Hey everyone! Who is super excited to meet Patrick in this story? I know I am :) So in this chapter we start to see that Sam is trying to change her ways. Time has passed. A year to be exact. Sam is fifteen now. Hope you enjoy the chapter! Please comment and review :)

~Wallflower95

1 year later...

5

Pearly Dewdrops Drop

A year has gone by and everything still seems the same. Except for me and Jacey. We haven't spoken to each other in 365 days, 2 hours, 5 minutes and 28 seconds. I've been counting this whole time. Since then she has dated nearly every boy in the school and since then I have dropped down into the 'unpopular category'. I was no longer Samantha Dutton the slut. I was nobody. But I didn't seem to mind. I have tried to change. About eight months ago I had gone to a school party. I had gotten really drunk, so drunk that I blacked out. Turns out I had slept with some 11th grade guy that I didn't even know. When I woke up I told myself that I was wasting my life. There was no where for me to go if I continued this. So, I've quit being the class slut.

This year, I met two new girls in my grade. Alice and Mary Elizabeth. Alice is petite, blonde and wears a lot of black. Mary Elizabeth is into punk rock music and she is obsessed with The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And they have become my best friends. They have been helping me give up my old life. I've been trying to find something. I don't know what but I'm sure I'll know what I'm looking for when I find it.

Grade 10. It seems so different. It always surprises me how fast time could move. Just last year I was screwing around and doing nothing. I may have changed my way but there was something still nagging at my mind. Something deep inside of me. Was it it still that night that haunted me every moment? No. I would carry that moment with me for the rest of my life. Was it the fact that Jacey no longer talked to me? I'm not sure. Jacey and I used to be good friends. She's the one who introduced me to the world of drinking, drugs and sex. I'm not sure. All I know is that I am missing something in life.

I am sitting at my workshop bench with Alice and Mary Elizabeth. Alice is reading some book of poems and Mary Elizabeth is listening to her walkmen. The sound is really loud and her head is bobbing to the beat.

"Remind me why we're taking this class." She practically shouted. I smiled. I like Alice and Mary Elizabeth. There the kind of girls who just don't give a shit what you think about them. Mary Elizabeth has a lot of piercings and the most absurd outfits. Her hair is different too. It's kind of a dark brown, almost black. She has a dyed red streak on one side of her head, the other side is shaved short while dyed side is longer. Alice wears a lot of black makeup. I bet she'd be a completely different person if she wasn't wearing that makeup.

"We need it for school credits." I said.

"Lame." Alice said from behind her book. The teacher walked into the room. His name is Mr. Callahan is our woodshop teacher. He started in the middle of the semester after our last woodshop teacher, Mr. Jenner, had an accident in class. He's in his 30's or 40's. Everyone likes to make fun of his almost goatee. He's been growing that thing out since he got here and it's barely made an appearance.

"Alright class, who's ready to make something fun today?" There were a couple of coughs. I even heard a groan from the back. Everyone was pretty much uninterested in this project. He smiled and nodded.

"Fantastic, let's begin." He said with a smile. Someone, a boy walked into the class.

"Sorry I'm late. Had to take a piss." The boy said with a huge smile on his face. He has dark hair and he's pretty tall for a 10th grader. He's wearing a button down plaid shirt, blue jeans and ratty looking shoes. Mr. C rolled his eyes. I stifled a laugh.

"Language Mr. Kellner." He sighed.

"Alright Mr. C." The boy strutted over to an empty seat and sat down. He's a knew kid. Just started at the beginning of the year. His name is Patrick Kellner. Word is he moved here with his dad after his dad got promoted. No mention of a mom. He's very popular in the school. Everyone thinks he's hilarious. Me? He just seems like all the other boys in the 10th grade. Mr. Callahan clapped his hands together.

"Okay class, today we are making birdhouses." Another round of groans went around the room. In the front I can see Jacey's newest boyfriend, Jake Hall, rubbing her leg with his hand. She showing off that glossy lipped smile of hers. I peel my eyes away from the disgusting show of affection. Mary Elizabeth saw me looking.

"Pathetic." She muttered, eyeing them. I nodded. Patrick raised his hand. Mr. Callahan sighed.

"Yes Patrick, what is it now?" Patrick has become a nuisance in this class and poor Mr. Callahan has to deal with it.

"Will we be needing wood for this project, Mr. C?" Mr. Callahan blinked a few times and then stared at Patrick.

"Of course, Patrick." He said in an exasperated tone. Patrick smiled. Oh no. He fell for the classic woodshop joke every guy pulls.

"Great. Cause I brought my own!" He stood up on his chair and I swear to God he had the world's biggest erection. The whole room erupted in laughter. All the girls were pointing and the boys were practically falling out of their chairs. Patrick had his arms raised with a proud smile on his face. Mary Elizabeth shook her head.

"How unoriginal can you get?" She said. I laughed. Poor Mr. Callahan. It's the first time the guys have pulled this trick on him and he didn't know how to respond. Basically class ended right then and there.

Things have drastically improved for me at school. My grades are getting better, I have friends that I like and trust. I'm not the girl I used to be. I wish things could change at home. Mom still works full time. Dad is still a drunken lazy ass. I wish that could improve. I had the key to the front door ready in my hand and that's when I noticed the door was already open. I frowned and then I had a terrible thought.

What if we were robbed. I swallowed nervously. I could feel my heart beating in my chest. I pushed the door open slowly. It creaked loudly. I winced at the sound.

"Hello?" I called out. Shards of my mother's favorite vase were strewn across the floor. I painted that vase for her when I was ten. I stepped inside and something cracked beneath my weight. It was a picture of all of us on the lake trip we took all those years ago. We looked like completely different people back then.

"Mom? Dad?" I called out. I grabbed the broomstick that was leaning against the wall and I held it up to defend myself against the robbers. The hallway was completely trashed.

"Hello?" There was a crash from the kitchen. They were still here. I looked around. Where the hell is the phone? Then I heard a voice. A voice I recognized. I walked into the kitchen. My mother was on the ground. She had a cut on the side of her head, my dad stood in front of her with a broken beer bottle in his hand.

"You stupid bitch!" He yelled. He threw the bottle. It smashed into pieces against the wall and he grabbed mom by the shirt and pulled her towards him.

"Why'd you trash all my alcohol you cunt?" I flinched. My father has always been against that word. He said it would never be used under this roof. But, then again my father has never really kept his word. My mom had a determined look on her face. He threw onto the ground and kicked at her side. She screamed out in pain.

"Stop!" I yelled. My dad turned to look at me.

"Samantha..." My mom gasped. My mom looked terrified. I've never seen her look this way.

"It's okay. Just go sweetie. Go somewhere with your friends." She said in a calm tone. I shook my head. I was gripping the broomstick tightly. My knuckles were white. My dad glared at me.

"Listen to your mother." He said. I shook my head.

"I'm not leaving her here with you." I snapped. He walked towards me. I backed up into the wall. I no longer saw my father. I saw a monster. He smacked the broom out of hand. It clattered to the ground.

"Get you of here, bitch." I glared up at him.

"No." It happened so fast. He smacked me across the face. I cried out and fell to the ground with my hand on my cheek. It was like fire against the face.

"Sam!" My mom cried out. He turned around and went back towards my mom. I saw her back into the wall. Fear in her eyes. I glared at his retreating figure. I will not let this continue. I am tired of being scared of him. I'm tired of being in pain. I'm tired of him hurting her. I stood up and ran towards him, tackling him to the ground.

"Leave us alone!" I screamed as hit and punched. But he was stronger. He threw me aside and started kicking me. My mother was screaming and crying and trying to get him off of me. It wasn't the pain that hurt me. It was the fact that it was my dad. The man who raised me and helped me with school work. The one who said he loved me. It was the fact that he was causing this pain that hurt me the most.

There was a commotion and the next thing I knew my mom was looking down at me and stroking my face. I saw several people in black uniforms wrestling my dad to the ground. Cops. A female cop crouched next to us.

"You two okay?" She asked. My mom nodded. The cop explained to us that neighbors heard the fighting and called them. The cops dragged my dad out the door.

"Where are they taking him?" I asked.

"He is being arrested for spouse and child abuse. He'll have to do time." The cop said. An ambulance arrived and took us away. As I was settling down in the ambulance, I saw my dad looking out the window of the police car. He was staring out at us. I wonder if he feels regret. That was the last time I ever saw him.

Once we were patched up and sent on our way, we went back home. Neither of us could sleep in the house after that so we took what we needed and headed down to mom's sister's house which was a few blocks away. I couldn't sleep that night. I laid there in bed, staring at the ceiling. I could hear Aunt Nora's and mom's muffled voices in the next room.

"I just don't know what to do now." I heard. The truth is... no one knows what to do after that. Beside me on the table was a record player. I sat up and winced. There was a sharp pain in my side. I ignored it and reached down for the stack of records. I chose one labeled 'Pearly Dewdrops Drop' by the Cocteau Twins. I don't know why I chose it. Maybe I just liked the name of the song. I put it on the player and let it spin. I laid there on the bed, closed my eyes and breathed slowly, listening to the lyrics.

'We'll be sold when Roddy

Comes for pearly dewdrops drop

Weeks in our company

Cups of pearly dewdrops drop'

I couldn't explain it but I just just felt... at peace listening to the song. It was as if I was no longer in my body. It was like I was drifting off somewhere else. Somewhere where you could find pearly dewdrops.

'We'll be sold to Roddy, sold to Roddy

Comes for pearly dewdrops drop

We'll be sold to Roddy, sold to Roddy

Tis the lucky, lucky, penny, penny, penny

Buys the pearly to their souls

I can't explain it but I'm sure you'll understand the feeling when you find that one song. That one song that makes you feel alive.