Author's Note: Just a warning, I rate my longer fanfics M because they sometimes deal with mature themes or imply mature themes. The next four chapters imply a mature theme.

Fanfics rated M are for readers 16+. I know I can't stop younger readers, so I warn you to know your own limits.

Leaving school generally wasn't the smartest idea, but Gia couldn't think of anywhere worse to be. The first time she and Cliff had met, he had never taken her home and so he had no idea where she lived. All he knew about where to find her was at the school and at Ernie's. If she was in either of those two places, he could find her at any time and she would have to relive his hell all over again.

The worst part about it was that she had no control. When she was around Cliff all her confidence and strength drained from her body. He took charge of everything. He told her what to do, how to act, and sometimes even what to say. Gia was just his toy. She never wanted to go back to that.

So she fled the school. It wasn't safe. She knew being out in the city meant there was a chance she would run into Cliff, but the chances were slimmer than if she stayed exactly where he could find her. She took the risk and bolted, leaving her classes, her team, her best friend, and especially her in-school babysitter behind.

At least, she thought she did. She walked into a diner, certain she could hide out in there for the better part of the morning. Just as she sat down in a booth, someone sat across from her. She jumped slightly, obviously startled.

"Sorry. It's just a huge legal problem when an underage student leaves school grounds without permission during school hours. I can't let you go."

Gia looked at Serena before dropping her head on the table and groaning loudly. At least it wasn't Cliff.

"Pancakes, please," Serena said and Gia turned her head slightly to the side and saw a waitress standing at the end of the table. Serena was placing an order. They were obviously going to stay. "You like pancakes, Gia?"

"Whatever."

"Two, please," Serena left the order with the waitress and then gently tapped Gia's shoulder, "Look, we got off on the wrong foot. I'm not here to punish you or anything like that."

"I'd rather be suspended."

"How about, today we don't even talk about why you beat up your friend. How about today we just talk about ourselves. I can start."

"If you haven't noticed, I don't care about you. I'm not talking to you or to anyone."

"I'm Serena. I grew up in a very small town. My father was a farmer and my mother… well; we don't need to talk about her career. Now you."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"Gia. Right here. Dad and mom work. There, happy?"

"It's a start," Serena nodded her head. "I've got a little sister. Love her to death. You?"

"No siblings… well… No."

"C'mon, we're here to talk. No biological siblings, alright, well what about extended family? You wouldn't believe how many friends I've adopted into my family. Anyone like that for you?"

"Emma."

"Best friend?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Is everything okay between you and her?" Serena asked, "Best friends falling out can be pretty upsetting."

"We're fine."

"You ran from her pretty quickly back there. Are you sure?"

"Just shut up, please," Gia reached for the salt shaker and fiddled with it in her hands. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Boyfriends?"

"No."

"Ms. Chesterfield tells me there's a story there. The boys at school are driving you crazy? You know, it's just a stage, right. And most of them mean… well," Serena trailed off when she saw Gia's eyes were starting to water. She let out a sympathetic smile, "It is a boy, isn't it? He's the only one who doesn't notice you."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Gia, please."

"Don't… I don't want to talk about it! I said no!" Gia smashed her fists into the table before getting up and storming out of the diner. Serena sighed loudly again, put some money on the table and took off after her.

-Megaforce-

Jordan had a heavy heart as he watched Emma pick at her food with her fork. Gia hadn't shown up to any of the morning classes, leaving Emma in a state of panic and deeply upset. Jake knew she hadn't been paying attention at all in any of her classes because he had heard from other students that Mr. Burley had just announced that one day this week the class would be dissecting frogs and pig fetuses.

Emma had a deep love of nature. Everyone in school knew that. After dating her for a couple of weeks, Jordan knew just how deep that love ran. She was a vegetarian because she hated the thought of animals being raised solely for slaughter. She volunteered around the city to help businesses manage their waste and encouraged them to consider recycling. She was always pushes for the school to be a little greener, and had, on several occasions, scolded teachers not just for not printing worksheets on both sides of the paper, but for printing out papers in general. Most students had laptops, and though technology wasn't her strong suit, if it meant saving trees and keeping forests and habitats for plants and animals alive, she was all for laptops and tablets in classrooms.

"Em…"

"She… she never skips class. She always talks to me. Why… why would she run? Why don't I know a damn thing?"

"She'll talk to you, Emma. Just give her a little space. Maybe she's still figuring things out for herself."

"I normally help her with this stuff. I…"

Jordan made his way over to her side of the table and took her in his arms, "It's going to be okay."

On the other side of the cafeteria, Noah looked on sadly as he too picked at his meal. Jake and Troy were discussing Jake's upcoming soccer match and what Jake was going to do about it. He had no respect for Mick and Alex, and his team was still giving him the cold shoulder and taunting him for his accidental goal. Troy insisted he be honourable, and play with as much sportsmanship and passion as he had in games before. Troy believed Jake would be hurting everyone, himself included, if he intentionally cost the team the game. Once was enough to make a point. Twice was mean.

Jake still believed in throwing it, costing the team the win, throwing away their chance to win the championship and putting Mick's and Alex's careers at risk, but he was leaning a little more towards Troy's arguments as they conversation progressed.

Noah wasn't listening much; enough to know when to nod his head, but not enough to chip in.

Finally, he decided enough was enough. Even from a distance he could see just how badly Emma was hurting. He put himself in her shoes. If Jake changed overnight for the worst, and wouldn't open himself up to him, even going as far as intentionally leaving Noah out of his problems and avoiding him, Noah would be devastated. He still didn't want to do this, but he got up from his seat and decided he would talk to Emma about what had really happened.

Jake and Troy followed him. Jake was still very protective, even though it seemed Gia wasn't in the school.

Noah took a seat across from Emma and reached out to take her hand. She looked up at him and immediately there was an apologetic expression on her face.

"I'm so sorry, Noah. I have no idea what came over her. She didn't mean it, I'm sure she didn't."

Her face and eyes were puffy and red. Noah couldn't stand to see her hurting over a lie. He let out a deep breath and nodded.

"I believe you… because it's not true."

"She wouldn't hurt you, I swear. She's just…"

"I meant what happened. It's not true."

"Noah, you don't have to cover for Gia," Jake groaned as he repeated himself for the umpteenth time. "We're big kids. If she's…"

"Someone else did this. She didn't lay a hand on me. I don't know why she took the fall. I was going to talk to her about it, but I can't let this go on."

"Someone else did this?" Jordan asked and he could feel Emma tensing up. He wasn't sure this news was any better.

Emma forced herself to ask, "Who?"

"Dunno. Cliff, I think I…"

If Emma hadn't been tense before, she was certainly tense now. Every part of her was completely stiff, and her formerly puffy red face was now red in complete rage. Everything about her that made Jordan want to hold her warmly and tell her everything would work out vanished. Jordan found himself sliding away from Emma just a little bit.

"Cliff," venom dripped from her voice as she growled at Noah, "Cliff beat you up and Gia was there?"

"He was taking her to lunch," Noah nodded his head nervously. "She didn't look like she was excited to go so I tried to cut in and give her an out. He snapped and…"

"That son of a bitch's ass is mine," Emma knocked her seat over as she got up and stormed out of the cafeteria.