Hi everyone! Well, right at this moment I have a huge essay due for my class, but I'm stalling like crazy, so I decided why not write the next chapter? I'm really happy that everyone liked this chapter, because I was really nervous about this one. Enjoy!

Arnold let me sit in the car and cry for what seemed like hours. He took me out to dinner and tried to cheer me up. Although he did make me giggle a few times, all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and sleep forever.

I knew I was going to be ambushed my mother when I walked through the door, so I prepared myself for the flood of questions coming my way.

"How was your bonding experience?" Mom shouted from the kitchen.

Arnold gave me a look, telling me it was go time. "It was good," I said, unenthusiastically. I started walking up the stairs.

"Caressa, come on back down here. Let's chat about your day." I continued walking up the stairs, because if she saw my drenched face, she would know something happened.

"I have to…" I stalled, forgetting my lines. "Take a shower!"

"You took one this morning, didn't you?" I sighed, wondering how my mother knew what I did this morning.

"Yea, I did, but," I stuttered, "but I feel gross. I'll be down soon." I ran into my room and slammed the door, relieved I got through the first round of questions.

I turned on the shower and stepped in for the second time that day. This time, it wasn't nearly as long; all I needed to do was get rid of the evidence of crying.

As soon as I stepped out of the shower, Rob's face flashed through my mind. I grabbed my towel wrapping it around my body. Your father is a killer. I physically shook my head, trying to stop the thoughts. Your father hates you. I breathed heavily, attempting to calm myself down. He will never love you. I collapsed onto the bathroom floor as my knees gave out. I put my head between my legs and ran my fingers through my hair forcefully. You're the daughter of a killer. I began scratching at my ears, trying to make the thoughts stop. I was slowly losing control of my mind. You're just like him. I clawed at my head. I moaned, the thoughts overtaking me. You're a killer. I screamed, scratching at my head to make the thoughts stop. Murderer. I pulled at my hair and banged my head against the cabinet. "Stop," I said quietly to myself. Killer. "Stop," I said once more. Tears were falling at a rapid pace. You're a killer. "Stop. Stop. Stop!" I screamed. I grasped the counter with my sweaty hand and steadied myself into a standing position. My head had a red spot from where I'd hit it, and all along face were scratches from my nails. A knock came at the door.

"Caressa, are you okay?" It was Arnold. I didn't answer. Killer. My hands tightened on the countertop. "Caressa, what's going on? I heard something fall. Are you okay?"

Murderer. "Stop!" I yelled at myself. Arnold burst through the door.

"Caressa, what's wrong? What happened?" He yelled at me. I collapsed into his arms. "This is my fault. I should have never taken you to see him."

"See who?" My mother asked, someone now standing behind in my room. "Caressa!" She screamed, and rushed over to me. "What happened?" She asked.

Killer. I screeched loudly, trying to get some peace from the thoughts that invaded my mind. "Caressa, tell me what happened. Who did you see today?"

"Rob!" I screamed at her. "I saw Rob today!" She looked at me in surprise. "I saw Rob today and its killing me!" Mom grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into my bedroom, sitting me down on my bed.

"You!" She pointed to Arnold. "You took her to see him? This was going to be a family discussion!" She looked angrily at him.

"Stop!" I yelled. "Stop! This isn't his fault! Stop yelling at him! Please!" I put my face into my hands, feeling the scratches on my cheeks.

"Okay I'm sorry. We'll," She looked at Arnold, "Talk about this later."

When Arnold left, I spoke first. "Listen to me. I want to tell you everything that happened before you go and tell Arnold that it's his fault. Do not interrupt me. Please," I said sternly. She shook her head. "Arnold asked me today if I wanted to see Rob. Bear in mind that I have been wanting to see this guy since…forever. So immediately I said yes."

She interrupted, and I gave her a glare. "He doesn't understand Caressa. I never wanted you to talk to him. Ever."

"He understands more than you, mom!" I snapped back at her. "He never got to see his parents! And even though I hated Rob from the beginning, I wanted to see him; I have that right! Now, if you could please stop interrupting me, I could finish my damn story!" She looked away, so I continued. "Anyway, so he took me there. We went in, and he tried to touch me, but the guards held him back. He was starting to say some nasty stuff about our family, and I just kinda snapped. So I punched him and clawed at his face." She gasped. "Then, as we were both being dragged out, he started smiling and laughing, because he got the reaction he wanted for saying the stuff he said." I was now waiting for her response.

"Okay," she said quietly. "Can I ask you a question?" I nodded my head slowly. "Why are you so upset? Did you not believe me when I said that he was a terrible person?"

I stood up and got right into her face. "How do you not understand? He's my father. This is the first I've met him that I can remember and he said terrible things about us. He called me a bitch. He is a murderer." I grasped my hair, and sat down in a fetal position as the thoughts flooded my brain again. I moaned and rocked back and forth. My mom came down onto the floor.

"Listen to me, Caressa. Don't let this terrible man ruin your life. He's not worth it. He was never worth anything." She titled my chin up. "Please, don't let him do this to you. Please." I wrapped my arms around my mom, holding her tight.

My mom and dad made up after a while; she forgave him pretty quickly, so I wasn't extra upset.

Obsessive thoughts were with me every second of every single day. I would get a panic attack daily. For two weeks I couldn't go to school. When I eventually came back, it was a new trimester, and I had all new classes with new people I could loathe. I hated high school; a bunch of fake people trying to fit in, while being judged 24/7.

I walked into my first class, and sat down in the back. I had the same teacher, who I hated, and sitting in the back was the only way to avoid her stupid questions. As the kids started filing in, the tallest kid possible sat in front of me. I sighed, louder than I thought, and he turned around. "Am I bothering you?" He asked, I wasn't sure if he was being serious or not.

"No, I'm just a short ass who has a giant sitting in front of me." I smiled sarcastically, and he laughed.

"Well then, I'll sit next to you." He stood up and plopped himself next to me. I turned my head towards him. He looked away, shy. He had gorgeous short, black hair, with round gray eyes. He had black glasses framing his face, giving off a glare from the fluorescent lights.

I stared at him, longer than I should have, and he caught me. "Enjoying the view?" He asked, he himself blushing. I looked away and bit my lip, embarrassed.

When class was over, I got up quickly to avoid talking to him again. He made me so nervous; talking to guys wasn't my forte.

As I entered the next class, I sat down in the back again. "There's a seating chart," the man, who I assumed was the teacher, said. I stood up reluctantly and peered at the chart. Right in the back. I smiled to myself and sat down where I was before.

I looked up from my book, to see him walking through the door again. He looked at the seating chart and turned down the row next to me. He made eye contact and said, "So we meet again."

I laughed and said the first thing that came through my mind. "Looks like it." I sounded like an idiot.

He placed his stuff down and said, "I'm Jared."

"Caressa."

He gasped. "Like the 19th century poet?"

I looked at him, amazed. "Yeah. Most kids in high school don't know her at all. Think it's some foreign language. Idiots," I muttered.

"Indeed, high school kids are idiots. It's always nice to have intelligent friends to help you get through it. Right?" My eyes widened; he was talking about me.

"Of course," I said, sounding a little too flirty.

In the middle of class, he passed me a note. It was just a bunch of numbers. His number. He just gave me his number. I tried to act cool and looked up at him. He winked his eye, laughing, and I winked back. I giggled, louder than I thought, and the class turned towards me. Thank god the teacher is practically deaf. I ripped off a small piece of my paper and wrote my number down. I slipped it onto his desk, without looking at him.

At lunchtime, I sat down with my usual group of friends. And walking towards us was Jared. I held my breath. "Hello, ladies." They all looked at him. "Sorry to disturb you, but I need to steal your dear friend Caressa away from you for a few minutes." My face went red. I got up, without taking comments and questions from my friends, and walked away with Jared. "Sorry to steal you away from your friends."

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's okay; they're annoying anyway." After a minute of wandering, I asked, "Where are we going?"

"The library; want to show you something." I followed him through the library doors. Our school had a huge library, filled to the brim with every book one can imagine.

He took my hand unexpectedly and whispered, "Close your eyes." I looked at him with weary eyes, and then shifted them shut. He led me for quite some time, before releasing my hand. "Alright open."

I opened my eyes, looking around confused. "It's the poetry section…"

"You don't have to whisper, this is the farthest section from the evil woman at the front desk. And I wanted to show you something." He grabbed a book off the shelf and gave it to me.

I smiled. "Written by Caressa Faith." I looked up at him and giggled. "How did you find this?"

"I see it all the time. This corner is great to take girls and make out." This made us both burst out laughing.

"Thank you," I said quietly. When I looked up, he was closer than he was before, looking at my lips intently. I looked at his eyes and his lips. He leaned his face in. I nodded my head in approval and we let our lips meet. He put both of his hands on the bookshelf behind me and I locked my arms around his waist. I had never truly "made-out" with a person before, so it was different. He led me with his lips and took control. I slid down the book shelf and he sat down and pulled me into his lap. He put his hands around my hips and I wrapped my hands on the back of his neck. His glasses fell off and his lips curved into a smile. We pulled away, catching our breaths. He leaned his forehead onto mine as we stared at each other, hungry for more. We both giggled before I pulled his lips back to mine.

We were startled by the bell ringing. He stood up and straightened his jacket before pulling me up with his hand. As we were walking out, I asked, "What do you have next?"

"Chemistry," he said.

"Same here." My heart fluttered.

We sat down next to each other in the back lab table. We didn't speak. While the teacher was lecturing us on behavior in her classroom, his hand wrapped around mine. I turned my head up slightly and he gave a slight smirk. I laughed and held his hand tighter.

Chemistry was our last class of the day. We walked out and stopped at the front of the school. "Wanna come over?" He asked innocently. "My parents are at work."

My heart skipped a beat. "Sure," I said coolly. He took my hand and led me to his car. I had no clue what brand it was, but it looked fancy.

He opened the passenger door and held his hand out. "For you, miss."

I laughed. "Why thank you kind gentleman."

What are you doing? You barely know this guy! He could be a rapist, luring you to his house! I shook my head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. He's a nice guy. This is what high school kids are supposed to be doing. I put on a smile.

I whipped out my phone and texted Arnold, "Will be back l8. Going to a friend's house." He tested back, "Okay."

"So, I never even bothered to ask," he said, breaking the silence. "What grade are you in?"

I laughed at the thought that we were sucking each other's faces, and we don't even the others grade. "I'm a junior. You?"

"Senior," he said back.

My heart dropped. "Oh," I whispered.

"What do you mean, "oh"? Who cares," he said.

"We're not the same age. This," I pointed between us with my finger, "Could never-"

He interrupted me. "Of course. That one year gap is undefeatable." He looked towards me and smiled. "What does it matter?"

"Well," I began. "You'll be going to college next year. I would still be stuck in this hell hole," I rolled my eyes.

"Does that mean we couldn't stay being friends? Or whatever the relationship status we have right now?"

"I guess we could; it would be hard though," I said, defeated.

"I'll take that chance," he said, eyes still on road, but he was smiling.

I looked out the window and saw the huge houses; not houses, mansions. He drove into a driveway, put a key into a box near the gate, and went in. From the road, his house wasn't noticeable. Up close, it was hard to miss. It looked like a house that a celebrity lived in. He parked the car in the driveway and opened my door again.

"This house is gorgeous," I said, quiet enough that he didn't hear me.

"Could you pull the key out of my jacket pocket?" My eyebrows furrowed at him. "My hands are a little full," He said, gesturing to his backpack in one arm and books in the other.

"Fine," I said sarcastically. I slowly reached into his pocket, and grasped the keys, his eyes on me the whole time. Blood rushed to my cheeks. "Want me to open the door, your majesty?"

He smirked. "That would be wonderful."

The door clicked open and a huge staircase came into view. "Huge place you got here."

"Don't judge me based on my house. My parents are pretentious people, so don't listen to them. I'm nothing like them."

I nodded my head while my eyes continued flickering everywhere, soaking in all the details to the gorgeous room.

I followed him up the stairs and into what I assumed was his bedroom. I'm in his bedroom. My heart began racing.

"How about," he said, "We watch a movie? I really am not in the mood for homework."

"That is just fine with me," I said, not wanting to do homework either. He grabbed a laptop off his desk and lay down on his bed.

I sat down next to him. He somehow gravitated closer to me, centimeters away from touching my bare skin. He shifted his body so our arms were rubbing together.

He put on a movie that I couldn't recognize. He told me the name of it, but I was far too nervous about being in a boy's room. Never once had this happened before. He set the laptop down on both our laps and was quickly engaged in it.

The plot was interesting, and soon I was watching intently. I could feel his eyes set on me. I turned my head slowly. "Watcha looking at?" I asked, scared that there was something on my face.

"Just enjoying the view," he said, seeming all too used to being smooth with girls.

I stared at him. Without thinking, my hands came up and removed his glasses. "There," I said, placing them on the bed. "I like seeing your eyes." I was surprised at my own forwardness.

He looked away, his cheeks turning pink. I lifted my hand up and titled his head toward me. I grasped the back of his head and pulled it to mine. It felt so natural to be kissing him. He moved his legs and wrapped them in between mine. He pushed the laptop off his lap and pulled my hips on top of his. My legs wrapped around his waist, so he sat up, pulling me into his lap. I ran my fingers through his hair. He grabbed my waist and pulled me closer. His hands cupped my face and he kissed me more intensely. He lay down so I moved my legs and lay down on top of his chest. He rolled so I was under him now, his arms next to my head supporting his own weight. I don't know what overcame me, but I wanted more of him. I pulled his waist down to mine so he was lying on top of me. He kissed my neck slowly, running up and down, giving me the chills. He pulled off my jacket, throwing it aside. I began tugging at his jacket, before I stopped and rolled off of him.

"I can't do this," I said, quietly. "I'm sorry, I can't." I couldn't have sex with a guy the first day I met him.

"Understandable," he said, trying to catch his breath. "I wouldn't have let it get that far. It was fun, though." he turned his head towards, his face red.

I laughed. "It was." He leaned his head in and gave me a quick peck. "I need to use the ladies room. Which way?"

"Just through that door," He said, pointing to the door outside his room.

I tip toed out, and entered the bathroom. I splashed my face with water. When he knows the real you, he's not going to like you anymore. You're the daughter of a murderer. I shook my head. You're the daughter of a killer. I clasped my ears shut. Killer. I dropped to the ground, hugging my legs close to my body. Don't do this here. Don't do this here. I tried to stop the tears, but they wouldn't subside. Murderer. I lost my anger and punched the cabinet. Footsteps ran to the door.

"Caressa, are you okay?" I didn't respond. "Did you hear me? Are you okay?" Killer. I moaned loudly, trying to make the pictures and thoughts stop. "If you don't answer in three seconds I'm coming in!" I held my head tightly. "Unlock the door; please!" He asked, concern in his voice. The lock on the door clicked open and Jared was standing in the doorway. His mouth dropped open. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" He came down to my level. "Are you sick? What's wrong Caressa. Please tell me." I started crying. Murderer.

He wrapped his arms around my back and legs and lifted me up. "I'm sorry," I said between cries. He held me closer, before laying me down on his bed.

"Don't be sorry," he said, sounding extremely worried. He stroked my head. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Once I tell you, you're not going to want to be with me anymore," I looked away, guilty.

"No, don't say that. Please, don't say that. Nothing you can say will change anything," he wiped the tears off my cheeks. "You don't have to tell me if you're not ready."

I sucked in a huge breath, and began. "My biological father and mother had me together, and eventually split up. They got back together a few years later, but when they were pregnant with their second child, my mom caught him cheating on her. So, she told him to get out of her house. Then, my step-dad, Arnold, comforted her and they fell in love. They knew each other from childhood. A few days later my biological came and beat my mom, trying to kill her and the babies. She was pregnant with twins, and he killed one in the womb. From the beating, the second child was born with a stomach condition and died a few months after his birth." I started crying again.

"Why would that change the way I feel about you?" He kissed me on my forehead.

"I'm the daughter of a murderer," I said sternly. I buried my face into my hands.

He took them away and made me look at him. "Caressa, nothing you say will make my feelings change. Don't ever think that." He held my head to his chest. I steadied my breathing to his heartbeat.

Without thinking, I began talking again. "I get panic attacks every day. I'm always thinking about him," I paused. "But when I am with you, I can stop thinking about it for once. Thank you." I looked away, feeling bashful.

He squeezed me tighter. "No problem. It's no trouble at all," He said, kissing the top of my head.

Jared drove me home. "Thank you," I said. "For everything."

I was about to leave when he said, "Hey, I'll see you in class tomorrow." I smiled slightly before sitting back in the car and kissing him passionately. "Do you have to go?" He said between kisses.

I sighed. "Yes, my parents will kill me if I don't come home." He held my wrist, giving me puppy-dog eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow." I kissed his hand and walked up the driveway.

I was on cloud nine as I walked into the house.

"Hey sweetie!" Mom called from Aurora's room. "How was your day?"

"It was really good!" I yelled back at her.

"Good to hear!" She said. She hadn't seen or heard me be happy in weeks, so she was probably thrilled.

I flopped down onto my bed. The day had been perfect, despite having a panic attack.

He likes me for me, and that's all I've ever wanted.

Author here! So, I couldn't do a whole chapter devoted to Caressa telling Helga, so I decided to give Caressa a love life. I mentioned a boyfriend in the epilogue to this story, so gave him a name and a purpose. I really love Jared, so tell me what you think! Leave me suggestions and thank you for everything!

BTW Caressa has developed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I have this mental illness, so writing about it wasn't too hard!

The relationship between Caressa and Jared is going really quickly, I know. They're teenagers though and teens do some crazy stuff! It's not different from a lot of our high school experiences!