The next day I spent the majority of the morning in the principal's office due to the fact that I overslept and was an hour late to school. He spent the entire time lecturing me on the importance of punctuality and by the time he let me leave it was lunchtime. I went to the woody area in the middle of the maze in the courtyard of our school and started to eat my lunch when I overheard Raye and another girl talking.

"I know I saw her come in here," Raye muttered.

"Why are we looking for her anyway?" another person questioned, disgust clearly present in her voice.

"Because even after all the shit I've put her through, she was still there for me when I needed to be comforted and now I consider her to be one of my friends," Raye replied as they finally found their way out of the maze, which brought them directly to me.

"Hey Serena! You know Mina," Raye introduced us.

"Unfortunately," Mina mumbled only to be hit in the arm when Raye heard.

"Hello Raye, what can I do for you?" I stood and put my back to Mina, though she may have been Raye's friend, she wasn't mine. She thought she was the shit and took her looks to the extreme. Two years ago in P.E. class our teacher made everybody play volleyball including the 'populars' and when little miss blondie got hit in the face with a ball by another student, she had the teacher fired and ruined the student's reputation. Other people got hit and understood that it was just a game and let it go, but not her.

"What are you doing after school?" Raye asked.

"Why?" I could hear the suspicion in my voice loud and clear and I could tell that Raye heard it too.

"Well do you wanna hang with me and Mina?" she asked and I could hear Mina groaned in despair. If she didn't want me to go, I would just to piss her off.

I shrugged, "sure, I don't have anything else to do,"

"Oh, that's a surprise," I heard Mina quietly mutter, sarcastically.

"Okay, meet me at my car after school. Damn, I gotta go," she grabbed Mina's hand and they disappeared back into the maze, leaving me to my lunch.

When the bell rang signaling the end of the school day, I made my way to Raye's car to already find Mina and Raye waiting for me.

"How'd ya'll get out here so fast?"

"Mina has our teacher wrapped around her little finger. All she has to do is ask and he'll do anything," Raye explained as she got out of her pretty bright red mustang to let me in.

"So where are we going?" I asked, slipping into the backseat.

"I don't know, Mina?"

"I say to the beach. The only way to get over one guy is to get another one, so I say we go guy hunting," Mina answered.

"Uhmm, I don't have a bathing suit," I muttered and both Raye and Mina turned around to look at me as if I was some type of three headed monster.

"You're kidding right," Mina asked, looking utterly shocked.

"How do you live in L.A. all your life and not own a bathing suit?" Raye asked.

I shrugged, "You'd think I was joking but no I do-," I began only to have Raye cut me off.

"Don't worry about it Serena. You look a little bit smaller than me and I have some extras at home that I've never worn, they look like they can fit you. Mina, do you need to go home and get yours?"

Mina shook her head, "Nah, I keep an extra at school and I brought it with me just in case, so I'm good."

"Okay to my house we go," Raye exclaimed and for the rest of the ride we were all silent as we listened to the radio. By the time we got to Raye's I was damn near sleep. We immediately went to her room where she went through a draw full of bathing suits while Mina went to the bathroom and changed into hers. She came out in an orange bikini and matching sandals with a towel wrapped around her waist.

"Mina come here, what do you think? Which one should Serena wear?" Raye beckoned Mina over. She looked at both bathing suits, then at me, then at the bathing suits again.

"The blue one," she declared.

"That's what I thought. Serena, go try this on," Raye gave me the bikini and pushed me into the bathroom. By the time I came out, Raye was already in hers and she and Mina were once again waiting on me.

"Now I see what all those baggy clothes hide," Raye muttered, as I came out the bathroom.

"Thanks, I think," I grabbed a towel and we headed back to the car. The ride to the beach was relatively boring to me and I found myself falling asleep again. I was awake when Raye started to gently shake me, I was about to open my eyes when I heard Mina start to talk about me. I wanted to see what Raye would say or do, so I pretended to still be sleep.

"Does she sleep enough?" Mina snapped, once again there was disgust present in her voice.

"Mina, what's your deal. She ain't bothering you. Why don't you just leave her alone?"

"She's bothering me, JUST BEING HERE. I realize that we're no longer associating with Beryl and company, but I don't see why we have to start to hang with losers," she snapped again.

"Whatever Mina, she's not a loser and lay off her, I'm serious. Serena, wake up," she muttered as she started to shake me again.

"Huh, yeah I'm up," I exclaimed as I sat up and got out of the car. We left the parking lot and walked to the beach, where we found a spot and spread out our towels. I put on some sun block and laid down on the towel fully aware that Mina was staring at me.

"God, I can't take it anymore. Raye, do you have a brush?" Mina asked. Raye didn't answer, she just threw one in her general direction which Mina easily caught.

"Serena, come here," she demanded.

"Why?" there was suspicion in my voice again.

"Just come here," she persisted and I got up and walked over to her. She sat me down in front of her and took my ponytail holder out and began brushing my hair. Soon she finished and I realized that not only had she brushed my hair but that she had put it into a French braid as well.

"Thanks," I muttered, looking in the mirror that Raye gave me.

"No problem," she replied and turned away. I shrugged and went back to my towel where I once again laid down.

"Raye, I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'll be right back," Mina exclaimed as she got up and walked away.

"Thanks, Raye," I muttered.

"For what?"

"Back at the car with Mina. Not many people stick up for me, so thank you."

"Hey it's no big deal. But I do have a questioned for you," she admitted. "What's up with you and my brother?"

"Nothing! What made you think that there was?" I questioned, suddenly becoming nervous.

"Just a feeling I got but when he kept me asking about you, it made me wonder more. But just in case something does start to go on, be careful my brother is known for breaking hearts."

"Ahh, well nothing's going on, so it doesn't matter," I replied.

"Where the hell is Mina? It doesn't take that damn long to take a piss," Raye pointed out as she stood up and looked around.

"Well let's go get her if you're so worried about her," I muttered as I too stood up. We made our way to the bathrooms where we caught wind of a heated argument.

"You think your shit is too good for me?" a male voice questioned.

"Quite frankly, YES! Now, like I said before get the hell out of my way," a female voice we knew to be Mina's answered.

"Oh I don't think so, sweetheart. You're gonna treat me and my friend to a little fun," he declared.

"NO, GET OFF," Mina screamed and that's all it took for me and Raye to start running towards the yelling. Once we got there, we saw Mina being grabbed and groped by this guy as his friend watched. I don't know what happened to Raye, I just know she froze in terror and just stood there.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? GET OFF OF HER," I yelled as I walked over to where he was holding Mina.

He smirked, "And what are you gonna do, read me a book?" He laughed at his own corny joke. Instead of replying I balled my fist up and punched him in the face, just like Lita taught me. He immediately let go of Mina and grabbed his nose as blood began to gush out of it.

"You LITTLE BITCH, you broke my nose. I'm gon," he began but was soon cut off when Mina kicked him in the groin and spit on him. I turned and looked at his friend only to find him laughing his ass off.

"Next time a girl tells you to let her go, LISTEN," with that said I too spit on him.

Walking over to Mina I found her shaking, "Are you okay?"

"Huh, yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I think I should go home," she answered.

"Yeah, okay, let's go," I put my arm around her and we started to walk towards the car, only to realize that Raye still had not moved. "Raye, you coming?"

"Huh. Yes, I'll be right there," she slightly turned away and wiped her eyes. She didn't want me to see but I caught it anyway.

"What's wrong?"

"Nuttin, but I think Mina 's right. We should go home," Raye replied. We went back and got our stuff. I ended up driving, Raye and Mina seemed a little too shaken up. Mina guided me to her house, which I found relatively easy. Once I dropped her off, Raye decided that she was okay and could drive, so she started to take me home.

"He raped me," I heard her whisper when we stopped at a red light.

"WHAT?"

"He raped me."

"No I heard you, its jus," I began but was cut off when the car behind us honked the horn letting us know that the light had turned green. She got out the lane and pulled over to the side of the road.

"When did this happen?"

"About a year and half ago. I was at a party and I met him. He seemed nice and I never would have thought he'd do anything like that. I mean you see date rape drugs on lifetime movies, but you never really think it's gonna happen to you, you know? So when he gave me a drink, I drank it, no questions asked. I was fine for about 10 minutes before everything started to get blurring and shit. I don't know how, but we ended up in a room and it was like I was paralyzed. I tried and tried to stop him but my body wouldn't move, I told him to stop but he just laughed and ignored me. He taunted me the whole time, telling me that I wanted it, that I was lucky he wanted me and that I should be honored, shit like that. When he was done, he just got up and walked away. When I was able to move, it hurt so bad," she broke down after that.

"Oh God, Raye. I'm so sorry," I felt bad, the only thing I could do was I rub her back. Apparently, her life wasn't as perfect as I originally thought.

"It was my fault. I should have never dra-," Raye began but I cut her off.

I shook my head, "NO, it's not your fault. You told him to stop and that's what you meant. He didn't listen, therefore it's his fault. And the fact that he had to drug you, is proof enough. Did you report him?"

"I wasn't but Darien found out and made me, but it turns out that the prick's father is best friends with the police commissioner, so he was let off with a warning."

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!"

"That's exactly what Darien said before he beat his ass. He put him in the hospital for over a month. His parents said they wouldn't press charges against Darien and would send their son away, if I would just let it go and so I did. I didn't want my brother to go back to jail. I need to some time alone, is it okay if I drop you off at home?" Raye asked, wiping her eyes.

"Sure," I muttered and she pulled back into traffic. The rest of the ride to my house was in silence.

"Thank you," Raye whispered, when we pulled in front of my house and I began to get out.

"For what?" I closed the door and looked at her.

"For listening. I'll see ya at school tomorrow," she replied before she drove away.