Dedicated to someone who recently went to jail for abusing women. (good thing my friend got out of that in time!)

Reach Out, I'll Be There – The Four Tops

July 10, 2012

The Kubin Apartment

10:00 PM

Abby trembled in the dark corner of her bedroom. She was afraid of what would happen when Bryce and Edward got home. She had eaten at McDonald's and hadn't calmed down at all. She didn't want to intrude on the others because she knew she couldn't hide the truth at all at this point. So she sat and waited for what was to come for her word vomit and her embarrassing Bryce.

She heard the door open and slam, "Abigail!"

Abby started to shake more.

She knew she shouldn't have come home... She should've gone to the studio or something. Anywhere but here.

She heard Bryce storm towards her bedroom. She closed her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the tears that were already coming.

July 11, 2012

Kodachrome Studios and Company

11:30 AM

"Abby! What happened to your leg?" Troy asked as she limped towards the back of the studio. He had come over to have lunch with Abby and Gabriella during his lunch break from his job as an electronics engineer at Sandia Labs.

"I fell down the stairs last night, it's nothing." She replied wincing as she continued to walk towards the back of the studio, very slowly.

"Either you've been really careless lately or your bad luck with gracefulness has greatly increased."

"Maybe I should live in a padded room." Abby laughed, grabbing her burger from her desk, "I also stubbed my toe really hard on my bedpost last night." this part was true, in trying to get away from Bryce she had stubbed her toe on the bed and fell, which gave Bryce the chance to grab her.

"Well how about I treat you ladies to a nice meal seeing as I actually am getting paid more than minimum wage now." Troy said laughing as he went to help Abby walk.

"Thanks Troy, I appreciate it." Abby said smiling slightly.

Abby couldn't believe how incredibly lucky that Gabriella was to have Troy. She wished every second that while they were out at lunch that Bryce was still like that. It was quite obvious it wasn't just for show the love the two of 

them had. She was almost happy when Troy had to go back to work and leave them. It was almost sickening to her.

"I'm going to go into the darkroom." She said quietly as she and Gabriella made it back into the studio. Gabriella watched her sadly wondering what else was wrong with her friend.

July 13, 2012

Lava Springs

6:30 PM

"You did WHAT?" Ryan yelled at Sharpay as they ate dinner with their parents. "Why would you set me up?"

"Duckie, it's just a date!" His mother insisted, which in turn resulted with a smirk from Sharpay.

"I can find my own girl without help." Ryan muttered glaring at Sharpay.

"If you can find your own girlfriend then why have you yet to find your first one?" Sharpay asked smirking.

"Then where's your first boyfriend? You've had dates, but never boyfriends." Ryan spat back also smirking.

"Duckie! Shar-Shar! Behave!" His mother said in a strained voice. She never yelled, it annoyed Ryan to death. It was why Sharpay always got her way.

"Come on, Ryan, it's not like you have an eye on someone, right?"

Ryan leaned back in his chair. He liked Abby, he had to admit that to himself, but Abby was happily married. She was off limits. He sighed, "No, I don't."

"Then what could it hurt? you may end up liking your blind date!"

"Fine, whatever." Ryan said rather unhappily as he got up and walked out of the room.

"I'm proud of you Duckie!" His mother called after him.

July 15, 2012

Apartment Complex

5:45 PM

Abby walked into the Guys' open apartment to drop off one of Zeke's pie pan. The night before he had given her an apple pie and she had managed to eat one slice of it before Bryce snatched it away telling her she'd get fat and then scarfing it down with Edward.

"Anyone home? The door was open." She called out.

"Yeah. Hey Abby. I haven't seen you in a while." Ryan smiled at her, "How's your leg?"

"My legs getting better as long as I move slow. I brought back your cook's pan." she held up the pie pan, "Are you going somewhere?" she asked, looking him up and down. His usually stylish yet casual look had been replaced by a proper stylish look and his hat, for once, was missing in action.

"Oh, yeah, Shar roped me into a blind date tonight, and she said she'd take her sparkly bat of doom out if I didn't dress up to her standards."

"Oh. Well i hope you have fun." Abby said, not understanding why her stomach gave a painful twist when he said the word date.

"Thanks." Ryan said as he stopped in front of her and looked at her closely. "You okay? You look kind of pale."

"I'm fine." Abby said looking down. She had to go overboard on makeup that morning so no one could tell her face was bruised. She was hoping that he didn't notice that her eye was swollen too.

"You know you can talk to me if you ever need to, right?" He asked touching her hand. She continued to look down, but nodded her head.

"Thanks Ryan."

"Ryan! You're going to be late if you don't leave now!" Sharpay screeched coming into the living room.

Abby jumped and forced a smile, "Have fun on your date, Ryan. I'm sure she'll be a nice girl."

"Thanks." Ryan said before walking out of the room. "Shar, I need your keys." Ryan said walking back into the room seconds later.

"You can't use my car. It's too girly for Samantha. She doesn't like pink." Sharpay replied, pushing him out the door.

"You can use my car if you want." Abby said quietly. She really didn't want to let him borrow it, but hey. She wasn't going to use it. Plus she felt better when there was a reason that Bryce couldn't use it since he tended not to use his own car, but hers whenever he needed a car.

"Sure, thanks Abby." Ryan said as he took the keys from her and kissed her cheek.

"You're welcome." She whispered back as her hand went up to where he kissed her. Sharpay watched knowingly, but didn't say anything for once.

"So you want to go get dinner with me and Gabriella?" Sharpay asked as she picked up her keys and purse.

"Sure, and then we can go to the mall."

Sharpay stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Abby.

"What? You can't tell me that Sharpay Evans doesn't want to go shopping."

"Are you ok? You never want to go shopping unless it's in a book store."

"I'm bored and I haven't hung out with you girls in a while outside of work and I want another book to read." she smiled. She also needed to buy more makeup, preferably while the other two weren't around, but at least this way she could get out of the house. She desperately needed a break.

Sorry guys but this is the last chapter until June 9th at the earliest! Alyssa was going to post while I was gone, but we need more time to work on the next one lol. So thanks for reading!