"Alyssa Heart, where have you been? And what the hell are you wearing?" Mom asked me, her voice rising each second. She eyed my outfit with disgust and disbelief, she looked at me again.

"Mom, I just went to the mall with my friends," I answered.

"And the clothes? I've never seen you wear that," Mom said, tightening the bathrobe around her slim body.

"It's--" I was about to reply but Veronica cut me off.

"She recently bought it at the mall," Veronica lied and I shot her look, my mouth agape.

Bree grinned,"Yeah, we all wore simple outfits but Alyssa said she was uncomfortable so she bought this," Bree said, pretending to look at my outfit in disgust.

Mom glared at me, saying nothing but I could tell a lot was going through her minds. I bet she was thinking of all the things she could put on my tombstone.

"Alyssa, you're not like this. What's gotten into you?" Mom asked, fuming.

And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I was wrong.

"Alyssa is dating Marcus Sawyer and she was going to go to this party but we brought her here," Veronica finished, with a slight smirk.

Mom shifted her gaze from Veronica to me. I looked away, avoiding the heavy tension between us.

She took in a deep breath,"Tell me it's not true, Alyssa. Look at me and tell me it's not true."

It's not true, we are only pretend dating. It was the only way I could think of to stop the students from my school beat me up everyday.

I sighed and looked at my mother and nodded. She rolled her eyes and shut them,"Get inside."

I walked past her, inside the house and stood awkwardly behind her. "Thank you girls, I'm glad Alyssa met people like you." she smiled at them and they grinned. If only she knew.

"Anytime, Mrs. Heart. See you soon." Bree smiled at my mother and waved at her. Bree glanced at me and winked at me. I looked at her with so much hate. Just when I was starting to like her, she did this. Mom shut the door and turned to me.

"Of all people, you choose to date Marcus Sawyer. Marcus Sawyer?" she said it like she didn't believe it. "The boy is one of the dangerous people in the city and is a former gangleader, do you want to get yourself in danger?" Mom scolded at me and I flinched.

"There's no danger mom," I replied softly.

"Sawyer has been arrested a few times," she shouted.

"Mom don't shout."

"Don't tell me not to shout. And what's the outfit? Your breasts are practically showing, and your butt. Were you going to go to a party like this?" Mom quirked her eyebrow at me and shook her head.

"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore so stop treating me like one," I blurted.

"You're not eighteen yet, Alyssa. And as long as you live under this roof, you are going to follow and obey my orders. To be honest, you look like a fucking slut," she said and I looked at her. "I bet Marcus is the reason you act like this, tomorrow, I want you to break up with him and don't even make contact with him again or there will be consequences," Mom said seriously and shoulder past me.

"I'm sorry, Mom," I whispered while she walked up the stairs and go to her room.

I shut my eyes as tears streamed down my cheeks. I opened my eyes and saw Alyson standing by the stairs. She shook her head and walked upstairs and left. I sighed and ascended the stairs and went to the bathroom. I opened the tap and splashed the water to my face and rubbed vigorously. I closed the tap and wiped my face dry with my face towel, wiping the tears that were forming. My face was make-up free. I took off the clothes that Veronica gave me and I threw them on the floor. I opened my closet door and took out my oversized tee and wore it. I took my phone and crawled in bed. I opened my messages.

I went to Marcus' contact. I sighed and started typing.

Marcus was so sweet at times. I slightly smiled, I smiled wider when I realised he was still typing.

I didn't reply.

I switched off my phone and put it on the nightstand. I took out an Oreo biscuit packet from my drawer and ate it. I switched the lamp off and shut my eyes.

After dressing into my pink, oversized sweater that ended by my mid thighs, I wore the same colour pink sneakers and tied my hair into a ponytail but letting a few strands of my hair hang. I left the room with my backpack and phone. I descended the stairs and saw mom standing at the front door. I smiled at her and she handed me my lunch bag and money probably for me to buy ice coffee in the morning.

She was about to walk away but I said something and made her pause, "Mom, I'm sorry about yesterday. I knew that outfit would anger you but maybe I just dressed like that because I wanted to please my friends. And Marcus isn't a bad guy, he's actually sweet if you get to know him."

"Enjoy your day at school," she said not looking at me. I sighed and left the house. I first bought myself an ice coffee at the nearest café before walking to school which would take about twenty minutes. It was a cloudy, chilly morning since it was going to rain that today. I arrived at school and walked inside the building. I stood by my locker and nodded at people who nodded at me as a greeting.

I didn't want to go to the cafeteria since Aaliyah was not here yet. Someone held my waist while I was searching my locker for my books and spun me around. I gasped when I saw it was Marcus and I backed away a bit although I was already against the lockers. He leaned against the lockers beside me and I turned to look at him.

"Speak," he stated, staring at me deeply in the eyes.

I sighed,"I got busted wearing an inappropriate outfit and my mom knows you as a notorious person. She doesn't want me to date a person like you, she thinks you're a bad influence. So she said I must break all contact with you since you are one of the dangerous people in the city and you've been in jail a few times." I groaned. "If you weren't such a troublemaker, this wouldn't be happening."

"Well, I can't change my past, Baby cheeks and I don't do dangerous stuff anymore. I'm not in a gang anymore but some people still think I am," Marcus said.

"Well, I wanted to tell my mother that this was just to help with the bullying in this school. But I didn't want to tell her that I was bullied, she would flip," I said.

Marcus nodded and looked away,"I'll talk to your mom."

"What?"

"I'll talk to your mom and try to convince her that I'm not a bad guy," he said.

I smirked,"But you are my bad boy."

My eyes slightly widened when I realised I said 'my bad boy'.

"Yes," he met eyes with me. "I am your bad boy." he emphasised the word 'your'. He gently planted his lips on mine for a quick second and said, "And you're my good girl."

"Boo, that was so cheesy, Marcus," I told him, smiling uncontrollably.

"But it's true." Marcus cupped my cheek and kissed my forehead. I instantly wrapped my arms around his torso and pulled him for a hug. Marcus hugged me too, caressing my back. I looked up at him while he looked down at me. Passion filled his eyes as his gaze was fixed on my eyes.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered. Saying it like he meant it. My heart clenched and I felt like I couldn't breath. Everytime he said that, he made me feel special. But sometimes I'd think how could a guy like Marcus pay attention to me but, Marcus was different than the others. He stood up for me when everyone else was against me. He stood up for me when I needed someone to help me to end the misery. He stood up for me and became a good friend towards me.

"I'll pick you up afterschool and we can go to your house. Is your mom going to be home afterschool?" he asked. I nodded my head. The bell rang for us to go to our classes. I frowned and looked at Marcus,"Well... see you later."

"See you, Baby cheeks." he winked and let go off me. We walked out the building and I furrowed my eyebrows. Does he even go to this school? I thought.

He did because I used to see him and stare at him for years, wishing I could be loved and popular just like him. Just after that, two people appeared on each side of me. I had almost got a fright but since the two people beside me had stuffed their hands in their pockets and sighed simultaneously, I figured who they were.

"Hey, Sam and Kendall." I smiled not looking at them. "Please say something because this is really going to be embarrassing and scary if you guys actually aren't really Sam and Kendall," I said crossing my fingers.

They two people beside me chuckled simultaneously and I rolled my eyes, "Yep it is you guys." I turned around and hugged them both.

"Hey Sweet cheeks."

"Hey nerd."

They both said and I ruffled their hair. We all left to go to our classroom, when we arrived in class, all eyes were on us as usual.

"You're late again," the teacher said.

"Uhm, I think everyone just came early," Sam said and Kendall chuckled. The teacher gave us a slight smile before allowing us to take our seats at the back.

I noticed Sam and Kendall stare at me from either side of me. "You guys are creeping me out, as always." I said to them. They looked away and I smiled, shaking my head.