A/N I know it isn't perfect, but bear with me, this is my first ever story that I've actually posted anywhere. Sorry for mistakes they will be fixed ASAP. I will update as much as I can, but I've got school and whatever but Ch. 2 will be up maybe tomorrow cause I'm almost done with it. Hope you enjoy it, please leave some constructive criticism! I would love to get better at these things!

Background on the characters:

Lucy: A freshman in high school and has been abused at home all her life. Lucy is very slim, has dark hair and dark blue eyes. She just started getting bullied at school for her drab appearance 3 years ago, and it's gotten to a point where she's starting to doubt her presence on this Earth.

Renée: Classic all around good girl that tries to get Lucy to stand up for herself. Lucy and her share a 6th hour class and Renée is always nice and sensitive to Lucy. She doesn't get into her squabbles with Daniel because Lucy needs to learn how to speak her mind and not take things in silence. Renée does know about all Lucy's abuse, but again does nothing.

Daniel: Typical jock, or so everyone thinks. Secretly, he receives his own dose of abuse at home as well. He is the way he is because that's how he was raised. To take what you can take and have control of everything.

Linda: Mean, selfish girl who thinks she rules the school. She knows Lucy's situation very well, but doesn't cut her any slack. Linda usually pushes Lucy into ditches with mud/water or other things that will get her clothes dirty or make her smell disgusting. Linda does this because she knows that Lucy's mom won't like it and she'll get in trouble. Linda just doesn't know how severe the trouble she's getting Lucy in is.

Lucy was an ordinary girl, in a similarly ordinary world. The people were mean; the place was treacherous.
But unlike everyone else, Lucy was fighting to survive. Not only was she abused at home, but at school as well.

Lucy stepped into her last class of the day with a weary heart. The day had been long and had tugged on every part of her mind and body. She was exhausted. The bullying, the teasing, it never seemed to end. And the endless fight to get through every day was already taking a toll on her youthful body. She took her seat, and tried to fake a smile for the teacher that was looking her way.

Renée, the girl who sits next to Lucy, smiled at her and sat down with grace. "Hello Lucy. Are you OK?" She had always been worried about Lucy and all the abuse she got at school, and home. She was the first to actually know, and on top of that genuinely care. Lucy again faked a smile that Renée could easily see through, "Yes, I'm great. Just a little tired is all." She managed a chuckle, but it was half-hearted.

Mrs. Dean closed the metallic door and faced the class. "Today, we will be reviewing for the test on Wednesday. Take out your notes and get started. No talking today." Lucy quietly took out her notes like everyone else. She was trying so hard not to provoke the guy sitting behind her. Maybe if she kept facing forward he would forget she was there. But like every day before this one, that small hope was crushed.
"Hey Luce," She hated that nickname. "Give me a pencil." Lucy knew better than to fight Daniel. She reached silently into her bag and pulled out a pencil for him. She passed it back to him without making eye contact. Minutes passed before Daniel spoke to her again. "Hey Lucy, get up and sharpen this pencil. And make it snappy, will ya?" She reached back again for the pencil, and Renée gave her a look. Lucy was fighting back tears and Renée could see. Usually she would stay out of Lucy's problems, because she needed to learn how to fight them herself. But this time, she couldn't help it.

Renée stood up, and ignored the stares she was getting all around the room. She leaned onto Daniel's desk, "Get up, and sharpen your own damn pencil Daniel." She said with a growl. "In fact, while you're up," She grabbed Lucy's dull pencil. "Sharpen her pencil too. And make it snappy, will ya?"
Daniel glared at Renée, but seeing the fire in her eyes, he reluctantly obliged. Lucy took her seat, mouthing "Thank you" to her. She smiled and went back to her work. Finally, it was the end of the day and Lucy was walking home. She was mentally and physically preparing herself for what was about to happen. It happened every day, and she couldn't do anything about it.

3…2…1… She counted down, and right on cue, Linda came strutting down the sidewalk. "Oh look, it's the homeless bimbo from Loser Town." Linda's words might've meant little to anyone else, but to Lucy they meant a world of hurt. Linda knew how poor Lucy's situation was. And she didn't care.
"Look let's just get this over with, shall we?" Linda sneered and Lucy dropped her bag. Linda steered her over to a ditch full of mud and water and without further ado, pushed her in. She wiped her hands as if she was taking out the trash. Lucy just sat miserably in the mud, tears rolling down her face; but said nothing. This is how her life was, and there was nothing she could do to change it.

Lucy laid back into the squishy earth and thought of what was awaiting her back at home. She was definitely going to get a beating for this. Her mother didn't care about what happened at school. She just hated having to wash the mud from Lucy's clothes every single day. It's not like Lucy could do anything about it, and no one else wanted to do anything about it so she just let it happen. She understood that this is how life was. If you get the best of it, enjoy it while you can. But if you get the worst of it, you take it in silence. No matter how bad it is. She wanted it all to stop, and it would stop soon. Just a week now and she was going to take her life. She already had the date set and no one could change it. It's not like anyone wanted her to stay. So this week, she was just going to stay silent for a little while longer and then it would all mean nothing. Lord knows where she'll go but as long as she's not here, Lucy doesn't care.

Getting up and feeling a little more determined, she sludge out of the mud and picked up her heavy book bag. Lucy walked the rest of the way home with her head held high and her shoulders squared. She hadn't walked that way in a long time. She believed that the stronger you look, the stronger you are and the stronger you are people will try even harder to break you down. Before going inside to her bleak, falling apart house, Lucy dropped her shoulders again and took a deep breath.
The only thing she could smell when she stepped inside was tobacco and alcohol. Her mom must be drunk again. Lucy stepped carefully towards the direction of her room and just when she was just down the hall, her mom popped out of nowhere shrieking. "Where have you been? You are ten minutes late!" She hit Lucy's arm and she tried not to shrink beneath the blow. She could smell the tobacco on her mom's clothes, and her pupils were dilated which meant she was drunk. She knew good and well that when her mom was like this, it was best to get out of her way.

"I got pushed in the mud again, I'm sorry." Lucy's voice was small. "I told you to stay out of the mud! Why can't you listen?" Lucy's mom slapped her hard and Lucy had to bite her tongue to keep from crying out. "Get out of my face!" She screamed. Lucy scrambled to get in her room; she closed and bolted the door. Lucy sat on her bed and cried silently. She was so broken on the inside that there was nothing anyone could do to break her even more.

Still crying silently, she pulled the knife that she always kept under her pillow to her arm. She pulled up her sleeve and was greeted with a mangled arm beyond repair. She had been cutting herself since she could remember. It was the only way she could think of to erase the pain she always felt inside. So she gritted her teeth, and sliced her skin open once more. Blood came spilling out of the wound and onto her already ruined jeans. Lucy just sobbed and watched herself cut her arm again, and again, and again. The only thing that comforted her was the thought of being gone in a matter of days.