I awoke to sun peeking through the blinds of an unfamiliar room, to which I immediately remembered belonged to the girl I had fucked hours ago. It was weird, I remembered immediately going upstairs, but after, well, we must've gotten pretty crazy downstairs after because it was all blank.

I just couldn't believe I had slept here.

Oh God, Shawn is going to kill me.

I rushed to the nightstand, realizing I was actually naked as I checked my phone, seeing multiple missed calls from Shawn. I closed my eyes, feeling a wave of guilt overtake me as I looked around the room for my clothes.

I tugged them on, immediately feeling grimy and smelling the weed on my clothes. God, Shawn was really going to kill me if he was up right now.

I grabbed my keys off of the nightstand, along with the girl's pack of cigarettes as I rushed out the door, anxiously looking for Blair. I trotted downstairs and spotted her passed out on the couch, along with some random guy as I crept up to her.

I nudged her, "Blair."

Her eyes opened slowly as she groaned, "God... what time is it?"

I whispered, "10:45."

"My mom's gonna kill me."

I laughed to myself as we made our way out the door, "Same here, Shawn's gonna be pissed."

Blair's eyes switched to me as we climbed into my car, "Yea I feel sorry for you."

I started it up and peeled out, leaving the scene of the house as I sped towards Blair's. I remembered suddenly that Megan was supposed to be keeping Shawn company last night. What if she was still there when I got home? Did I really want to face her today?

It's not like I had a choice, I would need to go home eventually, but maybe she had already left.

I drove up Blair's driveway as she climbed out, waving, "See you."

Then I was on my way home, blaring some Journey song as I tried not to think about Megan. I didn't get it, why she was constantly on my mind, but it was quite annoying. Not much occupied my mind, especially a specific girl, so of course it scared me.

But I pushed the thought of her to the back of my mind as I lit a cigarette, placing it between my lips and inhaling, hoping it would mask the smell of weed.

I pulled up into the apartment complex, driving up to mine as I saw Megan's familiar car sitting there in a parking spot. I rolled my eyes, pulling into the garage as I turned off my car, praying Shawn wouldn't be too mad at me.

It was too early for an argument.

I stepped out the car, deciding it would be better to go through the front door rather than the garage, because that's where he was expecting me. I went around the front, unlocking the door and letting myself in, only to come face to face with Megan.

"You really stink."

I looked at her, closing the door and raising one eyebrow, "Why are you talking to me?"

I pushed past her, heading towards my room whenever I then came face to face with Shawn, who seemed to be majorly pissed off. His arms were crossed as he peered down at me, "Where the fuck have you been?"

I scratched my head, "I got wasted last night, I just crashed there. You can't be mad at me for avoiding drunk driving!"

"No, but you could've at least called Sam. I mean really? I fucking waited up all night for you, and I had no idea where you were!"

I looked down, feeling Megan's eyes watch me as I was scolded like I was 16 years old again. I sighed, "I'm sorry ok."

"You smell like fucking weed."

I exhaled, realizing my morning cigarette hadn't masked it well enough, because Shawn could still smell it. I looked up at him, too afraid and embarrassed to say anything to him while Megan was still in the room.

Because she was fucking nosy.

He sighed, raking his hand through his hair, "You know, I hate to do this, but you're grounded, until next Sunday."

I looked at him in confusion, wondering if I had heard him correctly. I repeated just in case, "Did you just say I was grounded?"

He nodded, looking past me and at Megan, which only annoyed me further.

I mumbled, "Are you fucking kidding me? I'm nineteen. You legally can't ground me."

"I can, because this is my roof, and I'm responsible for you Sam. You can't go anywhere unless I give you the ok, and you come straight home after school."

My jaw must've been on the floor because the look Shawn was giving me was unbelievable. I felt anger rage inside of me again as I shouted, "Yea, that's not gonna happen."

Then I turned to leave, heading straight for my room whenever Shawn spoke, "Yes it will, because I'll kick you out if you don't cooperate."

I stopped in my tracks, looking at Megan who was suppressing a laugh, which only angered me more. I sighed, attempting to calm my heart rate down as I continued walking to my room, knowing getting kicked out wasn't worth it.

It would only be a week, and I could handle that.

~ ~ ~ ~

"I'm going crazy Blair."

"Sam, it's only Tuesday."

I banged my head on my desk after realizing she was right, and I still had like, five more days.

I peered down at my science book, realizing I was in no mood to deal with this crap. I was never in the mood, but today just felt extra shitty. Then on top of that, I had to go suffer through History next hour.

Blair patted my back, "It's okay."

The bell rang then, dismissing us to our fourth hour and Blair followed me out, walking me down the hall to Megan's class. I groaned, "I really fucking hate this class."

"How? You get to stare at Megan for nearly an hour."

I shrugged, "That's literally the only good thing about it."

"Do you talk to her?"

"No, I don't like when she opens her mouth."

Blair sighed heavily, "Oh I do, her lips are so pink and I bet they would feel really nice on my puss-"

"Stop, right now. That's horrible."

My interruption caused Blair to look at me oddly, and then I watched a slight smirk spread across her face. She responded, "Are you jealous?"

I rolled my eyes, seeing Megan's classroom come into view and thanking the Lord above that I was here. I looked at Blair, "Are you serious? No. I'm not jealous."

She smiled, "Whatever you say..."

I gave her my middle finger before responding, "Screw you."

She winked, "Promise?"

I gagged in response, laughing as I left her in the hallway and took my usual seat. I looked at Megan then, seeing her stacking up a stack of packets that resembled... oh God.

We had a test today.

Fuck! How could I forget that we had a test today? I was so screwed, and I hadn't even done the vocabulary assignment she had asked of us. I had totally forgotten!

I slapped myself mentally as I prepared myself to cheat, which was something I was quite good at. I just had to make sure to keep an eye on Megan, because for some reason she always had her eye on me.

And I couldn't allow that today.

Then she rose from her desk, speaking, "Hope you all remembered the test today, make sure you have a pencil."

I leaned back in my desk as she presumed to pass out test, feeling annoyance and anger boil in my stomach. I was screwed, because as Megan passed out the test she watched me quite often, and I knew she was going to make it impossible to cheat.

Because she knew I hadn't learned any material.

She set the test down on my desk then, smiling, "Hope you studied hard."

I rolled my eyes as she walked away, leaving me to read over the first question, and to my surprise I actually knew the answer.

Now the other forty-nine, I did not.

Great.

~ ~ ~ ~

The rest of Tuesday had passed slowly, and the only thing I could think about was the test I had bombed in Megan's class earlier today. I knew my grade was done for, at least for the next couple weeks while I would attempt to gather as many grades as I could to make up for it.

I had really screwed up.

I was just hoping Megan wouldn't tell Shawn, because I really couldn't take another week of isolation. I literally felt as if I was in jail, because I couldn't go anywhere, not even to Blair's. I had gotten so bored that I had actually opened up my History book.

Now I knew I had to be going crazy.

After dinner I had escaped straight to my room, showered, and then hit the bed, and it was only 9:00 o'clock. The only good thing Shawn had left me was my car keys and my phone, but I knew leaving right now and getting caught wasn't worth losing a place to stay.

I couldn't go back to my old house.

So I closed my eyes, hoping that when I woke up it would be Sunday.

"What color do you want her?"

I looked at my dad, wondering what exactly he was talking about. I shrugged, "What do you mean?"

He smiled, rubbing his hand along the hood of the car we had been working on, "What color you think would look good?"

I felt excitement rise in my chest, now understanding that he was letting me pick the color to the car, which was something I hadn't expected. I jumped up and down, "Oh, ok! I uh, I think maybe... red? Candy red! Make it bright!"

My dad sucked in air through his teeth, smiling, "Sam, the cops will follow you everywhere. Pick another."

I frowned, wishing he would've understood how much I loved the color red, "Uh, well, I guess jet back then."

He tilted his head, looking at the car behind us and then back at me, "Well, you sure? Cause you're gonna have to be seen in it."

I looked at him, squinting my eyes in confusion as I tried to understand what I had just heard. I spoke, "What?"

He smiled, "This is your sixteenth birthday present, from me to you."

I felt my heart swell inside my chest, wondering why my dad couldn't be this sober all the time. I loved him like this, so happy and carefree. I hugged him around his neck, whispering, "Thank you."

He sighed, "But we gotta get to work if you want to drive it on your big day."

I smiled, "That's only a month away!"

He smiled, "Guess we got a lot of work to do!"

I awoke suddenly, feeling the pain burn through me like a freight train as I remembered how happy I had been back then. Before everything had went to shit with my parents and before my dad became a daily drunk. It was when everything was ok, before I had to endure beatings from both my parents, and before I was looking for a way out.

Before I was broken.

~ ~ ~ ~

Wednesday morning came quickly, and the day was actually passing with ease. The only thing I wasn't looking forward to was History, because I knew I would be getting my grade back for my test.

And we all knew what to expect.

There was still a little glimmer of hope that maybe I had achieved a D, and at least passed it, but my brain knew better. I had guessed around ninety-five percent throughout the test, and each question I had a twenty-five percent chance of getting it right.

At least I had learned something in math.

But as I walked towards Megan's class I felt like an utter failure, and when I saw her standing at the door it only made me feel worse. I knew I currently had an F in her class, and if it would've been any other teacher I wouldn't have cared, but it was Megan.

And I cared, a lot.

I approached her, seeing the stack of tests in her hands as she locked eyes with me. She sighed, "Honestly Sam, I'm pretty disappointed."

I nodded, "Yea well, might as well get used to it."

She handed me my test as I watched her eyes travel to mine, looking as if she genuinely was disappointed, and not just being a bitch to me.

She was upset I had failed.

I took my test and traveled to my desk, knowing that I had failed it because I had seen the big, red F written on the top of my paper. Luckily, it was a high F, not a low one.

As if that made any difference.

Megan soon joined us in the classroom, speaking, "We're going over the test today, so you can all see what you got wrong and why."

She closed the door, taking her place at the podium as I allowed myself to be distracted by her looks. Although she was a bitch, and was possibly trying to screw my brother, she was still gorgeous, and I was still pretty gay.

She was just beautiful, and there was still this tiny glimmer of hope that she was at least bi-sexual, or confused, or something other than straight. I didn't know her well enough to ask, and I'm pretty sure that would piss Shawn off if I kissed her to find out, but I just wanted to know.

Although, I wasn't sure why I cared considering I could most likely never have her.

She wasn't freaked out by me being gay, which is a good sign, but she had been uncomfortable the night she had picked me up from Jinx and that girl was kissing all over me. Then there was the time she claimed she was keeping her gay friend company at the bar, but she also didn't look uncomfortable to be there.

There were so many mixed signs that I had really nothing to go on.

Then I heard a knock at Megan's door as I forced myself out of my thoughts, seeing her walk up to the door to answer it. I watched as she opened it, seeing Principal Douglas standing outside.

He spoke, "Miss Adams, may I have a quick word with you?"

Megan looked back at us and spoke, "Resume going over your test."

Then her door was closed and chatter erupted from the classroom.

I listened to the girl besides me, "Oh my God I can't believe I made a D."

I laughed, "At least you passed it."

She looked over to my paper, making a face that made me uncomfortable. She then looked back at Megan's computer which was currently open. She shrugged, "If you're brave enough."

What was she implying? That I go up to Megan's computer and change our grades? Wouldn't Megan notice?

Not if I did it discreetly. She had recorded the new grades in her computer already, which meant if I went now she most likely wouldn't notice. She would see the grade and either completely look over it, or she would take it as her own mistake.

There was really no risk in changing it at this moment while she was out.

I looked at the girl next to me and then walked swiftly over to Megan's desk, hearing whispers of disapproval coming from my classmates.

"She's crazy."

"She'll get expelled if she's caught."

I ignored them, knowing there was a task at hand that I needed to focus on if I didn't want to get caught.

I clicked vigorously, finding our classroom's grade sheet and scrolling down to try and find my name. This was the first time I had done this, although I had thought about it plenty of times, I had just never gotten the opportunity.

I found the girl I had spoken too earlier, changing her grade slightly to a low C, knowing she better be happy with it considering I didn't have to change it.

Then I found mine, finally clicking it and changing my test grade one more point, making it a low D for a passing grade. I then saw I had a 0 for my earlier vocabulary assignment, knowing I could simply give myself some points just for fun.

She would most likely look right over it, right?

I clicked the box, adding a quick ten points out of twenty which also helped my grade, and I went to exit out of the grade sheet when the door creaked open. My heart fell instantly as I jumped away from the computer, seeing Megan's blue eyes take in the scene.

She crossed her arms as I stood away from her computer, grabbing a tissue off of her desk and blowing my nose. It was a weak cover up, but it was the only thing I could think of.

She spoke firmly, "What are you doing?"

I threw the tissue away as I stepped away from her desk, "I was uh, just blowing my nose?"

"Did that require you to touch my computer?"

"I was checking the time."

She pointed above her head, "There's a clock right here."

I was quickly running out of excuse now, "Um, well, I can't read those clocks. I can only read digital."

"Outside, now."

I clenched my jaw, looking at the classmates that seemed to take slight pity on me while some just seemed straight amused by this. I rolled my eyes as I exited her class, knowing either she was going to report me to the Principal and expel me, or worse, tell Shawn.

She closed the door quite loudly, stepping forward as I stepped back against the wall. She spoke, "How stupid can you be, Sam? I mean really? Changing your grades while I'm right outside?!"

I just watched her, knowing there was absolutely nothing I could say to make this better. I just watched her rage on about my stupidity, enjoying the scene as I knew I was already fucked anyway.

Might as well enjoy the show.

She threw her hands up, "I can't just blow it off. Those kids in there saw you, which means there needs to be some sort of consequence."

I shrugged, "Expel me, that's what's going to happen anyway, right?"

She looked at me, squinting in confusion as she crossed her arms, "That's too harsh. I know you're not stupid Sam, you probably bumped your grade up to the lowest D possible. I just can't let it slide, and I don't have many options to choose from."

I leaned against the wall casually, knowing shit was going to hit the fan for me either way. I was fucked, and I had made a mistake, and honestly, it probably wasn't even worth it.

I responded, "Well, do what you have to. No use risking your job for me."

This time she looked at me, raking her hand through her hair as if she was stuck on a decision. I knew what she was ultimately going to do, which was go to Principal Douglas, because if her other students knew she didn't do anything about it she would get in big trouble.

She began walking, and I had no choice but to follow her because she would need my testimony and I would get expelled. I figured this was going to happen, that I wasn't going to last at this high school, I just didn't think it would be my senior year in my American History class.

I walked behind her, feeling a sense of defeat overtake me as I knew I wouldn't be attending this school anymore, and I would most likely be transferred to a remedial school or something. No more classes with Blair, or Megan, and no more hot American History teachers.

Then she stopped, which caused me to run into her and groan, "Ouch."

She turned, smiling mischievously as she crossed her arms, "On second thought, maybe there is something you can do to make up for what you did."

I watched her smile grow as I felt my nervousness do the same, "What?"

"You can help me assist the softball team."

I raised my eyebrow, looking at her with disbelief as I shook my head, "No that's ok, I'd rather get expelled."

There was no way, I had way too much history with the softball team to want to help assist.

She then grabbed my hand as I tried to walk away, which caught my off guard as she pulled me back to her. She smiled, "Sam really, it won't be that bad. It's a legitimate punishment, and you'll just have to come to detention after class for the rest of the week to show the class I'm not letting you slide."

"It's only Wednesday! And you're going to do that to me knowing I'm already on bad terms with Shawn?!"

She nodded, "I'll tell him you're helping me, and that you agreed to assist me with the team. If you don't I'll tell him what you really did."

I groaned, "This really isn't a choice then. I don't want to spend that much time with you!"

She shrugged, "Might as well get used to it, you'll be spending a lot more whenever the softball teams starts practicing."

I rolled my eyes, cursing, "Do you even play softball?"

"I did."

I looked at her, raising my eyebrows once more with surprise, "You played?"

She nodded, "Till high school, then I quit before college so I could focus on school. I didn't get a scholarship anyway."

I tilted my head, realizing we had a little bit more in common than I had figured. I spoke, "You're just full of surprises."

She squinted in confusion, "What do you mean?"

I smiled to myself, wondering if maybe she had done a little sexual exploration while she had played softball for high school.

I knew I had.

"Just saying, I got picked to be on the team my freshmen year when I tried out. I then got kicked off my sophomore year for my grades, never tried out again."

She looked at me, leaning against the wall as she continued to study me, which I didn't seem to mind. It was weird, the attention thing that I had with her, but I liked it, and I didn't want it to stop.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh God, you think because I played softball that I messed around with girls?"

I laughed, holding up my hands, "I'm not assuming, but it happens nine times out of ten."

She groaned, "Then wipe that smirk off your face, because it didn't happen."

I laughed, "I'm sure it didn't Megan."

Then the bell rang, and I realized this conversation was going to have to wait until later when her class was empty and we were alone again.

Her class exited, most kids staying around to hear what Megan and I were saying to each other.

She spoke, "Stay after class, you have detention."