A/N:

I know it's been awhile, but I'm changing this fic around a bit. Most importantly, changing it to first person, so it will be from Maggie's point of view. I know I've done horribly with updating, but I have some fresh ideas and plan to keep working on this fic. Enjoy.

Read/Review also, please :)

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I roll over on my side and glance at the alarm clock. 6:53 a.m. and I'd only been asleep for a few hours. Why was I awake? I never woke up this early in the summertime if I could help it.

I sit up, already awake now. It had always been difficult for me to go back to sleep once something had woken me. It had been a recurring problem since I was a child. The only thing that could put me back to sleep was my mother's singing. But she was gone now. So, I would settle for one of Uncle Merril's baseball stories. Those were enough to put the dog to sleep. Baseball wasn't my thing.

I look down and suddenly remember why I am still fully dressed from the night before. A smile spreads across my face and I get that butterflies feeling in my stomach. I'd been on a date with Jake Wolfington only hours ago. Our third date to be exact. I really liked him, which was unheard of in my world. I rarely gave any of the local guys a second glance, but Jake Wolfington-- he was different.

At first, he was shy about liking me. He would stare at me at school or whenever I was out with my best friend Beth and he happend to be there. The only reason I never talked to him was because he was always with his brothers, who I couldn't stand. He was rarely with his friends outside of school. But soon after, he started to be more persistent about his affections, and finally wore me down until I said yes to a date with him.

No other boy that I could remember wanted to actually take me out that much. All they wanted was the gawk at my so-called beauty that I barely noticed to begin with. No, they never asked me to go out on a date with them. All they did was whistle at me from a distance, laughing and snickering, and sometimes made obsene jestures with their hands. And even if that that entice her, which it certainly didn't, it wouldn't have done much good. If she was around the house when they did it, which happend more often than not, Merril would give them his murderous staredown and they'd run like they were being chased down by wild wolves.

Most girls would be bothered by their Uncles taking that much interest in their love lives, but under these circumstances, it didn't bother me in the slightest. I had always really liked Merril despite his overprotectiveness. I knew that he was only looking out for me. Something that my father seemed to confuse with wanting Morgan, Bo, and I in complete seclusion at all times. The only way he'd ever be satisfied was if they were locked inside the house 24/7. Merril's way was a little aggressive, but much more effective.

My father hasn't been the same since our mother died. Merril's been living with us ever since. Sure, he was helpful, but no one was happy. Not even me. I hated my mother for leaving us, and hated my father for being the only one left. He had gone from being a reasonable man of faith to someone I don't know anymore. If it wasn't for Morgan and Bo, I would have probably run away months ago.

I quickly come out of my thoughts when I hear screams. That must have been what had woken me. I shuffle across the floor to the open window. There it was again. Bo? Yes, that was Bo. It had to have been. Why was she screaming like that? And more importantly, why was she outside at this hour?

I throw on a light jacket over my red tank top and head down the stairs. I wrap my arms around myself as I reach the porch. The morning air was cold. Something felt uneasy. "Bo, Morgan?!" I call.

No more than five seconds later, Bo and Morgan are both yelled for Graham, Merril, and me. I mumble, "What the hell are they doing out there?"

I start jogging towards the cornfields when Merril comes crashing through the door of the apartment above the garage and Graham comes through the screen door almost in unison. I look back at Graham, and without another word, we're all running towards the screams.