Morning came far too quickly. Addison's alarm was blaring at her to get up after what only felt like a minutes of sleep. If she was being honest, the only thing Addison felt like doing was saying 'Fuck it' and going back to bed where she would stay for the rest of the day. Sadly there was the tenacious force to be reckoned with that went by the name of Brigid Turner. Therefore, instead of burrowing under her covers and sleeping until noon, Addison got out of bed and got ready for sixth form, grumbling all the while as she did so. She was coming downstairs when a car horn beeped from Addison's driveway. Brigid was waiting for her. Addison hurried through the hallway but not before her father stopped her before she could make it out the door.

"Is everything alright Addison?" her father asked giving her a concerned look. It actually took Addison a moment to place the look as that of concern because his father hadn't looked at her like that in a long time.

Addison actually couldn't help but scoff at her father's look or her question. "You're asking me this now? I'm going to be late if I'm not careful." She said.

"I heard Eric and Aaron got into a disagreement last night." His father said gravely.

"How would you know that, you're never here." Addison muttered.

"Addison, just tell me what happened." Her father said with a sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose with an annoyed look.

"Yeah, it started out between Eric and Mark then progressed to Eric and Aaron then back to Eric and Mark. You could have stopped it if you had been there but, shock of all shocks, you weren't there. You're never there." Addison snapped. There was a time she would have held her tongue around her father but she hadn't had nearly enough sleep the night before.

"Addison-" her father started to say in a pained expression but Addison just shook her head and opened the front door.

"Dad, I'm going to be late if I'm not careful. Can we do this another time...if you actually have the time?" she said hoping that by saying that it would be the end of their conversation. Her father gave her another pained expression but nodded his head.

"I'll see you later for dinner." He said, though Addison highly doubted her father would be back from work in time to witness the bloodbath that was the Harper family dinner.

"Yeah sure" Addison muttered under her breath before hurrying out the house towards Brigid's car. Thankfully she was holding out a large paper cup of coffee which Addison took without a second thought and took a very liberal gulp of its contents despite the scalding heat. She could feel her tongue begin to blister but she did not care; if anything the pain helped her feel human and alive for just a few fleeting seconds until the inevitable numbness would consume her again.

"Wow...you look like you needed that." Brigid remarked once they were in the car and she had backed out of the drive. Addison took yet another gulp in a way of agreeing with her. "How many hours sleep did you get?" Brigid asked sounding concerned.

"I don't know; three, maybe three and a half tops." Addison said with a shrug of her shoulders. Brigid sighed loudly but didn't say anything else. Addison tore off a piece of Brigid's bagel and handed it to her when she came to a red light. Addison could never eat this early so Brigid had stopped trying to make her eat in the car weeks and weeks before.

"Thanks. Why couldn't you sleep? Things aren't getting bad again are they?" Brigid asked glancing over at Addison for a moment. Her large eyes were full of concern and Addison thought that Brigid really was the only person in the world that she truly cared about as her concern was like the knife to the gut.

"No...no things are f-"

"Don't say 'fine' because you know how much I hate it when you try to say you're fine." Brigid said quickly. "I've known you for too many years to know that they are not fine. Is it your meds or something like that?"

"No it's not my meds at all. Things...they're not fine but they're not bad, are you satisfied? Eric, Mark and Aaron were fighting again once Aaron came back home and it just pissed me the hell off. I couldn't get to sleep after that." Addison explained. After Addison had walked out of the dinner Eric had been in a foul mood but that mood had worsened when Aaron didn't even come home until past eleven o'clock at night. Their argument had raged until the early hours of the morning and Addison couldn't drown them out despite trying to do so with the music spilling out her headphones being turned up to an incredibly high volume.

"What were they fighting about this time?" Brigid asked.

"They were fighting because Aaron is Aaron like always, Mark is Mark like always and Eric is a douche...like always." Addison pointed out and Brigid seemed to agree because she nodded.

"How did the dinner go in the end? The fire department weren't called so can we class it as a small victory?"

"It didn't happen in the end. Aaron was a no-show and I wasn't going to sit there at a table with Mark and Eric without him so I bailed." Addison said shrugging before sipping on her coffee. They had added just the right amount of cinnamon, the way Addison loved it.

"I bet Eric loved that..." Brigid said.

"Oh he was thrilled." Addison said sarcastically.

Brigid shot her a comforting look but it seemed like something dawned on her. "Hey, how was the ride back home with Dylan?" she asked suddenly looking very interested.

"Fine." Addison said.

"Just fine? Come on Addison, I need more details than that." Brigid said.

"What is the fascination with this guy? Do you like him or something? Should Brett be concerned? Should he start adding more syrup to your coffee?" Addison asked. Brigid scoffed loudly like the thought was completely ridiculous.

"Of course not! What's interesting is that you're being friendly towards him; well you're version of friendly that is. You're never friendly towards anyone apart from maybe me and occasionally Lisa and that's mainly because she's my friend and gives us cheap coffee."

"That's not true." Addison said even though it exactly was. "I'm friends with Molly." She pointed out. Addison and Molly Foster had been semi-friends for a few years despite Brigid complaining that Molly was an awful person.

"Oh and she's a shining beacon of positivity!" Brigid said rolling her eyes at the mention of Molly Foster's name.

"She's not that bad." Addison said.

"Yeah whatever. So the ride was ok? You're still here so clearly Dylan kidnap you and bury your body in the woods."

"You watch too many murder documentaries on Netflix for your own good." Addison muttered.

"Oh shut up and tell me." Brigid said holding her hand out for another piece of bagel.

"It was fine, he drove me home." Addison said shrugging not mentioning that she'd actually gone back to Dylan's house. She thought that little titbit would send Brigid of into a lengthy and very one-sided discussion.

"Really? He drove you home?" Brigid asked.

"Yes, he drove me home and that's that." Addison said shrugging her shoulders.

"Really?" Brigid pressed.

"Yes Brigid so please just change the subject."

"Ok then, did you hear about the party in a few weeks? The one at Molly Foster' house?" Brigid asked and Addison nodded his head.

"Molly told me told me about it at lunch the other day." Addison explained. The party was being hosted by Molly Foster, a sixth form student like Brigid and Addison, who lived out the outskirts of town by the large lake with her mother and younger step-sister Poppy. Addison and Molly had been friends for years. Brigid kept her opinions on Molly to a minimum since Molly always threw legendary parties and Brigid happened to tutor Poppy in chemistry.

"So I guess we're going then..." Brigid said clearly trying to hide the disapproval in her voice though she did not fully succeed.

"You don't have to go there if you don't want to." Addison pointed out.

"If I don't go then who will keep an eye on you?" Brigid asked like it was the most obvious question she could have asked.

"I need someone to keep an eye on me?" Addison snickered. Brigid gave her a playful push on the shoulder with her hand.

"Oh please! You're either even more of a sulking sarcastic know-it-all or you're a complete lush when you are drunk. Do you remember when you kissed a very surprised looking Lisa at the last party we went to?" Brigid asked snorting loudly.

"No..." Addison said failing to recall that memory. Lisa had failed to mention that to Addison so she wondered if she didn't remember it either.

"Exactly, that proves an awful lot. Now I'm going to the party as long as you promise me you won't end up talking to Molly for most of the night or getting off with some random guy. I don't mind Poppy, she can be really sweet when she puts her mind to it, but Molly drives me up the wall." Brigid said slowing her car down slightly as she came closer to the school.

"Ok Molly can be a bit...prickly but she can be a decent enough person."

"Are you saying that because you want me to stop disliking Molly and you think she is a nice person or because you drunkenly slept with her cousin during the summer and you feel guilty?" Brigid asked. Addison winced slightly at that memory, which she hadn't been too drunk to forget, before rolling her eyes at Brigid. "Yeah well that's what you get for being slutty. Sophie Jones is still pissed at you for sleeping with her brother last year." Brigid pointed out.

"I barely remember that." Addison said frowning slightly.

"Which proves that you should stop getting drunk and having sex with people if you don't want to piss them off when you either ignore them afterwards or tell them that you barely remember said sexual encounter if you remember it at all." Brigid said.

"Stop being pious, it doesn't suit you" Addison said as they pulled into the student car park. Brigid parked her car next to the sleek looking black car owned by no other than Dylan Willis. As Addison was climbing out the passenger seat, coffee cup and bagel in hand, she heard someone call her name. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Niamh Willis climbing out the backseat of the black car with a smile on her face.

"Hey Addison!" Niamh said giving her a small wave. Addison nodded back as she momentarily watched Dylan Willis slide from out then driver's seat. His younger brother Leo hurried after him with a large backpack. "See you in Film Studies?" Niamh asked giving Addison a bright smile. Addison nodded while she watched Brigid take in Niamh's attire from her mass of red hair clipped back haphazardly with hair grips that had various cartoon characters on them to her t-shirt that referenced Harry Potter and her shoes with their rainbow laces.

"Brigid this is Niamh Willis, Niamh this is my friend Brigid Turner." Addison said while Niamh beamed at Brigid. She watched Brigid continue to take Niamh in, probably trying to figure out if she was a bad influence like Molly, until she gave her a pleasant smile. Addison assumed that Brigid was thinking that a girl in rainbow shoelaces couldn't be much of a bad influence.

"It's really nice to meet you Brigid." Niamh said before glancing over to Addison and rummaging in her bag. A few moments later she pulled out the book she had recommended the evening before. "Here's that book I was telling you about last night; ignore the pen and pencil marks, when I find a line or paragraph I really like or I think would make a good blog post, something like that, I tend to underline it or draw a ring around it. It drives Dylan insane which is why he doesn't lend me any of his books anymore" Niamh said with a chuckle. "Anyway I'll let you get to your first class, see you in Film Studies!" Niamh added before she hurried off into the building. Dylan walked past Addison with a raised eyebrow and a small smile on his lips but he didn't say anything. Brigid on the other hand turned to Addison with a face full of questions.

"Go on Brigid, I know you're dying to say whatever is going on in your head." Addison said with a sigh as they made their way to form.

"You're being social and talking to Niamh Willis...about books. Did Eric finally drug you and give you that lobotomy he's wanted to give you since you were thirteen?" Brigid asked.

"Very funny, very funny." Addison muttered. Brigid sighed loudly at the sarcastic tone of Addison's voice.

"Oh stop scowling. I'm just saying that you normally find people like her annoying. People like Lisa or Molly are more your kind of person."

"That's meant to mean what exactly?"

"You know what I mean. Niamh is...well she wears Doctor Who sweaters and looks like she'd happily live at Comic Con whereas the detention crowd...well they seem more like your kind of people even if I don't like it" Brigid said with a slight smirk. "Hey I'm not saying it's a bad thing that you're friends with Niamh, she seems nice enough-"

"We're not friends, we're...we just know one another." Addison quickly said.

"Ok Addison, ok." Brigid said rolling her eyes slightly. Addison slumped down into her seat and couldn't help but notice Dylan glance over at her. Addison looked back for a moment before turning her attention back to the desk in front of her. She tried very hard to ignore the flush creeping up her neck.

---

Two days later Addison found Niamh sat by herself in the library. She was buried in a book with her headphones leaking out loud music and it took several attempts to catch her attention. In the end she tapped Niamh on the top of the head. "Here's your book back." Addison said as Niamh pulled her headphones off her head.

"Oh hi! You've finished it already?" Niamh asked sounding surprised. Addison nodded at her as she beamed at her excitedly. "Wow and I thought I was a fast reader, what did you think of it? Didn't you think that the main character's core ideals were completely farfetched and...wait you probably want to get to lunch don't you?" Niamh said.

"Um not really." Addison said shrugging her shoulders. Brigid was in the graphics department working on her latest piece of work so Addison would be alone. "Planning on eating up here?" she asked when she spotted a lunch box peeking out of Niamh's bag.

"Yeah. The cafeteria kind of intimidates me plus I sort of don't have anywhere to sit. Dylan's gone into town for lunch." Niamh said nodding at her brown paper bag. There was such a sad look in Niamh's eyes that, without even thinking about it, Addison sat down opposite her and pulled out her sketch pad. "What are you doing?"

"Joining you for lunch, the art block will be full of the poser hipsters trying to suck up to the art teachers anyway and the last thing I need is a bunch of floppy haired twats trying to bribe the tutors with chai teas and gluten free soy cakes." Addison said hoping that Niamh would take this to be the truth. The fact that she genuinely felt sorry for Niamh sat by herself in the study room was a driving force behind sitting with her. She wasn't going to tell Niamh this though as she doubted she would appreciate her pity.

"Well thank you, it's nice to know that you like my company more than a bunch of hipsters." Niamh said smirking. "While I can't tell you who is 'in' and 'hip' I could easily tell everything you've never wanted to know about Harry Potter."

"I can honestly say that isn't a lot I wouldn't want to know about Harry Potter if you wanted to tell me anything."

"That's good to know." Niamh said with a genuine looking smile.

"See? You've learnt something about and I made you smile."

"So listen...you're probably the only person that has been remotely nice to me since I came here and I'm normally pretty bad at making friends and such so...well I was wondering , do you wanted to come over to my house tonight if you're not busy? We can watch cheesy sci-fi and fantasy films and eat too much popcorn." Niamh said stuttering every now and then.

Friday nights for Addison were usually spent doing whatever she could do to feel...something, anything. Molly Foster' parties were always a good distraction from whatever was going on in Addison's life at the time. Addison was about to tell Niamh that she would probably be busy when she saw the hopeful look in her eyes.

Niamh was a nice person; she was funny, bright and clearly loved her family. Addison couldn't actually understand why people had judged Niamh because, yes she did seem in her own world half the time thanks to her attachment to her books and her music but she was a nice person. Addison was right when she thought that the people in her school were too judgemental. "You don't have to if you don't want to." Niamh said suddenly looking nervous like she could almost hear Addison declining her offer. True Addison didn't like getting close to anyone but she couldn't stand thinking that she could easily upset Niamh if she said 'no' to her. She was a nice person who didn't deserve to be treated badly by anyone.

"That sounds really good to me Niamh." Addison said and the smile that Niamh gave her could have brought freaking dead puppies back to life as it was that bright. "What time would you want me round?"

"About seven? Is that ok for you? We'll probably have the house to ourselves. My brothers will be out the house so we don't have to deal with them bugging us." Why did that make Addison sad? Had she'd been hoping to see Dylan there?

"Seven sounds ok to me." Addison said quickly before Niamh could launch into a long rambling monologue.

"Great...great...I'll see you later on then!"