A/N: I know this is not a smart idea creating a new story when I have seven other stories I'm still working on and have not updated on in awhile but I thought many people would enjoy this story.

Summary: Embarrassed and hurt, eighteen year old Christina Struthers ran away from her home, her school, her family and friends to start a new life where no one knew her so no one could judge her. Three years has passed and still she did not give one word to her loved ones to let them know she is alright. Now, she comes back home to right what is wrong, to apologize to her family and friends for leaving and never calling or even writing. But how can she face it all? How can she come back when she is afraid of herself and the truth? But it is time for her to make her stand and now that she is here, there is no turning back.

Hope you enjoy. !Shadow!

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It was a warm summer day, the kind of day that everyone is outside and not cooped up in the house. A warm, gentle breeze like a mother's touch blew every now and again, stirring the leaves on trees. The sun was high in the sky, shining down on everything and everyone. The scent of hot dogs and hamburgers could be smelled from miles away as almost everyone was having a cookout in their yards. The sound of a dogs happy bark carried down the streets. Children played, adults laughed as they had conversation and this would seem like the perfect day to most. But to others it was the worst day in the world just like every other day.

In the middle of the small town was a basketball court with benches that surrounded it. On one of the benches sat two boys. Two other boys sat on the ground in front of them. One of them sat on the basketball, arms wrapped around his legs. He was the only African American among the group with short, black hair, big brown eyes and a perfect white smile. He was thin but you could tell he had muscle. They rippled with ever breath he took. He wore blue basketball shorts. The boy beside him had blond hair, blue eyes and was a little bigger in size. He wore silver basketball shorts. On the bench, both boys had brown hair but one had brown eyes and the other had green. The boy with brown eyes had black basketball shorts on and the boy with green eyes wore white basketball shorts with blue stripes down the sides. All of them had taken off their shirts and all of them were sweaty from the exertion of their game.

They were talking about girls as most teenage boys do. "Oh, I would so do her," the green eyed boy said as they all watched a petite redhead walk by.

"Don't you have a girlfriend, Jake?" the African American boy asked, laughing at his friend.

"I can look at the menu," Jake answered then shrugged. "I just can't order what's on it." The four laughed. "OK, what about her?" A slim girl with brown hair walked by, smiling at the boys and waving flirtatiously.

"Definite yes," the brown eyed boy said.

"You would do anything that moves, Sam, so you don't count," the African American said, smiling.

Sam smirked. Not my fault if anything that has been walking by is hot, hot, hot! So shut up, Andre."

Andre playfully punched Sam's arm. The blond boy, Kyle, narrowed his eyes on one girl and whistled. "Damn," he said slowly. The other three boys turned to see what he was looking at and all of them gaped. A 5'4" girl stood beside a tree, arms crossed over her flat stomach. She looked like she was in deep thought, as she brushed a strand of her black hair away from her beautiful, oval shaped face. Her large cobalt blue eyes were narrowed in concentration. She was slender, wearing a white t-shirt, jeans and white shoes.

"I would most certainly do her right here, right now," Jake said in appreciation.

"Sexy sexy," Sam said in a rather loud voice.

"No doubt about it," Kyle agreed. "In a second." Andre bit his lip. "What about you, Dre?"

Andre turned back to his friends and nodded. "Yeah, I would, too. Except I don't want to get my ass kicked."

The other three looked at him suspiciously. "What are you talking about?" Jake asked, curiously.

Andre leaned in close to the other boys. "Remember the Struthers Brothers?"

"Eric and Tim, yeah," Kyle said after a while. "They were the biggest rebels in our school, always getting into fights and whooping everyone's ass."

"Heard they went to juvenile hall for a little while," Sam added. "And didn't your brother used to hang with them?"

Andre nodded. "I would go over to their house sometimes, too, to watch the game. Well, that girl is their sister."

All of the boys narrowed their eyes in confusion then Kyle understood. "Christina?!" Kyle nearly exclaimed. "No way! She hasn't been back here in, what, two years?"

"Three," Andre corrected. "Three long years."

"I'm still confused," Jake said.

"Yeah, me either," Sam said.

Andre looked back at Christina then at his friends again. "Three years ago, Christina ran away from home."

"Why?" Sam asked, curious. Him nor Jake have ever heard of the Struthers Brothers having a sister.

"Well, she was dating this guy," Andre said. "Now, first of all, Christina is the nicest, kindest, most caring girl you will ever meet. She never talked bad about anyone, always giving. The kid she was dating decided to take advantage. Second of all, him dating her was a joke, a bet that him and his friends made. He had six months to have sex with her or he lost the bet." He looked down, seeming like he was disgusted.

"What happened?" Jake asked, even though he could tell this was a sore subject for Andre.

Andre sighed. "They wanted proof of the incident." He looked at all three of them slowly before he continued. "So the night they had sex, he video recorded the whole thing. He told her how much he loved her and all this other bullshit that she believed. Right after that, on camera and everything, he told her it was a lie just to get her into bed. A week later, there was an assembly at school. The entire school was there and they showed the tape to everyone."

Sam gaped. "What assholes! I would never do that to someone."

Jake nodded. "Yeah, I mean, that's really low, man."

"Yeah, it is," Kyle agreed. "That night, she left a note and ran away. No one has heard from her since."

"Why do you think she came back?" Sam asked.

Andre shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm going to go talk to her." He got up and dusted himself off. Putting on his wife beater, he walked over to Christina.

Just by looking at her, he knew that the kind, caring girl he had met when he was fourteen, was gone.