"So how's life been back in Oxnard?" Eric questioned, watching April as she lit the end of her joint and inhaling it.

The teen exhaled, resting her head against his headboard. She collected herself before looking over at him as she held out the joint, gaining a head shake from Eric.

"It's been the same," She stated. "Still can't figure out whether they're gunshots or fireworks." April shrugged, adjusting herself to face him instead of having to turn around every time she needed to reply.

He nodded, pursing his lips. Although the two had an unbreakable bond, their topics of conversation had become dry once Chad and April broke up. She felt somewhat betrayed that it took Eric that long to tell her he was cheating, God knows how many other girls he's hooked up with.

"How different is life in Brighton?" April broke the silence, toying with her fingers as she looked up at him with curiosity covering her face, when in reality, she just wanted to know why he left Oxnard.

"Everything's much further away," He chuckled, "Like, the mall would be a five to ten minute drive back home, but over here is fifteen to twenty, on a good day."

April nodded, taking another puff of her joint. She exhaled it, before sitting up like a pre-teen who was ready to spill and hear gossip with her best friend.

"By the way, he isn't here, is he?" April asked, anticipating Eric's answer.

He sighed at the question, beginning to grow tired of the two walking on eggshells around one another. Eric prayed that April would apologize and so would Chad so he didn't have to continuously choose who he would be siding with on days. The boy simply shrugged, gaining a playful slap on his arm from April.

"You two can literally just walk past one another without getting into fight. Trust me – even if he is, nothing bad is going to happen." He offered her a reassuring grin, but only to suppress his own growing fear of the 'plan' Chad had talked about tonight, the guilt beginning to breed inside of him.

"Yeah, true, but like...it's just stupid, you know? Its like he can't even bear to be in the same room as me without having something bitchy to say." She rolled her eyes, finishing off her joint and flicking it onto the ground beneath her. "But you're right, I'll just ignore him," April said, her voice clearly doused in sarcasm, something which was one of her most notable traits.. "Even if he's spelling out his plan to murder me."

Eric gave out an airy chuckle, shaking his head.

"If you do that, I'm sure everyone's going to think you're the bigger person."

"I'm always the bigger person, Jarder." She added, adjusting her seating position once again.

The door swung open, revealing a surprised Chad – although it was obviously a forced reaction to the scene he'd stumble upon.

"April, hey." Chad simply greeted, adding a small wave.

She gave him a smile, looking over to Eric whose motives were being heavily questioned by the confused and irritated teen.

Meanwhile, Eric sat there on his bed, staring at Chad with both puzzlement and fear. He'd attempt to read his body language and the plan he was brewing inside his head, but was told to leave by the brunette's menacing gaze.

"You mind if we talk?" Chad said, looking over to the boy as he jerked his brow.

April felt stuck, not being able to move from the situation. Her gut began to churn, knowing something would've gone wrong has she stayed put. However, her ego trapped her there – wanting to confront Chad on all the bullshit he'd put her through.

"Sure," Eric obliged, standing up and bolting towards the door as Chad entered his room. He made sure to close the door behind the two, backing away a little. His instinct told him to do the complete opposite, however, it was too late when Eric heard the 'click' of the door lock coming from the other side.

The last thing he wanted to do was piss both of them off, knowing he'd be questioned by the two of them, but his gut told him that leaving April alone with Chad would be the worst mistake of not only his, but everyone else's life. Nevertheless, he turned the other cheek, walking downstairs to catch up with his friends.

April stood up, stumbling as she leaned against the side of his headboard for support.

"If this is about your car – I highly suggest you get over it." She began the conversation bluntly, crossing her arms.

"What are you even doing here?" Chad chuckled, the idea of someone like April attending a Brighton house party baffled him.

"That's none of your business." She replied. "And unless we're going to talk about something of importance, I'm leaving." She calmly made her way towards the door, only to be halted by Chad's hand tightly gripping her arm.

"I'm obviously here for a reason, April." He spoke, his deep voice penetrating her ears, but only to come out from the other side.

The girl jerked her hand away from him, a disgusted look plastered across her face. She returned back to twisting the door handle. Her heart began to race as she realized the door was locked, adrenaline of fear rushing throughout her system. She needed to find the key somehow, before things got worse.

"Chad, this is childish." April turned around. "Seriously, just give me the key." She held out her hand, pretty confident that the boy would compromise and hand it to her.

Instead, he shook his head, approaching her with a lust and rage filled gaze. He pinned her back against the door, gaining a groan from April whose head lightly hit the clothing hook hanging on it. Chad's eyes traveled from her face down towards her chest, a smirk beginning to grow on his lips.

"I sure did miss there," He groped one of her breasts, looking up to watch a flustered and embarrassed April grimace at his actions.

"Fuck off," April furrowed her brows, her face and ears becoming hot with shame. She pushed him off of her, and to her surprise – he did back off.

She began to grow uncomfortable and breathless, feeling as though the bile in her stomach would shoot out of her mouth like the Apollo 11.

April turned around, grabbing an extra bobby pin from her jean pocket and attempting to pick at the lock, but it didn't work. Instead, she felt her face collide forcefully with the door, causing her nose to fracture at the bridge, creating a minor laceration. Her nose began to spew out a lot of blood, making her lean forward so it didn't stream down her throat. She could see it drop onto the beige carpet beneath her, beginning to soak into the fibers.

She stood there in shock, looking up at Chad with a 'what-the-fuck' expression on her face. The teen knew how much he was capable of, but never expected him to result to violence, especially when it came to rejection.

While in her deep state of surprise, Chad took this chance to grab her from behind, putting her in a choke-hold and dragging her over to the other side of the room. April wrestled to get out of his grip, but to no avail. The metallic feeling of the blood disgusted her, making her unable to concentrate on this fight with Chad that she had to win. They both wrestled one another, Chad being the obvious one to have the upper hand.

April was too occupied trying to fight his grip that she hadn't realized his hands had shifted to the belt loops of her jeans, feeling the fabric being pulled off along with her panties. She quickly realized what was happening, instigating her to slap his hand away from that region.

"Chad, stop it!" She cried, trying her best to push him off by aggressively slapping his face and running her sharp nails across his exposed skin but nothing worked. It seemed as if Chad was too occupied with going through with his 'plan' than attempting to shut her up.

The girl began choking once the pressure of Chad's knee weighed down on her lungs, triggering her to reach her hands out to slap him away. Luckily for Chad, he grabbed her wrists, individually tying them to the bottom pole of the bed and nightstand with the zip ties he'd quickly retrieved from Eric's garage.

April's panicked mind forced her to yank on the restraints, in hopes that it would snap and set her free, but they seemed to be too tight to the point where her skin began tearing at the sharp edges digging themselves into her wrists.

Her screams began to gradually become louder, hoping somebody would break down the door and save her, but nobody even knocked on it to check if everything was okay. She felt hopeless and afraid, not knowing what to do in this situation. The girl's eyes were starting to become heavy with the water coating themselves around her pupils, making everything in her sight blurry.

On the other hand, Chad grabbed a red bandanna from the bottom of Eric's bed, shoving it violently in her mouth as she gagged at the bunched up fabric harshly hitting her throat. The tears began slipping to the outer corners of her eyes, trickling down towards her ears. At this point, she felt the breeze of the room hitting her naked bottom half, making her feel humiliated

Chad leaned down towards her ear, clenching his jaw in frustration at her constant resistance.

"If you even think about running towards that door, you'll just be another mannequin in someone's front lawn. Understood?" His tone was threatening and governing, making the girl whimper in obedience.

April shook her head, begging him not to go through with whatever he was about to do. However, she'd gotten the message and stayed still, hoping he would have a change of heart later. By tugging on her restricted wrists, she began losing hope that they would ever snap, realizing how every time she began to pull on them, they would just cut deeper into her skin.

The boy nodded in satisfaction, getting up and looking around Eric's room for any possible weapons. His eyes landed on the trophy collection which sat on the dresser, a wicked chuckle emitting from Chad as he eyed them carefully.

The teen noticed this and uncomfortably shifted her head towards him, her eyes widening as her muffled cries for help began to intensify, trying her best to make the plastic restraints snap.

"Which one do you reckon is going to teach you a lesson?" Chad rhetorically asked. His hand rested upon the two tier baseball trophy with a swinging batsman situated at the top. "Perfect." He muttered, grabbing it and walking over to April.

***

April rushed downstairs, whimpering quietly as her legs reminded her of the pain which she had endured. Every step she took felt like a baseball bat to the knee. Her head laid low, her gaze not daring to meet with anybody else's. She felt extremely demeaned, as if the 'slut spotlight' (as Chad would call it) was shining on her and highlighting her stupidity of staying in the room with him in the first place. Fortunately for her, everyone was either too drunk or too high to even care, not bothering to give April their attention – whether it was helpful or judgmental. Once her feet exited the house, she sighed in relief, quickening her pace towards Mark's house.

Oh God, Mark she thought to herself, stopping dead in her tracks. 'What the fuck do I tell him?' At this moment, her wrists were marked and her nose was evidently broken – she looked like she'd been in a Bad Girls Club fight. Her mind paced around, trying to think of excuses which wouldn't get her in trouble, or anybody from the party. April needed any excuse, she just couldn't bear to tell anybody the truth.

She'd finally reach the front door of his house, sighing as she shakily twisted the knob, not wanting to see Mark laying on the couch, enjoying his night off. If anything, she didn't want to see Mark in general. Fortunately for her, he didn't seem to be home. There was always a presence of him when he was at home, and tonight she didn't feel that.

The teen sighed, wiping her tears which had smeared her mascara around her eyes and partially her cheeks. She walked upstairs, taking her time and holding onto the railing in case her legs gave up at the task. April strolled to her room, slamming the door shut behind her, not being able to rub off the feeling of Chad's disgusting touch wandering over her half naked body.

The tears came back once again, making her storm to the bathroom. Before she knew it, she was naked, lying on the shower floor, the steaming hot water hitting her body as she absent-mindedly scrubbed her body with a loofah, beginning to create minor scratches. She didn't care how badly it burned, all she knew was that she needed to be clean again.