So, I got a review saying that I'm making Baltimore sound terrible, and I just want to take this AN and apologize PROFUSELY if I've offended you, I swear, I didn't mean for that to happen. When I'm talking Baltimore, I am not talking the whole city, I'm not from Baltimore, but I've been there though, and I love it. In this story I just wanted a big city that was somewhat close to New Jersey that wasn't in New York, and I'm so sorry if I made it sound terrible, the view in this story is not to be reflected on the actual city.

Chapter 3

Mitchie's first impression of Shane's girlfriend, Rachel, was that she was pretty. She had long, black hair, and bright green eyes and skin that said she spent just enough time in a tanning booth. She had followed Shane down the stairs, though she had no idea why when all she had wanted to do was sit in her room and brood. But she was curious about this girlfriend of his. She looked nice enough, but she couldn't help but roll her eyes when Shane greeted her with a kiss. She hated seeing public displays of affection, it was disgusting. So, she didn't look so bad, but Mitchie knew better than to judge someone by the way they looked, because as soon as Rachel's eyes landed on Mitchie, they hardened into a glare, resulting in Mitchie raising her eyebrows.

"Who is she?" She demanded, a harsh tone to her voice.

Whoa. Bitch, much?

"Oh, yeah. Rachel, this is Mitchie. Mitchie, this is my girlfriend Rachel."

The two girls didn't say anything. Instead, Rachel just glared, while Mitchie smirked at the response she was getting from Shane's girlfriend.

"What is she doing here?" She demanded, her glare only getting harder as she stared at Mitchie.

Mitchie chose to speak for herself. "I live here. What are you doing here?" She asked sarcastically, and had a sense of satisfaction at the look on Rachel's voice when the words 'live here' slipped from Mitchie's mouth. Obviously Shane had not told his girlfriend about the Gray's new houseguest, and Mitchie smirked, realizing how much fun she could have with this.

"Live here?" She turned on Shane. "She lives here? Who is she and why the hell does she live here?" Shane finally seemed to notice his girlfriends annoyance and he frowned at her.

"Rach, chill out. It's not that big of a deal." Mitchie held back a scoff, because obviously his girlfriend thought it was.

"You could have told me that there was another girl living in your house." She glared.

"Babe, she just moved in last night. Even we didn't have that much of a heads up."

Mitchie just rolled her eyes.

"Baby, I don't if I'm all that comfortable with you living in the house with another girl."

Mitchie snorted out a laugh and shook her head. She caught Rachel's glare with a smirk and walked by her. "Insecure, much?" She smirked as she walked by the couple before heading into the kitchen where Denise was preparing some sort of casserole.

"Hi, Mitchie," She greeted once she noticed Mitchie's presence. "Did you try on your new clothes? Did you like them?"

Mitchie held back a grimace. "Yeah, they're great. Thanks." She lied and poked her head in the fridge so she could pull out a water bottle, hoping that Denise didn't see through her lie. Though Mitchie highly doubted it, she had become a master at lying. Another tool for survival.

"Good," Denise beamed. "We should do that again sometime. I've always enjoyed shopping."

Oh God. Mitchie wasn't sure she could handle another marathon shopping spree again in her lifetime. No way in hell. But Denise didn't have to know that. There were a lot of things Denise didn't need to know. Instead of responding to her, Mitchie took a long sip of water, trying to avoid going into that topic yet again.

"Dinner'll be ready soon, if you're hungry."

She kind of was, but not that intense hunger that she was used to feeling. She had eaten two meals today. Two very decent ones. She didn't want to start getting spoiled, but she was liking getting to eat on a regular basis. And Denise's cooking sure didn't suck, and that was certainly a bonus.

"Hey, mom. Hiya, Mitch." She turned and saw Jason making his way into the kitchen with a smile on his face. Mitchie was beginning to think that he and Danielle made it a regular thing to come to his parents house for dinner.

Mitchie had taken an instant liking to Jason, which didn't happen for her often. Or ever, for that matter. He was immediately nice to her, offering her a bright smile and hugging her even though he really didn't know who the hell she was. He obviously didn't care, who was just a naturally friendly person, no matter who you were.

"Hi, Jason." She responded and had to fight back a smile when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a side hug.

"What's for dinner, ma?" He asked, and released the pressure on her, but kept his arm draped over her shoulder, which Mitchie let him keep there. Anyone else and she would have shoved them away. But she had the feeling that she couldn't do that to Jason. She didn't want to hurt his feelings or anything.

"My famous casserole, and it's almost done, so go sit your butts down." She smiled and shooed them out of the kitchen. Jason just grinned and pulled Mitchie along with them towards the dining table where he finally removed his arm so he could let her sit down. He sat down in the chair next to her, leaving the other chair on his side open for his wife, who was there just a moment later.

Once word got around that dinner was almost ready, everyone piled into the kitchen. Nate took the seat opposite of Mitchie and offered her a friendly smile.

Shane and Rachel came in a moment later. Rachel had a composed look of indifference on her face when she passed Mitchie and sat as far away from her as possible. Mitchie just smirked. Shane took the seat between Rachel and Nate, leaving open the ends of the table for Paul and Denise.

Once dinner was served, conversation seemed to flow easily between them. Of course, Mitchie stayed out of it. She wanted no part of their everyday conversation. The Gray's obviously understood that, because they let her be. But Rachel obviously did not get the memo.

When there was a brief pause, Rachel glanced over at Mitchie, with that same look of indifference, except this time it had Mitchie holding back a glare at the girl.

"So, Mitchie, where are you from?"

Everyone silenced as soon as the question left Rachel's lips. She glanced at Jason, who was giving Rachel a look that was ignored by the girl. Mitchie liked how the Gray's hadn't put her on the spot, they would just let her jump in whenever she felt comfortable enough. They never put any pressure on her to fit in or say anything. They wanted her to ease into it at her own pace. It was obvious that Rachel didn't give a shit.

"Baltimore." Was all that Mitchie said before looking back down at her plate and continuing to eat. But Rachel wasn't done.

"Baltimore, huh? Did you like it there?"

"Rachel," Shane warned, shooting her with a look that was telling her to shut the hell up.

"What?" She asked innocently. "I was just curious."

"It's none of your business." Mitchie stated coldly. No way in hell was she gonna tell this girl anything about where she had come from. The only thing she would be saying to that girl was where the nearest hospital was after she punched her fucking face in.

"Well, since you live in the same house as my boyfriend, I think I have right to be curious."

Mitchie glared and her grip on her fork tightened considerably. Who the fuck did this girl think she was? "It's none of his business either." Was all Mitchie said.

"That's kind of rude, don't you think? Keeping your past from the family you live with now?"

"Rachel." Denise snapped, but it was ignored. Mitchie narrowed her eyes at the girl who was now smirking smugly. As if she had won some sort of fucking battle.

"Yeah, I'd hate for people to think that I'm rude." Mitchie sneered sarcastically. "Why don't you keep your nose out of my business before I break it?"

"Girls, that's enough." Paul warned.

Suddenly Mitchie wasn't feeling all that hungry anymore. "I'm done." She said and jumped up, skidding her chair back. She started to walk away but stopped when she passed Shane. "Your girlfriend's a bitch." She told him before stalking off towards the stairwell with a smirk. She wasn't going to let some insecure bitch get to her. She could beat the shit out of that girl, and she was almost mad at herself for not doing it. If she were back in Baltimore, that girl would be on her way to the fucking hospital by now.

If she didn't walk away from that table, Mitchie sure as hell would have beaten the shit out of her. She wasn't going to take crap from anybody, especially Shane Gray's stupid, jealous girlfriend.

After just minutes of locking herself away in her room, her cell phone began going off. She froze and stared at the object that was sitting on the dresser. Who could be calling her? The only people she knew in Jersey were downstairs.

Taking a deep, unsure breath, she grabbed her phone off the dresser and lifted it to her ear.

"Hello?" She asked, nervous as to what response she was going to get. Because she knew it had to be someone from back in Baltimore. No one else knew her number, unless of course it was a wrong number, which she just prayed that it was.

"Christ, Mitchie," She heard a familiar raspy voice breathe on the other end and her chest constricted when she realized who it was.

"Brian," Was all she could get out. She hadn't been sure what had happened to Brian after the shooting. Whether he had been shot or what, or if he was even still alive. Obviously, she had her answer now.

"Damn, babe, I thought you were dead. After the shooting you just disappeared. I saw you get shot, but Rob was pulling me out. I couldn't get to you. I thought for sure you were dead. Scared the living shit out of me." She could hear him take a deep breath. "Where the hell are you? Why you haven't you come to find me."

"I'm not in Baltimore, Bri." She told him slowly, wondering how he would take that news.

"What? Why the fuck not?" Not well, obviously.

"I couldn't stay there, Brian. Not after what happened last week."

"Babe, that was just a fluke."

"No it wasn't, Brian." She snapped. "I was lucky I didn't die. I can't risk that happening again."

"Mitch, I won't let that happen again. We were just caught off guard. Yo, those guys are gonna pay. I'm gonna fuck kick their asses for what they did to you." She knew his threat was real, and that's what scared her. He always followed through with what he said. "Babe, wherever the hell you are, just come back. I need my girl here."

Mitchie grimaced. "I can't, Bri. I'm sorry. I have to stay where I am. I can't go back."

The other line went silent for a couple of minutes. Mitchie almost thought that he just hung up on her. Then she heard him exhale deeply. "I love you, Mitch. I need you here." Mitchie flinched. It wasn't the first time he said that to her, but it was the first time he sounded like he actually meant it. She felt an ache in her heart that she had never felt before while talking to Brian.

"I'm sorry, Brian." Then she shut her phone and dropped it to the floor feeling a whole new round of tears build up in her throat. She had never cried this much in her entire life. She had no idea what the fuck was going on with her. She took a deep breath and managed to force the tears back into nonexistence.

It was ridiculous to miss Brian. There had been times when he had been really sweet to her, the times when he wasn't stoned or drugged up. Other times he could care less about her. There were more of those than anything. It always made her question if he really did care about her or not. Being on the phone with him she could tell that he wasn't drunk or on any kind of drugs at the moment. She could feel his words when he told her that he loved her. And for a second she believed it. Wanted to believe it. He was familiar. He was what she was used to. She didn't miss what her life was just a few days ago. She had always prayed to get out of it. And now she was. She knew she was too young to die, and that would have been inevitable if Denise hadn't saved her. But she couldn't lie to herself. She missed Brian. And that was stupid.

A knock on her door broke her from her thoughts. Before she could tell whoever it was to go the fuck away, Shane slipped into the room with a frown on his face.

"Hey," He said quietly, cautiously.

"What do you want?" She demanded, laying back down on her bed, trying to ignore him at all costs. He was absolutely the last person she wanted to talk to at the moment. After her call with Brian, she didn't want to deal with anybody. He entered her room all the way, shutting the door behind him.

"I wanted to apologize. I know Rachel can be a bit much sometimes."

Mitchie scoffed. "Sometimes?"

"She just gets jealous easily, which is stupid. I'm sorry she treated you so bad. I told her to back off. I don't know if it'll help. She'll probably just avoid you."

"Tell her to please do that. I would fully appreciate it."

Shane sighed. "She can be really nice. It's just sometimes she gets..."

"Bitchy?" She finished for him.

Shane was about to say something to defend his girlfriend, but found that there was really no point. "Yeah. Pretty much. It won't happen again. I'll make sure of it."

"I don't care. I don't give a shit what she thinks about me."

"Then why did you run out of their so fast?"

Mitchie glared at him. "I know what you're thinking. She didn't hurt my feelings or any shit like that, Shane. I don't give a fuck what she says to me. I hauled ass because if I heard one more word out of her stupid mouth I was going to beat the living shit out of her."

"Okay, come on, I know she can be a bitch sometimes, but you don't have to say all this crap about her." Shane defended. Mitchie scoffed and shook her head before sitting up on the bed to face Shane.

"Why not? It's true and you not. Your girlfriend is a needy bitch who mocks anyone who is below her social status."

"You don't know her." Shane snapped, a fire rising in his eyes that Mitchie had yet to see from him. But she felt no guilt as she let the insults flow from her mouth. What she was saying was true, and he knew it. He was just being stubborn and trying to stick up for his girlfriend. It was pointless. Mitchie didn't give a shit either way.

"No, I don't know her. And I sure as hell don't want to."

Shane scoffed bitterly. "Yeah, and she's the bitch." He shot at her, making her raise her eyebrows.

"I think I have a right to be a bitch. In fact I rather enjoy it. I also enjoy bitch slapping people. Which is exactly what I'm going to do if you don't get the hell out of my room." She snapped at him. She was tired of this.

Shane glared at her before stomping out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

She sighed and fell back onto her bed. She fucking hated this. She wasn't used to this fucking family thing. Shane was pissed at her for sticking up for herself to his bitch of a girlfriend. Though she had to admit she was kind of being a bitch too, but she didn't care. That's just how she was, and if Shane had a problem with that, then fuck him.

All Mitchie knew was that she needed to get out of that damn house. She was fucking tired of being straight when she so badly wanted something to relax her even if for just a few hours. She fucking needed it. She knew she had to wait until all the Gray's went to bed, there was no way she wanted them to come after her again. She would be blatantly disregarding their damn rules, but she didn't give a shit. She just didn't care anymore.

It was nearly five hours later that the Gray's finally went to bed and the house became quiet. After the dinner episode and Shane stomping out of her room, no one else bothered her. It became a waiting game of when she could finally sneak out and do what she so badly craved. When she was sure everyone was in bed, she pulled on a pair of shoes and a hoodie that Denise had bought her at the mall seeing as it would be fucking cold in Jersey in October. She didn't know where she would find anything, so she figured she didn't want to freeze to death while in the process of it.

When she had successfully gotten away from the house she began to run. She had no idea where, she just hoped it was in the right direction.

She didn't get distracted by the beach this time, in fact she downright ignored it. If she stopped and looked and she would never find what she was looking for. Of course she had no idea what she was looking for. Anything. Anything that could make everything just go away for a few hours.

Much to her surpise, it didn't take her long to find someone who could help her out. He was in a very well hidden alley behind a run down bar. He made her pay for what she wanted. But she didn't care, she had a little bit of money, and fortunately he took it giving her what she wanted in return. He told her not use it in that alley, but to find her own place. She didn't care where the hell she was, but it sure was a pain in the ass to have to find her own fucking place.

She was just glad that she could escape for a couple of hours.

Mitchie had no idea how the hell she had gotten into her bed. She must have stumbled her way back home. All she remembered was finding that dude behind the bar, and then taking what she wanted, and then she remembered her heart pounding so hard she thought it was going to explode right out of her chest. Damn, she must have used all of that stuff. At least her craving had been satiated.

Her head felt heavy as she lifted it up to check the time, and scoffed when she saw the luminescent number shining back at her. Nearly five in the afternoon. She grinned to herself and let her head plop back down on the pillow. But before she was able to shut her eyes and drift back to sleep, something on her window caught her attention. Scrunching her eyebrows together, she stumbled out of the bed to investigate.

What she saw made all the color drain from her face. Bars. They put fucking bars on her window. How the fuck did they even figure out she had decided to sneak out? She had been so careful! Damn it. Now she was fucking screwed.

Next thing she knew her door was being opened and Denise walked in with a firm look on her face. Mitchie scowled at her. "Why are there bars on my window?" She demanded.

Denise just raised an eyebrow. "I told you that there would be consequences for sneaking out. I have yet to figure out what to do with you for doing cocaine."

"What are you talking about?" There was no way she could have known. No way in hell.

"I am not stupid, Mitchie." She snapped, making Mitchie step back. Denise had never snapped at her before, and suddenly she was beginning to feel guilty. "You think you can just sneak back into this house at four-thirty in the morning, reeking of cocaine and think you can get away with it?" She demanded, and Mitchie gulped. "Don't you ever do drugs again and think you can just come back into this house. Next time I'll call the cops, and you'll really regret it."

Mitchie paled and felt sick. She hated the cops. Hated them with a passion. Last time she was busted with drugs she had been sent to juvie. And that was the last place she ever wanted to be again.

"You better get some sleep tonight, because tomorrow you're going to school no matter what condition you're in."

School. Yeah, this just got better and better. She was so fucked.

This was a shorter one, sorry, but I felt it needed to end there. But, next chap, Mitchie goes to school! We'll see how she handles it.

Btw, I'm four for four. You see what your reviews do to me? Keep reviewing, I'll keep writing.

P.S. Happy New Year! Hope you guys had a great 2010 and I hope you have a great 2011!