"Dad."

"Dad!" I call his name for a second time. He's sleeping on the couch. This means the fight was worse than I thought. I've seen them fight before, but I've never seen my dad sleep on the sofa. They always make up. Why is it different this time? Is it because of me? I lean down and shake his body, calling his name again. "Dad!" I call a little louder than the other times. It works his eyes open.

He stares at me. "What time is it?" He asks me, his voice is groggy.

"8:40, mom said you were taking me to school today. She had to go into the office." I step back as he lifts from the couch.

"She did, did she?" He says while rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, and um, school starts at nine. I would walk, but I wouldn't make it; I could drive through." A small smile comes across my face.

"Yeah, no, not going to happen." He is now off the couch. I knew he wasn't going to let me drive, but it was worth a shot. "I'll be ready in ten minutes." He says to me while walking away.

...

"Jayda, you're not wearing that are you?" My father walks into my room.

I look down at myself and then to him. "What's wrong with this?"

"Don't you think those shorts are a little too short?" He says the words, but they come out uncomfortable.

"No, they look fine to me. You can barely see the scars on my legs anymore." I look back down at my black shorts.

"That's not the problem, but... Can you at least maybe tie something around your waist. I know how I was in high school, and if I saw a girl walking through the halls like that, I know where my mind would've gone, and I don't want my teenage daughter in any boy's heads." He says in a stern voice.

"Trust me, dad, they're not looking at me."

"Well, if they weren't before, they will now." He fires back.

I shake my head and walk over to my closet, grabbing my long red and a black checkered flannel shirt. I put it on then turn back to my overprotective father.

"Better. Now let's go." He says before leaving the room.

I walk over to my desk and grab my skull necklace, then follow behind him.

...

"So who's picking me up today?" I ask as we pull into the school parking lot. Saying that makes it sounds like they joint custody over me or something.

"I don't know, let me talk to your mother. Ill text you and let you know." He replies.

"Ok." I turn towards the window and stare at the school. There are so many kids out there. My heart starts racing as always, and I can feel the sweat on the back of my neck.

"Do you want me to walk you in?" He asks.

"No," I say a little too fast. "No, thanks."

He laughs before saying, "You used to love when I took you to school; you didn't just want me to walk you to the door. You wanted me to carry you in my arms to your first class." My dad's eyes light up, just talking about the past back when things were good. I can feel myself starting to get a little emotional. The last thing I need to do is cry before walking into school.

"Love you, Dad, I say while rolling my eyes and jumping out of the tall SUV.

I'm walking up to the school, everyone looks at me, there are not as many eyes on me as yesterday. The two people I didn't want to see are the two people I see first. Ashely and Ryder. They just stare and laugh. Ryder whispers something in her ear, causing her to look back at me and laugh even louder.

He's probably telling her about yesterday when he saw me crying like a baby.

I put my head down and continue walking towards the front doors.

Suddenly I feel someone's hand slap and then grab my butt. I quickly turn around and push the person off of me. The face I see doesn't surprise me. Its Matt. "Damn, baby!" He says.

"Don't touch me!" I yell.

"Come on now, don't be like that; I've missed you. All of you." His eyes scan my whole body. I close my flannel shirt and cross my arms. There is now a crowd forming around us. It's a huge circle, and Matt and I are in the middle.

The way everyone swarms over here is like predators surrounding their prey, ready to attack. I try to look for an exit, but the circle is tight. "Leave me alone," I say sternly. While using my arm to push him away, he grabs my arms and holds them tightly. I want to cry, but I can't, especially with everyone watching me. Ryder and Ashely are among those people. Ashely and her cheerleaders are laughing, and the whole football team is behind Ryder. They all have smiles on their faces. Except for Ryder, he's just staring.

"Leave you alone? You weren't saying that last year when you were begging me to fuck you," he smiles, "And when I did, you sure as hell weren't telling me to stop," he lies.

"Screw you! You and I both know I was never with you." I try to pull away from him again, but I can't. He is holding both of my arms tightly and pulling my body towards his.

"Ok fine. You have amnesia, obviously. Just tell me one thing. Is the baby mine?."

Before I know it, I manage to pull one of my arms free from his hold. I reach up and smack him right across his face. The impact is so hard my hand throbs, and his face goes to the side. The crowd that has formed around us has burst into commotion and gasp. They weren't expecting that, neither was I. I've never hit anybody before. How did I even reach him? He's way taller than me.

He turns back to me, and I notice the scratch that's on his face. He rubs his hands through his blonde Mohawk and raises his hand. Is he about to hit me? He is.

I close my eyes tightly, waiting for the impact, but it doesn't come. I open my eyes one by one. Ryder is standing in front of him. He is holding Matts' hand.

"Don't," his deep raspy voice says. He and Matt are looking at each other sternly. Why would he stop him?

"This bitch just hit me!" Matt says.

"Look." is all Ryder says and nods towards the main doors. The principal and three other teachers are coming out of the building.

That's why. He didn't want his best friend to get in trouble.

"Everyone get to class now!" Ms. Moore yells.

Matt turns around, then walks off. Ryder's eyes meet mine for just a quick second, but then he looks away and follows behind him.

I bend down to grab my papers and some books off the ground, the one day I don't bring my bookbag.

"Let me help you." An unfamiliar voice says.

I look up, and it's a girl wearing glasses; she has on a weird looking skirt with a white long-sleeve button-up shirt. She has short wavy brown hair.

"Thank You," I say while grabbing one of my books out of her hands.

"Girls, come on." Ms. Moore yells from the front door.

"I'm Jayda." I reach out to shake her hand.

"Violet, nice to meet you,"