"And lastly, Amelia, Victoria, and Link. You may start working on your presentations now."

I snorted as Vic glared at Mrs. Avery. Vic detests her name, and insists on going by her nickname. She's like a sister to me. We've been friends since we were in 9th grade and we were juniors now. She's surprisingly empathetic and a good listener, and also the only teenager who wants anything to do with me, so I was happy I got to work with her on this project. Well, more like watch as she does everything, but tomato tomahto, right? "Hey, Vic," I said, going over to her desk.

"Hey, Amy," she said cheerfully. She had her laptop open and was designing the presentation.

"Umm..hi, guys."

I looked up to see Link, a short Chinese boy. With his ebony bangs obscuring his eyes like a sheepdog and his square black frames, he gave off the stereotypical shy, awkward boy vibe. Not gonna lie, it was oddly cute.

"Hi, Link," Vic said. "Don't worry, I'm taking care of planning the presentation, so you can just go play video games or something."

He looked confused. "Aren't we supposed to be working together?"

"Oh, um...I suppose," Vic said. "It's just that I kind of like working alone."

"Oh."

I watched as he stood there awkwardly, his hands clasped in front of his body. "Um, maybe he's right, it is supposed to be a group project." I said, feeling bad for Link. I don't think it ever occurred to Vic that he was hoping to be included in planning the presentation. During junior high, all I wanted was to be included. But back then, I was just the awkward kid in rags who was more often than not limping. Now, I'm the stoner whose mom died of suicide. Not exactly amazing, but I've started to care less what others think.

Vic shot me an odd look. "Okay, I suppose we can go to my place after school and work on it together."

"Awesome," I said, and Link nodded.

"Oh, and um..so why don't we exchange phone numbers? So we can exchange notes on the project," she suggested.

"That make sense." I gave my phone to Link, as he did the same with Vic.

Just now, Mrs. Avery dismissed class. Taking my phone back, I took my backpack and eagerly made my way to the cafeteria for lunch, Vic in tow.

"Sooo, you and Link, hmm? Doesn't seem like your type, but I'm all for it," she said, winking.

"Who gave you that idea? And what exactly do you think is my type, anyway?"

"I'm not stupid, Amy. You can care less if I do everything. You just said that so you guys can spend time together. And I dunno, I just thought you'd be more into bad boys."

"I've had enough of bad boys, thank you very much," I said, thinking of my abusive stepdad. "And yes, I lied, but-"

"But nothing. Stop making excuses, Amy. Go ask Link to go to the sports game together tonight."

Vic had been urging me to ask someone on a date for ages. I sighed. I wasn't making excuses, I just did what I wished someone did for me in the past.

"But I don't even like sports!" I argued.

"Do you have another idea?"

"We can go to a party and get drunk together?" I asked, smirking.

She gave me a look that said "are you serious?"

He's probably going to say no anyway and he is cute. And unlike the majority of the boys at Westside High, he's not an obnoxious ass.

Deciding to go for it, I typed do you wanna go to the sports game tonight together? and hit "send," hoping I wouldn't regret it.

"You are doing it over text?" she asked, staring at me as if I had just ate her last pack of Oreo's.

"Ya, I mean, isn't that why you had us exchange phone numbers? And it's too late now, anyway," I said, as we went to our regular spot in the far right corner of the cafeteria.

Ding!

Handing Vic my lunch, I looked at the text.

Sorry, but dating's just not my priority right now. And I don't think my parents are going to approve of me dating someone like you.

*  *  *

I binge-ate Oreos on a sofa in Vic's living room, watching as her and Link worked on the presentation on the other sofa. I hadn't wanted to come at all after seeing the text, but Vic had insisted on it, and eventually, I gave in and agreed to come just to shut her up. According to her, Link hadn't said that he didn't like me, so all was not. If you ask me, I think he was just making excuses, not wanting to hurt my feelings.

His parents did seem strict, though. His mom had insisted we stayed in the living room and that Monty, Vic's mom, was always supervising. In fact, she was planning to stay and watch as we worked on the project, but Monty managed to convince her that it really wasn't necessary.

Ding-dong. "Are you guys expecting someone?" That's a surprised. Vic and Monty rarely had anyone over except me.

"Not that I can think of," Vic said.

I watched as Monty, a short woman who had a dark-chocolatey bob, opened the door, freezing as soon as she saw who it was. She glanced back at us. "I'll be right back," she said and left abruptly.

Looking back at Vic and Link, they were absorbed in whatever they were doing on Vic's laptop and didn't seem to even notice that Monty was gone. "Aren't you even a bit curious who it is?"

"It's probably just one of my mom's coworkers," she said, waving her hand dismissively.

Vic is amazing, obviously, but she can be kind of boring. The conversation seemed to be escalating, but to my frustration, I had no idea what they were saying. Suddenly, the front door slammed and I jumped.

Monty slowly came inside, looking like she had seen a ghost. "Link, Amelia, I think it's best you go now. You can keep working on your presentation another day. Vic and I need to discuss something important in private."

"What's going on, Mom?" Vic asked as Link and I got up.

Monty didn't say anything.

"Hang on, Amy. You can stay."

I glanced at Monty. "Is that okay..?" The curious part of me said to accept Vic's invitation and see what was so important, but...

She sighed but didn't object. "Vic, that was William who just came by."

"Who's William?" I asked just as Vic gasped.

"He's my dad. He was a junkie and booked it after he got my mom pregnant, remember?"

Oh, right. He was one of the reasons I admired Monty so much. Despite what happened, Monty stepped up and did her best to be both a mom and dad to Vic. He is also why she refuses to do drugs or drink. It'd be nice to not go to a party alone for once, but I do understand. I didn't think Vic ever said his name was William. That said, the name was awfully familiar...but who else is a William? My stepdad's name was Liam...but Liam and William aren't the same thing.

Hang on. Didn't Liam say that his name was William? He just insisted on going by Liam. My eyes widened and my body went rigid as it finally hit me. That my abusive stepdad might also be Vic's dad.