Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the late update! My life is crazy busy, and I have now found out that I have to move in about one month. I will try to update as much as possible in between what happens. So, I hope you like this chapter. I've had a LOT of fun writing this chapter.

Shout outs to: loventherussian17, DBM1710, Elena DanceLover05, kate882, Blood Drinking Dark Emo Angel, peggy, Do'B, Jinabina, and PRINCESSKATERINAHATHAWAY! You all helped me with my bad days! I would read all my reviews, and I would be SUPER happy! Thank you all AGAIN for your reviews!

Disclaimer: I do NOT have red hair, and my name is Emily, not Richelle. That being said, I DO NOT own Vampire Academy. I also don't own the song. It belongs to Avril Lavinge.

I closed my eyes as the hot water ran on to my sore muscles. Why am I in so much pain, you may ask? Because my mom had gotten super depressed when my dad passed away, and, to be honest, I was too. But I didn't dwell on it. Anyway, my mom had gotten so damn desperate that she went out and met this guy named Andrew. Let's just say that he became my step dad six months later. He was a great guy before the wedding. But, after a few months, when my mom started working again, his real personality started to come up to the surface. Most days and nights, when my mom was gone for her business, were spent at clubs and bars. He was gone from around one or two in the afternoon to around eight or nine at night. Then, he would come home, and expect a huge feast to be freshly made. This had happened last night.

~Flashback~

Friday nights were the worst of the week. Andrew came stomping in the door, as uncoordinated and unbalanced as a cow on a balance beam. I could smell the alcohol rolling of of him. 'He's drunk, as always,' I thought. I turned to Lissa, hopefully, giving her a look that said 'be careful and let me do all the talking'. She understood and nodded.

"Where's the food?" Andrew yelled, grabbing a hold of my arms.

"We didn't make anything. We just had some of that leftover meatloaf in the fridge." I stated."So, obviously, nothing at all was made tonight." I said again to put some emphasis on it. I winced as Andrew squeezed my shoulders harder. I felt the pain cease, but felt a worse pain when he slapped me on my face. He hit me with enough force that I head popped to the side.

"You little bitch!" He yelled. He grabbed a hold of my shoulders again. I knew I had to say something to him, and I might have to hurt myself more, but it would be worth it if it hurt him.

I turned to Lissa. "Liss, head off to your room. I don't want you to see this. Take Dawn and Shasta with you. I'll be there in a minute." She nodded and grabbed the dogs, and brought them out of the room. "Now, Andrew. You can make a choice. You can either let go of my arms on your own, or I'll do it for you."

"Ha! You can't do anything to me," he slurred. "And, what did I tell you about calling me Andrew? I'm dad to you."

This angered me even more. "You will NEVER be my dad. My DAD didn't come home drunk and hit me or Lissa! And, I can do something to you. Your drunk and I am perfectly sober. That right there, is an advantage I don't even need." I said, my voice getting louder. I wasn't about to let him continue to do the things that he does. I couldn't do it. But, if I told my mom, I knew that she wouldn't believe me.

"Try. Throw a punch. Your arms are pinned. You can't do anything." He taunted. God, his breath reeks!

"Maybe, but I can do this." I said, kneeing him in the groin. Drunk or not, the move worked. He let go of my arms, and crouched over, only to recover just as quickly. I had already taken a few steps away, and was getting into a good position when I saw him come barreling at me, like a football player on the front line.

That move MIGHT have worked if he wasn't stumbling. I grabbed his head and threw him against the wall. He fell to the ground. For good measure, I walked over and kicked him in the side, hard enough that he wouldn't get up for five minutes or so. I know it was petty, but I just had to do it.

I crouched down next to him. "Now, I got a few questions for you. Did you really think that you could've beaten me when your drunk and I've taken fighting classes since I was five? Do you really think that I need you to continue on with my life? And, who says I have to call you my dad? I never will because I only have one dad, and he's gone. Last question. You want to be gone most of the day, come home, drunk off your ass, for lack of a better term, and expect a huge feast to be made?" I asked, getting very agitated. I laughed slightly. "Think again. Now, you know what I want to happen, but I know won't until my mom leaves you on the curb? I want you to get a life, and get out of mine!" I yelled while walking to my room, and slamming the door. I changed into my pajamas, and went, quickly, to bed.

~End Flashback~

I almost laughed again as I thought back. Notice that key word. Almost. My thoughts are too full of my dad and the accident from almost a year ago.

'But, Rose, there's no sense in thinking back to the past. You can't change a single thing about it.' I said to myself, as I got out of the shower and got dressed. Oh, great! I'm talking to myself. I must be going crazy! I hope not!

When I was presentable, I grabbed one of Shasta's toys out of the basket in the corner of my room, walked to Lissa's room, and knocked loudly. I told her that I was going to wait in the living room for her.

"Come on, Shasta. Let's go play a bit, before I have to go. It's my night to sing at the pizzeria." I said while walking off. I was kinda excited. This was only my third time doing a live performance, and, as always, I was slightly nervous. This feeling doesn't come often, but when it does, it scares me. That is why I wanted to play with Shasta to get my mind off of it.

About twenty minutes later, we were in the car, heading to the pizzeria. Lissa decided to break the long, drawn out silence.

"Hey, Rose? What happened last night anyway? And, don't leave anything out. I want to know EXACTLY what happened." She said, giving me a look the said 'don't give me any nonsense.'

I recounted what had happened the night before and Lissa sat there, listening intently. Once I was done, Lissa thought for a minute.

"Well, I think we should tell mom." When she saw the look on my face, she said, "Rose, we have to. He is hurting you!" She said, trying to get her point across by poking my face where it was bruising (which you couldn't see because of the cover-up). I winced away from her touch. "See? Exactly my point."

"Yeah. Exactly the point that I CAN'T tell mom. She won't believe me! She'll just brush it off as nothing." I said, trying to keep my eyes on the road. I didn't want to be the cause of yet another accident.

"Well, we're gonna need to tell her at some point." Lissa said, looking for the pizzeria.

"Liss, don't you know exactly where this pizzeria is by heart? We're here almost every Saturday. Do you think you'll just forget?" I said, trying to change the subject. It worked.

"No, it's just that I just want to see this town. It's awesome. I love it." Lissa said, smiling. "Oh, there it is!"

"Yeah, I see it!" I told her, pulling into the parking lot. A bunch of people were already here. We got out of the car and met up with everyone else in our band. Eddie plays the guitar, Christian plays the drums (which SO matched him), Mia plays the keyboards and helped with the vocals, and Lissa plays the bass. Of course, I did the lead vocals.

"OK, everyone! We have about 20 minutes until they let everyone else in here. Are we going to show them how we do it?" I asked, trying to get everyone pumped up.

"Yes!" They all said.

"OK. Let's get this sound check done. What song do you want to do?" I wondered.

"How about we do 'Things I'll Never Say'?" Lissa asked.

"OK. Let's go." I replied, waving my hand on to the stage.

After the sound check, we walked off the stage, and did last minute things, we watched as the many people walked in and found a seat. I didn't know how many more people could fit in this room. They just kept walking in in crowds. I was honestly amazed.

When everyone was in, I heard the microphone turn on and someone's voice come over the speakers. "Welcome everyone. I am very happy to introduce this group. They are young and quite talented. Everyone, give a big, warm welcome to Rose, Lissa, Eddie, Christian, and Mia!" The announcer called.

Well, here goes nothing.

Ok. I looked for about an hour and I couldn't find a really good name for them, so I could use some help. If you have ANY ideas, tell me please. I am completely coming up blank. This is the longest chapter I've written so far (1,953 words) and I wrote this all in one sitting. I thought, no, I KNOW that you guys deserve it after the long wait. Hopefully, everyone is happy with how this chapter ended. The next chapter is going to be in a different POV, and you guys get to guess. Although, it isn't really that hard. Well, hope everyone likes where this is headed right now.

As I've said before, if you have ANYTHING to say, go ahead and say it. I LOVE every single one of the reviews or messages I get. I'll TRY and update as soon as I can. This next chapter might just be a LITTLE harder to write, so be patient, please. I want it to be good.

Thank you SO much for reading! 3

-Em