Chapter 1

The Beginning of September

The Kanker sisters were all in their new living room, unpacking the last of the things that they brought on their sudden move. The Kankers had lived in Naper Village, an hour away from where they moved to, Peach Creek.

Their mother had been working in a small restaurant that paid well when they suddenly laid her off, Naper Village going through their off season took a toll on the small town. Their mother had quickly found a job in Peach Creek working in a four-star restaurant that paid enough for her to keep up with her family. They had quickly packed up their small two-bedroom apartment and were now in their new home, a fairly large trailer that held the small family of women comfortably.

The cardboard boxes were all labeled neatly and Marie was unloading the box labeled 'kitchen.' Dishes, utensils, and stove ware were slowly being unpacked and put on the small shelves in the fairly medium sized kitchen. Lee and May were unloading the books and movies from their boxes.

Marie had decided that she had helped her sisters enough for the day and she took the little belongings she had from the floor. Marie was taking her backpack full of her stuff to her new bedroom, walking up the steep stairs slowly, when she suddenly heard Lee and May start one of their infamous arguments.

Lee and May Kanker were complicated girls. May Kanker, the baby of the family, once had buck teeth and long blonde hair. She had changed drastically over the past years, she only wore her hair in a tight, high ponytail and her teeth had been fixed immediately when her mother was once able to afford braces. She still had a lisp, but it had went from annoying and unintelligent to cute and sweet. She seemed to be the image of the lovable teen, but she usually used her looks to get what she wanted and hurt many in the process.

Lee Kanker, the oldest, had bright read hair that was in a pixie cut. Her bangs were always in her blue eyes, so she was always having to swipe them out of her face. Lee went from guy to guy, people frequently calling her 'white trash,' 'trailer scum,' and other names along those lines. Her voice was a little lower than a normal girls and became quite gruff when she was angry, like right now.

"Did you bring the blue sweater?" Lee asked May with clenched teeth.

"Yeah, Lee, I put it in one of the boxes," May said annoyed, flipping her hair and rolling her pale blue eyes.

"I don't see it no where." And their argument started.

Marie rolled her eyes, her sisters were always fighting over petty things that she had no interest in. She stomped up the rest of the stairs to let her sisters know that she was annoyed and leaving the room. They didn't seem to notice Marie's absence.

When Marie finally reached her and her sisters new bedroom she studied the room carefully. There were bunk beds pushed over to the left side of the room while a small twin bed was pushed against the opposite wall. A small closet was in the back of the small room and was full of cobwebs and dust. Marie sighed when she saw the dust. Messes really annoyed her, especially when they had just moved into a new home. She walked over to the twin bed, not wanting to share a bunk with either of her sisters. She laid down heavily, claiming the bed officially, and looked up at the ceiling, which was compromised of metal sheets overlapping each other.

Marie thought back to that cold January night when she had cut herself and met the stranger that had helped her. She sighed dreamily. She wished she were able to meet him again so that she could properly thank him. Not to mention to see his face fully and learn his name. Marie always thought of his smile whenever she became depressed, as that was the only thing she was able to make out of his appearance. She wondered if he thought about her at all. She sighed again, this time sadly, and rolled over. He probably thought she was pathetic and needed help, which was true. Or maybe he hadn't given her a second thought, which made Marie feel even worse.

Marie rolled up the sleeve of her dark blue shirt and examined her scars. She had not cut herself once since she had met the stranger. She had come close a couple of times, very close, but she had reminded herself of the stranger, his smile, and what he would've done to make her stop. She was very proud of herself, even if she still drank alcohol to mask her sorrow.

Marie looked out the small window and saw that it was dusk, the crescent shaped moon already shining. She would be starting at a new school tomorrow with her sisters and she was slightly nervous. She didn't want to meet new people or put on a brave face. Out of all the sisters, Marie was the quietest. She didn't really see the point at having to confront people and tell them of her problems. She yawned tiredly and took her jeans off, throwing them on the floor. She went under the covers of her new bed, noticing that it was comfier than it looked, and she went to sleep.

Double D was lounging at his desk, tapping his pencil against his knee rhythmically. He was looking over the summer homework he had received for his AP courses, checking and rechecking his neat answers. He had gotten bored after looking through his AP Calculus homework, and he was now daydreaming to get his mind out of formulas and numbers.

Double D had undergone a dramatic change, different from his thirteen year old self. He remembered how lanky and uncoordinated he once was, that had changed once he had started playing tennis. He was still skinny, but there was muscle on his frame instead of just skin and bone like before. He had received a nice tan, thanks to all of his summer training, though his feet were still pale from constantly wearing gym shoes. Tennis had seemed to be the ideal sport for him; it was a no contact sport, he was able to iron and wash his pristine white uniforms to his heart's content, and it was really more a game of strategy than strength. Double D had quickly gained the number one singles spot for his high school team.

He used to wear a black ski cap with white stripes to hide the top of his head. He was actually wearing said hat currently. There were many speculations among the cul-de-sac kids as to why he wore the hat. Did he have an ugly scar? Bad case of bed head? Weird head shape? The weirdest theory came from Rolf, he had thought that the Double D Ed Boy was so smart that his brain peeked out from the top of his head.

But the real reason was really something that was obvious for everyone to see, and not really embarrassing in the least. Double D finally revealed what was under his hat when he had started high school.

As a kid, Double D would constantly be taking bobby pins out from underneath his hat to use for his experiments, which really was a sign that he had lots of hair, at least enough for bobby pins. It was eventually revealed that Double D didn't cut his hair, his excuse was that he had no time for such trivial things as a hair cut. Eventually, Double D was unable to manage his long brown hair and he cut it himself. It was now peeking out from underneath his hat and it barely reached his shoulders.

Double D continued to tap the pencil against his knee as he thought about the blue haired girl and what she was doing. He had hoped that he had made an impact on her and that she hadn't resorted to hurting herself again. Double D sighed and took his hat off, throwing it on his desk. He ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his eyes. He wanted to make sure that she was all right. He felt his left cheek, a habit he had been doing ever since he met her, and he smiled unconsciously.

Double D put his work into his already stuffed backpack and he took out a checklist to make sure that he had everything for his first day of school. He quickly checked everything off and he went to his bed, noticing that it was only eight o clock. He laid in bed for a few minutes, unable to fall asleep. He got out of bed suddenly and put his hat back on, along with an orange sweater and flip-flops. He opened his window quietly, so as not to disturb his sleeping parents and the cul-de-sac. He climbed down the thick ivy that had managed to grow up to his bedroom window. He jumped the last few feet and continued on his way to the junkyard.

There was a cool breeze in the air and the stars were already out. Double D sighed pushing his hands deeper into his pockets. As Double D passed the trailer park, he noticed a van full of cardboard boxes and more boxes that seemed to be empty scattered at the front of the house. He wondered who had moved in, but the thought quickly left him as he thought again of the blue haired girl.

He had not told either of his best friends about her or where he had gone when he met her. Ed and Eddy would not have understood why Double D did what he did for the girl. Eddy probably would've made fun of him for not making a move on her, or at least call him an idiot for not getting her name. Double D rolled his eyes when he thought of his short friend, then chuckled a bit when he remembered how cheap and greedy he could be. Ed probably wouldn't even had grasped the idea of why someone would want to hurt themselves and probably would've made up nonsense sentences if Double D had told him.

By this time, Double D had finally made it to the junkyard. He went immediately to the purple van with flames painted on the sides. He opened the door to the drivers side, climbed in, slammed the door loudly, and put his hands on the wheels.

Double D now felt truly alone with his thoughts, which was exactly what he wanted. He continued to think about the blue haired girl until he checked his wristwatch and saw that it was nearly midnight. He cursed under his breath, knowing that he would be sleepy for school tomorrow. He quickly went home, hiding so no one questioned him as to why he left his house, and climbed up the ivy to his bedroom. He quickly jumped into bed and dreamed of the blue haired girl, not once giving school or sports another thought.