{Let's get this party started! :D}

Emily stood in front of her mirror that morning, staring back at the reflection that stood in front of her, devoid of all personality. She sighed as she brushed her fingertips against the yellow bruise on her cheekbone where it had broken the night before. She had forgotten to turn off the air conditioner before four. Well, it wasn't that she had forgotten. It had reached a record temperature of 99 degrees ferenheit and she had been baking. She had thought she could turn it off before he got home from the bar, but she had fallen asleep, and gotten caught. Her punishment? A good sock to the face. She had several other bruises that hadn't had a chance to heal yet as well. Once, she would have put coverup on them to hide the shame of her father. But now, she didn't bother. And no one cared. In a town of twenty, everyone knew everything, but nobody gived a damn about other people.

Blowing out a breath, she put on her blue beanie and grabbed her skateboard, exiting her bedroom and thundering down the stairs. Just as she was about to exit, her father called her name. She froze, not turning around. "Yes, papi?" She held her breath, waiting for him to yell at her about something or other that she had done wrong. "Did you remember to take in the laundry? It is said to rain and I DON'T want my clothes getting wet. Understood?" She nodded, knowing if she didn't bring them in right when she got out of school that there would be hell to pay. A LOT of hell to pay.

Exiting the kitchen in a hurry, she put her skateboard on the sidewalk and hopped on, skating the four blocks to school and making it to her class just as the bell rang. Since the town was so small, there was only one class, and everyone was in it. As Emily entered, everyone turned to stare at her, and she hid her face with her hair, knowing they were judging her for having those bruises. And for not wearing dresses everyday like the other girls did. Sitting, she put her head down and hid from the embarrassment that her life entailed. The teacher walked in then, holding a slip of paper in her hand. She clapped to get everyone's attention and they all turned, but Emily barely poked her head up to look, only making it so her eyes were visible.

"Class, we have a new student. His name is Zane Nessan, please make him feel welcome." Emily groaned to herself as the boy entered. Great, another one to laugh at me and judge me. Just perfect.

"Have a good day sweetie!" Zane's mother hollered out to him. He kissed her head and then his sisters. "You. Be good today okay?" He lifted the young girls chin so they were staring eye to eye. She rolled her eyes. "Zoey, I mean it. Be good." "Fine, fine. I will. Now go." Zane chuckled and patted her head. "Mom, If you need anything, call me." He looked at her poinedly."Got it. I'm the parent remember?" she said. His mother was still recovering from last weekend. On her forehead was a cut and 8 stitches running along her hairline. She had a black and blue face and her arm was hanging in a sling. "I love you." He told her and walked out of the house.

Zane and his family came to this small town because, well, no one really knows about it. They were brought here by protective services not even giving them different names because, one, it was a very unknown town, and two, because they caught and locked up his dead beat father.

Walking towards the school he noticed he only lived three and a half blocks away. This was a really really small town. As he stepped into the school building he saw a lady at a desk. "My name is Zane." He said. She got up and down the hall getting an older lady he thought to be the teacher. They shook hands and exchanged names. "Class, we have a new student. His name is Zane Nessan, please make him feel welcome."

Zane walked into class. He had blue jeans and a black button up the first three buttons were undone. His backpack was slung over his shoulder. Zane looked around the classroom. There wasn't much to memorize. He decided to sit next to the girl who had her head down. He guessed she was the outcast of the bunch.

Zane leaned over bending down so he could see her eyes. "Hi, I'm Zane." He said. There was a noticeable bruise under her eye.

Emily turned her head as the boy sat next to her. She faltered a bit, not used to people around her. Everyone else in the class always sat at least two rows in front of her. It took her a moment to realize he had said something and she nodded, surprised. "Emily." She said, introducing herself. She knew it wouldn't take him long to realize that she was bad news, and then he would go flock off with the rest of them, as they always did.

She turned to the front of the class and began copying down the notes, stealing a few glances at Zane as she wrote. What had compelled him to sit next to her, as she was obviously the outcast? She reasoned he was here because the girls in the front row had giggled when he came in. Now, they looked at she and him as if he had grown wings and horns. They weren't used to the cute guys sitting with Emily--or any guy, for that matter. The occasional girl sat with her sometimes, but only to critisize her on her wardrobe or whatever bruise/cut she was sporting that day.

When the bell rang for lunch, Emily didn't move from her seat until everyone else had gone. Finally, she did move then, holding her breath and looking at Zane. She was about to say something like come sit with me or something along those lines, but she thought better of it. He obviously was very good-looking, and that meant he would sit with Ginger and Amber, the two obviously good-looking girls that were the absolute opposite of Emily. She simply nodded at him, went to the back of the classroom to grab her guitar that she kept here for safe keeping, and exited the class.

She headed to her favorite cherry tree in the courtyard, away from the other students and sat. She had forgotten to bring a lunch again, mainly because her father had padlocked the fridge and he never undid it until 5p.m. That was the only time she was allowed to eat. She pulled out her guitar and placed it on her lap. Making sure there was no one around to mock her, she strummed and began to sing:

When I was younger I saw
my daddy cry, and curse at the wind
He broke his own heart and I watched,
as he tried to reason the wind
And my momma swore that she would,
never let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love, if it does not exist

But darling, you are the only exception...

And she continued to sing, not paying a single amount of attention to the world around her.

Zane thought that Emily would invite him to eat with her. But she seemed to shy. Zane walked out of the class after Emily. He grabbed his lunch sac the was in his cubby. Walking out to the cafeteria he didn't see Emily. Some of the others tried to get his attention, he just smiled and waved at them, passing them by.

When he got to the doors of he saw a cherry tree with a girl sitting beneath it. Emily had a guitar and was singing. She seemed to be lost to the world people passing by her not even a glance her way.

Zane walked out into the sun and sat next to Emily listening to her sing. He noticed she didn't have anything to eat. He was glad he always packed two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, two juices, two apples, and two puddings. He gave her half of his lunch and started eating his food swaying to her song. Her song was sad.

Emily stopped suddenly as she noticed Zane sitting next to her. "Oh, h-hi." She said quietly. Did he hear me? She knew he probably did. She never sang in front of anyone. It was always just her and the tree. She saw that he had pushed some food towards her, and she heard rather than felt her stomach growl at the prospects of a lunch. She smiled timidly and took a bite out of the sandwich.

"Thank you." She said, not meeting his eyes. He seems nice...but they all do, I suppose. She wasn't used to this. She supposed that this probably wouldn't last. This was his first day, soon he would realize that she wasn't the person he wanted to be around. It would be social suicide for him for sure.

Zane smiled at Emily. "Your good." He said with a mouth full of pb&j. "I thought you were gonna ask me to come eat with you.. But you didn't.. So I came anyways." He gave her a sheepish grin. Zane took the last bite of his sandwich and started on his pudding. Every now and then he would take sips of his juice.

"So.. would you mind showing me around town? We just got in last night and I know its a small town and all but it would be nice to have someone to accompany me." He asked her a slight blush pinkining his cheeks. Zane felt obligated to hang out with the crowd who would be nice to his face and whisper behind his back. He always liked not fitting in. It made it easier to keep his personal life secret. And who knows maybe he will end up like this Black sheep.

Emily blushed as Zane complimented her, taking another bite of his gifted sandwich, which was heaven in her unfilled stomach at this point."I thought you were gonna ask me to come eat with you.. But you didn't.. So I came anyways." Emily bit her lip at this statement. "Sorry, I would have, but...well, they all wanted you and I didn't...well, I just didn't know what to say."

Emily's eyes widened when he asked her to show him around town. There wasn't really that much showing around to do. It was basically a town with all of ten blocks, each house crammed together with no space in between. Downtown on Hickory Street there was a movie theater, a couple of restauraunts, and a park, but that was it. But, she said yes anyway. "Um. Sure. How about after school?" She asked, again wondering who this new boy was and why on earth he would want to hang out with the outcast?

She thought about her schedule this afternoon and frowned internally. Since she was showing Zane around town, she wouldn't have time to finish all of her chores before her dad came home that night, which meant there was hell in store for her when he got home at six o'clock. Usually there was no issue in her finishing the chores between four and six as she did everyday, but today, today she would be lucky to get two of the seven done. Oh well. Bruises come with the package.

Zane was excited she said she would. "After school sounds good." He smiled at her a smile ear to ear. Even though it was only ten blocks he wanted to make a friend. All of a sudden she saw a shift of mood in her eyes. It was sad. "Is there something wrong?" He asked concerned. He gently touched the bruise on her cheek. "We can do it some other time if you would like." He said he moved a piece of hair behind her ear. He could only imagine where the bruise came from.

"Is there something wrong?" Emily blinked away the thought and schooled her face so there wasn't any emotion on it. She almost never let her facial expression slip like that, and she mentally scolded herself for it. She flinched away as Zane touched the bruise on her cheek and turned her face away. It was a natural reaction when someone raised their hand at her, she always flinched. "We can do it some other time if you would like." Emily shook her head and Zane moved a piece of hair behind her ear. She flinched again and turned away, hearing the bell ring. "No, we can do it after school. Although, there really isn't much to show." She stood and picked up her guitar, beginning to walk back to class where she knew everyone would be staring at her, and now unfortunately Zane.

Zane stood up "May I walk with you?" He asked sheepishly.

*I hope I didn't say anything wrong.* He thought. Looking around he noticed people staring. "What?" He hollered out and everyone looked away and went back to what they were doing.

"I'll get you home before 4:30." He promised.

"May I walk with you?" Emily nodded, starting to walk back to class. They walked by the usual people and Emily looked away, seeing them stare at her and Zane. Suddenly, Zane yelled at them and Emily turned her head sharply in his direction. She shook her head softly, surprised he would do such an action.

"If you yell at them, they'll never accept you, you know that, right?" She asked him incredulously. Again she asked herself, why on earth would he want to be friends with her? She was an outcast, with a nasty bruise on her face that certaintly was not attractive! Sometimes people do crazy things...

When they got back to class, Emily sat down in her desk and turned to Zane as he said he'd have her home by 4:30. She cracked a half-smile, as much as she could do without hurting her cheek, and cocked her head. "Considering the neighborhood isn't even fifteen blocks, I doubt we'll be out past then anyway."

She thought about it, calculated the time it would take her to do the laundry, tidy up her father's mess, and cook dinner. She reckoned she would at least have time to cook, and get halfway through the laundry. Hopefully that would be enough to satisfy her father, and she hoped to all that was holy that he would come home in a good mood.

"If you yell at them, they'll never accept you, you know that, right?" Zane sat down next to Emily. All of the other kids kept staring. "To be honest, I don't care if they stare, or talk about me. I don't wish to be apart of them." He said and smiled at Emily.

"And I would much rather be friends with someone nice. Like you." He flashed her a stunning smile hoping she wouldn't reject him.

"And I have to be home at 4:30 to cook, clean, all that good stuff, for my mom." He said putting his elbow on the desk and put his chin in his palm. Which reminded him he had to stop at the store before he went home.

"And I have to be home at 4:30 to cook, clean, all that good stuff, for my mom." Emily smiled, glad someone else was doing the same thing she was, although, probably for a very different circumstance. Zane didn't seem like the kind of guy who got beat up easily. Unlike me... She sighed as the teacher came back in to the class and began another lecture.

Emily usuall tuned those out, and it was no different today. Sure, her grades meant the difference between sleeping in her bed and sleeping in a freezer box in the basement, but as long as she did good on tests she was okay.

The day went by quickly, and soon it was already 4p.m. She turned to Zane and stood up, motioning out the door with an essence of grandeur. "Ready for the not-so-grand tour?" She started walking out, keeping her pace slow so he could catch up after he gathered his things. She carried her skateboard, not wanting to ride it next to someone who was walking. "The only somewhat entertaining thing in this town is whatever is down on Hickory Street, so let's head there first." She walked out of the classroom and down the hall, falling into silence as she thought about how her day ended up with a tour of the town for a nice and cute guy.

Zane followed after Emily. "Hickory Street, eh?" He said. "Weird name. Reminds me of barbeque." He was trying to make her smile. "Lead the way m' lady." He bowed motioning his arm toward the front doors.

He stood back up and winked at her. Holding the door open for her. He was excited to meet someone nice his first day. It was a small town after all. You never know what kind of people there are.

He guessed this was the only nice person in this school. "So this town is really small. A lot different coming from New York.

"Hickory Street, eh?" Emily heard Zane say as he opened the door for her. "Weird name. Reminds me of barbeque." Emily couldn't help but crack a smile at that, but grimaced when it made her cheek twinge painfully. She led the way out of the school and to the left, in the opposite direction of her house. Hickory Street was right near all of the others, but Emily lived kind of far away, well, as far away as you could get in a town of fifteen blocks.

It was two blocks to Hickory Street, and Emily led Zane there in a pinch. "So this town is really small. A lot different coming from New York." Emily looked at him and nodded. "I suppose. I've been here my whole life, so I wouldn't know."

Zane smiled at her. "I'll take you there sometime." He said. "I've never lived in a small area before. Always big about 10,000 people"

Zane saw a small dinner across the street from where they stood. "Can I buy you a cheeseburger and a milkshake to go?" He asked knowing she had to get home for whatever reason. Running across the street without waiting for a reply he pulled out his billfold. "Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry? And what do you want on your cheeseburger?"

Emily widened her eyes as Zane suddenly ran over to the diner across the street. Considering Emily was never able to eat at home, she was definitely grateful, but she didn't want to burden him or use his money or anything like that so she shook her head.

"No way, you've already given me half your lunch, I'm okay. Thanks though." She shrugged and started to walk away, hoping he would just give it up and not try to force her. She really hated being a burden on people, but on the other hand she did feel her stomach growl. Deal with it, Emily. Grow up. She sighed and waited for him to catch up.

Emily gave Zane no choice other than to guess she liked vanilla and everything on her cheeseburger but onion. That's what Zane liked so he hoped she did to. "Two cheeseburgers everything but onion and two large vanilla milkshakes please." he said to the Cashier.

The food was already prepared so it didn't take long for them to give it to him. Zane gave the guy money and then he ran over to Emily handing her a cheeseburger and shake. "Here. I hope you like vanilla." He said and gave her a sly smile.

Emily glared as she stared at the food he placed in her hand. She sighed and continued walking down Hickory Street. "You really don't take no for an answer, do you?" She asked, glancing at him in her peripheral vision. She took a bite of her burger and had to fight not to just fall over in relief. She weighed about 87 pounds last time she checked, and that was mainly because she only ever was allowed to eat dinner, that is, whatever dinner was her father's leftovers, which wasn't much. Her stomach relished the food it was recieving and she felt herself getting physically stronger.

"But you sure do know a good burger, I'll give you that much. Oh, over there is the only movie theater in a thirty mile radius, and it only ever plays one movie and it's usually some bad western flick. Sometimes we're lucky enough to get a good comedy or even a horror, but that's like Christmas for us." She pointed out the theater as she cleaned off her burger, throwing the wrapper into the nearest trash can and saving her shake. It hadn't taken her long at all to finish the food, but she had been on the verge of starvation for the past sixteen years so, you know.

Glancing at the clock above the city bank, she cursed as she realized she had been walking slower than she thought and it was already almost 4:30p.m. There was no way in hell she would be able to finish any chores. "Shit. Oh, sorry, didn't mean to curse. I really have to go--but, um, I'll see you tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow." With that, she waved and ran off, knowing she seemed very flaky and suspicious, but hopefully he would be like any other teenage boy and totally disregard her weird behaviour. Maybe.

When she reached the house, she froze in front of the door. The lights were on. The lights hadn't been on when she left. Slowly, Emily entered the house. Inside, she saw her father sitting on the couch watching TV with a beer in each hand and there looked to be four more on the table. In other words, he was completely and totally hammered. And he was home an hour and a half early.

"D-dad...what...what are you doing home?" She asked in a shaky voice, walking slowly into the living room. Her father turned to her with a steely glare and she flinched.

"Wanna know why I'm home early, you sneaky little bitch? Because I got FIRED! I got sacked, thrown out, whatever you want to call it. They didn't deem me fit enough to [i]work anymore."[/i] He sneered drunkenly. It was when he started to stand up that she got scared. "And where were you, huh? Certaintly not doing my laundry. What's that, a milkshake? Who in god's name would ever buy you a milkshake? Unless you stole the money, huh you little fuckrag? I bet you stole it. And you know what? I have punishment for thieves." He said, before chucking his beer bottle above her, shattering it on the wall and making glass shards rain down on her, some of them cutting into her scalp and making long, thin, gashes down her face. She felt tears leak down her cheeks and that just made it hurt all the more. He came closer, grabbing her by the hair and tossing her onto the floor. She let out a small scream as her head made contact and she saw the world spin. He kicked her hard in the stomach and she coughed up blood at the internal damages it gave her.

Suddenly, he lifted her up by the hair and she screamed again. "You're gonna sleep outside where all the bitches sleep. 'Cuz that's what you are! A sneaky, little, bitch." With that, he through her out the front door and slammed it. She landed against the column that held the porch up and sank to the ground, sobbing to herself and knowing that no one would ever be able to help her.

Zane watched as Emily left in a hurry. He frowned wishing they had more time. "I'll walk the rest later." He said to himself walking home.

When he got home his mother was passed out on the couch and his sister was in her room. Zane went into the kitchen and started doing the dishes. So far they have been in this town for two days and already they had a pile of dishes. I guess thats what happens when your mother is finally aloud to eat what she wants. Thinking about food he cursed to himself. He had forgotten to go to the store and buy groceries. His mother has already eaten what they had in the fridge.

Zane kissed his moms forehead and set a note on the table saying he would be back soon. He grabbed his jacket and his wallet and set out for the story. As he was walking down the street completely turned around in the wrong direction he heard whimpers and sobs. In his line of view he saw a little house with a girl sitting on the ground in front of a column. He didn't realize it was Emily till he got closer to her.

Zane could see blood running down her face. "HOLY SHIT! Em, what happend?" He said panicing as he walked over to her. He took off his shirt balling it in his fist and crouching down to see her face to face. "What the hell happened Em?" He asked her softly slowly so he wouldn't startle her he tried wiping some of the blood. He instantly knew what was happening when he heard a man yell inside of the house.

Emily jumped as she heard Zane yell and she scooted away to the farthest edge of the wall. Her father kept yelling at her from inside, saying she was worthless, how she would never live up to be a real woman.

"Z-Zane...I...how did you find me here?" she asked. There was blood running down her face from the little cuts on her face and she knew there was a bump on her head from when she fell. Although it wasn't visible, she was sure she had several bruises on her stomach from when he kicked her as well.

She crouched against the wall, cowering away from Zane. "Don't tell anyone, okay? They won't do anything. Besides, I'm all he has left. I should have been here to do the laundry and cook dinner like I said I was going to be. Maybe then...maybe then this wouldn't have happened."

Zane was shocked. The awful man inside the house filled her head with so many lies. Just like his father had. "No, you don't deserve this, Em. Nobody else may help you, but I will. You can't let someone like that take advantage of you like this. I don't know who he is to you but you shouldn't be around someone like that."

Zane felt horrible. Earlier that day he had a feeling something like this was going on, but he wished that it wasn't the case. He knew why he was brought here to do. Protect this girl who he had just met from a man he has never met. "Will he notice if you leave?" he asked.

He had decided that he was going to take care of her. Help her with her chores, feed her at school, and do what ever it took to make her feel normal. Zane knew what if felt like to be abused. You felt like you didn't belong anywhere. Maybe this wasn't the smartest thing to do, but he knew one person could change the world for someone like Emily.

"He--he's not taking advantage of me...I just...he's my dad, Zane...it's what I'm supposed to do." Emily cowered against the wall, wincing with the pain of her injuries and also the sound of crashing that could be heard inside of the house. "Will he notice if you leave?"

Emily sighed, "I don't know. Maybe. But, Zane, I can't leave. I have to go back eventually. He lost his job, which means he's around all the time. And he has no idea how to do common household chores. Basically, he needs me." She hated admitting it, and she knew it sounded false, but she had to. No matter how much she hated him as a father, and how many times he injured her, he was still her dad.

She started to cry, and the tears soaked into her cuts and it stung, but she didn't care. She hurt all over, and there was a boy next to her that was watching her as she cried and bled from practically everywhere, and she had no idea what to do about it.

With Zane's shirt he patted the cuts around her face, arms, and neck. He was dumbfounded that no one in this town has ever tried to help her. "It doesn't matter if he is your dad. It doesn't matter if you are all he has left. And it doesn't matter if he can't take care of himself. This is what he chose to do. You never chose to be apart of his life. And now I'm in your life and I hate to see this happen to someone else. You may think that I don't know what your going through but I do. And we got away." He said pulling her towards him despite her protests. He made sure he was gentle because he didn't know what lay behind the clothing.

"I'm going to take care of you." He said in a whisper. What Zane was afraid of most, was if her father ever made her do things that were unspeakable. "How old are you, Emily?"

"S-Seventeen. I t-turn eighteen in April." Emily said through her hiccuped tears. Zane had pulled her into his arms and she couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of comfort that his warm body gave off. Many others would think that she could never tolerate being in the arms of a guy after what her father had done to her and made her do with him, but it was different with Zane. It was as if he knew exactly what she was going through, even if he never said it aloud.

Suddenly, she heard a large crash and a large shout from inside. Then he was yelling at her again. "Hey, bitch-ass! Get in here and clean up this damn mess!" Emily shuddered. He did this sometimes when he was really drunk and couldn't remember that he had thrown her against a column on a porch and done much worse as well. Emily also knew that when he was this drunk he got in kind of a...mood. A lusty mood. She hiccupped again and pulled away from Zane, wincing as the movement jostled her surely broken ribs. "I-I should go...he's forgotten that I'm out here, but if I don't get in there soon there'll be much hell to pay.

She got to her feet and attempted to take a step forward but it was as if her body was too weak to sustain her weight and she collapsed back on to the porch, neay passing out completely from the dizziness that overcame her. "Dammit." She said, looking away from Zane with the embarrassment of him seeing her in this state.