Everything in Claudia hurt, it hurt bad. She got up quickly, turned off her alarm, and went to her mirror to check the damage. Her face was pretty much blue all over, a few patches of actual skin showing. She stuck out her arms to check the damage there. Long sleeves and jeans would cover those bruises easily. She started applying the makeup to her face, every time she touched her face her whole body flinched. "Shit!" She exclaimed under her breath. Johnny came running into the room and wrapped his arms around her waist. She knew that look he was scared.

"Claudee." He grabbed tighter on to her. She brushed his hair back away from his face.

"What's the matter baby brother?" She hated when he was scared, it hurt her more than the bruises on her face.

"Dad's having another one of those attacks." His voice whimpered halfway through telling her. She ran to her bedroom door and locked it. I'll protect Johnny with my life, Maria, I promise. What she had told Maria before she died ran through her head. I have no doubt about that, Claudia. She returned back to her brother.

"You all ready for school?" She asked him suddenly. He looked at her confused before finally answering.

"Yep, but I don't leave for another forty-five minutes, Claudee." He told her still looking confused.

"We're making an exception this one time okay." She jotted down a note for his teacher and handed it to Johnny. "You give this to your teacher, okay. This explains why you're there so early. Go out the back way." She kissed the top of his head.

"Thank you. Bye, Claudee. Have a good day." He ran out of the room. She shook her head, before beginning to put the makeup back on. Whatever happens, you get out of this house when you turn eighteen, Claudia. He won't hurt Johnny, but he will hurt you. So leave and never come back. Claudia couldn't imagine following Maria's orders.

She added the final touches to her face and then ran out the door to make to the bus stop on time. Today was going to be bad, just like the rest of them.

XOXOXOXOXO

He stood waiting for the bus at the bus stop. He was nervous even though he didn't know why. He already knew some of the kids so it wasn't like he had to do those awkward introductions. He shook the thought off as the bus rounded the corner. He let the girl(that was staring at him) in front of him get in first. He followed suit, the bus was loud and cramped. Then he saw her.

She looked so tortured and alone. Her eyes were closed and she had her ipod in her ears. He noticed how much makeup was on her face, probably from the beating she got last night. He wanted to sit with her, but someone pulled him down before he got the chance.

"Dude, Sonny what's up?" Jason asked, getting Sonny's full attention.

"Eh, nothing much. Just checking out that girl back there." Jason and Sonny both turned in their seats and Sonny pointed Claudia out. He couldn't help to notice that all the girls were staring at him.

"Sonny, that's Claudia Zacchara. You don't wanna get involved with that. She's trouble, I would know. I've known her since like first grade."

"But I mean she just looks like a troubled spirit or something. Looks like she wouldn't hurt a fly." Sonny countered.

"Do whatever you want, man, just don't get involved with her. I mean seriously look you've got all the girls attention. Even the one's with boyfriends." Jason told him in a slight whisper. Suddenly the bus stopped and the doors opened. A girl with long brown hair walked in and made instant eye contact. She sat on the seat horizontal to them.

"Jase who's your friend?" She asked looking directly at Sonny. Before Jason could speak Sonny did.

"I'm Sonny Corinthos and you would be?" He was still looking her squarely in the face.

"Brenda Barret, nice to meet you."

It seemed that Brenda introducing herself gave the other girls courage to come up to Sonny and do the same. He met a Carly, Sam, Elizabeth, Kelly, Lainey, and even a Lily. But Claudia never came up. He then realized what a challenge this was going to be.

XOXOXOXOXO

I can't seem to fight these feelings

I'm caught in the middle of this

And my wounds are not healing

But does my father even care

I cannot fight now

I feel like a weak link

Claudia's ipod was blasting, she was trying to block everyone out. All her classmates, anyone. Not that they cared. No one ever did, she was an inconvenience at best. Everyone would be better off when her father finished her off. Just a few more weeks, that's what he kept telling her at least. He said he would make it last longer if she resisted.

The only person she was worried about was Johnny. He needed her and she knew that, but she couldn't stop her father from beating her to death. She wasn't strong enough anymore. All her strength went into making it through the day. She opened her eyes to see all the girls on the bus swarming a seat. She shook her head before closing her eyes again.

She hated when people thought they were better than others. Obviously that's what this boy thought. She would ignore him, just like she did with everyone else.

XOXOXOXOXO

Sonny rushed into his advanced bio class, he wasn't late, but rushing was just something he did. She was there, sitting at one of the desks, she didn't even look up. Sadly, the teacher did and he demanded the slip that allowed Sonny to be in there. Then the stupid teacher gave him a assigned seat. He wondered why she was in a senior class. Maybe she was smart? That would be the only reason why she was in here.

His thoughts were interrupted by the bell ringing and all the other students running into the classroom. Jason, Matt, and Patrick were all sitting next to him which was a relief. The girls had all been staring at him all day and during lunch they all tried to sit with him. It was too much. He was a simple guy, and wasn't even that good looking; or at least he didn't think so. He decided to stop thinking so much and listen to the teacher.

She had heard this lesson thousands of times. Mr. Smith was the most boring teacher ever. He taught the same thin over and over again. She never wanted this class to end though, because then she would have to go home. She never knew what was worse, though. This class or that place like hell that everyone else called home. She sensed that someone was staring at her. She turned her head, but no one was looking. She was going crazy.

XOXOXOXOXO

The bell rang and everyone ran out of the room. She stayed behind and waited for everyone to leave the room. People would try to run into her and knock the books out of her hands if she didn't wait. She took her time walking out of the room and down the hallway, everyone else was running. All of the sudden someone ran into her and all the books fell to the ground. No one even stopped. Then the guy bent down and picked them all up. Everyone stopped and stared. The girls glared at her and she didn't understand why.

"Sorry about that. Where's your locker? I'll carry these there." He told her, showing her his dimples, making her blush slightly.

"I'll take you, follow me." She said in a low whisper. They both started walking to her locker as the girls mainly: Carly, Sam, and Brenda, glared at her. She understood better now why they were glaring, this guy was pretty good looking. They finally made it to her locker where he placed her books neatly into the locker. "Thanks," She put out her hand, "I'm Claudia."

"I'm Sonny, and it was no problem. I can get a little clumsy and run into people sometimes." She laughed.

"Same here. So it was really nice to meet you, but to avoid anymore daggers being shot into my back I should probably get going."

"I can give you a ride if you want, I mean I don't know where you need to go, but my car could probably get you there quicker than your feet." He took out his keys.

"That'd be great if you don't mind, I need to get to my little brother's school first."

"I'll take you, come on." He grabbed her hand and led her to his car.

She didn't know why but Sonny seemed so familiar, like she had seen him somewhere, but she knew he wasn't from around her so she didn't understand.

He was finally getting somewhere. He needed her trust and he knew that was going to be hard to get. He would though and he would be her superman.