Head down, avoiding her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she slipped her shirt off over her head and dropped it into the basket on the floor. A moment later and her bra, torn-up jeans, and underwear made their way into the basket as well.

Reaching over the edge of the bathtub, she began running the water over her hand until it was the temperature she wanted it. Stepping into the tub, she pulled the shower curtain shut and turned the shower on. She sighed heavily as the hot water droplets danced over her skin. Her face was directly under the shower head, eyes closed under the the falling artificial rain.

She'd woken up having a bad day, and now that school was over, she had a feeling that things could only get worse. She didn't even bother to peek out of the shower when she heard the bathroom door open; she knew who it was. It was just Teri, coming to take her clothes and wash them, like she always did when Madison snuck over to use the shower.

After lingering under the falling water for as long as she could and still have time left to actually bath, she reached up without even opening her eyes and pulled her friend's bottle of shampoo off of the tiny window sill above her head. Lathering her hair, she allowed herself to regain a train of thought. After finishing her bathing ritual, the water shut off as the shower curtain opened. She saw a fresh change of clothes laid out for her in the basket, along with a metal lunch box and thermos.

She quickly dried herself off and dressed in her friend's clothes before stashing her towel under the sink and leaving a dry towel on the towel-rack. She grabbed the lunchbox and the thermos and darted out of the room. Quickly she trotted down the back-steps, meeting with her friend half-way down. Her friend Gave her a quick hug and handed her a shoulder bag, wished her luck, and then hurried up the stairs herself to remove any traces that Madison had been in the house.

Madison went through the back yard and slipped aside one of the boards of the privacy fence, reaching around through the slot, she pulled out a nail that allowed her to open a much larger gap in the fence for her to climb through. The gap was quickly covered by the boards, the nail replaced, and she was quickly running down the small gravel alley behind the row of houses. Checking to make sure she wouldn't be seen, Madison ran across the road and rounded the corner, vanishing from the sight of her friend's house.

Teri folded the newly-clean towel, placing it on a shelf above the toilet. She pulled out the now-fake bottom under the sink and placed Madison's now clean clothes next to several other folded outfits of hers. A car door slam outside made her jump; quickly replacing the false-bottom she closed the small cabinet and rushed down the stairs to greet her father and cook his dinner.

Several blocks of quick walking later, and Madison was where she needed to be. The sign overhead wasn't the most impressive, most attention getting sign, but the cafe did well enough. Placing a five on the front counter, she headed off to the computer in the most secluded spot she could find. Headphones were instantly plugged into the speaker-jack, as her flash drive made it's way to the USB port in record time.

Listening to music on the computer as she accessed her flash drive, dozens of emails with file attachments being sent out every couple minutes to various addresses throughout the country.

It was going to be another one of those nights. Another one of those horribly quiet nights. Head hung, she hurriedly prepared her father's meal as he sat at the table, looking through the files in his briefcase and pretending that he didn't have a daughter. Trying to make her father's dinner look as beautiful as possibly, she sighed and bit her lip as she finished garnishing his plate and sat it on the table in front of him. She walked into the other room to clean up before taking her place across from him at the table.

After a long, stressful silence and many dirty looks later, Teri cleared the table and washed the dishes, putting them back in the cupboards after drying them. She changed into her pajamas in the laundry room and threw her clothes in the wash. Heading up the stairs, she gave her father one last fleeting glance before he vanished from her sight.

Two hours and a tap on the shoulder, telling her that her time at that computer station was up later, and Madison was making her way across town to the theater district. Walking into a well-known restaurant, she quietly asked the host if there was room for her in the kitchen.

"Sorry Madison, there's no work here for you today. If you come a couple hours before opening tomorrow, there should be something for you to do," the host replied. He seemed genuinely sorry. Madison nodded understandingly and headed across the street to see if any of the other restaurants had work for her.

Rolling her eyes and sighing, Teri held the phone to her ear, not even bothering to listen to all the excuses coming from the other end of the line. She never really listened anymore, not when all her mother talked about was herself, making up every excuse she could think of not to show up to important events, not to have her over every other weekend, even though it was a condition of the divorce settlement.

"Yeah, I love you too," she finally said as her mother hung up. She knew she'd have a check in tomorrow's post. Her mother always called the day before the check arrived. After creeping down the stairs to make sure her father was still ignoring her existence, she went back up to her room and dialed a long-distance number.

"Teri! I was getting worried that you weren't going to call tonight!" came a relieved voice on the other end.

After much venting out her frustrations about her parents to him, she took a deep breath, trying to stop her angry tears.

"So...how's Madison?" the voice on the other line asked.

"She doesn't like to talk about it, avoids home as much as possible, gets smacked around, and still shows up for school in the morning with makeup on her face, and somehow manages to pass all her classes," Teri replied hotly.

"Yeah, her father always was a bastard. Just remember, if you try to put a stop to it she'll end up being taken away. You have to wait a little longer. Keep an eye out for the post, I sent you a package this morning."

"Okay," she replied, stifling a yawn.

The man on the other line couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "Get some sleep, Sis. Tell Madison I said 'Hi'."

"I will. I'll call you later," she said, hanging up the phone. She let out a large sigh as she stood up to put the phone on the charger. Turning out her bedroom light, she walked over to her bedroom window and stared out into the backyard. Unlocking her window, she inspected the backyard one last time before climbing into bed.

The clock on the nightstand read just past three AM when the window to the bedroom slid open from the outside. Closing the window, Madison locked it and then vanished into the closet to catch what little sleep she could before school.