Ms. Simon is a bitch.

Okay, okay. She's not a complete and total jerk. She has her moments. But eighty percent of the time, she is one. It doesn't help that she has a special dislike for me.

I don't know when it started, but I can't remember not battling with her. Sure, there were times when we held truces. Mostly though, we were at war. I blame all of our issues on her. She had to have done something that made me want to challenge her everyday. It wasn't big deal things. I didn't start fights or curse her out or stand on my desk and scream to the heavens, despite the fact she acted like I did.

Her grudge against me is the reason I stayed in that room an unreasonably long time. At West Hurst, teacher's had a lot of control over how they conducted detention. Hence why detention with Ms. Simon was the worse experience of my life.

All I could think about was getting onto the field, and it made me antsy. After an hour and a lengthy lecture about respect, she let me go. I sprinted to the locker room and went through my usual routine on steroids. I managed to get to the field in under ten minutes, ready for practice.

When Coach caught sight of me, she met me at the bench with everyone's stuff thrown around it. I could tell she wasn't the happiest with me. "Glad you could honor us with your presence. Take a lap and jump in."

I turned and followed the outline of the field. Going around didn't take long, but left a lot of room to think. My foul mood grew stronger with every step. Everyone I cared about was mad at me all because Ms. Simon didn't know how to take a joke. I caught sight of Ashley and that anxious feeling Sarah's talk had given me came back. It wasn't going away.

I got back to my starting point and jumped into a line behind Sierra. We had done the drill before, so I wasn't completely clueless. Even so, I was completely unfocused.

"How was it?" She asked.

I just raised my eyebrows. That was all she needed to know how it went. She laughed and turned, ready for the next ball. She took her turn and jogged to the next line.

When I received the ball for my shot, I took a touch and sent a rocket right over the crossbar. "My lord," I murmured.

"Forty crunches!" Everyone shouted.

I held up my ring finger, pretending to flip them off. The rest of practice didn't get any better. I couldn't play for the life of me. Coach was getting more and more pissed. On top of all of it, Ash kept trying to talk to me, and I kept blowing her off. Ten minutes into our scrimmage, I stormed off the field. I dropped to the ground and took out my shinguards, throwing them into my bag.

"Malcolm," Coach said in a warning tone.

I ignored her and ripped off my cleats. I stuffed them in my bag and stood up. "Amily," Ash called, walking towards us.

"Screw off!" I shouted. "Just leave me alone!" Heatedly, I speed walked to the locker room. I found Ashley's stuff and dug through her bag. Eventually, her lanyard turned up and I snatched it. The thoughts that had been clinging to the back of my mind resurfaced. My grip on her key ring loosened until it slipped out of my hand and back into her bag.

Those keys meant everything to her. They were her independence. She deserved her own life more than anyone I knew. Everything stupid I did had nothing to do with her. If people couldn't see that, she couldn't be around me. Right? She can't be blamed for anything if she's never there. Just the thought pained me. If she's never there. My dad is the one who's never there. Putting them on the same level felt wrong, but it would be a different kind of never there. It was different.

I grabbed my school bag and pushed open the locker room doors that opened into the school. I felt my eyes water heatedly, but I quickly rubbed them away. I had never felt more conflicted and alone.

Going to my Dad's wasn't an option. Ashley's place was out of the equation. With no destination in mind, I walked out the front doors of the school and followed the sidewalk of our conservatively sized town. I caught sight of the local arcade and quickly decided it would be a reasonable distraction.

I peaked around at each of the staff counters. It was a pretty lenient staff on duty. I took out my quarter taped to a piece of string and got playing. I bounced from machine to machine until the sun begun to disappear. Practice was about to be let out if it hadn't already.

I took a break, my eyes aching from the strain. All the notifications blowing up my phone, killed my battery. A guy wearing the arcade staff uniform approached my table. I grew anxious, wondering if he was going to kick me out. Instead, he grinned. "You're a clever kid."

I said in confused shock, "Huh?"

"You're quarter trick is something else. Here, have some pizza. On the house."

I looked at the slice of pizza he offered me. The aroma reminded me just how hungry I was. "Thank you," I said sincerely. I took the food and dug in aggressively. He chuckled and left to do his own thing.

After another hour or two, I knew I had to find somewhere to stay. Without my phone, I couldn't text or call anyone, so I was left to go door to door. Or window to window. Before I could leave, the guy from earlier called out to me. "Hey! Wait up."

Every alarm in my head went off. Stranger danger much? I stood right in front of the door and turned to face him. "Hi," I trailed off awkwardly.

"Do you have a ride home?"

I glanced out the glass door. "My mom's picking me up."

"Is she on her way? Did you text or call her?" He fidgeted with his belt loops.

"Yeah," I lied. "She should be here any minute."

"You can wait in here. I'm just closing up."

I pushed the door open. "It's okay. Thanks though."

In a burst of motion, he reached behind me and pulled the door shut. His body was flush against mine. I gasped in surprise. Panic set into his eyes. "I just-you should wait in here."

"I'm okay," I said with more force. I tried to open the door, but he kept it shut. "Let me out."

"No," he snapped. After taking a deep breath, he said, "Just stay in here until your ride gets here. It'd be safer."

I pushed him away. Thankfully, he complied and took a step back. "I think I'd feel safer outside," I said, my heart beating heavily in my chest.

He let out a sigh of relief. I was confused as to why until I felt the cold night air tickle my skin. I turned to see Ashley holding the door open. The senior smiled at the arcade worker. "Thanks for keeping her here. You're a life saver," she said.

I glared at the guy. "This is a betrayal, guy-I-don't-know."

He smiled weakly. "Sorry, kid."

Ashley put a hand on my shoulder, guiding me onto the sidewalk. She thanked the guy again before letting the door close behind her. I tried to shrug her hand off, but she refused to let go. "I'm not risking you running off again," she said simply.

I crossed my arms and got in her car without saying a word. I threw my bags into the backseat. She got in on the other side and put her keys in the ignition. "I want to stay at my dad's," I stated, staring straight ahead.

"That's fine."

I gave her a suspicious look. "That's fine?" I repeated questioningly.

She nodded. Was she pushing me away? Even though it had to happen, it hurt knowing she was doing the pushing instead of me. For a couple more minutes, I didn't say anything. Instead of pulling into my driveway, she parked at the local diner. "I said I wanted to go to my dad's," I reiterated.

She took out the keys and the engine died. "You're going to go inside, and apologize to everyone."

I heatedly glared at her. "What do you mean? Apologize for what? And who's everyone?"

She pointed up the stairs. "Go."

I stood my ground. "Or what?"

Her eyebrow rose inquiringly. "You know exactly what. Keep up this behavior and see where that gets you." She opened the back door to get my stuff. "I don't hear you walking."

I gritted my teeth and stomped all the way to the stairs. I had the urge to shout 'Can you hear that?' but I mustered all the self control I had left and stayed quiet. The stairs were made of metal and went up the side of the building to the second story. They made an awful creaking noise but were apparently safe. I didn't buy it. I went carefully up them and took a deep breath at the door. My knuckles had barely made contact with the door when it flew open.

I stared into Sarah's red and puffy eyes. She just stared back. In the blink of an eye, literally, she stepped out of the apartment and smacked me as many times as she could. I tried to block her hands, but she still managed to hit me a generous number of times. She didn't stop until Jessie, a senior and one of the co-captains, pulled her back under the roof.

Another co-captain, El, pushed past the two of them and engulfed me in a hug. "I'm so glad you're safe!" She pushed me away, still gripping my shoulders. "You had us all worried sick." Her stern expression dropped and she pulled me back into her. "Ugh, you're alive. Thank God."

I looked over her shoulder and saw the entire team scattered in the living room. Sierra was passed out on the couch. She could sleep through anything. Gil was sitting on the kitchen counter, eating who knows what.

Claire said from the couch in sight of the door, "El, let the poor girl in." I gave the eighteen-year-old goalie a thankful look. She winked back at me. El released me, and I walked inside the room. Everybody started shouting at once. Gil ran and threw her arms around me, knocking me back a step.

"I hate you." Her voice was muffled by my shoulder.

I didn't say anything. The door was closed behind me, and I just felt trapped in guilt. She let me go and punched my shoulder.

I cleared my throat and everyone fell silent. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked at the floor. "I'm-I'm sorry I worried everyone," I murmured.

Before anyone else could speak, Sarah said nonchalantly, "I hope someone beats your ass."

I blushed profusely. Jessie shook her head disapprovingly. "Sarah, stop it or your butt's gonna get beat."

"I'm just saying what everyone's thinking." She shrugged, not looking remorseful on any level.

El supplied, "We're just happy your safe, but please, please don't pull a stunt like that ever again." Everyone murmured their agreements. I slowly nodded, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

"Thanks for your help tonight. It's a school night so everyone out. We've got a game tomorrow and it will be a tough one."

I jumped. I hadn't realized Ash had made her way into the apartment. The team obeyed. Jessie lifted Sierra into her arms and carried her out the door. The group filtered out in small pods. Standing their, my chest felt tighter and my throat burned stronger. I escaped to my room and threw my bags down. "Keep it together," I hissed to myself, gathering the picture frames lining my desk. With each frame, I felt my emotions grow more intense.

In a fit of rage, I tore down posters and threw frames into my bag. Hot tears kept coming and coming and wouldn't stop. I pulled Polaroid after Polaroid off a collage until my room was a hot mess.

Arms wrapped around me, guiding me to the ground. I tried to fight, but the tight grip pacified my tantrum. I stuffed my face into the senior's shoulder and sobbed.

"Shhh," She soothed in my ear. "You're okay. You're okay."

I clung to her tighter. "I'm sorry," I cried. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

She rocked me gently, humming in my ear, "What's wrong, Ams?"

My nails dug into my palm through her shirt. "I'm-I'm sorry I'm not better," I hiccuped.

She rubbed circles on my back. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't want the judge to take away your emancipation. I don't want to be with my dad all the time. I don't—"

She pulled away slightly. "Why would the judge take away my emancipation?"

"Sarah said if people thought you were a bad influence on me, they'd take it away." I scooted off her lap.

She raised her eyebrows. "Sarah said that?"

I nodded. Ash shook her head. "Kid, she's got it wrong. You're one of the reasons I got emancipated." She put a hand on my thigh, squeezing reassuringly. "The next time someone says something that confuses or upsets you, please come talk to me."

I nodded stiffly.

She intertwined her hand into mine. She shifted onto her knees and lifted my chin, so I was forced to look her in the eyes. "What are we?"

I choked out, "Family."

"Who can take that away?"

"No one."

"What can take that away?"

"Nothing."

"Do you believe that?"

I hesitated. Her hand squeezed mine three times. "Yes."

A/N: Not completely sure if this chapter is crap or not. Haha😅I've read it too many times to tell. If you have constructive criticism about plot, characters, writing, etc, please let me know! I'd gladly take it into consideration. Hope you're having a great day and if not, smile for the sake of it.