that noise?"

He takes two steps towards me possibly planning on knocking the daylights out of me but said object that made noise suddenly starts ringing. I quickly reach down and pick it up, thanking the gods for the save, and I answer it. My dad may be drunk but he's still smart enough not to do anything when I'm on the phone with someone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Brian! It's Daphne! I've heard something...interesting recently."

I breathe a sigh of relief. My dad looks thouroghly irritated that his abusive rampage had been put on hold. "Uh - really?" I watch as my dad stalks out of my room and let out an extremely loud sigh into the phone. "Are you alright, Brian?" I haven't told anyone about my dad. I haven't told anyone about my mother. I haven't told anyone about my "perfect" sister, Claire, who has the abuse free end of the life. I always shy from telling either of my friends about my "wonderful" homelife. I'd rather spare them that. Plus, I don't want anyone fucking pitying me. "Um, yeah, Daphne, I'm fine..." For now. Until you hang up on me and leave me alone here. I shove the thoughts away and ask her what interesting news she's heard. That's important enough to tell me.

"You kissed Justin!"

Oh. That.

"So, he told you."

"Duh! So that's why he was acting so weird around you! When he told me I couldn't believe it. So, what are you guys now? A couple?"

She sounds way to excited about all of this. I sigh heavily into the phone and roll my eyes.

"No, more like extremely awkward. Well, he is anyway."

"That's Justin. He's so adorable."

"Is there a point to this phone call?"

Yeah - saving my skin. "Well, not really. I just wanted to hear your point of view about it." I sit back down on my bed and sprawl myself down on it. I don't usually talk on the phone but right now, I want to kiss the girl on the other side of the phone. Usually that thought would disgust me. "What'd he say about it?" Daphne giggled on the other end of the phoneline. "Well...he was extremely embarassed about running out like that but," She stops talking and I groan at her through the phone. She can be so annoying sometimes. Like she is whenever Derek's around. I'm not the only one who's tired of her boyfriend. All you have to do is see the look on Justin's face whenever the other teen enters the room and it looks like all hell is going to break loose. "What, Daphne?"

"Well, lets just say...he thouroughly enjoyed you attacking him."

"I didn't attack him. He totally wanted it."

She snorts. "Who wouldn't?"

"You have a boyfriend and I'm gay so you're definitely out of luck."

She sighs, acting out sorrow.

"Unfortunatly. Anyway, you should probably treat him...less...sexually."

I laugh. "What?"

"Well, he's not exactly up there in the sexual food chain and,"

"Yeah, I know. I was his first kiss."

"I'm just saying that he's totally,"

"Unexperienced? I didn't notice."

She laughs and I can imagine her shaking her head and rolling her eyes at me through the phone. "Yeah, I can see why it's so hard not too. Asshole. And I'd also like to threaten you. This is how it works - I warn you in my most threatening voice that if you hurt him I'll castrate you and then leave you to die." I wince. It sounds excrutiatingly painful. "I wasn't planning on it." She quickly answers me with a good and tells me she has to leave because precious Derek is there to study with her. Yeah, study. "Alright, bye Daphne." I hang up and am quieter with setting the phone down. My dad doesn't come back to my room for about two hours and, when he does...

It isn't pleasant.

xxx

J.T

"Fuck, Brian, are you alright?"

When I got to school this morning I hadn't expected Brian to be here early. I also hadn't expected him to have a hugantic shiner. Even though I'm still embarassed about what happened a few days ago I can't let that keep me from bounding over, maybe standing closer then was necessary, and looking at his shiner carefully, eyebrow raised as to how he got it. He doesn't answer me - he only shrugs and that only makes my suspicions that something horribly wrong had happened to him more active. "C'mon, Brian, something is obviously wrong," He quickly snaps at me, telling me that nothing is wrong, a hard edge in his voice and I immediatly clamp my mouth shut. I don't want to be punished with his angry voice again. He sighs, face softening.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. Claire and I got into a fight, she threw something at me and it accidently hit me in the face. It's not a big deal."

I can tell he's lying but I don't say so. If he doesn't want to tell me that's fine. There are tons of things that I've kept secret from him too. Well, not tons of things. But things like my father. Craig Taylor is something I want shut out of my life forever. And shut out of everyone's life. No one needs to know about him. He's never home anyway. He's never said anything but my mom and I both know that he's out late at nights not doing what he tells us he is. Working late. More like out fucking late. That's the only kind of late work he ever does anymore. Jennifer knows it too - not that she would ever come out and say it. I don't either - I don't want her to hurt anymore than she already does. I only nod up at the brunet and quickly take a few steps away from him so I'm not as close anymore. Flashes of what happened last time we were close played behind my eyes.

I don't want to embarass myself further.

"Are you still comin' over tonight?"

"Of course I am. I wouldn't miss reading 'The Odyssey' for anything."

I smile, glad that he doesn't sound angry anymore - the look is still there though. "Yeah right. We all know that you live to do homework assignments." He says that he does and that's when Daphne intrudes, hand in hand with Derek. She smiles at the both of us and, oh shit. She probably told Brian that I had told her about what had happened in the bathroom. I narrow my eyes over at her and she just shoots me an innocent look. I cross my arms over my chest and make a point of not telling her hello. She had better keep her mouth shut about the whole ordeal. I'm embarassed enough as it is. Derek clears his throat in the silence and Daphne suddenly talks, breaking it all.

"Have you guys started reading yet? Derek and I did last night."

Brian scoffed.

"When you told me on the phone that you were going to "study" I thought you meant study as in...fuck each others brains out all night."

Daphne rolls her eyes, arms crossing over her chest. Derek looks impossibly embarassed at the remark and chooses not to say a word. Finally something registers in my mind. Daphne had called Brian. That could only mean one thing. My suspicions were now confirmed - she told Brian that I told her about our bathroom moment. I swallow and look over at Brian real quickly. If he's thinking about anything having to do with the kiss then he doesn't look like it. Daphne chooses not to comment on Brian's crude comment but, instead, asks him about his shiner. "What happened to your face?" Brian rolls his eyes. "You don't have to be so rude. I'm already aware of the fact that I'm no longer extremely fuckable anymore. Not until it's gone. I don't need you to remind me." Daphne grins and looks over at me.

"You never answered my question. Have you guys read yet?"

Brian glares at her.

"I'm goin' over to his house tonight to start. Not that it's any of your business."

"So...does that mean...your spending the night?"

I look down at the ground as my cheeks start to burn. She is such a cunt sometimes. I run a hand furiously through my hair and tell myself to calm down. It was a perfectly innocent question. Fuck that! It would have been innocent if someone else had said it but not Daphne. I glance over at Brian and he's smirking. He obviously knows exactly what she's implying. "No, Daphne, I'm not. Why do you ask?" Daphne shrugs, look of fucked up innocence on her face. "Oh, I was just curious. Why aren't you?" I sigh and contemplate on leaving the entire conversation all-together. I don't need this shit. What kind of best-friend is she? I glare over at her and she catches it. She only shrugs her shoulders over at me, small smile playing on her face. Brian shrugs.

"I don't have a change of clothes."

"Oh, well, that's too bad."

Brian and I don't answer this statement. Suddenly the bell rings signaling that all of us should be in first period by now and we hurry towards Mr. Cato's literature/english classroom.

xxx

B.K

I don't know where he is. I've been waiting for him next to his excuse for a car for twenty-minutes. I lean against the black jeep, wait...wait...and wait. Someone would've thought they'd been stood up if it weren't for the fact that Justin wouldn't just leave his car here. Suddenly I see his blond head burst out of the front doors of the school and then his body begins running towards the jeep, showing just how much of a hurry he's in. When he reaches the jeep I examine his flushed cheeks and apologetic look.

"Where were you?"

"Sorry - I was talking to Daphne. She wouldn't shut up."

"I have a feeling that it was you who wouldn't shut up."

He rolls his eyes and throws his bookbag in the backseat and takes mine and does the same. "Get in." I grin. "What? You aren't going to open the door for me?" He snorts but doesn't reply and I help myself into the passenger side of the jeep. He starts the vehicle and we're on our silent way to his house. I've been to his house before with Daphne a few times. I've never spent the night, however. His mom is nice enough - I've never seen his father though. Like I said, he never mentions his father. So I don't pry. I look over at him, raised eyebrow.

"What were you talking about?"

He looks at me confused, "Huh?"

"You and Daphne. You know, you made me stand out here in the hot heat forever."

"Hot heat? How genius."

"You're ignoring my question."

"You are a genius."

I roll my eyes but smile. "C'mon, Taylor. Spill." He shakes his head. "I'd rather not. It's nothing you'd be interested in, anyway." I roll my eyes again. Anything having to do with him I'm interested in. Especially if he's talking about Daphne because it might have something to do with me. "Actually - I'm very interested." He lets out a heavy sigh and sends me a 'you should really learn to mind your own business' look. But he talks anyway. I'm very persuasive. In more ways than one. "You were right. It was me who talked a lot. Actually...I did all the talking. Actually - I kinda yelled at her..." Yeah, I'm definitely intersted. Even if it doesn't have to do with me. "About what? Why'd you yell at her?" He sighs again, a hand running through is hair in that nervous gesture that he does and then it lands back on the wheel.

"About...Derek."

"It's about time."

He raises an eyebrow over at me.

"What?"

"It's obvious that you have an immense problem with him."

"Oo - big word."

"Shut up. What'd you say?"

"Why are you so interested?"

"What? She's my friend too. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of Derek either."

"You're not?"

He sounds genuinely surprised. I snort, "No. Why so surprised?" He quickly shrugs. "I don't know. You just...always got along with him is all...I just figured that you got along with him."

"Well, you figured wrong. Keep talkin'."

"Well, I just told her what I thought about him - them."

"What do you think?"

"I'd rather not talk about it right now."

I nod. If they got into a fight it probably wasn't pretty. They've been best friends, from what I gather, forever. If they've..."split up" then it was probably going to be a hard couple of days for Justin. I smile slightly. Which means that he might come, you know, running to me for...friendship, which I really wouldn't mind - having Justin all to myself for once. "Alright, sure." He smiles gratefully over at me and the rest of the ride to his house in made in comfortable silence.