Author's note: I just wanted to remind you that English is not my mother language and I'm sorry for all mistakes. And someone said that I shouldn't ask what people would like to happen because it's my story, but I'm looking for ideas. I have the main plot ready and I'm not going to change that, but some ideas are good and they fit well to the plot and that's why I keep asking them. :)

Enjoy!

Piper was reading a book outside when she heard them. Jessica and her minions were giggling in front of Piper. She kept reading her book, this time it was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

"Hey weirdo!"

Piper acted uninterested and didn't react in any way. She lifted her gaze only when she felt a paper ball hit her head.

There stood Jessica and three other girls.

"I've always wondered how you can be so stupid if you read so much?" Jessica said and the others laughed.

"That's cute that you have been thinking about me. I'm afraid that I can't say the same" Piper said smiling sarcastically.

Jessica's face went red and snatched the book out of Piper's hands.

"Hey! Give it back!" Piper said angrily.

Jessica held the book. "Oh look at that, she is angry. What are you going to do about it?"

Piper tried to grab the book but Jessica just moved it out of her search.

"You can have your book back if you ask very nicely", Jessica said and the others giggled.

Piper had had enough. She slapped Jessica on her cheek. It wasn't hard but Jessica was so surprised that she dropped the book.

Piper quickly took her book and started to walk away.

"You are so going to regret that, you psycho!"

Piper smiled a little and kept walking. That felt good.

Piper stepped into the classroom, they had math. But before she could sit the teacher said that Mr. Harris had asked Piper to come to see him.

Piper sighed and left the room. She walked slowly along the hallways before got to Mr. Harris' classroom.

She went in without knocking and saw Alex and Mr. Harris talking. It had been about two weeks since she last saw Alex. Piper had had also history and biology exams and she had raised her grades in both.

"You should knock before you come in", Mr. Harris said with furrowed brows.

"And you should update your wardrobe", Piper quipped back.

Alex's eyes widened at Piper's behavior.

"Very funny Piper. Now, why do you think that you are here?"

"I thought that it was because I punched Jessica, but now since Alex is here I think it has something to do with my tutoring", Piper said as she sat in one of the front seats.

"You punched Jessica?" Mr. Harris exclaimed.

Piper chuckled. "Of course not. What kind of person do you think I am?"

"That kind of person that could easily punch someone", Mr. Harris mumbled. "We are really here to discuss your grades. What do you think about them?"

"I don't think about them."

"Well, I've noticed. Your grades have anyways been better since you have been seeing Alex. Do you think that the sessions with Alex have helped you?"

"Isn't it your job to tell?"

"Piper could you be serious for a while!"

"Jesus fuck! I've been seeing Alex and my grades have been better. Even the fucking baby could say that these sessions are the reason behind the rise of my grades!" Piper exclaimed.

Alex was listening to the conversation confused. She didn't know what to think or say since Piper really wasn't even seeing her. Also, she was surprised how Piper talked to her teacher.

"Language!" Mr. Harris said as he rubbed his temples. "Okay Alex, what do you have to say?"

"Oh.. Uhmm, it turned out that Piper-" Alex trailed off as she saw Piper's angry glare. "There has been a process", she said instead.

"Piper, do you think that you should continue taking these sessions?" Mr. Harris asked.

"Do I think I should? Of course not. But if you aren't going to let me graduate then I have to", Piper said.

"Exactly. Alex, you've done a good job, I understand that Piper can be..." Mr. Harris trailed off as he thought what adjective fitted best.

"Pain in the ass?" Piper proposed smirking.

"No! I meant... tricky", Mr. Harris said.

"I'm sure you did. Can I go now?"

"Did you really punch Jessica?"

Piper thought for a while. Jessica would probably tell somebody anyways soon. "I did."

"Why?"

Piper shrugged.

Mr. Harris sighed. "You can then go to talk with Jessica and the principal after school."

"Why?" Piper said frustrated.

"What why?"

"Why do I have to go? Can't you just give me a detention now? Because you and I both know that whatever Jessica or I say, it ends up with me in detention."

"Just tell why you punched her. Jessica might as well get something because I don't think that you would punch her without reason", Mr. Harris said.

Piper chuckled drily. "Yeah and cows are flying. Can I go now?"

"Go. But I'm talking with the principal."

Piper rose up and was leaving before Alex found her voice.

"Wait! I was hoping to talk you a little?"

Piper glanced at Alex. "Fine", she huffed and walked out.

Alex quickly followed and saw Piper leaning against the wall next to the door.

"So?" Piper asked impatiently.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Alex asked desperately as she closed the door.

"Doing what?"

"This! Why do you let me take the honor of your better grades when I haven't done anything! It's not fair to you. You should get rewarded not me!"

Piper pushed herself off of the wall. "Listen Alex. The world has much more unfair things in store for me. I don't care what other people think about me, I don't care some stupid rewards. I raised my grades only to help you. So, just be grateful and let it go", she said.

Alex stared at Piper confused. "But why?"

"Have fun while trying to figure that one out."

Piper was starting to leave when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Piper tensed and spun around quickly.

Alex's eyes widened at the sudden movement and she quickly withdrew her hand.

"What?" Piper asked.

Alex was silent for a while as she tried to decide if she should ask or not. "What really happened with Jessica? I was just thinking that if she is mean to you, you should talk to somebody about it", Alex said finally.

Piper shot an angry glare towards Alex. "She can be mean to me all she wants. I don't care."

"You don't seem to care about anything!" Alex exclaimed.

"Why should I? I've learned to care only about the things that matter", Piper said.

"That doesn't matter? Bullying is serious Piper!" Alex said unbelievingly.

"No, it's not. It doesn't affect me, so I don't care about it."

"Yes, it does affect you! You may not realize it now, but soon you will notice what it has done to you."

Piper's eyes burned with anger. "You don't have a right to talk about things that you don't know shit about! Jessica doesn't affect me in any way, this is the person that I am, the person I've become a long before I even met Jessica! So, keep your false assumptions to yourself!" And with that Piper left.

Or tried to, but she walked straight into somebody. Before she realized who she walked into, she was pinned against the wall.

Piper's hands flew to push the person off and because she was strong she got herself free. She looked at the very angry person staring at her. That was Eric, Jessica's boyfriend.

"You bitch! Let that be the last time you lay your dyke hands on her!" He growled.

"Oh, I'm sure she loved it", Piper snarled.

"Shut your mouth before I return the favor."

"The do it", Piper said in a quiet but dangerous voice as she stepped closer. She was urging him to punch her.

Eric hesitated.

"I knew you wouldn't have the balls", Piper mocked.

"Just wait when we get out of school"

"Can't wait", Piper said before turned around.

Piper heard him shout "Psycho!" after her.

Piper glanced at Alex's shocked face before left.

Alex didn't know why, but she was concerned about Piper. Piper hadn't been very nice to her but somehow still Alex felt the need to help her. And she felt guilty about what she said to Piper. She decided to go to talk with her mother, she always knew what to do.

Her mom wouldn't get out of the work until after four hours, so she decided to go to the bookshop. She could get a new book at the same time.

Alex went to her car and drove to the shop. She hopped out and walked in.

She looked around for a while and spotted her mom between some shelves.

"Hey mom", Alex said as she walked behind her mother.

Diane let out of a little scream and jumped. "Jesus Alex! Why didn't I hear you coming in?"

Alex laughed. "I don't know, maybe you're becoming old."

Diane huffed. "Please, I'm not even forty! So, what's up?"

"I just don't know what to do with Piper", Alex sighed.

Diane furrowed her eyebrows. "Piper who?"

"Piper, the girl I'm tutoring?" Alex said confused.

"Ohh, you never told her name before. I have a girl working here, her name is Piper too."

Now it was Alex's turn to furrow her brows. "How many Piper do you think is in Litchfield? What is she like?"

"Oh you know, blonde, tall, likes to read", Diane listed.

"It's the same Piper!"

"But Piper is smart, why would she need tutoring?"

"I told you that she was really smart, but she just didn't show it to teachers."

"But why?" Diane asked.

"Yeah, I don't get it either. She said something about that she doesn't need to prove anything to anyone."

"What happened then?"

"I was today at school, talking about Piper's grades with Mr. Harris and her. She had raised them as she promised but she is just..." Alex didn't know how to continue. "Well, she just talked to Mr. Harris very disrespectfully and didn't seem to care about anything", she explained.

"And?" Diane asked, suspecting that there was more.

"I talked to her and said that she shouldn't let me take the honor of her better grades when I've done nothing and she just said that she doesn't care and told me to just be grateful and let it go..."

"You feeling bad about that?" Diane asked.

"Well.. Yeah. And then... I heard when some girls were mean to her and I asked about it and then we... well, we created an argument and I said something stupid and she looked like she was going to punch me."

"Oh dear, what happened?" Diane said.

Alex told about their argument and what had happened with the boy.

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"I think that she is currently struggling with something serious. I just want to help her, but she doesn't let me."

Diane furrowed her eyebrows. She knew that Piper was quite withdrawn, but she didn't know that things were that bad. "We'll do our best to help."

"I doubt that works. She doesn't look like a person that wants to be helped. And she hates me", Alex said.

"I think she likes me. Do you think that she knows that you're my daughter? Wait... I've talked about you to her. I'm sure she has realized that", Diane said. "But anyways, maybe she just hates school and anything school-related, because she is nice to me and the customers. If she saw you here, she could be nice? We just need to be careful, get her to trust us first."

"Should I apologize her?"

"Yeah... That would be probably the best. She has this tough girl shell, but she's really sensitive", Diane said thoughtfully.

Just when Alex was about to answer the door opened.

Diane and Alex both turned to look and there stood Piper. She had a nasty looking bruise in her jaw and she was looking between Alex and Diane with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Piper! What happened to you?" Diane exclaimed as she rushed towards Piper.

Alex was sure that she knew where that had come from.

"I fell", Piper said shortly as she turned her head, so she didn't need to look at Diane's concerned eyes.

Diane quickly glanced at Alex, knowing that it wasn't the reason. She, however, didn't say anything and grabbed Piper's head to study the injury.

"I'm fine", Piper said before went to the backroom.

"This was because of that boy?" Diane whispered. "What kind of boy hit girls?!"

"Most likely. I would like to exchange a couple of words with his pathetic ass", Alex said back quietly.

"Yeah, me too... I'll go talk to her, did you want something?" Diane said.

"I'll just watch around a bit."

Shit, Diane knew. Piper was sure that Alex had told Diane about her and know she knew. Piper didn't need Alex's or Diane's pity.

Piper let out a sigh and put her bag down, she needed to face them at some point, so she was going to go out.

However, Diane was faster and came to the room.

"You never told me that my daughter was your tutor?" Diane said kindly, not wanting to Piper thought that she was upset with her.

"I didn't want to talk about it."

"Piper, I want you to know that you're not looking any different in my eyes just because you're seeing a tutor. Well, you should be seeing a tutor, but anyways I know that you don't need it, I just wish that you would talk about things with me", Diane said softly.

"I just had a shitty day and I don't feel like talking about anything", Piper said.

"I get it, I do. But it could help?" Diane proposed.

"No, it wouldn't", Piper said sadly. Talking didn't bring her parents back.

Diane sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought. "Alex told me what happened in the school. Was it the boy that punched you?"

"It's not your business, or Alex's. Can't you just let it go?" Piper almost pleaded. She didn't have a strength to fight with Diane.

"I'm not forcing you but remember that you can always come to talk to me", Diane said.

That made Piper feel even worse. "Yeah."

Piper couldn't bear Diane's loving gaze anymore, so she decided to leave the room, hoping that there was something to do in shop.

Alex was watching around when she saw Piper coming out of the back room. She had so many questions to ask, but she realized that she needed to proceed slowly.

"Piper!"

Piper sighed and turned towards Alex. "I'm not in a mood to talk. It's not your business anyway so just leave me alone, will you?"

"I get it", Alex said as she raised her hands. "I was just going to ask if you could recommend me something to read?"

Piper looked at Alex suspiciously. "What kind of book?" She asked finally.

"I would like to read something history related?"

"What authors have you read?" Piper asked as she walked to the history section.

"A little bit from everyone, you know Dickens, Austen, Wilde..."

Piper thought for a while before picked a book. "You read this one?"

Alex looked at the cover and didn't recognize it. The book was Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. "No, I haven't."

"Well..." Piper hesitated before continued. "I've read it. I found it pretty interesting", she said shrugging.

Alex smiled widely. This was the first information that Piper had shared about herself voluntarily. It wasn't much, but it was a start. "Thanks, see you around?"

"Yea", Piper said shortly and was going to walk away. And just like that, she was cold and distant again.

Alex was determined to break that cover. "Hey Piper!"

Piper turned around to look at Alex.

"I know that you don't want to talk about it, but just listen to me?" Alex asked hopefully.

Piper tensed but stayed.

"Okay, I just wanted to apologize for today. I know that I overstepped the line and shouldn't have said all the things I did. But, I just... You never told me anything about yourself and I was interested. I know that it isn't an excuse but I was curious about you and wanted to get to know you", Alex said quietly.

"Well, don't bother", Piper said looking at Alex before decided to continue. "You know... I used to think that you were different, that you actually were nice. But now I've realized that you are an asshole too, like everybody else."

Alex furrowed her eyebrows. "What? What do you mean 'you used to think'? And how does it make me an asshole if I'm trying to help you?"

"Whatever, just forget it", Piper said.

"No! Jesus, just tell me when you already started!" Alex said irritated.

Piper's temper started to build too. "Do you think that I didn't see you when you were still in high school? Jesus, even the gay boys noticed you! I admired you, I wanted to be like you! You never noticed me, and that was fine. I didn't even want that. But when you started to pretend that you care about me and the girls that are mean to me, that's when I realized that you really are an asshole!"

Alex was shocked at Piper's words. She hadn't even realized that Piper was at the high school same time as her. Was she really that selfish? "Piper, I really do care how you are doing, why it is so hard to believe?"

Piper's eyes went cold. "I don't need your pity. I know what this is about. You don't have to care about me, I haven't asked that!" Piper said angrily as she turned. She saw Diane listening to their conversation worriedly. "Or yours, I'm perfectly capable of getting along on my own", Piper said to Diane and left the shop.

"Shit", Alex cursed. "What did I do?"

"Hey, hey. It wasn't your fault. We'll give her time and try again. She obviously isn't accustomed to receiving care, poor kid", Diane said as she put her hand on Alex's shoulder to calm her down.

"How didn't I ever see her? I thought that I knew everybody at the school!"

"She has been withdrawn Alex, you don't need to blame yourself."

"I'm not doing this out of pity... There's just something about her that makes me want to help her."

"Alex I know. I feel the same", Diane reassured.

"Am I really an asshole?" Alex asked worriedly.

"Of course not honey. Piper is sensitive, I think that her family isn't very loving and that's why it's so hard her to trust people. She probably thinks all the people as assholes. You just need to prove her that you're not."

Thank you for reading! Please review :) Thanks for all the nice reviews, they keep me motivated!

- Iina