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I limped into school the next day with bags under my eyes. If I had to describe last night in one word, it would be hell. I fell asleep at the ungodly hour of 3 after finally finishing the ten page report and presentation, and woke up at 7.

I also didn't get the chance to dress or ice my wounds which why they were on fire at the moment. I had just enough time to put concealer on my cheek so Sophia wouldn't see the bruise when I handed her the project; she would ask too many questions if she saw it.

I timidly walked over, finding her at her locker. Chris wasn't there, just a few of her friends. I pulled my sleeves over my hands so I wouldn't touch the paper or the flash drive as I pulled them out.

I gulped heavily, looking down. "H-hey Sophia." I softly called out. I saw her turn around and go still.

"Avery-"

"It's done. Here's the essay and presentation." I said, gently giving her the two items. I immediately turned turned to leave for class as soon the items were secure in her hand, but then there was a soft hand on my arm. It sent a shock through me and made a blush rise to my face.

I stood frozen in place, waiting for her to move it, but she didn't.

"Avery, let me see your face." Sophia spoke, her voice laced with authority. I didn't move for a while, but I didn't want to make her upset so I slowly turned around, my head still down.

"Why don't you ever look up at me?" She asked, in a tone that was a mix of offended and confused.

I just shrugged in response, not being able to offer her much else. I can't talk to her; I don't have a death wish. I'm already on the verge of fainting and it isn't because of how close I am to Sophia right now. A gentle tap from Chris is all it would take to make me collapse to ground right now.

"Look at me." She commanded in a tone that was hard to ignore and I panicked.

For the first time in my life, I wish that Chris was here. Of course the one time I need him to come and cause mayhem, he's nowhere in sight. And given my luck, he's probably going to hear about this little encounter later and beat me for it then.

"I'm waiting, Avery." Sophia said, slightly impatient.

With no way out of it, I sighed before bringing my head up to meet her eyes. My breath caught as I stared into her hazel eyes. Her hair was down today and I had to resist the urge run hands through the long strands. It's been at least three months since I've had the chance to look at her face, so of course it was breathtaking.

A light gasp snapped me out of my daydream and I forced myself to return back to Earth from Sophia Land. Sophia didn't actually say anything for awhile and then her face grew concerned.

"I'm taking you to the nurse." She said before grabbing my arm and trying to pull me, sending a jolt through my body. This is what really snapped me back into my senses.

I dug my heel into the ground, stopping our movement.

"Why? I'm fine." I asked her quietly, yanking my arm away.

She crossed her arms over her chest and gave me the same look that Zach gave me.

"One, your concealer doesn't match your skin tone. It's obvious you're trying to hide something. Two, you missed a spot. Three, you're limping. You know I'm not completely stupid." She concluded.

I wanted to tell her that I didn't think that she was stupid at all, but of course I had taken off my then. I ran into the crowd, ignoring the screams of pain from my ribs to stop. I finally found the bathroom, which was thankfully empty, and ran into a stall. I sat there for 30 seconds before my panic finally caught up to me and I started sobbing.

Tears poured down my face, like endless rivers. Eventually it became too overwhelming and there was only one option left for me.

My hands shook unsteadily as I pulled out my blade and began slashing lines into my wrist. I felt the weight slowly began to lift off of my chest the more I added and eventually I fell into the black.

Δ

I woke up with a groan as I looked around, trying to collect my thoughts. I stared down at my numb arm, looking at the fresh cuts and slowly remembering everything that brought me here.

I checked the watch on my other arm, noting that everyone would be at lunch. I stood up slowly and made my way to my locker. The wise thing to do would be to just go home and rest. But I've already missed four of my classes so I might as well go to the other three. Hopefully making it through the rest of day wouldn't be so bad.

Δ

Of course I was wrong. Making it through the day hasn't just been bad,it's been awful, and the worst part about it is that it's not even over yet.

People have been much more rude and intolerant than usual, probably because of the incident with Sophia earlier. And if all of those people have heard about it, then Chris most definitely has and I am now a walking dead woman.

Luckily I only have English left, but unfortunately it's a class that I share with Sophia. Plus ever since lance period she's been not-so-discreetly staring at me. In here she can't really just turn around and stare, but let's just say she sure is stretching a lot.

When the bell rang and everyone hurried out of the classroom, I stayed behind, making sure to pack extra slow. I am in no hurry to get into the hallways. This is Chris' last chance of the day to find me and there's no doubt in my mind that he is going to try and succeed in his mission to beat me to a pulp.

When I finally started walking through the hallways, my senses were on high alert as I took in my surroundings. Even though Chris' ambush was inevitably, there was a small piece of me that though that we could escape and I didn't see the harm in indulging it.

Nerve's on high alert, I quickly took my backpack out of my locker and closed it shut. I rounded the corner taking me towards my Spanish class. Suddenly there was blur of body jumping in front of me.

I screamed in alarm, immediately jumping back. A girlish giggle brought my heart rate and I looked up in surprise seeing Sophia standing there. There was a small smile on her face that brought all panic back down to zero; her smile had that effect.

"I'm driving you home. You don't look like you can walk." She stated, leaving no room for argument.

She has to be kidding. Why in the world does she want me to get in her car? Does she want Chris to kill me? As suicidal as I may seem, I don't really want to die by Chris' hands.

Despite the fact that Sophia's offer was a statement and not a question, I still shook my head at her. I sidestepped her to go get my work, but she appeared in front of me again.

"By the way, I'm not taking no for an answer." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

I sighed, shaking my head in frustration. If we keep arguing like this, we're going to make another scene. I could already see people start to turn their eyes towards us and murmur.

"Okay. But I have to get my missing work." I conceded for the moment. She gave me a unsure look for a moment, but eventually she nodded. I don't blame her for giving me that look because the moment I see the chance to lose her in the crowd, I'm taking it.

"Fine, but I'm following you." She stated.I shrugged, then continued my walk towards Spanish.

When I finally finished gathering all of my work, we walked out to the parking lot. After we found her car, I went to open the door to the back seat, but Sophia immediately pushed the door closed.

"Front seat." Was all she said, before making her way to the driver's seat.

I sighed quietly and went to the passenger seat. I pulled my phone out and texted Zach that I'd be home soon so that he wouldn't have the same mini heart attack he had yesterday.

When I eventually pulled my focus away from my phone, I noticed that Sophia had started driving before I even told her the address.

"Where are you taking me?" I questioned slowly and she glanced over at me with a smile.

"We're going to my house so I look at you bruises. My mom has a pretty extensive first aid kit." She said and then turned her attention back to the road.

My body instantly went into panic mode. I can't go to her house. If I do, I'll infect all of her stuff and she'll get sick.

I need to get out of this car yesterday.

Without putting much thought into it, I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and went to open the door. Suddenly the car swerved and I fell against the door, my hand missing the handle completely. I noticed that the car had stopped on the rode.

I immediately turned to see if Sophia was okay to find her already staring at me with a baffled expression. A light tinge of red swam to my cheeks, and I quickly averted my eyes.

"Are you crazy?! What were you thinking?!" She yelled, and I cringed slightly. She sounded angry, but there was something else beneath it. Something that sounded like concern. But that was an absolutely crazy and impossible idea that I should get out of my head.

I stayed silent for a moment, considering my wording.

"I can't go to your house." I eventually mumbled.

She gave me a confused look, before starting the car again.

"Yes you can." I could tell she wanted that to be the end of the discussion, but I really needed her to know that I can't be there.

"Sophia, please." I begged quietly, but she ignored me. At that point I had to give up.

It's not like I could get forceful with her. I couldn't be stern with anyone, let alone Sophia. Maybe when we got there, my ribs would be up for a mini marathon to my house.

We pulled into the driveway of her house and my heartbeat instantly kicked up.

It was a nice house. A two story Victorian and it looked as if had been newly rebuilt. It reminded me of a miniature version of a castle my mama and papa had taken me to see last summer. If that wasn't fate telling me that Sophia is a literal princess, I don't know what is.

Sophia turned off the car and got out while I stayed seated, looking down at my hands. I am determined to stay in this car. I am not leaving this car.

Sophia came to my side of the car, opened the door and stood there with her hand on her hip.

"Out. Now." Was all she said, before walking away towards the front door. I guess I'm leaving the car.

When she retrieved her key purse she quietly muttered, "Finally." She unlocked the door and walked inside, while I of course just stood there.

I heard an exaggerated sigh before I was pulled in and the door was closed behind me. I quickly pulled my hand away from hers and turned towards the door to leave, but Sophia beat me there. She stood in front of the door with her arms crossed over her chest.

"You're not leaving, understand?" She made clear I gave her a small nod. There was no way out of it at the moment, so I decided to just wait it out.

She went to sit on the couch and then waved me over to sit next to her, but I shook my head. This time though, my denial was okay with her. She just nodded and crossed her legs, placing her hands on her knees.

"So, who beat you up?" She asked, and I instantly stiffened at the question. How am I supposed to answer that question?

I'm supposed to tell the girl that I'm crazy about that the boy she's crazy about, the varsity baseball team's best player, and the school's sweetheart is abusing me? She'll either not believe me, accuse me of falsely accusing her boyfriend, or break up with her boyfriend. And as amazing as that last option sounded, it would probably just make my life ten times as rough.

I guess it's time to open the big book of excuses again.

"N-no one. I fell down my stairs." I stuttered, and she gave me a dull look that told me she didn't believe a single part of what I just said.

"Why didn't you go to the hospital?" She asked.

I bit my lip, looking around distressed. Why can't she just drop it? Why can't she be cold and heartless like her boyfriend?

"Because I thought I was fine." I lied. And this time she rolled her eyes at me. Yeah, she definitely isn't buying any of this.

"Look Avery, you don't need to keep lying. Just tell me who it is. They won't hurt you anymore, I promise." She pleaded softly and my heart melted. As much as I wanted to just tell her, she was wrong. Telling her about Chris wouldn't make anything better.

"Sophia please just leave it alone." I whispered. "It doesn't matter."

She wore a frown for a little bit. But then strangely enough it turned into a wide grin, and was accompanied by glint in her eyes.

Now 99.9% of the time, Sophia's eyes were the most beautiful things in the world, hands down. But during that other .01%, they were frighteningly terrible. They held a determination that practically no one could break. Which terrified me at the moment because she could do something that might end up getting me killed.

Sophia seemed to have pulled her thoughts together, because soon she was smirking at me and nodded.

"Fine. You don't have to tell me. But until I figure out who hurt you, we're going to become inseparable. You have to be with me all the time, every day." My heart froze at her words and my cheeks turned red. This was like my biggest dream come true.

My mind was racing with joy until it came across all of the consequences, and everything stopped. Sophia spending all of her time with me at school is not something that was going to get past Chris. And in a perfect world, Sophia by my side wouldn't give him any chances to attack me, but she'd have to go to the bathroom eventually. Or take a test. Or stay home sick. The possibilities were endless.

And once Chris finally got his chance, he would end me.

I sighed sadly, shaking my head. "Sophia, can't you just leave it alone?" I pleaded in a whisper. She shook her head at me, her hair whipping around her face.

"Nope. I gave you two options. Choose one." She answered.

My brain combed through a million ideas, before eventually the light bulb appeared over my head. What if I just told her a fake person? She wouldn't be able to find 'him' and eventually she'd get tired of searching and stop bothering me about it.

Do I feel bad about lying to Sophia? Awful. But it's what needs to be done.

"His name is Ethan Meyers." I lied easily, keeping my head down.

My head was still down, keeping me from seeing her facial expression, but she was silent for a few beats.

"I don't know of an 'Ethan Meyers' at our school." She eventually spoke at a slow pace.

I mentally cursed, thinking of the first school that came to mind. "Blake Town High."