"Annie." Amanda knocked on the door, "I'm going to sleep. You should too. You have school tomorrow."

"K." I replied, staring down at the reply from Nick."

"You okay, baby?" She asked, leaning against the door.

"Yeah, just tired. Go to bed, I'm fine." I insisted.

Amanda sighed, "Okay. Goodnight."

"Night." I replied.

As soon as she left, I texted Nick back.

"The group of girls...They did something awful. I don't know how to tell Amanda, or anyone. I can only talk to you, and you're not here." I sent the text, and the familiar bubbles that told me he was typing back popped up at the left side of my screen.

"What did they do? Sweetie I know I'm not there physically, but I'm always a phone call away. FaceTime me."

I gulped. How was I supposed to face his face? I haven't seen him in a year, what if he changed?

"Annie?" He typed.

"Okay." I replied, and clicked the video button at the top of the screen.

Soon after, Nick popped up. "Sweetie, I need you to tell me exactly what those girls did."

My bottom lip quivered, "I can't, Nicky. I don't want to get hurt again."

"Annie listen to me, I wont let them hurt you but you need to tell me what they did."

"I can't!" My voice raised, but I quickly lowered it when I remembered Amanda was trying to sleep. "You're in California. You can't protect me. You left, you waved those rights. Remember." Tears fell down my cheeks again, and I wiped them away.

"Actually, you're wrong." He responded.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm here. In New York again. I got here yesterday, hoping to surprise you. But..."

"But what?" I asked.

"I guess it's not much of a surprise anymore." He sighed, running his hand through his hair.

My voice shook slightly as I said the next words, "Can you come over, Nick? Can you come now?"

"Mija, it's two in the morning. I don't know how happy Amanda would be if I showed up at the apartment right now." He chuckled lightly.

"So meet me on the fire escape. Please. I need you."

"Okay, Annie. I'm coming." Nick hung up, and I held my breath. I was about to see the man that meant the most to me, but left me in my time of need. Butterflies twirled around my stomach, making me want to puke. I was so nervous it was ridiculous.

It took Nick probably fifteen minutes to get to my window, but he did, and I climbed out.

Before I could find the words to say, he engulfed me into a hug so tight it wouldn't have allowed me to speak anyway. "Oh, Annie. What's happened?"

I wrapped my arms around his torso tightly, and started crying once again. "They...They tried to get another guy to rape me." I sobbed.

"Oh sweetie." He mumbled into my hair, rocking me back and forth. "I'm so sorry baby. I'm so sorry I let that happen to you."

"I'm just glad that you're here now. Does Amanda know?" I asked.

"Yeah. We were going to have a big party at the precinct tomorrow once you got back from school but I'm not so sure I want you in that school tomorrow." His voice sounded mad, I hated when he was mad with a fiery passion.

"Please, don't be angry. Please. You get so upset when you're mad."

"I know. Listen to me, you're not going to school tomorrow without me there in every classroom."

I almost laughed, but I figured he was more serious than I thought. "What? Nick you don't have to do that."

"Those girls aren't getting their hands on you again. No more. I'm done playing around, you poke the bear you get mauled." He growled.

To be honest, I was still kind of scared. Because it doesn't just stop at school. Bullies follow me everywhere. Nick knew that though. I was just grateful he was trying to help me.

"So. I'm going to have a body guard now?" I giggled softly.

We pulled away from the hug and he wiped away my tears, "You bet."

A few seconds passed before he grabbed one of my arms softly and rolled up the sleeves. Many cuts, some pink, some new, some healing showed. I could see the pain on his face. "Mija, I asked you to stop this."

"I couldn't. I just wanted to feel something, Nick. I wanted to feel again." I mumbled softly. "I'm sorry i'm such a disappointment."

"No, no Mija you're not a disappointment. This just makes me so sad. I can't stand to watch you in pain." He caressed my hair and sighed. "Does Amanda know?"

"She thinks I stopped a long time ago." I shrugged, "I didn't have the heart to tell her I relapsed.

For the rest of the time he was with me, we just stared at the moon and the stars, him pointing out all the constellations like he used to, and I fell asleep soon after.

The next morning, my six'o'clock alarm woke me up, and I groaned, throwing a pillow at it. It didn't help.

"Annie!" Amanda stormed into my room "You're gonna be late for school. Again."

Groaning, I flung my other pillow at Amanda. That didn't help either.

"Okay, that's it." My sister walked over to me and flung the covers off of me and my bed. The cold air hit me and I shivered.

"Okay, okay I'm awake!" I sat up quickly and wrapped my arms around my shivering legs.

"Good. When I come back I hope to see you in your uniform." She rubbed my calf and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

I sighed mentally. I'm so sick of my uniform. The only thing it signified was school, and I hate school so much. But then, I remembered what Nick said last night. Does that mean he told Amanda?

Quickly, I got dressed and ran out the door into the kitchen so I could eat breakfast. But before I even got to the kitchen I saw Nick and Amanda talking, a sight I haven't seen in ages.

"Annie, Nick told me about last night." She said, coming to grab my hands.

I looked between the two for a quick moment. "He told you everything?"

Nick nodded. "I can't hide things from her."

"I know." I mumbled. "It's okay."

"Listen, Annie." Amanda pressed her palms to my cheeks, "We'll all talk about this tonight, but for now, you're going to school with Nick. Okay? I'll see you later at the station." She kissed my forehead, and me and Nick were on our way to school.

Most of the ride there was silence, but when we got to school, well, there was more silence. Everyone's heads turned to me and Nick when I walked in.

"Don't worry, Annie." He wrapped an arm around me. "Which is your first class?"

I bit my bottom lip. This was going to be a very long day.


Thankfully, I wasn't bullied today. But I was stared at like I was some freak. I was happy to just be at the station, with everyone I was comfortable with. Especially Nick. It meant the world that he was here right now.

As of now, I was sitting on Nick's lap playing a game on my phone while all the adults caught up with him and his life. The party was boring, but I could have cared less. While I was playing my game, I got a few texts. I took a deep breath before going to see who it was, and sure enough, it was Eve. The worst bully at my school.

"Hey slut, heard you had your boyfriend stuck to your hip today. I also heard he's like, thirty. You must be some kind of whore to be into that."

Tears sprung to my eyes. I jammed Nick in the stomach and handed him my phone.

As soon as he read the text, a look of anger spread across his face very quickly. He typed something into the phone, and handed it back to me.

"This is the police, if you harass Anastasia any longer, we will charge you with Cyber Bullying of a minor."

I bit my bottom lip. I was happy he was trying to help. But I don't think he realizes just how broken I really am. Sometimes it's hard for me to speak out, because any time I do my voice breaks into pieces, and I feel like just like my heart has shattered, my voice has shattered too.