I'm re-doing this story, fixing some things, making chapters longer... just making it better. So please let me know what you think :D

It was the usual morning routine. I was nearly late for school, Dad was on a rampage about some new issue of the day, and his current, random squeeze of the night was presently finding her clothes awkwardly in his bedroom so she could make her quiet exit out as to avoid this mess. Lucky me, I had to deal with this same ordeal every morning...

I just finished putting on mascara, the finishing touch to my make-up procedure, when I heard the front door slam. The one night stand was gone. Forever. I walked over to my bed and started putting my books from last night's homework into my backpack when my dad suddenly yelled for me.

"Sophie! Get out here!"

I sighed, closing my eyes as I rubbed my head with my fingers. It was going to be an awful day, as usual. It was a gut feeling I had every day that always turned out to be true. I can't remember the last time I had a good day.

I walked out of my room, closing my door as I slung my backpack across my shoulder. My dad was standing in the kitchen, his fists clenched as he waited for me.

"You are not wearing that to school," he started, looking at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I am," I stated boldly.

"No, you're not," he said, blocking me from the door. It was a hot day, and I could wear a tank top and shorts if I wanted. I honestly didn't see the big deal. Plus, I liked my legs, and there was nothing wrong with wanting to show them off. And it wasn't that my dad seriously had an issue with what he was wearing. This was just what he did in the morning. Everything I did was wrong, and unless I listened to him for every single thing I did, I got yelled at. The more this went on, however, the easier it was to ignore. "Go change."

"No," I said, looking up at my father. He was a tall man, wide with arms built out of pure muscle, the exact kind of man my mother used to go for. Today, however, I wasn't so sure. His hair was dark brown and short, his bangs ending just about mid forehead. He had brown eyes, a wide jawline, and ginormous ears. He was clad in a pair of sweats, shirtless, which allowed the whole world to see how hairy his chest was. He may be big, tall and strong, but how that hairy-ass chest kept all these women coming after him was beyond me. But as his daughter, it grossed me out, and now I tried to walk past him.

"Sophie get back here!" He yelled, his anger levels rising for whatever reason.

"I'm going to be late for school," I said, trying to keep my calm. My day was going to suck anyway, and I didn't need my father making it worse, just as he usually did.

I found my best friend, Kenzie, sitting on my porch, texting someone, her boyfriend most likely, as I stepped out of the house. We walked to school together everyday.

"How long have you been here?" I asked as I walked down the steps.

"A couple minutes," she said. "It seemed busy in there, so I didn't want to knock."

I rolled my eyes, knowing she was talking about my dad, but couldn't help but agree with her choices.

"You know, what you have on is very inappropriate," she joked. "You should change."

I turned my head, glaring at her.

"Too early?" She asked.

"Too early," I repeated.

We both walked in comfortable silence down the street on the way to our high school. Greenmyth was a pretty small town; you could walk anywhere, if you wanted. I had just started to calm down, too, until I saw his car parked on the side of the street, just ahead was the school, and just like that, I was annoyed again.

Kenzie saw his car too, a silver, souped up Honda Civic, and I heard her sigh. "Great, we have to walk right passed the stalker." Just like every other morning, I thought sourly in my head.

Stalker, really, couldn't have been a more perfect word for him. His name was Josh Kamos, a loser twenty-three year old guy who had nothing better then to spend his free time doing everything he could to talk to me and a bunch of other girls around the city. He would literally drive around town in his stupid car around the spots I was usually at (which he knew, of course) park his loud car, and wait. This was one of those instances. He was here almost every morning, making sure Kenzie and I had the pleasure of seeing and talking to him before class.

I tried to keep my cool as we neared his car. It wasn't that I was afraid of him, it was just that I hated him. He was so creepy with the way he always looked at me, those bright, blue, icy eyes that always eyed me up and down. But it wasn't like I could go to anyone about it. My dad had "better" things to do and my boyfriend, Jimmy, would over-react on the whole situation and kill the guy, literally. I figured it was okay if Josh looked. Touching would be a different story.

"Ladies," I heard Josh say just as we approached his rolled down window. He was alone, as usual, and had his tan arm hanging out of the side of the window. "Wonderful weather we're having. Sophie, I couldn't agree more on your choice of fashion this morning."

I turned my head, glaring at him. He was grinning at me, and raised his eyebrows before quickly lowering his eyeballs down, then back up.

"Don't you have something better to do?" Kenzie asked, stopping. That was the thing that irked me about her. Much like how she was two years ago, Kenzie always had to give people a piece of her mind. I found it best to ignore Josh, seeing as how he usually left us alone quicker when we did, but even when Kenzie wasn't around it was hard to do, admittedly.

Two years ago Josh would have been my perfect type, if he was actually my age. He was tall and broad with perfectly defined, muscle packed arms and smooth skin. It was obvious he was once completely athletic, which I actually knew to be true, finding this out the very few times he was able to get a word in. In high school and in his one year of college he was the best wrestler on all the teams he had ever been on, ran track, and what would have been the seal-the-deal attribute, was captain of the football team. Obviously, though, he had never stopped working out, for he always looked toned and fit. I hated that more than anything.

Josh was half black, his father being fully African American, his mother white, and it showed through his darker, tan skin and his face and hair. He had a wide jaw line, wide nose, and short fuzzy hair, much like that of a black mans, though he was sure to always have it bleached. He was in for a new dye job, however, for darker hairs were starting to show through on the roots. I hated Josh with a passion, he was the cockiest most arrogant bastard on the Earth, but I couldn't deny that he was really cute. In my book, stalkers were not supposed to be good looking.

"Nah, not really." His voice was deep, though a little high-pitched for a man his size. "I couldn't think of anything better to do in my day than to see you guys."

Kenzie huffed and rolled her eyes, shifting all her weight onto her right foot as she glared daggers at him. Josh only got off on this, of course, and gave her a sly grin back.

"We're going to be late for school," I said, pushing Kenzie along as we continued down the sidewalk.

"Aw, little Ms. School-girl can't be late for class," Josh started, going heavy on the s's. I tried not to let my anger show.

"At least we have something going for us," I couldn't help but say. Josh ignored this, quickly starting his car, and he gently pushed the gas, steering the car with one hand, as he crept along beside us, hus muffler humming.

"You going to Bender tonight?" He asked. Bender was the only popular club in Greenmyth. You had to be sixteen to get in, and twenty-one to to drink.

"Are you going to be there?" I asked.

"Of course," Josh said, tilting his head up.

"Then no."

I saw Josh nod and grin to this. Finally we were almost near the school, and I sped up my pace, Kenzie trying to keep up.

"Guess I'll see you around then," Josh called after us, or most likely, me. I didn't say anything, and kept walking, my eyes already fixed upon something that I was hoping I would not see today.

Josh's car was loud as it sped it away, but Josh had become the last thing on my mind now, which actually was a bad thing this time. My eyes were wide as I stared at the huge crowd gathering in the baseball field, kids screaming and yelling. There was a big fight going on, and I knew that could only lead to one person: Jimmy.

Kenzie and I started jogging towards the crowd, the cheers getting louder the closer we came. I heard skin smacking against skin as I forced and pushed my way through the crowd to the front, losing Kenzie somewhere in the back.

That anger reached an all time high when I saw Jimmy pounding the face of some poor guy, who I knew never would have stood a chance against him. It seemed like nobody ever could.

"Jimmy!" I yelled. He looked at me for moment then proceeded to punch the guy one more time, kids screaming their cheers as he fell to the ground. What could this kid of done to deserve such a beating?

The crowd was quick to break up, however, for the principle, Mr. Dana, and the dean were storming over to the scene.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" I was trying to talk to Jimmy. He was about to answer, but Mr. Dana was quick to butt-in.

"Mr. Brock, what just happened?" Mr. Dana was angry, his face red. He was tall and bald, and we all knew him to be old, but he looked awfully young. Now, however, his wrinkles really shone through due to his angry expression. "Ms. Griffin, were you a part of this?" His head snapped over to me, his cold, angry glare fixated upon me.

"Oh, no --"

"She had nothing to with it," Jimmy interrupted, just as the other guy finally started to stand up. Well at least Jimmy had it in him to do that.

"Come with me," Mr. Dana said as he started to turn around. Jimmy looked at me, mouthing 'I'm sorry' as he walked away. "This is getting ridiculous. It's the third fight this week, and sixth fight this month!" I heard Mr. Dana scold. The dean led the other kid away, and I was stuck standing there, watching them go.

"Unbelievable," Kenzie said as she walked up behind me. "I thought he said he wouldn't do this anymore. He's probably going to be expelled for this one... did you see that kid's face?"

"Yeah," I said, still watching them walk away before they turned the corner, disappearing inside the school. "I know."

School went the same as usual. Classes were slow and boring, lunch was aggravating, and I had a ton of homework. I hadn't seen Jimmy the rest of the day, I figured Mr. Dana had sent him home. It was odd, for as many fights as Jimmy always got into, Mr. Dana still seemed to like him, and never punished him too harshly. I had a feeling it was because Mr. Dana used to be close with Jimmy's father, Mr. Brock years ago.

"Ready to go?" Kenzie asked me as I shut my locker. She was smoothing out her long, straight blond hair as she chewed hard on her gum. I couldn't help but notice how loudly her face screamed 'Mrs. Popular', while her clothes yelled 'rebel'. She never could look the part, and she never really adapted to it.

"Yeah," I said. Honestly, I wasn't. Truth be told I felt stuck. I hated school, but honestly there was nothing worse then having to go to that place I had to call home.

We walked out of the school in silence, both of us quietly scanning the street ahead of us, looking for Josh's car. Luckily he wasn't anywhere in sight, which led me to believe that maybe my day was improving.

The wind blew, rustling the green trees back and forth. It was unusually cold suddenly for only being October, and I wished that I had a jacket.

Kenzie, unable to stay quiet for long periods of time, spoke up. "So Mason wasn't at school. Again," she added glumly.

"Really?" I asked. "Why not?" Mason was Kenzie's boyfriend. They had been dating for about half a year now. Mason was extremely quiet and had no friends, really. He was deemed the weird kid at school, only talking to Kenzie and occasionally Jimmy and me. I didn't understand why Kenzie was with him, though I had a few thoughts as to why. None of which I'd ever share.

Kenzie shrugged as she kicked a pebble with her shoe. "He won't answer my texts."

Just as she said this, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I flipped it open and saw I had a text from Jimmy. We have to talk, it said. I sighed loudly.

"Great," I said, not even realizing I had just interrupted Kenzie. She seemed to not care, however, thinking that what I had to say was more important than her sob story.

"Jimmy sent me a text. 'We have to talk'."

"Why?" She nearly yelled. "That's stupid."

"I know," I grumbled. I texted him back, asking about what, thinking, hoping that I was jumping to conclusions.

Meet me at Bender tonight. I rolled my eyes. Great, I thought. The number one place I really didn't want to be at.

"What?" Kenzie asked, sensing something was wrong.

"He wants us to meet him at Bender tonight," I said, instantly including her in my plans. Kenzie was my wing girl, there for whatever I needed, whether that be to fend off Josh, or tell off Jimmy if he pisses me off too much and I was unable to do it myself.

Kenzie sighed as well. "When did things get so complicated?" She asked out loud, watching her feet as we walked. I looked over at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's just that two years ago things seemed a whole lot better."

"How do you figure?" I asked.

"I mean, you were with Evan, I had Randy. School was better. You were the head cheerleader, I was right behind ya..."

"My mom was actually around," I said. "I don't know about Evan though. He was a jerk. Or the cheer-leading..."

"Much like Jimmy," Kenzie snapped, ignoring my last comment. "Sorry," she added, bowing her head. I laughed.

"It's fine," I said. "You're right. I have horrible taste in guys." Evan had been the captain of the football team. He was a senior when I was a sophomore, and after nearly a year of dating, he turned into a big asshole, cheating on me with all sorts of different girls before he finally broke up with me, point blank, and moved out of the city. Randy, Kenzie's boyfriend, ended up moving away, and was unwilling to do a long distance relationship. Things seemed so much different back then...

We finally got to my house a good five minutes later, and now I had nothing but homework and an evil dad to deal with, and the cherry on top? I now had a stalker encounter and a break-up to look forward to. What a wonderful day.

"So, you want me to meet you at Bender, or here?"

"Better meet me at Bender," I said. "I'll call you when I get there."

"Okay," Kenzie said. "See you later."

I proceeded into my house, luckily finding my dad passed out on the couch, an old football game on. I quietly walked passed the living room and headed straight into my room, my dad snoring all the while. It was going to be a long night...

I couldn't concentrate on my homework, I had too much on my mind. I had just finished writing the conclusion paragraph for my English paper, and I had just started math. But my mind was too far off to concentrate on cross division with variables at the moment, so I slammed my book shut and pushed it off my bed. I sighed and rolled over onto my back, staring up at the ceiling.

I really wasn't looking forward to going to Bender tonight. I didn't want to deal with being pestered by Josh and dumped – again – by Jimmy. I just couldn't keep living my life like this.

I missed my mom. Everything took a turn for the worst when she left, it seems. After she left, Dad no longer had a reason to hold back on his abusive side, cheer-leading just went downhill, as did my grades and school life. That was about the time I met Jimmy, who seemed like he was all I needed to make everything better. To bad that worked out for the opposite.

I glanced over at the clock; five thirty. I hadn't realized how much time had passed, and I decided that I'd better get going. I got up, checked my hair and make-up, because yes, I had to look good for a break-up. I grabbed my jacket and walked out the door, closing it behind me.

The first thing I heard when I entered the hall was what sounded like Judge Judy and snoring. Confused, I peered into the living room and noticed my father was still sleeping on the couch. This was good, actually, because now I could leave without him bitching at me for something. What a woman.

I quietly closed the door behind me and started my ten minute walk to Bender. To be honest, I really didn't mind having to walk everywhere, even in such a bad part of the city. It wasn't like I'd be getting a car anyway, and my dad was never one to be excited to teach me how to drive, or just want to do it at all.

The wind blew and I put my jacket on, hugging it closer to me due to the zipper being broken. Sitting outside their houses were a bunch of guys hanging out with their friends, checking out every girl that walked passed, and I was next. I didn't look at them as I walked by, but from the corner of my eye I could see them all grinning and fist pounding each other and murmuring stuff. I imagined this was how Josh acted at his house when he was too drunk to drive anywhere. It seemed all the men in this town were fucked up and creepy.

I reached Bender about eight minutes later. I knew the bouncer, Jackson, a giant, buff-ass black man who I was actually pretty tight with.

"Evening Sophie," he said, stepping aside to let me in. I smiled at him.

"How are you?"

"I've seen better days," he said in his deep voice.

"Me too," I said, disappearing into the crowd.

The music was loud, the air hot and stale, and I felt dirty already due to all the sweaty bodies colliding against me. I assumed Jimmy was somewhere near the bar, that was the main congregating area of the club, even for the teenagers.

I had finally made my way out of the dance floor, which you had to pass to get to the rest of the club and the entrance/exit, and was just walking passed a few tables when I saw the first bad part of my night: Josh.

He was sitting next to some girl, leaned in real close, telling her something in her ear. She looked annoyed mostly, but I noticed her lips spread into a wide grin before she let out a chuckle of laughter. Josh grinned, turning his head, and instantly he locked his blue eyes with my mine. His grin faded and in an instant he was up, walking over to me, and before I could get away, he was right there, the other girl no longer important by any means.

"I had a feeling I'd see you here," he said, that perverted grin coming back. He was wearing a white shirt which only seemed to make his skin look darker. I rolled my eyes and started to walk away, Josh of course following right behind.

"Look, I kind of have somewhere to be." I reached my hand towards my pocket and felt my heart stop for a moment. I had forgotten my phone. Now I had no way to call my wing girl. Now, I had to deal with this terrible twosome all by myself.

"Where? The bar?" He asked. He was definitely invading my personal space bubble.

"Kind of," I said.

"I can buy you a drink," he said, walking next to me now before he suddenly turned and stood in front of me, stopping me dead in my tracks. "Since, you're underage."

The way in which he said 'underage' totally creeped me out, causing me to shudder. Underage was the key word here, and not just about the drinks. He was grinning as he looked down at me.

"Why don't you go find somebody your own age?" I said, trying to move passed him, but he side-stepped my move, blocking me still. He made a face, and rolled his eyes to the right, as if really contemplating this.

"Nah," he said. "They're not right for me."

"And seventeen year old high school girls are?"

He grinned again, which said it all. I made a face and tried to get around him again, but he still managed to block me.

"Their minds have already been corrupted," he said, referring to older girls again. I raised my eyebrow. What the fuck did that mean?

"Oh, and mine hasn't?" I asked. He nodded slightly. "Then you're mistaken," I said. "If you really knew me, then you'd know I continue to be corrupted every day." Finally he let me walk passed him.

"I know you better than you think," he continued, walking behind me again.

"Doubtful, very doubtful," I said.

"I know you're getting dumped tonight."

I froze at this, turning around, about ready to smack that grin off his face. "How do you know that?"

He shrugged. "I know people."

I continued to glare at him a moment longer before I started to walk away again, saying nothing.

"Guess I'll see you around," Josh said after me.

"Guess I have no choice," I called back. I could just feel his eerie grin slide up my spine and sting my neck, but I continued on, not bothering to look back.

I finally reached the crowded bar, the counter packed with people leaning over it, shouting their drink order. Looking over to the left I saw Jimmy sitting by himself at a table, drinking what looked to be a glass of water with ice. He looked angry as he glanced around the bar, but then again, Jimmy always looked angry. That was something I disliked about him. He was hard to read.

I slowly walked up, unknowingly popping my knuckles, something I did when I was nervous. Once I reached his table he looked over at me, and instantly something just snapped. He wasn't going to be the one to break up with me, I was dumping his ass. That way, Josh would have been wrong, and I'd have the upper-hand.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I instantly shouted over the music at him. He stopped, mouth agape, before he rolled his eyes up, grinning at he titled his head back. This pissed me off more, his action obviously showing that this was a continuous problem. "Why did you get in that fight?"

"If you'd let me explain --" he started to talk, but I interrupted again, placing my palms on the table.

"There's nothing to explain, Jimmy," I said. "I asked you countless numbers of times not to fight, and yet you still do it. There is no excuse."

He tried to talk again, but I wouldn't let him get a word in. The music seemed louder, the air hotter, and I was ready to just get everything over with and go home.

"Look, I guess it's just not working. If you can't listen to me and do one simple thing, for me, then we have bigger problems here."

"You're breaking up with me?" He asked, glaring at me, some of his brown hair poking out of his backwards hat. I nodded, somewhat unsure suddenly. Hadn't then been what he wanted to do? "Fine," he said, standing up. He walked over to me, still glaring at me. "You know Sophie, this is really it. I'm sick of you instantly accusing me for shit."

I crossed my arms, looking right into his eyes, trying to stay strong. I felt like somebody was watching me, but I shrugged it off. We were breaking up in a crowded club, of course somebody would be watching, waiting to see if things got ugly.

"If you would have just shut up and listened to me –"

"Don't tell me to shut up," I said, uncrossing my arms as I leaned in closer to him. He laughed a little, rolling his eyes, this action pissing me off even more.

"You'll never change, Soph," he said. "Whatever. We're done."

I thinned my lips as he walked around me. I was about ready to walk off, but he suddenly turned back around, having one last thing to say.

"Just so you know, I didn't start that fight. The guy was talking shit about you, and I tried hard not to hit him. He threw the first punch. I just wanted to tell you that tonight."

He walked off as I continued to stand there. Was that supposed to make me realize how I was wrong with breaking up with him? Was he now walking slow in case I was to run up to him, begging him for forgiveness. No. I felt a pang in my heart, but I refused to listen to what it was telling me. This didn't change a thing.

I took a deep breath in and turned around, ready to go home, but once I looked up I saw Josh a good ten feet away, staring at me. It wasn't his usual creepy stare with that clowny grin, and it wasn't a mocking 'I-told-you-so' look; rather, he actually seemed to look kind of... worried?

I stared back, giving him a confused glare back. Why on Earth would he feel bad for me? He took a step forward but I didn't want to talk to him. I quickly started away, making a beeline for the door. The crowd created a barrier between Josh and me, and before long I was speeding out of the door, passed Jackson, and up the street.

My father was awake when I got home. My first clue to this discovery was the couch was empty and the TV was turned back up. I also heard bottles clanking around in the fridge. Great, I thought, he's drinking now.

"Sophie?" He asked, popping his head out from the corner.

"Yeah?" I asked as I slowly took my coat off.

"Why are you just getting home?" He was on the verge of yelling.

"I came home after school, and just got back from Bender."

"Why the hell were you at that club?" He came out of the kitchen now, walking right towards me, the smell of alcohol strong on him.

"I had to see Jimmy," I said, moving passed him.

"Don't walk away from me!" He yelled, and I stopped. I really didn't want to go through this right now. "You know I don't like you at that club, especially with that guy."

No. I didn't know that. Not once, not ever, had he said that. Tonight was the first time. But I couldn't tell him this.

"Sorry," I said, even though it wasn't true. My back was still turned to him, I hated to look at him, and I waited for him to be done so I could go sleep off this horrible day.

"Give me your phone," he suddenly said. Now I turned, looking at him wide-eyed.

"What?"

"You heard me. Give me your phone! You're not going anywhere for the rest of the week."

Which meant the the weekend, since tomorrow was Friday.

"Dad, I--"

"Phone Sophie!" He yelled, glaring at me with those green eyes. Without another word I barged into my room, and went to my desk, right where I left my phone. I picked it up, stormed out and practically threw it at him. He was about to say something else but I didn't give him a chance. Within two seconds I was back in my room, slamming the door and throwing myself on my bed. I hated it here, and now I was stuck here all weekend.

I heard my dad sit back on the squeaky couch, and I knew him to just be going all through my phone, reading my messages, seeing who I had called. He wouldn't find much, I rarely ever used my phone, but I took the time to be thankful that Josh didn't have my number.

With nothing else to do, I brushed my teeth, took my make-up off, and went to bed.