'''Somebody Save Me'''

Chapter One: Knight In Shining Armour

I lived in a fairytale…

Er, not really.

My life was anything but a fairytale. First off, I did not live in a castle. I lived in the poorest, most meagre part of town. You know the place you always hear about in the newspaper? The one where they say, "As usual, there was another shooting at blah, blah…"

Yeah.

That's where I lived.

As a young female of that ripe age, I had to follow the rules when wandering around my "castle"—don't attract unwanted attention: pop your hood and blend into the shadows. When my brother was still living with us he would always go everywhere with me. But now that he was gone, I had no choice but to follow the rules or the unfortunate would happen. Hey, I wanted to retain my virginity.

I wasn't a princess either. I was the usual small, brown-eyed girl with plain dark, almost black, brown hair. There was nothing special about me. I definitely wouldn't have called myself a princess.

And I had no prince. My brother could have been considered a prince—a hero even. But he abandoned me...left me alone to deal with my father.

But as it usually happens my life changed, all in one day. The day I met him.

At first he didn't seem like a prince—not in the slightest way. He wasn't the typical blond-haired, blue-eyed, knight in shinning armour on the horse, riding up to whisk me away to his safe castle. Heck he even lived in my apartment building (that should tell you something). But don't get me wrong either—he wasn't a pauper. He had the blackest hair I'd ever seen and wore clothes so black he was hot in two ways.

The day I met him I remember he wore a black top that was cut at the shoulders—this shirt making it perfectly clear that he was not to be messed around with.

That day was a Saturday. It was the end of the summer—a really hard summer for me, with my brother just leaving. I decided to go out to the park because I didn't think it was healthy for me to stay in my apartment with my dad much longer.

He was especially bad that summer. He figured that Caleb leaving was my fault. That somehow I was the one to make him leave.

I wanted to tell him that it was probably his abuse that sent Caleb away, but I didn't have the voice. I never had the voice to stand up to anyone—not even my father.

So I had decided to go to the park—but let me tell you, it was a community park for the whole underprivileged area so erm, you can imagine what it looked like…

It had been pretty trashed over the years but no one fixed it or cleaned it up. You'd think that living in such a prosperous and rich city, someone would have the brains to decide to get it cleaned it up.

But no. I have a theory that they must have forgotten about us.

But even if there hadn't even been a park there, I still would have gone somewhere. I needed to get away from my father. He hadn't let me out of the house in so long, but today…today he was being slightly nicer. Maybe he was starting to realise that I hadn't sent Caleb an eviction notice…

I trudged out to the yard, the run-down swing set and non-existent sand looking a little inviting. I sat down on the only swing and began pushing myself.

I actually felt a little relaxed…so relaxed that I didn't notice a group of guys come into the park. Because of my mistake I didn't have enough to time to put up my hood before they saw me.

One of them looked my way, and catching my eye, he grinned. The rest of them looked over and caught sight of me. They began approaching, closing in on me like I was some sort of animal. I stared almost horrified at them, as I realised I would have no way of getting out of the situation, not with their strength.

I must have looked so scared and fearful but I tried to put on my most confident face. "Er…hi…"

The guy, who had first noticed me, smirked. "Hey baby, whatcha doing out so late?"

It wasn't late! It was only five o'clock. The sun was still out…well sort of. Instead of saying that, I went with the nervous, "Eh?"

Another guy grinned wickedly at me, "Scared?"

"No." But my voice betrayed me as it shook uncertainly. "I-er-I gotta go—" I stood up and made a move to barrel through the group, but someone grabbed my arm from behind and forced me back on the swing.

"You're not going anywhere."

I gulped. Oh god, I was really scared right now.

The first guy looked me up and down with…lust perhaps?

"You're a fine one," he said licking his lips.

Okay now I was really scared. But I knew better than to try and run away. If I stalled long enough, maybe someone would see me and help…at least I prayed someone would.

"We should all have a go at her," the guy from behind breathed down my back.

I shivered, sickened by his tainted breath. If I ever get out of this, I thought, I'm going to take a long shower.

"Aw why can't I have her all to myself?" The guy in front of me whined.

"W-What do you, m-mean...you guys aren't really-aren't—g-going—" I just couldn't get the words out; my voice shook and my palms became sweaty.

The guy in front of me smiled even wider as he took a step forward. "Ready to lose it girly?"

I stared at them horrified. I did the only thing I could do. The only thing I thought might save me. I screamed. And loudly too.

I lasted about 3 seconds before someone roughly slapped their hand over my mouth. It was the stupid guy behind me. His hand even smelled disgusting.

"Shut-up bitch!" He growled at me.

I bite down hard on his hand, making him swear and quickly recoil it. I screamed again, this time though; the guy in front of me knocked me onto the ground. He glared at me with sadistic eyes. "If you don't shut your little mouth we're gonna make this ten times worse than it needs to be!"

"No-please-don't—"

The guy was coming towards me. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to imagine what Heaven would be like. This was it, I was done. My life would be over. They were going to rape me, and then probably kill me. I would have no purpose—

"Get away from her!"

Before I could even open my eyes to see who that voice was—probably hug and kiss them too—I felt myself being lifted off the ground and carried away. I opened my eyes and realised I was in someone's arms. I looked over at the group of guys to see that they were outnumbered by another group.

The fact that I was in someone's arms and they were touching me was not lost. I hated it when people touched me; it just reminded me of what my father did. But when you are about to get raped, that all doesn't seem to matter.

I was put down and before I could even look up at my rescuer to thank him or maybe see who he was, he stepped in front of me in a protective manner.

With his back facing me he yelled with angry fury, "What the fuck do you think you're doing trying to rape an innocent girl like that?"

The guy who had pushed me on the ground looked a little…scared. "Ahh what's it to you Shad. We were jus playing around, you know? We didn' know she was yours or nothing."

Shad—I'm guessing that was his name—seemed to not like this answer at all. "Well she is," he said through gritted teeth. I didn't even know this guy and he was already claiming me! Maybe he wasn't really my rescuer…

He continued on, still angry, "Do you remember what I can do to you…?"

The guy who had been behind me the whole time was actually visibly shaking, "I remember Shad—please don't. I'm sorry dude! We didn't know you knew her, honestly! We were just following orders!"

Shad glared at them for a moment longer before he growled, "Whose orders?"

"Joe's."

Shad seemed to consider this, invisible words passing between himself and his gang. "Fine," he said. "I won't do anything this time. But next time I draw blood."

They all nodded simultaneously before taking off faster than a car.

Shad stared at their dust for a second before turning around to me. My breath became short as I realised why those guys were scared of him. He was rather, um, intimidating, to say the least. He was tall (to a 5'2, 6'3 is tall) and gothic-looking. With his tight shirt exposing his arms you could see he obviously worked out at the gym.

But instead of my usual shy demeanour, I decided that he couldn't be all that bad since he had just saved a complete stranger from death, AND had admitted to me being "his". Although I don't think that was a positive thing…anyway, I decided to thank him.

"Um, thank you," I mumbled, suddenly blushing at my shyness.

He looked at me with a softness that completely took away from his dangerous vibes. "Are you okay?" Even his voice was soft!

I nodded, "I think so…I was just really scared." To my horror I stared crying. I never ever cry in front of people.

Never.

I learned my lesson when I cried in front of my dad once. It didn't end too well.

I could only cry by myself. But I guess the incident shook me up because I could not hold them in. I covered my face in embarrassment, trying to hide the tears, but Shad gently took my hands away and pushed my chin up to meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice and eyes full of sadness and concern. He then pushed me into his chest and hugged me.

Before I could even wonder why he was hugging me or what the heck is he sorry about?? I felt myself being drawn to the safety and warmth of his embrace. This was so unusual for me to do since I never ever let anyone hug me, not even my best friend. But his hug was just…different. It felt as though he was handling me with kindness and safety. And later on, when I spent time mulling over the whole situation, I figured that the reason I'd been able to handle the hug, had nothing to do with its physical aspects.

My crying only lasted another minute before it subsided to sniffles. He pulled away and looked down at me with concern.

"Um—?" I asked timidly.

"Yes," he smiled, as if prodding me to ask my question.

"Eh—do I know you?"

He smiled, oddly in an almost sad way, and shook his head. "No, you don't know me Sarah—but I know you."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"I knew your brother."

"Ohh…" I wondered, then, why I never heard of him. I caught sight of his gang from over his shoulder—two girls and two guys. They were talking amongst themselves.

I suddenly pulled away, realising that I was still in his arms. "I see."

He grinned at me, "I'll see you around, Princess."

With that, him and his friends left.

"Bye Princess!" One of the girls and boys chorused as they rounded the corner.

But not before he winked at me.

So I guess that's how you can say I met my 'prince'. Although, I guess that one meeting didn't really make him a prince, but it made me a princess!

Well, sort of… (He did say it though…). The last person to ever call me a princess was my mom, but she wasn't exactly alive anymore.

I didn't see him for some time after that day. I began to believe that it might have been a dream. But it was the end of the summer and school was finally starting.

I liked school for only two reasons. One, it was an escape from my dad for the whole day and two, I was smart and I knew that if I tried extra hard I could get out…I could move to the parts of the city where it was okay to walk outside at any time and not be afraid of getting shot or jumped.

I usually walked to the bus stop with Rachel—which was what I was doing this morning. I got up early to make my dad breakfast—always before he woke up from his hangover—and then I scurried away like a mouse. I really didn't want anything to happen in the morning. I wouldn't have enough time to cover up.

We usually didn't have enough food in the apartment so I was not allowed to eat it. My dad declared there was no sense in wasting it on me.

And since there was no breakfast program or anything at school, I had to rely on scraps from the lunch lady or Rachel.

Yes, hard as it was to believe, I had a friend…maybe just one, but that was enough for me. Rachel lived a few blocks from my apartment and we usually met up near the bus stop.

The thing I loved about Rachel was that she was always there for me, no matter what. She understood things about me that so many overlooked. She took the bus because her parents were nicer than my dad (heck anyone's nicer than him)—and they bought extra tickets for me.

I met up with her at the usual corner, in the slightly better part of our area.

"Hey," she greeted me. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I know, I'm sorry," I said apologetically. If it wasn't for my damn dad and his punishments! "I was grounded."

"For the whole summer?" She asked incredulously.

"Of course not," I scoffed. "He thought I was the one who made Caleb run away."

"Ohh. What an ass."

I laughed. I loved how Rachel could always make me feel better. She knew about my home life. After all, it was hard to keep from her since we met each other in the playground at three.

She grinned at me. "Don't worry Sarah. Now that we're back in school, I'll make sure you stay away from there for as long as possible."

"Thanks Rach."

"No problem." Her long curly blond hair blew into my face, as the wind picked up, and I got a strong whiff of something that smelled distinctly like chocolate.

"Rachel," I began suspiciously.

"Yeah?" She asked, oblivious to my tone.

"Why would your hair, perhaps, I don't know…smell like chocolate?"

She blushed slightly. "What do you mean?"

I stared at her. "Your hair it—you didn't…" Realization dawned on me as she turned red, "You did, didn't you!"

She glared at me and with great hesitation she admitted, "Yes…I did."

Now I bet you're all wondering, what the heck are they talking about? I don't blame you, since I'd be confused too. See a couple of months ago, before my brother ran away, me and Rachel questioned him about his strange chocolate obsession. He told us that he loved chocolate so much that he only kissed girls who loved chocolate too (I didn't need to know that) and that he could be happy forever in a rainbow and butterfly chocolate land!

Yes I asked him, after he said that, if he was on crack. He said no, surprisingly.

Anyway, it's no secret that Rachel has had a crush on my brother for how many years is it now…well I think since we first met. He's only a year older than us.

So as to Rachel's hair smelling like chocolate, well you can put the pieces together.

"But-but he's not even here!"

"I know that," she grumbled.

I grabbed some of her hair and sniffed it again.

"Hey!" She snatched her hair back, "I need that you know."

"Your hair—what did you do, wash it in chocolate??"

When she didn't answer I took that as a yes. I ogled stupidly until my intense stare of amazement finally got to her. She turned and stared back at me. "You know, it's called trying to get a boy's attention! You should try it sometime."

"Hey," I said slightly hurt. "You know I'm not ready for that…not since…well you know…" I trailed away.

"Oh gosh," she smacked her forehead, "I'm sorry Sarah. It's just that," her eyes became sad. "I miss Caleb a lot. I didn't even know he had it in him to run away like that." She stared at the rundown houses as we walked. "I just—I mean he was always a hero to me. The way he used to protect you when you guys were kids. The way he'd stand in front of you—even us that one time. The way he'd stand so defiantly up to your father like we were his most precious jewels in the world—treasures that he couldn't bear to see get hurt. I can't believe he'd just leave us like that. You especially. There's no one left to protect you."

I didn't realize it, but by the time she was finished, our eyes had taken on a misty glaze.

"Oh I miss him so much Rachel, you don't even know!" I rethought that, "Er actually you do know." I looked her in the eye. "But listen Rach, we have to give him a break. He protected me so much for all those years of my life. I think he really loves both of us—I know he loves me, and I'm positive he feels the same about you. But even superman gets scared. It's just a question of how you handle fear. Caleb was our hero and I guess he got scared. We don't know what happened that day—"

"What…did happen…?" She asked fearfully.

I shook my head. "I don't know. I wasn't there, remember. He was gone when I came home…but judging from the way my father was—it wasn't pretty."

Rachel looked really scared and I'm sure I must have looked the same. But what was there to do? I didn't know where Caleb was or why he left me alone. All I could say was that he maybe perhaps deserved a break, even if I had to take the consequence.

"Watch where you're going loser!"

Ah, high school. The place where your inner beauty doesn't matter and it's all about who you pretend to be! I guess the kid who said that to us didn't realize we were in grade twelve. But I guess it's hard since me and Rachel are both small.

"Why don't you watch where you're going idiot!" Yep, there's Rachel for you—always ready to say something back…unlike me.

The kid, who had said that, gave her the dirtiest look he could muster. Only it looked like he was trying to imitate a clown so Rachel just smirked up him and gave him the finger.

"Rachel!" I gasped, quickly grabbing her hand.

"What?"

"What do you think you're doing?" I hissed at her.

"Um, giving the idiot a well-deserved finger?"

"I'm surprised at you," I reprimanded. "That poor boy could have been in grade nine and now you probably scared him!"

"Uh-huh. And that 'poor boy' probably scared you more than I'll ever be able to scare him." Rachel smiled sweetly at me.

"He didn't scare me," I protested.

Rachel crossed her arms, "Sure."

Wanting to change the subject, I took out my schedule from my bag. "Hey, what's your first class?"

Looking down at hers, Rachel scanned the page, "English. You?"

"Gym."

"Aw that sucks."

"I know. Why do we have to take gym every year?"

Rachel threw her hands up. "I know! Everyone really hates it."

I bit my lip. "I just hope I get Mrs. Smith again."

Rachel looked confused for a moment before she remembered. "Oh yeah! She let you wear a sweater."

"Yeah." I really, really, hoped I would get her this year because my sweater was usually the only thing covering my bruises.

The bell rang so I said bye to Rachel and headed to the gym. It wasn't a very big gym—pretty crappy. But what do you expect from the poorest part of town? If they can barely keep the parks alive, then the gym is the last thing on their list.

As I walked in, I should have expected what I saw. Mr. Coyle.

He was standing in the middle of the room, a group of students surrounding him. He held a clip board and his face looked frozen in a permanent scowl. He practically glared at me when I entered the gym, and his eyes followed me, narrowing in as I walked over to the group.

"So nice of you to join us," he said frostily, "Miss—?"

I didn't quite catch what he saying, or the fact that he was talking to me, so I didn't say anything.

He glared at me, obviously thinking that I was a troublemaker, trying to get on his nerves. "Do you have a voice child!?" He barked at me. "Or are you deaf?"

I jumped (as did everyone else) from the sudden jack in volume of his voice. "U-Um y-yes, sorry, it's um, Sarah sir," I stammered.

"Sarah! Sarah what?"

I was pretty sure that I was the only Sarah in the whole school but regardless, he wanted my last name so I gave it to him.

"U-um Sarah White."

Mr. Coyle frowned down at his clipboard, as though it was the one giving him problems. He scanned it and then frowned back at me. "Yes, Miss White, you are in my class."

Why was he frowning at me then?

To my relief, his attention was diverted elsewhere, as a new student walked in.

He glared at this student too, with much more anger than he had towards me. I would have noticed this—and the student—if I weren't too busy calming myself from the recent Mr. Coyle experience.

"Mr. Sauveur! How nice of you to actually show up this year!" He looked fiercely at his board and then at the class. "I want Mr. Sauveur to be an example to ALL OF YOU. I will NOT accept lates and/or absences from you! I don't care if this is your last year of high school! I expect you in here and ON TIME!"

The class only stared at him.

"Now," he continued, a little calmer (I said a little), "we will begin today's class by jogging or running as some of you inexperienced students like to call it. Since this school is so poor, there is no gym uniform, HOWEVER, there are no exceptions to the rules of this class. You must wear a T-shirt and pants or shorts. No sweaters are allowed."

This wasn't really a problem for the class because it was September and no one needed to, or was wearing a sweater in the warm weather.

Well, except me.

Mr. Coyle glared at me. "Well, what are you waiting for child!? Take the sweater off! I don't know why in the world you'd be as stupid as to wear one in this heat, but regardless, you're holding up the class! Take it off!"

I was in a panic now. I couldn't take it off—not after last night. People would wonder, they would question! They would discover my secret. My arms were so bruised that my pale white skin was hidden under mounds of purple and black.

I stared at him wide-eyed and shook my head, not even believing what I was doing. "I-I can-not-I—"

He glared at me. "Are you saying something? Speak up!"

I cleared my throat. "I-I-can't take it off."

His face started to turn red and people in the class actually looked at me as if I were insane. "What?" He yelled.

"I-I'm-sorry-I c-can't t-take it off."

"And why is that?" He growled.

"I-just-I can't." I couldn't think of a better explanation. Nothing was coming to mind.

"Leave her alone."

Now why did that line there sound so familiar? Oh yeah, Shad said something like that.

Mr. Coyle glared at someone behind me. "Mr. Sauveur! I will not have students talking back to me."

I turned to see who it was. Well you can imagine my surprise when I saw that it was "Shad?"

He turned at my voice and smiled slightly. Why was he here, in my class? I'd never seen him in my school before. But I guess he didn't come often like Mr. Coyle had said.

He turned back to our teacher and his whole face changed. He became furiously angry. "She doesn't want to take off her goddamn sweater so leave her alone. Stop bullying the students Coyle." He had said this in a dangerously low whisper that sounded creepy, even to me.

Mr. Coyle had lost some of his previous glare and confidence. He looked almost at a loss for words. I would too if Shad had been speaking to me like that. He paused for a moment before looking at me. "You-uh….you run five laps…" he trailed away looking at Shad, "and since you like her so much, you can run with her too."

Not wanting to get him more riled up at me (I did need to pass the course after all) I started running. Shad had looked ready to say something back, but when he saw me running, he shrugged and followed suit. He easily caught up to me—I was running pretty slowly. "Hey, you know I could have got you out of running," he said gently.

"I know," I said, looking up at him, "but I don't want him to get angrier at me. I need to pass this course."

"For university?"

"Yeah."

He looked ahead, "Smart move Princess. University will get you out of this place."

"I know."

We ran on for one more lap before I felt myself get weaker. I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday's lunch. I was running really low on power—no pun intended—but not that I wasn't used to it.

I guess I started to get pale, like I usually do, because Shad looked pretty concerned. I admired this for a second because it was so different from his previous stance.

"Are you okay Sarah?" He asked.

I couldn't answer him because I had already fainted.

A/N: I know, another story but I just couldn't wait to put this down. I've had this idea for so long.

REVIEW!!

Abby