A/N: I know, I shouldn’t have started this without finishing either The Way Things Change or Twisted, but I just couldn’t help it!! Lol, anyway, hope you enjoy. Please review!

First day of my senior year. Soon, I would be able to escape this hell hole, get far away from here. Far, far away. Hell, I could go to London, Paris, Peru, and I still wouldn’t be far enough away.

A year ago, I didn’t feel that way at all. I was so happy, back at school, back with my friends, the people I trust most in the world.

What can I say? All things change I guess.

I sat in my seat in the back of my first class of the day, sketching silly little drawing on my notebook. I heard people walk in, but I didn’t pay any attention to any of them, there wasn’t a reason to.

But I knew they saw me. They had to.

I was, well, how do I explain it? I was that girl that fell apart, her entire world fell apart. The girl kids spent hours discussing, gossiping about. The one that had a mental breakdown in the middle of her junior year.

Yeah, that girl.

You see, only a month into my junior year, everything I knew was destroyed. My father, the drunk he was, shot my mother.

She was dead, he was in jail, waiting for his trial.

I was living with my aunt, the only family I had left.

And why did my father shoot her? Because he found out that she was having an affair. With my boyfriends mother.

Yeah, that went over well.

“Those are good.” A voice said, breaking me out of my thoughts. I turned, staring at the girl next to me. She had short, spiky purple hair, a lip ring, green eyes, and outrageous clothes. I thought they were skinny jeans, and about three shirts, one on top of each other. All bright colors.

“Excuse me?” I asked, my eyebrows raised.

“The drawings.” She said, motioning to my notebook. “They’re good.” she sent me a smile, holding out a small hand. “I’m Meg.”

I stared at her hand a moment, but slowly reached out my own to take it. “Jade.”

Her smile grew. “I just moved here from Florida.”

Ah, that explained the whole talking to me thing. “Your new? Then let me give you some advice. If you want to have any friends in this school, stay away from me.”

She looked at me a moment, tilting her head to the side. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only person in here worth talking to.” She said, glancing around at the other kids in the classroom and back at me.

I knew what she meant. Even before my whole father killing my mother thing, I liked what I liked. My blond hair was short, barely brushing my shoulders, my nails were painted black, I was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a black v-neck shirt. My short bangs hung in my grey eyes. I always wore a silver chain with a Celtic symbol hanging off of it.

Not really how people around here dressed, but I didn’t really care. I never had.

“How sweet.” Someone said sarcastically, making me sit up in my chair instantly. I looked up, into the sapphire blue eyes that I knew all to well.

“Go away, Sean.” I said, looking back towards my notebook.

“She’s telling you the truth.” Sean said, looking at Meg. “Hanging out with her- not really the best thing to do.”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” Meg said, her voice frosty. I looked at the girl, slightly shocked. This girl was standing up to the most popular guy in school- for someone she didn’t even know.

“Its up to you.” Sean said, the sneer evident in his voice as he walked towards another desk, every eye in the class on him.

“Who was that jackass?” Meg questioned, her eyes, like everyone else’s, trained on Sean.

“My ex-boyfriend.” I said, my voice coming out a little harsher than I had expected.

Meg didn’t say another word, just watched as I started drawing once again, my pictures becoming a little more angry.

Sean was my boyfriend, his father was the one that was having the affair with my mother. Want to know the best part? After it happened, and his mother found out, she divorced Sean’s father, then disappeared. But, ironically, she didn’t go alone. She left with another man, her old high school sweetheart.

And Sean’s best friends father.

Sean dumped me after that, letting the vultures come after me. Leaving me alone to deal with everything.

And, as far as I knew, he had stopped talking to Justin too. Which was surprising. He and Justin had been closer than brothers since they were in dippers. Now, Sean still ran the school the way he always had. But Justin? Well, Justin also ran the school.

They just ran it separately. Like a war zone.

So there you have it, our whole mixed up past. It has everything, drama, angst, a torrid affair, murder. How fun.

Let me tell you, it might make a good movie, but as real life? It isn’t all that fun.

“So, what’s your next class?” Meg asked as we walked down the hallway. I saw eyes fall on us, surprised. I knew what they were thinking. Who was that girl talking to Jade? Why was she talking to Jade?

“American History.” I told her, glancing down at my schedule.

I jumped in surprise when she squealed, literally jumping up and down. “Me too! Great, another class together. And, no offence, but hopefully your jackass ex wont be in here.”

I heard a chuckle from behind me, and I turned, seeing someone behind us. It was a guy, tall, lean but muscular, with sparkling hazel eyes and blond hair that hung in those eyes. He was handsome, very much so, which was proven even more true with the girls staring at him in the hallway. “Jade.” He greeted in his deep voice, moving past me to walk into the classroom.

“Who was that?” Meg asked me softly, following me into the room.

“That is Justin.” I answered, sliding into a seat as far away from him as I could get.

“And who is Justin?” Meg continued her interrogation, sitting beside me.

I sighed, closing my eyes. I guess I could tell her, I mean, she was bound to find out anyway. And then she could make her own choice of whether to hang around me or not.

“Look, you’re most likely going to hear this anyway, so I’m just going to tell you.” I said, leaning back in my chair and talking softly and quickly. I didn’t need anyone hearing about this. “For years, Justin, Sean, and I were inseparable. We all lived on the same block, best of friends. When we were freshman, Sean and I started dating. It was an off and on thing for the next two years. Justin and Sean- well, you might be new here, but you’ve been to high school before. You know the type, they guys who ruled the school.”

Meg nodded, and I continued.

“Anyway, that’s who those two were. Best friends, all of that. But then everything happened.” I shook my head, not looking at her anymore. “I was in my room, heard arguing. That wasn’t anything new, they argued all of the time. My dad was a drunk. But this time, something was different. My dad kept calling my mom a slut, whore.”

“I went into the living room, but neither of them saw me. My dad was yelling, my mom crying. And then my dad shouted, said he couldn’t believe she was having an affair. An affair with Christopher Miller. Sean’s father.” I took a deep breath, ignoring the way Meg’s eyes widened at that statement. “My dad- well, to put it short, he shot my mom. I saw the entire thing.”

Meg gasped, but I once again refused to show any emotion what so ever. “Mom died, dad’s in jail. But that isn’t the point of this. Sean’s mother found out that his dad had the affair- but the real ironic part was that she was having an affair also. With Justin’s dad.” I shook my head, my mouth in a sarcastic smirk. “Sean went ballistic, blamed us for breaking up his family. Broke up with me, hasn’t talked to Justin since.”

“So why don’t you and Justin talk to each other?” Meg asked, her voice soft.

I frowned slightly. “Uh, truthfully, we were never really that close. We were both close to Sean.”

Meg nodded, though I still saw the frown on her face. I rolled my eyes, “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just though it would be better hearing the truth instead of the countless lies your going to hear.”

“No, I’m glad I know.” She said instantly, shrugging. “I’m just not good at the comforting thing.”

I laughed, for the first time in quiet awhile. “Good, I don’t need anymore comfort. A friend would be good.”

She sent me the brilliant smile I had seen all morning. “That I can do.”

“”””””””””””””:::::::::::::::::::LKJHGFDSDFGHJKL:LKJHGFDS::::::::::::””””””””””””

“Over there, you have the band kids.” I said, walking through the cafeteria with Meg at my side. “Choir kids, drama kids. Sports freaks, newspaper and yearbook staffs, and here.” I said, stopping at a table in the corner. “Is the reject table. A.K.A, where I sit. Usually alone.”

Meg sat quickly, rolling her eyes. “But now there are two.” She said, her voice joking. She let her eyes roam over the cafeteria, and I slid into the seat beside her, grabbing the bag of chips I had brought for lunch. “So, where do Justin and Sean sit?”

I let my eyebrows raised, then shrugged. “Sean is over there.” I said, motioning to only a few tables over. It was crowded, no chairs left in the area. But you could see who the most important people were. Sean was leaning back in his chair, a bored look on his face. His eyes were shifting from one person to another, never looking as if he were interested at all. That was the table I sat at, on Sean’s left. On Sean’s right, that’s where Justin had always sat. Not anymore.

“And Justin is over there.” I said, motioning to a table a few tables away from Sean’s. He was talking, a smile on his face, his hands moving as he spoke. Everyone at the table started to laugh loudly, and I saw Sean’s eyes flicker over to them, showing his annoyance.

“Wow.” Meg said, frowning. “They don’t seem alike at all.”

I shrugged. “They never really were. I think that’s why they got along so very well.”

“That does make sense.” Meg nodded, moving her fork around at whatever it was she had gotten for lunch. “What is this stuff?”

I laughed, “I have no idea.”

She frowned, then slyly reached over to grab a chip from my bag. I laughed, pushing them towards her. “I’m going to the vending machine, be back in a minute.”

She nodded, eating the chips happily. I smirked, then grabbed a couple of dollars from my purse before I stood, walking to the other side of the cafeteria. “Who’s the new girl?” A voice questioned from over my shoulder.

I turned, surprised, to see Justin standing beside me. I let my eyebrows go up. “Twice in one day. How odd.”

“I’m feeling very friendly.” Justin smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. I rolled my eyes, turning back to the vending machine. What did I want, chocolate, more chips, donuts?

“Actually, I needed to ask you something.” Justin said, suddenly sounding nervous.

I turned back around, curious although I really didn’t want to be. “What?”

“I got a letter from my father.” Justin said quickly, his eyes boring into mine. “he’s coming back. With Sean’s mom. They’re getting married.”

Ouch, that one had to hurt.

“What does that have to do with me?” I questioned, finally deciding I just wanted more chips and pressing the appropriate buttons.

“Come on, Jade.” Justin said, rolling his own hazel eyes. “Dad and Olivia,” Sean’s mother, “think of you like a daughter. Always have. They want all of us to get together for dinner or something.”

I frowned, “Is Sean going to be there?”

“I have no idea.” He said honestly, shrugging. “But- well, I don’t really care. Just come.”

He turned around, walking back towards his seat.

Did I really want to see them? I mean, they didn’t cause anything to happen with my mom and dad. They were just…them. If it was anyone’s fault, is was Sean’s father, not his mother.

I quickly grabbed the chips, then ran over to Justin, lying my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me, a knowing look in his eyes. “When?”

“Tomorrow.” He replied.

I just nodded, walking back over towards Meg. It wasn’t until I sat down that I noticed Sean watching me.