Chapter 3

Katie was walking to the dance studio that she usually went to after school. In her mind, any place was better than home. Although, she'd never admit that to anyone. She changed into her usual dance clothes, and got to work with practicing. She let herself relax and fall into the rhythm. After a few hours of that, she finished her homework at the studio and began to walk home in the rain. She let out a sigh of relief when she noticed her dad's truck was gone. She let herself into the house, took a shower, ate dinner and went to bed.

The next morning, she grabbed her things for school and walked downstairs to see her father sleeping on the couch. She breathed a sigh of relief and made her way to school. When she got there, she noticed Jason sitting at their table flirting with a girl… Which meant if she walked over he'd get mad. She sighed and sat at the end of the table to think to herself. She heard someone sit across from her but said nothing.

"So do you always sit by yourself?" Came that annoyingly familiar voice. She groaned as she looked up to see Alex and Chris sitting across from her. Alex wore his stupid smirk and Chris smiled softly.

"What do two football players want with me?" She asked as she tried to think of any reason the two would continue to bother her like this. She closed her eyes as Alex made excuses. "Look Alex, I don't want to hear it," She stated as she stood up. She felt herself glare towards Jason. Originally, he was supposed to pick her up for school this morning, walking the two and a half miles was not fun. She grabbed the table as her legs shook slightly. "Great," She grumbled as she sighed. Kate decided to walk towards class anyways.

"Ugh… This is impossible," Alex growled. "Why'd you have to choose the one girl that won't want anything to do with me?" Chris just smirked.

"If you didn't have such a huge ego, this wouldn't be a problem. You could just forget about her and go back to dating random girls," Chris stated with a shrug of his shoulders. Alex glared at Chris and stomped off. "That just proves my point even more," He sighed to himself before walking off to class as well.

After suffering through a day of school. Katie was more than willing to just go home. And of course it was raining, she glanced over at Jason to see him offering the same girl from earlier a ride home. "Guess I'm walking," She stated with a sigh. She pulled her backpack onto her back and walked out into the rain. As she made her way across the parkinglot, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. "Do you need a ride home?" She looked up to see Alex looking down at her.

"Why are you offering?" She asked confused.

"I'm trying to make up for freshman year," He told her with a kind smile. She sighed but nodded.

"That would be really nice," Kate told him softly. Alex smiled and walked her to his car. She walked over to the passenger side of his car and sat down. He turned on the heat and she gave him the directions to her house and smiled as Alex drove her home. "Thanks Alex," She smiled as she got out.

Katie walked into the house, just to find her father drunk and angry. He never purposely hit her, but when he was angry he would throw things around. She bit her lip as he threw a broken glass bottle. She moved out of the way, or at least she thought she did. She winced as the glass cut her right cheek, and ran out the door to avoid getting hurt worse. She slammed the door shut and slid down it.

"Hey… Why'd you come back out?" Alex asked as he walked over to her. She looked up and he gently ran his finger over where she was bleeding. "What happened?" He asked quietly.

"It's… Nothing," She whispered as more crashing came from inside. "He doesn't mean it… He just throws things when he's mad," She admitted. Alex pulled her up and pulled her gently back to his car. "Whe… Where are we going?"

"My house. I'm not going to try anything. I just want you to stay until it stops raining," He explained with a hopeful look on his face. Katie nodded and stared out the window as Alex pulled out of her driveway. About fifteen minutes later, they were pulling into his driveway and parked. "Come on," He stated softly as he lead her to his front door. He led her to the couch and the two sat. "How often does he get like that?"

She covered her face and refused to answer. She didn't want to admit that he was like that a lot. It was already hard enough to come home to him like that… She didn't want to have to admit it too. "I'm guessing a lot," He stated softly while reaching over to touch her shoulder lightly. She looked up at him just to look away shyly.

"Yeah," She stated softly. Alex glanced over and bit his lip.

"I'm sorry," He whispered softly. She looked back at him and gave him a broken smile.

"Not your fault," She stated with a sigh. Alex pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back.

Katie hugged back and the only thought in mind: Maybe he's not some mindless football jock.