Practice was great again, and again I was the number one boy. The whole time though Dog kept shooting me glares though I did my best to ignore him, but it was hard when every time we were about to start an interval I received an elbow in the ribs. Math went as usual, copy the notes, listen to the lesson, and then receive the homework.

When the Bell rang I headed down the hall to Language class. At first I thought I was the first one to enter class again but someone was already there. A boy was sitting in the seat next to mine. He had shaggy black hair with different parts randomly sticking up. He had bright, but dark, blue eyes. There was something familiar about him.

"Are you new?" I asked hesitantly, I didn't want to be rude. Besides maybe if he was I had a potential friend, after all I had been at school for only a few days and still didn't know anyone. He studied me with an amused expression.

"Nah. I'm not new, in fact I'm actually a Senior." I nodded turning back to my desk but he thrust out his hand. I looked at him skeptically, why would any Senior want to talk to a new student. "Come on, don't tell me you have never shaken hands with anyone before."

I hesitantly shook his hand and he smiled in approval. There was something about his sarcasm that reminded me of someone. Just then the door opened and Mrs. Greene walked in.

"Oh, hello boys." I smiled waving and the boy next to me smirked. "Wait a second, Adam is that you? What are you doing here?"

I looked back at the guy sitting next to me and he still had that amused expression. A lopsided smirk with an eyebrow cocked.

"Yes, it is I." He declared. " I am here because I need my lunch."

Mrs.Greene nodded in understanding but I was confused. The guy seeing my expression leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"I have a sister who sometimes takes my lunch by accident." I nodded jumping slightly as the door opened and the sound of the crowded hallway reverberated in my head. The boy stood brushing his hands on his pants. I watched curiously out of my peripheral vision, who could be his sister? The answer came seconds later.

"Let me guess, I took the wrong lunch." I knew that sarcastic voice and I jerked my head up. Alice was busy digging in her backpack before pulling out a small brown paper bag. The boy named Adam smiled extending his hand. Once he took the lunch he held out another paper bag I hadn't noticed he was holding. The two of them switched lunches and shook hands. Adam had a smirk plastered on his face.

"Nice doing business with you, but you know the fee." Alice groaned in mocked annoyance. She leaned in and gave Adam a quick hug. He smiled ruffled her hair and left. She moaned busily running her fingers through her hair.

"I hate it when he does that." She whined. Mrs.Greene smiled at her clearly amused by their display of affection. I however was still surprised that she even had a brother. Then again, we had never really talked, usually it was just harsh or snippy remarks. Shaking my head I pulled out a sheet of paper from my back pack and stared at it until an idea popped into my head. As soon as it came I started scribbling as quickly as I could. Occasionally I had to go back and fix my spelling mistakes only because my brain was doing things faster than I could write. I was so involved in my work that I didn't notice the rest of the kids filing in.

I had written about half a page when something hard hit the back of my head. I winced spinning around to see Dog sitting snuggly in his seat towards the back of the room. I glanced around d my desk and found a rather large eraser. I bent down picking it up and turned back around in my seat so that I was facing him. I was not going to let him get under my skin. Smiling I held up the eraser so he could see that I found it and mouthed a simple thank you. His smug look vanished and turned into a nasty glare.

His eyes were fierce and suddenly I thought that maybe I shouldn't have done that. I should have ignored it ignored him, and now I was sure that all of the color in my face had vanished. Swallowing I carefully turned around praying that no one had seen our interaction. I was wrong, the kid to my right leaned in to whisper.

"You okay?" I recognized him from cross country. He was tall but muscular, with dark skin and black wavy hair. His eyes were dark as well but held a warm friendly glint. He was the third best boy on the team and though we hadn't talked before I knew who he was.

"Yeah." I said. He nodded holding out his hand. I took it and he smiled.

"I'm Jeremy Williams, though some people know me as Gun Happy." He turned back to the front of the classroom and I did the same. So that's what his real name was, I had seen coach tease him and call him Gun Happy before, but coach never said his real name. I wonder why he was called Gun Happy, I'd have to ask about that.

The rest of class went smoothly and soon the lunch bell rang. I gathered up my stuff making sure that I left after Dog. You shouldn't be afraid of him, he can't hurt you. Only the truth was I knew he could hurt me, he had done it once already what was going to stop him from doing it again. It's just like at home. You try to stop it and it only makes things worse. You just need to take it, accept that that's the way things are going to be.

And I knew it was true. I shook my head trying to get rid of my thoughts but they clung to me and hurried themselves into my heart. You just have to take it. Lifting my head I straightened myself to my full height. Somehow there was a certain courage that came with that thought. No one knew what I dealt with, no one knew I suffered. I had survived this long and I would continue to do so.

Holding my tray I headed to the back of the lunch room where I had sat the past couple of days. No one ever sat at the table I did, but as I started to make my way over a familiar voice called out from behind me.

"Blake, over here!" I turned to see Jeremy waving me over with a huge smile on his face. I glanced from my table to his and back again. Hesitantly I walked towards him. A few other people sat at his table and I recognized only a few. I was almost there when someone slammed into me. I stumbled but tripped over a chair and went sprawling on the floor. My lunch splattered the ground in a rainbow of colors and luckily for me none of it got on my clothes. There was the ring of laughter in my ears but I pushed myself up to my feet standing tall. Don't show weakness.

Without having to look I knew who had done it. I watched as Dog stalked off to his table surrounded by a group of other kids. Sighing I knelt on the ground and tried to pick up my mess. It was slow going and I bit my lip in anger, this was going to be a long year. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and I looked up to see Jeremy and another boy. Jeremy held another tray in his hands and rested it on the edge of his table.

"Go get cleaned up Sanders, Daniel and I can take care of this." I shook my head turning back to the spot stained floor.

"It was my fault I can fix it."

"No it's not. The guy's a dick." Jeremy said. Daniel knelt down across from me and so did Jeremy. I watched as they purposefully grabbed napkins and whipped up the floor food. Jeremy looked at me and pointed to the bathrooms, I stood making my way over and trying desperate not to be noticed.

When I came back from washing my hands the floor was spotless. I sat down across from Jeremy and Daniel both of which were eating like they were starving. I know what that feels like, I,told myself. I had been grounded once for talking back to my Father, I went three days without food.

Reaching over I grabbed the tray of food and picked at its contents. Looking up I noticed Alice watching me only she didn't have her usual scowl on, instead her eyes looked sad. I wasn't sure if she felt bad for me or if something had upset her but either way it was...different. She broke my gaze grabbed her lunch and tossed it in the garbage before leaving. Turning back to the others I leaned in close to Jeremy.

" What's up with her?" Jeremy followed my gaze and his expression softened.

"I don't know." He stood tossing away his own lunch and jogged after her. Daniel brushed aside his shaggy blond hair and studied Alice and Jeremy. He shook his head pushing his own lunch away. His blue eyes looked devastated.

"Daniel?" I asked. He gave me a sad smile.

"I guess I should explain I won't give you details, she'll tell you when she's ready to. Alice....has had a rough...past, if you will. Her mother died when she was young. She also had a very hard time in grade school. Not only that but a few of the jerks that went to her grade school came here too. Dog was one of them. I'm personally not clear on their history together, all I,know is that was bad." I nodded looking back in the direction that she had left but Alice and Jeremy were gone.

The lunch bell rang snapping me out of my daze. Hurriedly I threw away the remnants of my lunch away and headed down the hall. I ran over and over again in my head what Daniel had said. Was that why she had looked at me like that? Because she understood? Or was it just pity.

Upon arriving to science class I took my seat. Mr. Glen wrote the vocabulary on the board, taking his time to explain what each word meant. Afterwards he collected our papers, something he rarely did during class.

"All right guys. Many of you struggled on the last vocab test we took. So, because of your lack of knowledge, I will be seeing how well you have been paying attention in class." He paused scanning the room until his eyes rested on Daniel. " Mr. Reed, what doses the word asymmetrical mean?"

Daniel frowned and a few snickers rang out around the classroom.

" Asymmetrical means, that something lacks symmetry, in other words its parts don't correspond with one another, meaning they are not equal." He paused looking at Mr.Glen for confirmation.

"Correct Mr. Reed!" Daniel let out a sigh and winked at me. I smiled and watched as Mr. Glen call on other unsuspecting students.

"Mr. Sanders, what does the word bilateral mean?" Crap. Of course he would pick me. I bit my lip trying to think. Bilateral,bilateral, bilateral... Got it!

"Bilateral something that affects, or relates to, both sides." He beamed.

"Very good! Most people confuse that definition for something that involves symmetry. Alright who's next? Let's see...Ms. James!" Alice barely even acknowledged him but cocked her head to the side like she was listening, though I highly doubted it. "What does the word mitosis mean?"

The words barely left his mouth when she gave her answer.

"A type of cell division resulting in the two cells having the same amount and type of chromosomes as the parent nucleus." Her words came out fast but confident. Mr. Glen whistled clearly impressed.

"Well someone knows what they're doing." She shrugged still staring at the papers on her desk.

" Guess we all know who the real genius is now." Even from where I was I could see her smirking. Really? I was starting to think that I had mistaken her confidence for arrogance.

"Very funny." Daniel called.

"I try." She said. The rest of class was random questions about the topic we were studying, Mr. Glen claimed that he liked to keep us on our toes.

The rest of the day was boring and luckily for me I got all of my homework done. That was one less problem I had too worry about.

I drove in silence all the way home not thinking about anything but everything at once. As I pulled up to the parking garage I noticed that my father's car was parked in the spot three spaces down from mine. As I registered this a certain heaviness crept into my bones. I hurried out of the car grabbing my back pack and sprinted to the lobby door. My feet thudded on the stairs and I tore open the apartment door. Immediately I scanned the room for trouble. It turns out I didn't have to see what was happening I just followed the noises.

My Dad's clear and angry voice echoed off the walls. I noticed a beer bottle sitting on the kitchen counter and knew at once that he had been drinking. Sprinting down the hall I flung open the door to my Mother's room. She was backed up against the wall shaking in fear, Dad stood over her fists raised and I knew that he had been hitting her.

"Tell me where it is!" He spat.

"No!" My mother cried. I watched as his hand hit her hard across the face. She didn't make a sound but a single tear slid down her cheek. I snapped out of my daze zoning in on my father's sturdy figure. He hit her, he hit her. A surge of anger coursed through my veins making my arms feel like they were on fire. Rushing forward I grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him hard into the other wall. There was a satisfying thud but once he looked at me the adrenaline I had felt was replaced with cold fear.

His eyes were red and bloodshot, probably from lack of sleep, and his gaze was unsteady. Despite his visible tiredness his gaze was full of fury and it burned deep into my soul. Before I could move he grabbed me by the arm and tossed me onto the floor in the hallway. Reaching down he picked me up and pinned me to the wall. I squirmed but it was futile, he was bigger and stronger than me. I watched helplessly as he brought his fist back.

Pain erupted from where he had hit me, just above my left temple. I heard my mother yelling at him to stop. I could see her blurry figure over his shoulder and I shook my head. She wasn't to help me, she didn't need to be hurt more. Dad grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and threw me to the side. I stumbled trying to get to my feet but he kicked me in the side and I fell to the ground.

His foot hit me in the gut next and I curled up into a ball. I could do this, be the punching bag, let him get his anger out on you not Mom. I was picked up again, slightly groggy, but I looked him straight in the eye.

"Never touch me again." With that he planted one last punch and dropped me to the ground before storming out the front door and slamming it shut. Groaning I crawled to my bed and lay gingerly on my back. My sides and face were on fire, almost as if every nerve ending was being pierced by a needle. Closing my eyes I tried to breath but instead it came out as a pitiful whimper.

I lay there absorbed in nothing but the pain when someone touched me. They sat by me and rested my head in their lap before running their fingers through my hair. Peeking through my eyelids I saw my Mom. She gave me a sad smile and I could tell she was trying to fight off the tears. I had told her not to cry for me a long time ago, I said she needed to save her tears for the joys in life.

When my vision cleared up a little I could see the large red hand print covering half of her face. I reached up gingerly touching it, I expected her to wince but instead she held my hand there.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. She shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry. You deserve better." She kissed my forehead and I sighed.

"So do you." She gave me a warm smile.

"Liam would have done a better job than me Mom." I said looking up at her. She bit her bottom lip to keep it from quivering.

"No, your brother wouldn't have. He chose to leave, and you could have too but you stayed. You are braver than you know." I closed my eyes and we stayed like that for a while. I must have dozed off because when I woke up Mom was gone and the clock said Five Twenty. Groaning I pushed my self into a sitting position. It was easier than I would have thought and I realized that I must have just bruised my ribs, that meant nothing was broken.

Heading to the bathroom I studied my reflection. I had a large bruise just above my left temple and a cut on my eyebrow. Looking through the cabinets I found what I was looking for. It was a small make up pad and I set to work on covering up my bruise. It didn't work completely but I was hoping it worked just enough to get through the night. Sighing I headed for my car, time for work.

When I arrived I saw Lacey at the counter with a couple of people in line. I walked over to her and helped with the transactions as best as I could. She smiled at me and helped when I asked for it. When everyone left she let out a deep sigh followed by a groan.

"Long day?" I asked. She laughed walking out from behind the counter.

"Yep, I can't wait to go home. I only have an hour and a half left!" I laughed following her and headed to the back of the room. She pulled a box off the shelf and started filing through its contents, her brown eyes scanning things quickly. We spent the next few minutes organizing the shelves and putting new books out on display. Once we finished with that we had to catalog all of the sales.

"So Adam told me that you guys met for the first time today." she said scribbling something down onto her piece of paper.

"You know him? Oh...yeah, you probably do if you know Alice." She laughed waving her hand in the air.

"Don't be embarrassed for asking questions even if they're silly, but yes I know him. In fact we have a lot of classes together." I,nodded.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to meet him, and I wasn't exactly expecting Alice to have an older brother. She's never mentioned him." Lacey pursed her lips.

"Well, have you ever talked to her, you know, on a personal level." I shrugged.

"I don't know, I mean we're on the same cross country team and we're both the best. I thought maybe we could be friends, but she mainly gives me the cold shoulder." She gave me a sad smile.

"She's like that, but there's a reason for it. I talked to Daniel today, he said he told you about...you know...her past. She may seem intimidating but if you're patient and you prove to be reliable she might talk to you." I pondered her words for a few seconds, maybe she was right. I thought about it a little longer and I realized something was where about the way she had grazed her sentence.

"Wait, reliable?" Lacey winced and I could tell she wanted to explain more.

"Look she just has a hard time trusting people, for reasons I have no right to explain. Look, I've seen you in the halls, you look lost. She needs a friend as much as you do." I laughed, it seemed to me like she already has a bunch of friends.

"What about Jeremy and Daniel?"

"Jeremy and Daniel are good people don't get me wrong, Alice does have friends, it's just she hasn't really connected with them like others do. She cares for them a lot and they care for her too, it's just she doesn't tell them things, she doesn't let them help her. That's what friends are for, and for some reason I feel like maybe the both of you have things more in common than you think." At first I thought she might have noticed the bruise on my forehead, but when I looked up she was still busy scribbling in the catalog.

The rest of the hour was spent in silence and by the end my hand was cramping. Flexing my fingers I stood to stretch and Lacey laughed.

"You'll get used to it after a while" She stood collecting the papers and slipping them back into the folder in which they came from. She glanced at her watch and smiled. "Well, looks like I get to leave! Good luck!"

She patted my shoulder before she left and I sighed resting my head in my arms. My limbs felt heavy and I knew I was more tired than usual. I leaned into the side of my chair trying to get comfortable. The chair arm dug plainly into my side and I flinched springing to my feet and clutching my side. I had completely forgotten about my ribs and now they burned. I carefully lifted up the side of my shirt and sure enough the skin was already turning a purplish blue.

"If you're going to take your clothes off I suggest doing it in another room." I jerked my arm down and my shirt covered the bruise. I spun around on my heel surprised to see Alice leaning in the doorway. Thankfully from the angle I had been standing she hadn't seen my side.

I studied her face remembering the almost kind look she had given me earlier in the day, but any trace of it was gone. Her eyes were narrowed and calculating like I was an animal on display.

"I wasn't..." She waved her hand in the air dismissing my words. I shut my mouth and clenched my jaw, what was her problem? I tried to remember Lacey's words but I couldn't cut her any slack. I had nothing to do with her problems, at least I thought I didn't. She sat down on the couch propping her feet up and closed her eyes. Her fingers tapped ardently on the wall behind the couch. It was an interesting beat but one that I'd never heard of before.

I stood there awkwardly before deciding to busy myself with something, after all I hated being bored. Leaving the back room I walked down the shelves of books looking for something interesting. When I was about halfway down the first shelf the quiet tingle of the bell signaled that someone had entered the store. Sighing I walked to the front of the store and was surprised to see the same little girl I had sold my first book to. She spotted me and smiled so big that the tip of her tongue stuck out from between her teeth. She skipped over to me and I noticed that her father wasn't with her.

"So where's your old man?" I asked. She laughed pointing to the front door.

"He's in the car reading, he says he's at to good of a part to come in." I laughed and it seemed that her happy attitude was contagious. "If you don't mind I'd like the last book."

"OK Kiddo follow me." I turned walking past the shelves until I arrived at the designated section. I pulled her book off the shelf and placed it into her eager hands. Her smile somehow grew and I found myself smiling to. We headed back to the front of the store when the door opened again and a little boy came in.

"Kyle!" The little girl squealed. He looked around confused then waved when he spotted her. He made his way over to us his skinny frame looking small in his big shirt.

"What's that?" He asked. The little girl held out the book to him and he studied it flipping it from front to back.,"Looks cool Sammie."

"Thanks. Hey what are you here for?" Sammie asked.

"Same as you, to get a new book." The boy smiled before wandering l down the isles. I saw Alice come from the back room and the boy waved to her. She waved back and smiled. They exchanged a few words and surprisingly she laughed. I had never seen her like this so care free. Maybe Lacey was right, she was turned and I knew exactly how that felt.

Turning back around I remembered Sammie. I watched her and she was watching them intently. After a few more seconds she looked at me and smiled. We made our way back to the counter. It took me a little while to figure out how to work the cash register and we laughed at my mistakes. Every once in a while though I saw Sammie watching Kyle. Resting my elbows on the counter and my chin on my hands I took in the boys appearance. He had straight brown hair that stood up funny in some places. His eyes were a greenish blue and he wore glasses.

"Sammie." She turned halfway towards me and took her book. I laughed. "Sammie."

This time she turned and looked at me. "Yes?"

I pointed in Kyle's direction cocking an eyebrow. Her cheeks turned red and she looked over her shoulder.

"Can I tell you a secret?" She asked.

"Why me?" I asked. She looked at me with her wide eyes and studied my face.

"Because you're good. I can see it in your eyes, you wouldn't hurt anyone. You're a secret keeper, a protector." She reached up and touched the cut on my eyebrow running a thumb over it. "Some of the best people are the ones with the most scars."

I held her gaze and her eyes seemed to reach deep into my soul. I took a shaky breath, she knew, she noticed, of all the people in the world it was a little girl twelve years old who saw my war.

"You can tell me anything." I whispered. She smiled pulling back her hand and leaning in to whisper in my ear.

"I love Kyle." She said. Three simple words were her biggest secret and though the secret was small it was also powerful.

"Does he know?" I asked her. She shook her head and her shoulders slumped in what I assumed was sadness. "You know, actions speak louder than words, you don't have to tell him. Show him."

She looked back over her shoulder and I watched as Kyle stood on his tip toes to try and reach a certain book. Alice stood next to him trying to surprised her laughter.

"Do you want me to get it?" She asked him.

"Nope I can get it all on my own."

"Well maybe you can still get it on your own." She made a little foot hold with her hands and he planted his foot firmly in it and pushed up. He clutched a shelf to keep from falling over and grabbed his own book.

"Got it!" He called. He hopped down and the two of them high-fived. Kyle looked at us and waved. Sammie waved back and she sighed.

"He's a keeper." I said.

"Really?" She asked. I nodded coming back around from the counter and following her out the door. She ran up to her car and I followed. She knocked on the window and her father peeked up from his book to unlock the car. She opened the door and hopped in before waving. Her dad rolled down the window.

"Is something wrong?" He asked. I shook my head no.

"I just wanted to make sure she got home safely." Her dad smiled warmly at me.

"You're a good kid son. We need more people like you in this world." With that they waved a final good bye and I watched them leave.

The rest of the night was slow moving. At home I wrote in my journal before lying carefully on my bed. Closing my eyes I remembered what Sammie had said and a warmth spread over me. I imagined her warm smile and I realized that maybe , no matter how big or small, boy or girl, there was good in the world. Only sometimes it came in the most simple forms.