"I'm going out, I'll be back in an hour," Mama said.

"Okay, Mama, love you," I said.

She smiled, kissing my forehead. I went back to reading, the same book I've read about a million times. I didn't mind, I still thought it was good. I was cuddled up in my bed in the room I shared with Mama. I was so nice and cozy, I loved it here.

I heard the door burst open and I gasped in fright. I heard loud voices, big, clunking feet as I whimpered. I hid myself under the blanket in fear. The bedroom door opened and I heard someone walk forward. My blanket was pulled from me and I gasped, burying my hands in my face as I cried.

"Gerard?" The man in the blue uniform asked. "We're from the New Jersey Police Department, we're gonna get you somewhere safe."

"Where's my Mama?" I cried.

He picked me up and I cried, trying to push him away. There were other people in my house and I looked around in terror. They carried me away outside and I shrieked in fear. My Mama said I could never go outside because it was dangerous. It was so bright and scary and I hated it.

"Want my Mama!" I screamed. "Want my Mama! Want my Mama!"

"Want my Mama," I mumbled in my sleep as I cried.

I woke up, sobbing and looking around in fear. There were no men taking me away and I sighed in relief. I grabbed Dee, my blankie, and my paci and stepped out of my bedroom in the dark. I went into Mikey's room, shutting the door behind me. I cuddled up into the bed with him and he mumbled something sleepily.

"Gee, what are you doing?" He asked, his voice deep and slow with fatigue.

"Want Mama," I whimpered.

"Come here," he sighed.

Mikey pulled me closer and I sniffled, putting my paci into my mouth. I rested my head on his chest comfortably, closing my eyes as I fell asleep.

A few hours later a loud ringing woke me up and I jumped in fright, nearly falling off the bed. Mikey chuckled sleepily as he pressed a button on the clock and I scowled at him.

"Relax, Gee, it's just my alarm clock," he said. "We've gotta get up for school."

I sat up, putting my paci back into my mouth.

"Don't wanna go," I pouted. "Don't like it."

"Why not?" He asked. "Isn't Mr. McDonald nice?"

"He's nice, I just don't like going, it's too hard," I pouted.

"You'll get to see Frank there too," he said.

My eyes lit up but I looked down again with a frown.

"Fine, I guess I could go," I muttered.

I scowled but couldn't help but feel happy that I'll get to see Frankie again.

"C'mon, go get dressed so we have time to eat before we leave," he said.

I hurried into my bedroom. I put on the prettiest pink dress I had. There was a white bow around the waist and it had a white peter pan collar. I put on white thigh highs and pastel pink flats. I went out and found Mikey in the kitchen.

"Do you think Frankie will like this outfit?" I asked.

"Sure," Mikey mumbled.

He poured us both cereal and I watched in interest. Mama never gave me cereal, Mikey gave it to me yesterday. We ate before driving to school and I made sure to fix my hair and makeup perfectly. As soon as we stopped, I got out of the car and hurried into the building. I found Frankie talking with some friends while they leaned against the lockers. They all seemed to be dressed in black and some sort of leather and most of them had markers on their skin just like Frank. I skipped up to them happily and Frank smiled when he saw me.

"Do you like my dress, Frankie?" I asked.

"It's beautiful," he said.

I smiled, but then looked at his other friends nervously, who were all watching me. I only recognized one, the guy with the poofy hair.

"Gee, this is Ray, Joe, Bob, Ryan, and Brendon," Frank introduced. "Guys, this is Gee."

"Hi," I said shyly, blushing as I stepped closer to Frank.

I looked down at his shaved hair and greenish eyes. He was wearing a light blue shirt and a black leather jacket over it. I was a little taller than him but I didn't care, he still seemed so big and tough.

"You know, I think we should leave you two alone," Brendon said.

The others snickered as they walked away and I looked at him in confusion.

"What do they mean by that?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing at all," Frank denied. "C'mon, let me walk you to class."

I smiled, walking next to him happily.

"How do you like it here so far?" Frank asked.

"It's weird but cool," I said.

"Where are you from, exactly?" He asked.

"Mikey told me I shouldn't tell anyone," I said. "But I like you. I lived with my Mama in my house underground."

"I don't understand," Frank said with a small chuckle.

"Me and my Mama lived together underground my whole life," I said.

Frank stopped and looked at me.

"Y-your mom kept you underground for your whole life?" Frank asked.

I smiled and nodded my head.

"Oh my god, that's horrible," he muttered. "Poor baby."

He hugged me and I frowned in confusion.

"It was great, I loved it," I said.

"And this is why your mom is in prison," Frank said in realization.

My lip quivered. "I don't want my Mama in jail, she didn't do anything wrong. I miss her."

"Oh, hey," he said softly, stroking my cheek gently. "Don't worry, baby."

"I want my Mama back," I said, my eyes filling with tears.

"Wanna text on my phone?" He asked.

I smiled softly as I nodded. He pulled out his phone, going into something before he handed it to me. I frowned in confusion because it looked different. There were no blue bubbles anymore.

"This is the notes app so you aren't sending a bunch of random words to my friends," Frank explained. "You can still type anything and it'll show up over there."

I began typing on the little screen, writing a message for Frank to see.

Hi Frankie! I'm texting! This is cool! And weird! Texting is cool! Thanks for letting me use your sell phone. Your really cool! But your arms are still dirty. Texting is funny. I like to text. Do you like to text? I'm getting my own phone today. I'm exited. But I don't want to go to school today its to hard. I'm bored at school. Mikey told me we have to do this five days a week! That's crazy! I don't

"We're here," Frank said.

I looked up and saw we were outside Mr. McDonald's room. I frowned, handing the phone back to Frank. He looked down at it, snickering quietly as he smiled.

"Adorable," he muttered.

I smiled proudly as he gave me a hug.

"Alright, I'll see you later, Gee," he said.

He walked off and I walked into the room.

"Ah, Gee, let's get started," Mr. McDonald started.

I frowned quietly as I sat in the seat across from him, pulling of my big textbook.

A few hours later and it was finally art. I walked into the class for the first time, since I didn't go yesterday. I talked to the teacher and she explained the current project to me, handing me some supplies.

"Sit anywhere you'd like, hon," she said.

I looked around and saw Frankie sitting at one of the tables. I smiled and sat down next to him. He looked up, a small smirk spreading over his face.

"Hey, Gee," he said.

"Hi Frankie," I chirped.

I laid out the big paper, picking up one of the pencils as I began to draw.

"How was your classes?" He asked. "I know this is, like, your first real day, yesterday was more of just getting shown around and shit like that."

I nodded my head as I drew.

"It was hard," I said.

"How come?" He asked.

"Learning is hard," I said. "I never learned before. My Mama didn't never take me to school."

He laughed and i smiled at him.

"Well, you've got your own personal teacher," he said. "Must be kinda cool, Mr. McDonald's nice."

"Yeah, he is," I agreed. "But I don't like it, learning is hard. Don't like learning. Learning bad."

Frank snickered, drawing on his paper.

"Well, at least this is your last year here and you're graduating," he said.

I scowled quietly. "No, I'm not gonna graduating. I'm learning 3rd grade math right now. Not ever graduating."

"Oh, Gee, I'm sorry," frank muttered.

I nodded sadly, reaching into my backpack and pulling out Dee. I hugged her tight and sighed in content from her comfort. There was some snickering and I looked up to see some people at a nearby table looking at me. My eyes filled with tears when I realized they weren't happy snickering, it was really mean snickering.

Frank gave them the meanest, dirtiest looks I've ever seen. "Mind your own business, yeah?"

The people got quiet and looked away.

"Thank you," I mumbled.

He smiled, patting my back.

"Always come to me if anyone starts messing with you," he said.

"Why are people mean, Frankie?" I asked. "Is this what Mama said was bad?"

"I don't know, Gee, your mom sounds a little crazy," he said.

I looked over at him in shock.

"My Mama isn't crazy!" I exclaimed, my lip quivering. "Wh-why would you say something like that?!"

"Gee, I didn't--"

I whimpered, standing up and grabbing my backpack and Dee. I hurried out of the room, sniffling and crying. I went down a hallway and sat down on the little bench there was. I pulled out my blankie and paci, sniffling quietly. There was footsteps and Frank walked forward, sitting beside me.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called your mom crazy," Frank apologized.

"My Mama ain't crazy," I whispered around my paci.

"I know she isn't, I'm sure she's a very nice lady," he said.

I leaned my head on his shoulder, wiping my eyes.

"Let's go back to my house," he suggested.

"Why?" I asked, pulling my paci from my mouth.

"So we can hang," he said.

"Hang what?" I asked.

Frank chuckled and stood up. He held his hand out and I took it. I put my paci back in my mouth, holding Dee with my free hand. Frank carried my blankie for me as we walked out of the school.