"Nico! Go to the store! We just ran out of bread and milk, and we need it for dinner tonight." My stepmother just loves bossing me around. It might be the fact that I always do what she tells me that encourages her supreme bossiness.

"I'm going Persephone. Calm your tits." I try and give her sass in response for her boss, but it never seems to work. In fact, all it does is backfire. Like now, for instance.

Persephone grabs onto my arm as I walk by. "What did you say to me?" She practically snarls. I hate it when this side of her comes out.

"I said I'm going." That's obviously not enough for her.

"No I want to hear all of what you said." She squeezes harder with each word. "I want to know how hard I'm going to have to hit you when you get home."

I repeat what I originally said, regretting each word.

A sickening smile that can only mean one thing takes over her face. "See? Now was that so hard?" She lets go of my arm and waves at me as I walk out the door.

As I walk out the door I realize that I don't have any money to pay for what I need, and I am definitely not going back in that house asking for money, especially after what just happened. I rub my arm where she grabbed me, knowing I was going to have a bruise there.

Once I arrive at the store, I sit down on the bench out front, trying to decide what course of action I should take.

Should I rob the bank? No that's too obvious. I should either steal some jewelry and sell it on the black market, or grow some weed and sell that. Decisions, decisions.

I was in the middle of my thought when I heard my name being called.

"Hey! Nico, right?" I look up and see none other than Leo. The bathroom guy who pretends to be a bank manager and crawls under bathroom stalls. Fun guy.

"Yeah. Hey, Leo." He walks up and sits beside me, making the girl he's with stand off awkwardly to the side, since this is only a two person bench.

"Aww, you remembered my name." He was smiling at me, which was kind of creeping me out.

"Uh, yeah. You crawled under a bathroom stall. How could I not remember your name?" Leo turns to his girlfriend and whispers something into her ear. She rolls her eyes and goes inside the store that I was unable to go into.

Leo turned back to me and half whispered "I assume you came here for a reason, so you want to tell me why you're sitting out here?"

I don't know why, but I started tearing up just at the thought of having to go home, especially empty handed.

"Hey… hey, don't cry." Leo pulled me into a hug. "Please stop crying."

Reyna, of course, chose that moment to step out of the store and see me clinging onto Leo. (A.N. That *insert your choice of insult*)

"Bastard, why are you hugging my boyfriend?"
"Leo, I can't believe you!"
"How could I not even know I was dating a fag?" (A.N. I wrote this part during school and I was afraid someone would read over my shoulder and start judging me)

And if screaming weren't enough, she was also grabbing Leo's shirt and pulling him around, smacking him in his face until he was red, and getting her spit everywhere.
That was also before she turned to me.

"You are a nasty excuse for a person. I hope you rot in hell for what you've done." With that she walked away, leaving Leo single and me an emotional wreck.

"Well, that could've gone better than it did." Leo tried to lighten the mood, but I wasn't having that.

"I'm gonna go home." I got up to walk away, but Leo grabbed my arm and pulled me back down.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me why you got all upset when I asked you why you were out here instead of inside." I guess he could be serious if he wanted to be.

"Look, you seem like a nice person and all, but I'm really not telling you anything considering I barely know you." I yanked my arm away from Leo and actually got some distance between us before he tried to talk to me again.

"Well then why don't we get to know each other? You can tell me then, right?" He seemed too determined to get me to talk to him.

"Fine. See you later then." Did it work? Is he going to leave me alone now?

"Well I need your phone number, now don't I?"

Dam. It didn't work.

I sighed. "I don't have a phone." God, this is embarrassing.

He looks shocked. "You don't have a phone?" I shake my head.

"Well, we might as well plan something now, while we're here." He says with a smirk. "So how about we hang out next Saturday?"

"Yeah. Sounds great. Can I go now?"

"Yeah. So, I'll see you Saturday, around 3-ish?" I nod.

Leo backs away and turns around. I watch as he walks away, wondering why I was wishing he could stay.