A/N: Another chapter:) Hope you all like it and let me know what you think!

I hadn't gone to visit Dr. Reid in several days. If I didn't have to, I didn't want to. He apparently didn't think it was worth mentioning that he was an alcoholic. Not only that, but he actually kept the coins on the wall like monuments as though earning them was the hardest thing to do. To occupy my time, I wandered the city instead. I went out at 7 every night and didn't return until 11 so that Curt didn't have the chance to rape me.

Every time I left, I gave Angie the same lecture: keep your door locked and don't let anyone in. When I had left that night, she got upset. I didn't blame her. She shouldn't have to lock her door just to feel safe. She hated that I was leaving her and she hated having to pee in her trashcan when she had to use the bathroom. She had begged me to stay because if I did, she could just stay with me and everything would be alright. Theoretically.

Anger was screaming through me as I made my way aimlessly down the street. I didn't want to do this to her anymore. I let my feet scuff along the sidewalk even though I knew it would just ruin my shoes. I had my hands shoved in my pockets. They had to twist mercilessly at the inside fabric just to prevent me from having displaying a more visible sign of my frustration.

It was getting dark. I should find somewhere safer to spend my time. The past few nights I had gone to the library, not to do my homework, but to just browse the books. I had started to read one of the books I had seen on Dr. Reid's shelf about chaos theory. I usually hated school but the book wasn't as dry as I thought it would be. I rounded the corner and found myself at the mouth of an alley way.

Leaning on the building was a group of 3 boys and two girls. They were probably about 19 years old. My footsteps echoed off the walls and one of the boys looked at me. They were smoking something that I figured I didn't want to know. He had a slightly dazed look on his face and he smiled when he saw me.

"Hey!" He called to me. I stopped and watched them, more out of curiosity than anything else. They each looked up briefly but decided I wasn't worth the attention. The boy though, taller than the others, meandered over to me. He looked me up and down like he was inspecting me. I stood my ground. Normally I would have just walked away and kept away from trouble but something made me stay. His eyes fell on a spot on my neck where a bruise had formed from the day before. He laughed at me and I instantly hated his nerve.

"It looks like you could use a hit." He said with a drawling voice. I didn't bother to speak because it didn't matter what I said. I just shrugged my shoulders. He jogged back to his friends and had a short, heated conversation with a girl that was probably his girlfriend. She had a satchel draped over her shoulder and he gestured to it several times. Finally she seemed to give in the him and gave him access to the bag. The boy waved his hand, urging me toward them.

I approached them warily. I knew I was being stupid. Beyond stupid. Yet somehow I didn't care. The boy held out a cigarette. "Take it." He said. It could be laced with anything.

I took it anyway.

He lit the cigarette for me and I sucked in. I had never smoked before but the smell was nothing new. I was hit with a wave of dizziness but I doubted he noticed. He was on something, heroin, marijuana; he was just being way too chilled out to be clean.

I coughed a shuddering breath and he laughed. "You want something stronger?" He said. "Maybe we can work something out." A little bit of tension melted from my shoulders. I let clean air enter my lungs and shook my head. I had to return to Angie eventually.

He shrugged. "Have it your way."

He came home from work early, all special for me. When I slid out my door and closed it behind me, I froze. There was Curt, breathing down my neck. He was supposed to get home at 8, not 7. "I've missed you." He said softly. "Don't you miss me?" He brought a hand back around my neck. I swallowed hard. "No." I hissed.

His hand tightened on my neck but not to choke me. "You don't mean that." He said loudly. He pushed himself on me. "I know you love me. You think I didn't notice how wet you were last time?" My face contorted. I couldn't help it. I ripped away from him sharply but he grabbed for my arm just as quickly. Inside I was shaking with fury. He was wrong. I hated what he was doing all the way to my core. He pushed his hips toward mine and I was paralyzed.

Suddenly the door to our right swung open. Angie was leaving the bathroom but she stopped mid-step. She tilted her shoulders to one ear. She didn't say anything but her eyes suddenly started to glisten.

I took the opportunity to skirt around Curt and pick her up. I placed her on my hip and carried her to her room, hushing her. When I heard Curt finally leave and the screen door swing shut, I returned to my room and looked for the scissors.

I couldn't believe it but I found myself once again at Dr. Reid's. There was something comforting about being there. He hadn't done anything to hurt me yet and that was more than I could say about most other men, or people in general. I had to give him a chance to earn my trust because I was running out of alternatives.

He was going to say something about my hair. I knew he would but I didn't care. I hoped he thought it was ugly. I ran my hand through it as I waited for him to answer the door. I hadn't seen it in the mirror but I knew it looked chopped and uneven. Perfect. It wouldn't make my neck sweat anymore. Even better.

The door swung open and Dr. Reid stood in the door. He was wearing pajamas again and was looked disheveled as though he wasn't expecting me.

He froze when he saw me; a jerky micro reaction that I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't expected it. He didn't say anything to me as he stepped aside to let me in. He looked anywhere but me when I brushed past him.

He shut the door behind us and this time did not go for the tea. Instead he stood by the door with his hands in his pockets, still not looking at me. He decided to get it over with and point out the obvious.

"You cut your hair." He said, not moving.

"It's the new style." I replied and plopped back on the couch. My eyes flit unconsciously to the coins on the wall. I wished he would just sit down so he wasn't looming up there with me down here.

"Really?" He said. "I haven't seen too many people with that cut." I shrugged. He bobbed up and down like he was nodding to himself.

"Could you sit down? You're making me nervous." I complained. He continued to nod to himself but went to sit on the armchair across from me.

He spoke frankly, finally looking up at me. "You're making me nervous too."