Bee could remember the very first time her father had hurt her. Or, more accurately, the first time Bee remembered her father had hit her.

Most kindergarteners weren't afraid to go home, and certainly weren't afraid of their fathers. Most kindergarteners didn't even go on the school bus alone, but Bee had ridden the school bus since the very moment it was a possibility.

It had been a sunny day in early June. It wasn't the last day of school, but the end of the year was quickly approaching, and Bee was so excited, she could barely conceal it. In her hands was an art project she had been working on for weeks and could finally bring it home, and when she got off of the bus, she ran to the front door.

No one to greet her in the driveway, but she was used to that. Her mom wasn't home when she got off of the bus, and her father was always sleeping on the couch. Always. At all hours of the day, it seemed. But, to Bee, that was normal. To Bee, every father across America slept at all hours of the day.

When she had erupted inside the house, she ran to the living room, where her father was slumped on the couch, snoring. His body was bent in a strange way, and in his hand was a loose bottle of beer.

Bee hadn't thought of his reaction. She leapt onto his lap and shook his shoulders. "Daddy! Daddy! Look at this!" She pressed her face close to his, her smile beaming. "Daddy!"

He had woken up with a start, spilling his beer onto his chest. He let out a yelp, shoving Bee off of his lap as he jumped from the couch, trying to mop up the beer on his shirt. He slammed the beer bottle onto the wood floor, and Bee scrambled to avoid the splintered glass.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" His voice sounded foggy and slurred, and his eyes were hard. He grabbed her arm and yanked her up, causing Bee to drop her art project onto the floor. "Daddy, I wanna show you my art. Look!" She pointed to it, but he wasn't looking.

His fingers pushed into her skin harshly. "Don't you ever fucking wake me up again, you hear me?" He shoved her back, and Bee tripped, hitting her head on the doorjam. She let out a wail, her tears coming immediately, and she put her hand on the new gash, feeling the blood.

She was sobbing by the time her father approached her, yanking her up again. "Stop fucking crying, you baby. Beatrice, you are pathetic. Now, go upstairs. I don't wanna hear from you until it's dinner, you hear me?"

Bee had stumbled all the way up the stairs, crying and tripping, all the way to her bedroom. She hid under her blankets, pressing her tears into the pillow, wondering why her father had done that. Thinking that it was her fault. Wondering if it would happen again.

Bee didn't share that part of herself with anyone. Her brothers knew, because they also lived with her. Her mother knew, because it was her mother that patched her up, that took most of the blows when her father got angry.

But Bee didn't go around telling her friends. She didn't tell anyone who didn't live with her, and for her entire life, it worked perfectly that way. She hid the crumbling parts of her life behind her smile and her activeness in school, and no one even suspected it. No one until Oakland Stone.

Now, she was at Dairy Queen, sitting beside Oakland on a bench, trying to eat her ice cream. Trying, because suddenly, she wasn't in the mood to eat any of it. Originally, Oakland hadn't been invited, but after he saw her in the locker room, he was attached to her hip.

Larkin came over grinning as he sat on the other side of Bee. "Damn, Bee. This was a good idea. I feel like I haven't indulged in ice cream in forever."

She pressed her shoulder into his. "What can I say, I'm full of great ideas." Her voice fell flat, and she could tell because Larkin was giving her a strange look, a look that screamed I don't believe that you're okay.

Benji headed over to them as soon as he had an ice cream in his hand. He didn't sit, but instead stood in front of them, licking at his ice cream for a moment. Then, he looked at Bee and Oakland. "So, did you ask that James kid to prom?"

Bee could feel Oakland tense up beside her for what she felt was for absolutely no reason. "Not yet, no." She licked at her ice cream to distract herself, and to give herself more time to answer. "Not sure if I will."

Benji raised an eyebrow. "So, you're going to prom solo."

She shrugged. "There are worse things."

And Bee was right, there were worse things. Last year, she went with Larkin, which was basically the same as going alone, since there was absolutely nothing romantic between them. And in the grand scheme of things, prom didn't really matter. "Besides, I don't think anyone would even notice. Or care."

Larkin rolled his eyes, good naturedly. "Shit Bee, Jefferson would notice. Oh, yeah, and all the other guys that are obsessed with you. I mean, god damn, the amount of boys that talk to me about you is ridiculous."

Bee playfully punched his arm, laughing, feeling better than she had all day. "Lark, stop it, that isn't true."

Larkin pushed her back, enough so that she bumped into Oakland, who in turn wrapped an arm around her shoulder casually. Casually enough that she barely registered it as she laughed back at Larkin, who was grinning at her. "Dude, it is true. Being your best friend is tiring. It's all about you you you, and never about me."

Bee pressed a hand to her chest. "Aw, is someone upset that boys want to be my best friend? Careful, Lark, they may just take your position."

"Uh, no boy can handle being your best friend like I can." Larkin pretended to show off his arm muscles, kissing them. "It takes a certain amount of strength and patience to deal with you."

Her laughter was coming easier, now. "Hey! That's rude!" She would have jabbed Larkin back, but Oakland was still holding her, his grip tighter now. When she turned to face him, she raised an eyebrow, hoping it would be enough, but there was absolutely nothing in his expression. His face was flat, almost a mask.

His fingers pressed tighter, and she winced as they probed into one of her bruises. Immediately, Oakland released her, his cheeks burning under the shadow of his sunglasses. He stood abruptly.

John patted his back. "Where you rushing off to?"

Oakland raised his empty cup of ice cream. "Throwing this out." He rushed away, like Bee had burned him, which was true, she had in the locker room when she accused him of using her abuse to ruin her. Which, to Bee, could still be true. She didn't know.

While Oakland was away, John dropped in the seat beside Bee. "He has it so bad for you." Stephen joined in on John's laughter, coming to stand beside Benji. "Yeah, he really does. It's kinda cute, how much he hated you in the beginning. I knew he'd come around."

Bee elbowed John. "He does not. This is some big game for him."

John pretended to rub at his eyes and then blink, like he suddenly regained vision. "I don't know, still seems that way to me..." He looked at Bee with a pointed look. "You hang around boys enough to know that we don't put up with people we don't like. Boys don't stare at girls they don't like, and Bee, Oakland is always staring at you. When you don't realize it. And, when Benji asked about prom... I could see his expression from my spot in line. Just sayin'."

Bee ran a hand through her hair, frustrated. "No. You're wrong, and here's why: Oakland told me he was going to make me fall for him so he could break my heart and toss me to the curb. He's pretending. And it isn't going to work."

None of her friends seemed to buy it. "I think beginning of the season Oakland did feel that way. But, now that he's spent time with you, I think he sees what we all do. He knows why everyone loves you, and he's fallen for you too."

Bee stood, crumpling the cup in her hand, suddenly irritated. Irritated that her friends didn't believe her. "Believe what you want, but Oakland is a snake, and he's trying to take me down." She stomped towards the dumpster, where Oakland had disappeared, wishing things were easy. Wishing Oakland was just a boy, and she was just a girl, and there was no promises of ruining each other, of destroying each other.

When she rounded the corner, she saw Oakland leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets, his head low. It was almost an out of body experience, seeing him that way, with his body nearly crumpled against the wall, looking less like the hot shot she knew he was, and more like a broken whisper of a boy.

She took a step closer, and he must have heard her, because his head snapped up. There was a cold, indifferent look in his eyes that screamed I hate you, but Bee was beginning to realize it was a mask. He hid his emotions with anger, and he was good at it, too. She knew what it must have been like for him, to have to put masks in place because it was too dangerous to show real emotions.

She tossed the cup in the dumpster, then turned back towards him. "Why did you come?"

He didn't move from the wall of the building. "We need to talk."

"We did talk, in the locker room, which is a private place you know. You really shouldn't barge in there. It has sexual harassment written all over it."

He shook his head. "No, we need to really talk. What I said, in Benji's bedroom, that wasn't right. I had no right to say those things to you. I was angry, and I took it out on you."

Bee crossed her arms tightly, feeling a tad bit angry at his words. "So what, I only deserve an apology after you find out about my home life? Or, was it after you realized I was an actual human being who had real emotions and not just this enemy figure?"

Oakland pushed his sunglasses up on his head, then put his hands out in front of him, pleading. "No. You deserved an apology immediately after it happened. You deserved that to never have happened in the first place. I'm sorry I'm such an asshole."

Bee's mouth flattened. "Saying sorry doesn't fix anything. You know, my dad says sorry after he hits me. Doesn't make it right, doesn't mean he won't do it again. You want to apologize, for real? Make it right. Actually show me you're sorry. I said it once, and I'll say it again: being an asshole isn't a personality trait."

She started to walk away, but Bee stopped before she disappeared entirely around the corner. She leaned her head back, looking at him. "I'll never stop imagining how you'll toss me to the curb, you know. I'll remember that night for the rest of my life. I'll remember those words for the rest of my life, and I'll remember you as the boy who ruined me, just because he thought it would be fun to ruin someone's life, to crush someone's heart, to ruin someone so completely that they'll never trust someone with their heart again. Congratulations, Oakland, you've won, because you don't have to get me in your bed to ruin me. You've already broken me."

The look on his face was so stricken, it almost made her feel bad. Almost. Instead of pouring out the apology that was on her lips, she continued around the corner, towards her friends. She felt stronger than she ever had in that moment.

The rest of the evening was fine, and she pretended to laugh with her friends and act surprised when everyone realized Oakland had disappeared. She shrugged, laughed, and piled into Larkin's car. She pretended to be as much of her old self as possible, trying to throw off her friends.

It was Larkin's pity look and Benji's knowing look that did her in. Both knew something was wrong, but didn't know how to broach the topic of her alcoholic dad. They knew something involving her father had happened, but didn't know what.

She had to be extra careful from then on, because the more her friends sniffed around, the more danger they too would be in, and she knew that. Knew her father had no problem going after her friends if they got involved.

When Larkin dropped her off, he turned towards her, his mouth flat. "Bee... you can talk to me."

She knew she could trust Larkin, but it was her father she didn't trust. "Nothing's wrong, Lark. I just have an asshole father, you know that." He did, but the little he knew, the better. She let Larkin assume he was an alcoholic, and that was the end of the story. "He's just being more of a douche than normal. All is good."

Larkin didn't look like he wanted to let her out of the car, so she put her hand on his arm. "Lark, please. I'm okay." She opened the door and slid out, not letting him respond. She couldn't let him respond, knowing she could break into tears at any moment.

She didn't look back as she entered her house, hugging herself as she passed her father sleeping on the couch and her mother standing on the staircase, worry in her eyes. Always worry in her eyes.

As Bee passed her mother, she leaned in close. "Soon I'll be safe, mom. Until then... I'm okay. I'm always okay."

Bee ignored the tears in her mother's eyes, the way she covered her mouth in a silent sob, the shaking of her mother's head. She had to ignore it, had to remember she wasn't the only one who was unsafe in this house. Bee had to be strong for the both of them.

"I'm getting you out of here, Bee. As soon as I can." Her mother's voice was low, a whisper, but Bee couldn't stop the clench in her stomach and the way her mind immediately wrote her words off as a lie. It was too good to be true.