I pull up to Christine's mansion sized house pushing my idea to the back of my head for now. I quickly park and get my school bad and some supplies I had in my car already and walk up her Grand Staircase

"Hey Leah, come in" She says opening the door and pulling me into her house.

"You have a beautiful house Christine. What do your parents do?" I say honestly curious. The house is 10x bigger on the inside. I didn't even think it was possible.

"My mother owns a fashion line called Brittneys fashion co. and my father is a doctor" She says shrugging.

"Can I live here? I bet you have an extra room" I say jokingly but in all seriousness.

"Oh yeah totally" She says giggling as we sit down at the kitchen table.

"Hello, you must be Leah. I'm Martha, would you two like anything to eat or drink?" So called Martha says wearing an apron.

"Martha, my parents arent home. Go watch TV or something. I can take care of myself. I don't need a cook right now" Christine says giggling as my mouth drops open before I quickly close it. She had a fücking personal cook?

Shįt, I have to text my dad

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Me: Hi father. I'm working on a school project with a friend. I'll be home later sometime.

Father: You lying bįtch

-------

I decide to not answer back and we just work on the project for the rest of the time occasionally talking about random stuff. I always thought Christine was kind of snotty but shes really not.

"You know Leah, I had a lot of fun and I'm glad we got the project done. Sit with me tomorrow at lunch and maybe we can keep in touch" She says and I nod smiling.

"I would really like that. Bye Martha" I say waving to Martha who is sitting on the couch watching House Wives. I guess we all have our guilty pleasures.

I leave the house and check my phone for any notifications. Theres nothing causing me to smile.

I make my way over to starbucks. I guess you can call me a white girl. But truth is, I work here. Which means I've gotten use to and grown fond of the coffee and drinks here.

"Funny seeing you here, Sydney said you werent gonna be here today" Cody says smiling when he sees me. "Miss me?" I say cocky putting my apron on and walking behind the counter.

Sydney gave me today off but since we finished earlier than I expected and theres nothing making me want to go home, to work it is.

"You wish" Cody says nudging me causing me to laugh. Cody and I are always working together so we talk all the time. Might as well make the best of it. He's in college right now and needs to make some extra cash.

"Hey Leah, how are you?" Someone says and I turn my attention to see Sydney standing there giving me a skeptical look.

"I'm sorry Sydney" I say gushing before she interrupts me.

"I don't care, just let me know next time when your working so I can pay you" She laughs and I nod apologizing.

"Ohhhh, Ms. Leah got in trouble" Cody says poking my cheek, causing me to slap his hand

Someone clears their throat and I look over to see of course, Mason and Ellie White.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Hey Mason, Ellie" I say smiling at the and Mason smiles a fake smile looking a little hurt. I push it to the side and suddenly my idea pops back up into my head.

"Do you like dogs?" I blurt out accidentally.

"Um, yeah why?" Mason says confused and I get a "I've wanted one for years" from Ellie causing me to smile.

"I'll tell you guys later, my shift ends in an hour. Wait for me and I'll pay for your drinks" I say and they nod ordering.

As time gets closer to my shift ending I start getting nervous about my question being too pushy.

I quickly make myself a Strawberry Refresher and pay for Ellie, Mason and I's drinks. I make my way over to Mason and Ellie nervous.

"Alright, so whats all this about?" Mason says curious.

"So um. I don't want to sound pushy. This is just a suggestion and I don't know if it would work out or actually happen. But theres this dog at the shelter I volunteer at. She is scared of everyone but me and we both have similar histories. I'm not allowed to have her because my parents don't like animals. At all. So I was wondering if you guys could come and meet her tomorrow and maybe possibly let her stay at your place during school and stuff. I would pay for everything and even give you guys rides to school when I drop her off in the morning. Her names Bella" I say and Ellie's face lights up while Mason smiles.

"Mas, please?" Ellie says turning to her and he nods. "Alright, I'll ask mom and dad later tonight and I'll let you know the deal by tomorrow morning" Mason says to Ellie and I causing a huge smile to spread across me face.

"Thank you guys" I say embracing them in a huge hug causing them to laugh and hug me back.

I glance at my phone seeing its only 6 and I still have a while to go till its 9. Even though I should go home so my dad sees me. Unfortunately.

"Do you need a ride home?" Ellie says, throwing her cup away.

"Um, no. I'm just going to hang out here for a while. Thank you though" I say smiling, ignoring Masons questioning look.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later, Leah" Mason says smiling and I return the gesture as they walk out of Starbucks.

I quickly do my homework and start heading home at 7:30.

I make a quick stop and get my parents their favorite ice cream to hopefully make up for not being home today.

I pull up to the house and unplug my phone. I look up to see every light on in my house, nothing out of the ordinary.

I grab my bag from the backseat and the ice cream from the passengers seat and quickly make my way into the house.

"The bįtch is finally home" My mother says when I close the door.

"Whats in the bag?" My fathers asks and I walk the ice cream bag over to them along with two spoons.

"Hmm, smart girl. But obviously not smart enough" My mother says taking a swig out of her beer bottle making me cringe.

Soon enough, my mothers hand makes contact with my cheek and my eyes start to sting, tears threatening to spill.

Son of a bįtch, shes gotten stronger. I wasn't expecting that.

"Any plans as of tomorrow?" My father says shoveling ice cream into his mouth.

"Um, just the normal, work sort of stuff" I say nervously.

"Good" My mom says standing and making her way to the bathroom. But not before she knocks my feet out from under me, catching me by surprise. My father uses this to him advantage and his foot makes contact to the area right below my ribs causing me to wince in pain. "Now, get out of my face" He growls and I quickly get up to my feet, grabbing my bag and run up the stairs, ignoring the sharp pain each breath I take.

That's going to leave a mark... a big one

My phone bings signaling I have a text

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Mason: Good news, my parents love the idea of getting a dog. Bad news, it has to be small.

Me: Perfect, shes a shih tzu. Very small dog.

Mason: Alright, when can we see this angel?

Me: Tomorrow? After school or after my shift I can do.

Mason: Sounds good, we'll talk about it tomorrow. Goodnight Leah.

Me: Night Mason.

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I may feel like I have a broken rib, but I'm not giving up the opportunity to see my favorite puppy and possibly adopt her.

Tomorrows going to be a good day.