One look at David and I could tell that he was pissed. He looked like he had been sucking on lemons all day. I don't understand why he was so upset. It's not like I was about to sleep with Freddie, we just started being Sam and Freddie.

"Sorry to interrupt your little rondevu, but Freddie get to your room, now," David yelled.

Freddie practically ran to his room, I guess he isn't used to not getting hit every time an adult yells at him.

"Samantha what do you think you were doing with that boy in your room, when no one was here?"

"We're in a relationship," I stated.

"Who gave you permission to date," he asked.

That seemed to set me off, "What gives you the right to say who I can see."

"I am your father; you will date when I say you can date."

"No you lost that right when you left me!"

"I didn't leave you," he said softly.

"Then what do you call it, huh? You walked out the door and you never came back. Do you know what that did you her? She couldn't handle it. You're the reason my life was hell for the past eleven years. I cried myself to sleep every night for a year, hoping that you would come back for me. So don't stand there and pretend that you were ever a father to me," I shouted to him and then I ran out of the room.

At first I planned on stopping once I reached downstairs, but I couldn't. My body took over and I kept running. It started to burn, but I wasn't far enough yet. Everything around me started to blur. I had didn't know where I was going, nor did I care. Eventually the burning in my lungs became too unbearable, so I stopped.

Hunched over with my hands on my knees and breathing hard, I started to think about my life. And the crappy hand I was dealt.


The only light around me seemed to be the street lights, but I managed to find a bench to sit on. I sat there for about an hour, just reminiscing about my mother, before David left her. She was so happy back then, and she cared about life. I can still remember her singing me to sleep every single night, which was probably my favorite time of the day. But then David ruined it all, by leaving. He was so selfish to just pick up everything and leaving. I was such a stupid little kid to think that he would come back for me.

David knew my mother wasn't strong enough to handle him leaving her. We were only the family she ever had. It tore her up to see him walk out the door and never come back, and then the wedding invitation was the icing on the frigging cake.


Finally I had enough of sitting outside, I tried to figure out a way to get home, but I had no idea where to go. I was new to Seattle and its many streets.

I gave up and decided to call someone who I knew would help me, Freddie. I was nervous to call him at first, but then I realized how irrational I was being and dialed his number. It rang a few times before he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Frednub it's me. I know its short notice, but would you mind coming to get me. I'm kind of lost."

"Sam, Oh God, sure where are you," he sounded like he was panicking.

"I really don't know," I answered honestly.

"Of course you don't Puckett," he said jokingly as he started to calm down. "I meant what's surrounding you, so I can try and find you."

"Whatever Benson; The only light around me are a few street lights."

"What else, I'm going to need a little bit more than that Sam, if you want to get home tonight."

"Umm there is also a smoothie shop, called the Groovy Smoothie."

"I know just where you are, Go to the smoothie shop and I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Okay, see you in fifteen," I said.

I walked over to the smoothie shop and was a little hesitant to go in at first, but quickly got over the fear when I noticed how dark it was outside. The inside was decorated with bright colors. Everywhere I turned, there seemed to be a splash of neon colors. I liked the way it was decorated, but it was a little too bright for my touch, though it did seem to give off a cheery vibe.

I looked around and saw that some of the tables were full, so I picked the table in the corner that could fit two people and waited for Freddie. I just listened to the sounds around me, from the other conversations.

Then a man approached me wearing the Groovy Smoothie logo on the front of his shirt.

"Can I get you a smoothie," he asked.

"No not yet, I'm waiting for someone."

"Oh so just because you're waiting, you can't drink a smoothie," he asked indifferently.

"N-n-no it's just that I wanted to wait for him to get here," I tried to explain.

"Sure you are," he said as if he were suspicious of me.

After he left, I put my head on the table to avoid anymore more unnecessary encounters. The time seemed to pass slowly, but I refused to raise my head. I was not in the mood to be questioned again.

I heard the door jingle, signaling that someone had entered, but I paid little attention to it. Then someone tapped me on the shoulder and I assumed it was the smoothie guy, so I pretended to be asleep. The person continued to tap my shoulder, and I continued to ignore them. Finally the person stopped, and I was a bit excited.

"You know it is a bit rude to ignore people," Freddie said.

I picked up my head and stared at him.

"They also say that it's rude to stare at people," he said with a smirk.

"You know you could have told me that it was you taping me on the shoulder," I said ignoring his earlier comments.

"Yeah, but it seemed more fun to watch you pretend to be asleep," he countered.

"They say watching someone sleep is the gateway to stalking," I said jokingly.

He laughed a bit before responding, "Good one Princess Puckett."

"Why thank you nub."

"Nub," he said questioningly.

"I was too lazy to say the full name," I responded.

"Lets get some smoothies and then we can talk in private," he said suddenly serious.

"I'd like that."

We walked toward the counter and I noticed that the smoothie guy from earlier, was working behind the counter, but he had a stick in his hand, with pickles on it. Freddie went to order first and got a strawberry splat. When it was my turn, I looked at the menu and got the simplest thing that I could find, which ended up being the blueberry blitz.

"Can I offer you a pickle on a stick," he offered me when I finished ordering.

"No thank you, the smoothie is all."

"So now you're too good for pickles and smoothies," he asked.

"No, I just don't think it would taste too great together."

"No-no you have a problem with pickles," he said getting feisty.

Freddie stepped in and I was so grateful for that.

"T-bow, leave her alone. She doesn't want the pickle," he said calmly.

"My bad Freddie, I didn't know that she was with you."

"Its okay, this is Sam, by the way," Freddie said gesturing to me.

"Hey Sam, I'll go make those smoothies right now."

Once T-bow was out of ear shot I turned to Freddie to ask him about what just happened. But he seemed to understand what I was about to ask.

"When I first moved to settle, this is where I would spend all my time. I would sit in the corner and think. Eventually I became friends with T-bow, he's just a little crazy."

"Oh, I can see why you would come here."

"Here are your smoothies," T-bow said.

"Thanks," Freddie and I said in unison.

We walked out the door, hand in hand, and started to walk home. We stopped at a park not to far from the Groovy Smoothie, and sat on the swings.

"Talk to me Sam, why did you run away from the house," he asked.

"You're probably going to think its stupid, but I had my reasons," I said, while looking down at my shoes.

"Nothing you can say would be stupid," he said encouragingly.

"After you left the room, David went on about how I need his to permission to date and how he's my dad and he says when I can and can't date. Then I said that he lost all parental control over me, when he left us."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but what happened to your mom. What was your life like before you came here," he asked innocently.

"I don't mind telling you, you did tell me about your past and your mom."

"I didn't tell you, so that you would feel obligated to tell me everything. I told you because I trust you."

I felt a lump form in my throat, when he said that he trusted me. I don't trust people very easily, because of David, but with Freddie I wasn't afraid to tell him about my past.

"I used to live in Northport, its just a few hours from here. It was my mom, David, and I. I can remember the fun times we would have together. Going to the park, rolling skating and the snowball fights were the best. And at night my mom would sing me to sleep, while brushing my hair. I used to love when she would come in at night, because I knew what was next," I started to sniffle.

"Then one night, when I was about six years old, my mom didn't come in to sing me to sleep. David said it was because she was sick. So I thought nothing of it and sang to myself. Then the next night, he said that she was sick again. Something didn't seem right to me because, in my six year old mind, my mom was invincible. That entire week my mom was supposedly sick, and I didn't believe it. Then after a month of her being sick, I walked into her room at night and I saw her with a needle in her hand. I didn't understand what was going on, so I went to ask David and he said that she is having some problems and that we had to stay strong for her."

I guess I started to cry in the middle of my speech, because I felt Freddie wipe his thumb across my cheek.

"After a year of my mom being sick, David left. He told me that he would come back for me, but he never did. I cried myself to sleep every night for a year, wishing that my Dad would come back and get me."

"So what happened to your mom," Freddie asked.

"At seven I had to take care of her and myself. By the time I reached high school, I hated her. She only cared about herself. She never really loved me, because if she did she would have stopped doing the drugs. She was the reason I didn't have any clothes or food. She spent majority of the welfare we got, on drugs. She was the reason kids picked on me. She was the reason; the teachers gave me pitiful looks every time I went home. I would come home from school and find her passed out from the drugs. I had to wear the same clothes for days at a time and then hand wash them. I don't know how she kept the power on for that long, but I really don't care," my voice was void of any emotions.

Freddie pulled me off of my swing and sat me on his lap, so that he could just hold me. I seemed to have molded perfectly into his body. He felt nice and warm, and he smelled like cinnamon. We stayed there for a little while, until I felt like talking again. Once I started talking to Freddie, I became addicted to it. It felt nice to talk and to know the person who listened really cared about what I had to say.

"When I was in ninth grade, David and Jennifer sent us a wedding invitation, and I just stopped feeling. I was numb and I liked it, because then I felt no pain or anything in the world around me. He knew where I was and didn't come save me or try and reach out to me. My only focus became school and I was good at it. I threw myself into my school work and locked out the rest of the world. My mom and I didn't even talk to one another, by the time I was a junior. She tried to reach out to me, but I had so much anger towards her, that she just gave up on trying. All I wanted was for us to be a family again, before she started doing drugs."

"Sam I am so sorry that you had to deal with that all on your own," Freddie said.

"It's not like it was your fault," I said while bringing my had to his face.

"By my senior year, my mom's problem had escalated and I refused to be around her. She tried to stop; years of drug abuse had damaged her body. I guess she realized that I shouldn't have to deal with that type of crap, and decided to send me away to live with David. Ironically I cried when she tried to send me to live with David, I actually wanted to stay with her. Two days before I left, she have me this ring," I said while getting the ring from under my shirt.

"I cried when she gave it to me, she told me that she loved me and I told her that I loved her back. It was the first time I had said it since I was about eight years old. I sang her to sleep that night and she never woke up. She died in my arms that night," I said.