I opened the front door and walked into my house, immediately hearing voices coming from the kitchen. Closing the door carefully, I silently walked towards the stairs. Before making my way up to my bedroom, however, I caught a glimpse of my mum and Butch with drinks in their hands.

Jesus Christ, did he live here now?

I ran up the stairs and into my bedroom, trying to stay as silent as possible. I was only going to be in here for a few minutes while I got ready for tonight. It was five o'clock and in two hours I'd be going on my first date with Patrick Hockstetter. Just thinking about it made my stomach fill with butterflies. Not only was I going on my very first date with a boy, I was going with the undeniably sadistic Patrick Hockstetter whom I couldn't believe had even suggested going.

I stripped out of my clothing and slightly damp underwear, changing into a pair of fresh, lacy black ones that my mother had given to me for my birthday. I knew, not the type of gift most people at my age would have expected from a parent, but the type of present I was used to.

I looked at myself in the mirror, taking in my appearance. Patrick would like this. I thought to myself, blushing at the thought. I opened my wardrobe and looked at the selection of clothes, trying to think of what an appropriate outfit would be for a date with a psychopath.

I ended up picking out a tight, yellow, long sleeve top that brought out my figure, a black denim skirt that fell to about mid-thigh, and the black ankle boots with a pair of black socks with rose patterns peeking over the top. Looking at myself, fully dressed, I thought looked like a bee. Or a wasp.

The thought sent shivers down my spine and I quickly picked up a few dollars and shoved them in my pocket before leaving the room. I slammed the door shut, the loud bang echoing through the house, and sprinted down the stairs. I was about to exit through the front door, when a deep voice stopped me.

"And look who we have here!" I turned around to see Butch watching me with beady eyes, my mother hovering behind him.

I mentally slapped myself for being so loud and forgetting they were home. I quickly fumbled to open the door, but he walked forwards and placed a rough hand on my shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, forcing me to look at him.

"Out." I replied, staring into his dark eyes loathingly.

"Out?" he asked.

"Out." I repeated, pushing him away and grabbing the door handle again.

"I don't think so, girl." he said, placing his hand on the door and preventing me from opening it.

"What do you want?" I muttered, hatred laced in my voice. I looked past him to see my mother examining her nails, apparently indifferent to the way I was being treated.

"I just think you should be paying more respect to your elders." Butch said, his warm breath fanning on my face. The stench of alcohol entered my nostrils.

"You're not my dad, you can't tell me what to do." I hissed, trying to shove him away. He grabbed my wrist painfully, causing me to groan in pain. He stared me in the eyes speculatively and I responded with a glare of my own.

"My son told me of how you defended that Hanlon filth the other day." he stated. It took me a moment to realise he was talking about the boy who was pushed into the mud.

"Yeah, and? You're son is a bully and a coward." I spat. Butch laughed and I held my breath to stop myself from gagging from the stench of his breath.

"You know nothing, girl. Will Hanlon ruined my life and his family of scum deserve every rotten thing they have coming to them."

"You're disgusting. No wonder Henry has turned out the way he is."

"Don't fucking talk to me like that. Your mum raised you better than that."

I laughed. "She didn't raise me at all! She's just a cocksucker like you and your son. Now get your hands off of me!" I yelled, trying pulling my arm away from him but his grip was like iron. I looked past him towards my mum again who was watching the interaction with a bored expression. "Are you going to let him treat me like that, mum?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but the sound of her voice was cut off by a deafening crack as my head was slapped to the side and struck against the wooden door. Black dots spotted my vision and a high pitched ringing sounded in my ears. Pain swelled in my cheek and I brought my free hand up to it, the bandages on my wrist rubbing against my skin painfully. I tore it off my hand, feeling the white fabric fall to my feet.

My vision cleared and I looked up to see Butch's mouth moving as he yelled at me, but the ringing in my ears was too loud and I stared at him with a blank expression. My eyes moved past him and landed on my mum who was now standing upright with an expression of unease. She hadn't moved, though.

My eyes moved back to Butch's face, his lips still moving furiously. I felt spittle land on my forehead and I tried scrunching my face up in disgust, but it was too painful.

The ringing in my ears started to lessen and I managed to make out some of the words that were being thrown at me.

"... what you deserved....... should never have ........ ungrateful ......"

I brought my leg up in an attempt to turn away and it came into contact with in-between the large man's legs. He dropped to his knees instantly and I jumped into action and turned the doorknob, sprinting out the door and onto the street. I heard yells from behind me but when I turned back he hadn't left the house.

I ran all the way to the Aladdin Theatre.

- - -

I looked at the marquee above the cinema door.

I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF &

I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN

I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE &

THE BLOB

I brought my eyes down to the clock next to the ticket box. It was five to seven, only five more minutes before the movie started.

I examined my face in the ticket box window, noticing the red flush of on the left side of my face that bloomed from my cheek to my ear. I moved forward to get a closer look but a face popped up from inside the box and I jumped back in surprise.

I looked around anxiously for Patrick. I had been waiting for over half an hour already, but that was my fault for leaving so early. I sat down on the curb of the street and fiddled with my shoelaces as I waited.

Even though I had just seen him yesterday, it felt like it had been forever since we had last spoken. It might have been because so much stuff had happened and I was been to busy to think about him, but I was here now. And I was excited.

I glanced back at the clock, now reading seven pm. I looked down the darkening street of Derry, trying to spot his lanky figure approaching me. The last few people that had been waiting outside the theatre had gone in already. Meanwhile, I was sitting alone.

"What you waiting for, girl?" A snappy voice asked and I turned to see the box office lady peering at me with disapproving eyes. "We don't condone loitering here, so go find somewhere else to lurk."

I stood up hastily and brushed off my backside. "Oh, I'm just waiting for someone. We-"

"Go wait somewhere else. I don't want this place to have a reputation for dwelling teenagers up to no good." she snapped. I shot her a dirty look.

"I'm not up to no good, I'm literally just waiting for a friend so we can go into the movie together."

"Movie's already started. Take your business elsewhere."

"Gee, who hired you? I thought the service here was supposed to be good." I huffed, crossing my arms. "I want to speak to your manager."

"You're looking at her, hun." she said, raising an eyebrow through the glass. "And I don't think you have the right to speak to me like that."

I looked around, wishing Patrick would hurry the hell up. "I think I can speak to you however the hell I want."

"In that case, get off this property or I'm calling the police."

"Yeah, for what? Defending myself when you told me to piss of because I'm a teenager?"

"How about verbal abuse and refusing to cooperate." she picked up a phone and twirled the cord between her fingers. "I'll give you five seconds."

"Fine! God." I muttered and stalked off, my mood way worse than it was after the encounter with Henry's dad.

I walked about twenty metres before stopping in front of a shoe store and taking my place on the curb. I looked down at my watch again and sighed when I saw the time. It was ten minutes past seven and Patrick was still nowhere to be seen.

He wouldn't stand me up, would he?

I couldn't put it past him. Maybe in the time he had to think it over he realised what a stupid idea it was, thinking it would be funny to leave me waiting here by myself.

I rubbed my palms against my forehead. No, Patrick wouldn't do that. I saw his face yesterday and he looked pretty keen. Maybe he got caught up doing something, I mean, Henry always made all his friends help with his work at his house.

I put my chin up to my knees and watched the lights of the cars pass by, waiting for a boy who was never going to show.