"Thank God this project is almost over with," Nick says as he stretches his arms over his head a couple days later. "I won't have to hang out with you anymore."

Demi rolls her eyes. "And here I thought we were just starting to be friends."

Nick laughs. "Friends? Me and you? Are you fucking kidding me? Thanks for the laugh."

"Then why were you talking to me like you cared about what I had to say?"

"I'm me. I don't care. I don't care about you, or your dead brother, or your father, or your pathetic life. I figure since we have to work together, we should try to get along. But as soon as this project is over and done with, I'm done with you, got it?"

Demi closes her eyes for a second.

"Oh, my God, don't start crying." Nick rolls his eyes that time and grabs his book off the table. "Like I said. Pathetic." He grabs his book bag off the floor and walks out the door.

Bella barks and jumps up onto Demi's lap. She puts her paws on Demi's stomach and licks her face.

Demi smiles and kisses Bella's head. "Thanks, girl. I needed that."

"Yo, Nick!" Taylor calls the next morning.

Nick turns around. "Yo. Did you just get back from Florida?"

Taylor nods. "Yeah."

"How was it?"

"Let's just say, I didn't leave the hotel room at all." He winks at Nick. "So, I hear you met a girl. She hot?"

Nick rolls his eyes. "Have you been talking to Zac?"

"Yep. He says she's been keeping you up. Damn, she must be a good fuck. Anyway, are you skipping school today?"

Nick shakes his head. "I can't skip anymore or I'm going to be expelled."

"Sucks, dude. Oh, well. Bye!" He walks the other way.

Nick rolls his eyes as he walks the rest of the way to school. He sees Demi at her locker and goes out of his way to bump into her as he walks past.

"Sorry," he apologizes, a smug smile on his face, clearly indicating that he isn't sorry at all. "Watch where you're standing, nerd."

Demi looks at him for a second before turning back to her locker. She grabs the few books she needs, shuts her locker, and walks off.

Nick stares after her before walking to his own locker.

"How's your project coming, Demi ?" Mrs. Lawson asks a little bit later.

Demi glances up from her book. She looks at Nick and shrugs. "We're almost done."

"Yeah, thank God," Nick adds.

Demi goes back to reading her book. Nick balls up a piece of paper and throws it at her. The other kids in the class laugh. Demi's face gets red but she doesn't look at Nick. She just continues to read.

"You're early," Demi comments later that night, her hand over her midsection.

Nick looks at her stomach. "And you're bleeding." He pulls her arms away from her body. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Demi starts.

Nick sighs heavily. "Your dad did this, didn't he?"

"No," Demi replies, not looking at Nick's face.

Nick sighs once more and knows she's lying but doesn't press the subject. "Let's get you cleaned up, okay?"

Demi nods and walks to the bathroom. She opens the door to her bedroom first and a Yorkshire terrier comes trotting out. "This is Bella."

Bella sniffs at Nick and licks his hand.

"She likes you," Demi comments as she grabs a bandage from the bathroom closet. "She doesn't like many people." She reaches up to grab the peroxide but cries out in pain.

"Here," Nick offers, "let me." He grabs it off the shelf and pours some onto a cotton ball. "Lift up your shirt."

Demi looks at Nick and shakes her head.

"You have to. I can't help you if you don't."

Demi shakes her head again, vehemently this time.

"Come on, Dem." Nick moves one hand down to the bottom of her shirt and starts pulling it up.

"Stop!" Demi cries, pushing Nick away from her forcefully. She starts to cry. "Please don't."

Nick frowns. "Demi," he says quietly. Then his eyes widen when he realizes something. "What does your dad do to you?"

"Please don't," Demi says again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please don't."

"Demi." Nick kneels down in front of her. "Hey. It's me. It's Nick. Your dad isn't here, okay? It's okay. I'm not going to...hurt you. I just need to clean that cut so it doesn't get infected. All right?"

Demi opens her eyes and looks at Nick, her tears subsiding.

"I promise I'm not going to hurt you." He reaches for the bottom of her shirt again. "Okay?"

Demi nods and lets Nick lift her shirt up a little. Nick stares at all of the scars that cover Demi's stomach. He looks up at Demi.

She looks away from him. "My home life isn't exactly perfect," she says quietly. "Though I guess you already realized that."

Nick swallows a little, not sure what to say, and presses the cotton ball against Demi's fresh cut. She winces and sucks in a sharp breath.

"Sorry," Nick apologizes. He grabs the bandage off of the sink and puts it over the cut. He stands up. "All better."

Demi puts her shirt down and looks at Nick. "I don't get you."

"What do you mean?"

"One day you act like you hate me, the next you're helping me out." Demi shrugs. "I don't get you."

"Look, don't get used to it, all right? Tomorrow at school, I go right back to hating you."

"Let me guess. You don't want to get laughed at, right?"

"Yeah, kind of."

Demi pushes past Nick. "Let's just finish this project. Five more months, and I'm out of here."

"What do you mean?"

"After graduation," she says, turning around to face Nick, "I'm out of here. I don't where I'm going but I'm getting as far away from this town, and the people in it, as I possibly can."

"Do you really hate it that much?"

"You see how people treat me. Shit, Nick, you're one of them! No one likes me. And you're right, you know. I have no friends. The only person I can ever talk to is Bella. I'm leaving with Bella so we can start a new life. Anything has to be better than here, right?"

"I guess. But this is home. I can't imagine leaving here."

"This doesn't feel like home to me." Demi sits down on the sofa and grabs her English book. "We only have a little bit more left. We might be able to finish it by tomorrow."

"What time is it?" Nick wonders later that night, yawning.

Demi glances at her watch. "Almost ten at night, wow. We've been working for five hours." She looks at Nick. "Do you want to stay over for a little bit? We can order pizza?"

Nick hesitates for a split second. "I don't know…"

"Oh, right. What's your girlfriend's name? Chloe?"

"I went out with Chloe last year," Nick corrects her. "And I don't have a girlfriend right now."

"But I heard you were dating—and I use that word lightly—a new girl."

Nick shakes her head. "Zac just assumes that. But I've never actually had a girlfriend before."

Demi frowns at him. "Never?" Then she stops. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. You don't date, right? What is it you and your 'friends' do? Fuck?"

Nick hesitates a moment before saying, "I've never actually done that either."

Demi's eyes widen. "Really?"

Nick shakes his head. "Nope," he replies. "I'm a virgin." He narrows his eyes at her. "I swear, if you tell anyone that..."

Demi holds up her hands. "Your secret is safe with me. Though I see nothing wrong at all with being a virgin. I think it's sweet. Your waiting for the right person, right?"

Nick nods. "Yeah," he agrees. "You are, too, right?"

Demi looks down at her hands for a second and says in a whisper, "I was." Then she looks back at Nick. "Um, so pizza?"

"Demi…"

Demi puts the phone down. "Right. Girls like me and guys like you can't be friends. I forgot. More pizza for Bella and me, then."

"No, you know what? Pizza sounds amazing."

Demi smiles at him. "Pizza it is."