Hey everybody! So here's chapter. Now, Lea is about 16 years old, and this story is told from her point of view. She considers Emma and Spike her brother and sister, as she's grown up with them. Greenlee is married to Ryan. Please review!

-Emma :)

I sat on the foot of my bed, scribbling in my notebook. I stopped for a second and fingered the slowly fading scars on my wrist. I thought about the way I felt when I made them… angry, depressed, and hurt.

But somehow the pain felt… good.

I hadn't done that in quite a while… but I didn't miss it either.

My mom was at work at Fusion, my step-dad was with my brother Spike, and my sister Emma was out shopping with her friends, so… I was at home by myself.

I was still subconsciously fingering the scars on my wrist when my phone vibrated.

Probably AJ,I thought. But, it wasn't him.

Aunt Kendall.

I opened the message.

Hey Lea, I have a whole bunch of Fusion samples and some cookies... girls' day?

I smiled. I love hanging out with Aunt Kendall, but we hadn't done that in a while. She was always one of the first people I could confide in, other than AJ, who was my best friend.

I'm so in. I typed. Ryan and Mom aren't here,and neither are Emma and Spike.What time you want me?

I pulled on my favorite pair of skinny jeans and long black Uggs. I threw on my soft gray V-neck t-shirt.

My phone went off again as I walked down the stairs.

Now is good. I have some movies, too. And, um, when did you start calling Ryan "Ryan?"

I sighed.

I was hoping she hadn't noticed that.

The week before, I got in a few minutes late on Saturday night. Ryan was the one who caught me (mom wouldn't have cared) because Mom was out of town on business.

"Where've you been?" He said when I walked in.

I looked at the clock.

11:34

4 minutes after my weekend curfew.

"I was out with AJ and Emma."

"You're late. Where's Emma?"

I frowned. "She's with her mom. You knew that."

" I just wanted to make sure YOU knew, Lea."

"Seriously? I'm four minutes late! We got stuck in traffic. Annie drove us home."

"I was worried. You're usually early."

"You know something? You're not my dad!'

We were both shocked when I said that, seeing as I NEVER played that card. My dad had died before I was born. Leo Du Pres. My mom told me he was killed in a car accident.

"You have no right to act like you're my dad! But you always do!"

I was storming up the stairs.

"Well, who else do you have?" Ryan shouted at me.

I screamed out of anger and stormed to my room.

I'll tell you later. Be right over.

I called a cab and headed for Aunt Kendall's.

The cab pulled up and I gave the guy $10 for the short drive and thanked him.

I knocked on the door as Uncle Zach, Aunt Kendall's husband, was leaving for work.

"Hey!" He kissed the top of my head as he walked past me towards his car.

"…Bye." I laughed as I walked in. Aunt Kendall stood up and hugged me.

"Hi!" she said. "It's been a while since we've gotten to hang out."

I took off my coat. " I know! Now, on to the serious questions: What kind of cookies did you make me?"

She laughed. "Chocolate chip."

I grinned. "My favorite."

"I know." She said as we sat down on my couch. She popped in our go-to girls' day movie TheGoodGirl,which is always followed by SomethingBorrowed.

Aunt Kendall pulled out a bag of make up… Fusion samples.

As my mom's business partner, she got samples too. And I adored samples since I was little. It was always fun when your mom got free samples of the number one make up in the country that everyone wore.

"I have your favorite!" Aunt Kendall pulled out a bottle of my favorite black nail polish, Midnight Magic.

My nails were chipping, and we couldn't have that, now could we? Ryan and Aunt Kendall always said I was my mother's daughter. So, I happily took the bottle.

"So, when did you start calling Ryan… well… Ryan?" She said as she bit into a cookie.

"We had a fight, and I was mad and I told him he acts like he's my real dad, but he's not."

"You know he cares about you a lot, right? He loves you. You're like a daughter to him."

"I love him too." I sighed. "But he's trying to b my dad. And he isn't."

"Lea, he's only trying to help you, seeing as your real father is…" Aunt Kendall's voice trailed off.

"Dead." I finished.

"You look just like him." Aunt Kendall said, focusing on my face.

"My mom says that all the time." I fingered the medallion around my neck. My mom had given it to me a while ago, and she said it belonged to my dad. I hadn't taken it off since.

As I held onto my necklace, Aunt Kendall saw something else.

"What's that on your wrists?"

I glanced at my wrists.

The scars.

I forgot my concealer.

"N-nothing!" I said, putting my wrists down quickly.

"Lea that's s0mething."

She reached for my wrist but I pulled it away.

"I said that it's nothing."

She caught my wrists and looked down at them. Her eyes got wide as she released my arms.

"L-Lea… did you c-cut yourself?" She struggled with the words.

I looked down. "Yes…" I whispered.

AJ was the only person that knew.

"Why?" She tried to look my in the eye.

"Last year, there were people bothering me at school, making fun of me and stuff… because I was a 'geek' and they didn't like the way I looked. Remember when I dyed my hair black and I was wearing all that make up and stuff? Well, it got to the point where I started… yeah. Then, I realized that I wasn't helping anyone… and I stopped. And now I'm back to the way I was… but with some scars."

"What made you stop?"

I didn't want to tell her it was AJ…

I really didn't, because no one knew about that either.

See, AJ and I had been best friends since we were little kids. And one day, when we were 15, he noticed a change in me. I was depressed and not really talking to anyone… and then he saw my scars. He asked why I did it and I told him.

"Everyone hates me."

He inched closer to me.

"Lea let me tell you something. And you need to listen. I don't hate you."

And he kissed me.

That night I dyed my hair back to my natural brown, threw out all of my makeup and stopped making scars on my wrist… all because of one thing…

I was in love with my best friend.

"You can tell me." Aunt Kendall said.

"…AJ." I told her.

She smiled at me. "I knew it."

I let out a short laugh.

Then, she got serious again. "Does Greenlee know?"

I shook my head. Aunt Kendall sighed.

I looked at her and pleaded with my eyes. "Please don't tell her!"

Aunt Kendall hugged me around the shoulders. "I won't."

And I hugged her back, thankful for someone like Aunt Kendall being in my life.

Then, we ate some cookies and played around with the samples as we watched our movie.

"OOO! This is my favorite part!" I laughed.

Then Aunt Kendall's phone rang.

"Its your mom." She answered it. "It's okay, Greenlee. I've kidnapped your daughter to spend the day with m-? What? Greenlee, slow down. Okay, come over now. I'll see you in a little bit."

"What was that all about?" I asked, concerned.

"You're mom's coming over. Something happened."

Reviews! Thanks for reading! The next chapter should be up soon.

-Emma :)