*Back to Mila's POV*

I walked in through the front door at 11:00 pm, 30 minutes before I was due to be home. The house was dark and silent. I knew this was deceiving though. My father was still awake. He was probably watching TV in his room, a bottle of beer on his bedside table. Sure enough, as I flicked on the hallway light switch, I heard the heavy footsteps of my father walking down the carpeted wooden staircase.

"You're...back early..." he slurred. He was drunk. It was a good thing I had declined Derrek's offer to drive me home.

"Yeah..." I answered, stifling a yawn.

"Where's daaa boy?" he asked.

"He dropped me off and then left," I lied.

"I didn't...hear a carorsomething," he slurred.

"That's weird. Because he dropped me off. Were you watching TV? You probably didn't hear it," I said. Suddenly he grabbed my arm and pushed me against the wall. I winced at the tightening of his grip. His breath wreaked of alcohol and his eyes were bloodshot.

"You didn't drink or anything did you?" he hissed. I bit back my retort. Was he really accusing me of drinking when his breath dripped of alcohol?

"No. I actually left the dance really early," I said, trying to squirm out of his grip.

"That boy didn't do anything to you, did he?" he asked, his nails digging into my skin. I yelped from the pain and felt my skin breaking underneath his nails.

"No! He didn't! He was a gentleman the whole time!" I lied. He let go of my arm and then shoved me forward.

"Go to bed!" he yelled. I fell against the stairs and stumbled to my feet before he could grab me again. I took the stairs two at a time and locked myself in my room, panting. I looked down at my arm and saw thin streams of bloody flowing from where his nails dug into my skin.

I groaned and went to the bathroom before the blood could get on my dress. I washed the blood off, applied some anti-septic and the Witch Hazel, and bandaged my arm up. I could already feel a bruise forming under the wrapping. I changed out of my dress and hung it up in the back of my closet. I put on my purple and black striped pajamas and a plain black cami. I crawled underneath my covers and grabbed my iPod from under my pillow. I searched through my playlist and found a song that reflected how I felt. It was Boys Like Girls', "Learning to Fall". To it, I fell asleep.

                                                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mila! Hey!" Alisha called, walking up to me on Monday.

"Hey," I said quietly to her. I avoided her eyes.

"What's up? You didn't return any of my calls yesterday. Is everything all right? Where did you and Derrek disappear to on Saturday? Was your dad angry? Did you get home on time?" she asked rapidly. I chuckled half-heartedly.

"Wow, Leesh. 20 questions much?" I said. She narrowed her eyes at me and flicked my shoulder.

"I was worried about you!" she exclaimed.

"I was fine. Everything's fine," I lied, looking away, trying to find a distraction. The truth was, I spent the majority of Sunday wallowing in my misery. I stayed in my room the whole day, too upset to do anything. And then I felt angry at myself. Why was I getting so worked up about this? It's not like we had been dating or anything. We weren't even friends. So I spent the night feeling frustrated at myself for letting such a stupid thing get to me. I knew I would hate homecoming. It was too much drama.

"Mila?" Alisha asked, pulling me down from my thoughts. I blinked and looked at her.

"What?" I asked. She gave me a look that said she knew something was wrong. Well, she did know me for 14 years of my life. "Let's get coffee after school today," I suggested.

"That's more like it," she said, straightening up.

"Mila!" I heard my name. I turned to see Leah, Jessie, and Marianna come up to me. (A/N: Leah is in the side bar --->)

"Hi Alisha," she said quickly. Alisha gave her a fake half-smile, glanced at me and then left. I rolled my eyes after her.

"Hey," I said.

"How are you?" she asked. I raised an eyebrow.

"Fine..." I replied.

"Great! Well remember how I said that my sister's cotillion is in October?" she asked. I nodded. "Well, in thanks for giving me the number of the people who catered for your's, I'm inviting you! It's this coming Sunday," she said, handing me a doisy-inspired white invitation.

"Oh! Thanks...I guess," I said, taking it from her. I knew I would have to go. Only because our mothers were friends. And because my father would no doubt force me to attend.

"No problem! I'll see you there!" she said in a chipper voice, her light blue eyes sparkling. She bounced off with her friends, her wavy blonde Cali-girl hair flowing to her rhythm of walking. I looked down at the invitation and then tucked it away in my bag. I made my way to English and sat next to Alisha, who raised her eyebrows at me. I shook my head, indicating that we'd talk later and she nodded. Just then, Derrek walked in, just as the bell rang. He glanced around the room. The only seat open was the one next to me in the corner. I groaned internally. He sat down, not looking at me. I kept my face facing forward. Alisha saw this and her eyes shone with understanding.

                                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What. A. Douche." Alisha said. We were sitting in the Great Hall for lunch today, because it was raining outside.

"Stop," I told her.

"Why? I mean really. Why didn't he just rip your heart out and then dance all over it? It would've hurt a lot less. He basically told you that he used you to get what he wanted. How the hell did he know what you wanted. How dare he say that you both got what you wanted!" Alisha exclaimed angrily. I held a hand up.

"Will you stop? And quiet down. I don't want people to hear," I muttered.

"Mila! You can't just let him do that to you!" she hissed at me.

"It doesn't matter, Leesh. It's not like we were dating or anything. It was just a dance. I don't know why I expected anything more out of it," I said. She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest angrily.

"The nerve of that guy..." she whispered to herself, sending a glare his way. He was sitting at the jock's table with Kyle and his friends.

"It's not even worth it to get worked up about," I said in a soft voice. I know, I know. I was being a total hypocrite, after wallowing in my misery the day before. And yeah, maybe I was hurt. But what was I going to do? Hate the guy for not wanting a relationship?

"Fine. What did Leah want this morning?" she asked, her gaze still on Derrek.

"She invited me to her sister's cotillion," I said, pulling out the invitation. Alisha leaned forward and took the card out of my hands.

"Hmm. Are you going?" she asked.

"I have to," I answered. She looked at me. "You know I do! Our mothers were practically best friends!" I defended.

"Ugh. Right. I forgot about that," she mumbled.

"It's ok, though," I said, yanking the card out of her hands. "It says I can bring a guest," I said. Her eyes lit up.

"Me?!" she exclaimed.

"Well, obviously. Who else am I going to ask?" I asked her. She opened her mouth, then closed it, and sent another glare at Derrek.

"No one," she said. I laughed a little. I was so glad she was my best friend. She always had my back, no matter what.

"Leesh," I said. She looked at me and popped a grape in her mouth.

"What?" she asked, chewing.

"I'm sorry I was a bitch this morning," I apologized. She ripped off another grape and threw it at me.

"Are you kidding?! I would be a bitch, too, if what happened to you happened to me! You don't need to apologize for anything," she said. I smiled at her and she returned it.

"So let's go dress shopping after school instead of getting coffee," she suggested. I nodded, tucking the card back into my bag.