* it was dark in the room, bars lined the sides of her bed, she gripped them hard, trying to see out of the door which stood ajar. There was a dim artificial light shining through from it. The sound of the next clap of thunder seemed twice as loud and twice as terrifying for some reason. Fear rippled through her and Evie opened her mouth, tears streaming down her face. She heard the sound of a small child crying loudly,  and realised it was her making that noise. Her father made a sudden appearance outside her door, dragging a massive load of something that seemed quite heavy, but was nearly impossible to see in the dim light.

"Dadda?" The voice of the child resonated through her own throat.

"Go back to sleep, Evie. It's only the thunder." He seemed impatient, but he also seemed sober, which was unheard of in the father Evie now knew.

"Where's mummy?" Evie asked,

"She's asleep, so shhh!" Her father replied, then continued to drag the heavy thing along,  all the way out of sight. Evie layed down, feeling unsure, and tried to go back to sleep...*

She shot up, breathing heavily and blinking through the darkness. She'd had the dream many times, especially if she felt afraid. Evie didn't know what any of it meant, really, she thought her being afraid of thunderstorms might have something to do with it. A fear that had been there as long as she could remember and was unexplainable and irrational.

She layed down and tried to sleep again,  but she couldn't do it. She layed with her eyes shut until the sun shone through the gaps in her curtains and she continued trying for hours after that until her alarm finally sounded. She was fatigued now, but jumped up and turned off her alarm.

She began to get ready for school. It was a dull, grey Wednesday morning, the sun hidden by a blanket of dark clouds. Evie looked herself up and down in the mirror, thinking about which version of the school uniform she should wear. It was always white top, black bottoms and a jacket of your own choice, she laid out what she had on her bed.

There was a white blouse with either a skirt or pants. She had her regular short skirt, some tracksuit pants, black jeans or black tights. She thought for a moment, and then put on the jeans, seeing that it was clouded over and cold, and because she knew Michael would really appreciate them. She put on her white bra and her blouse, then began to decide on a jacket. Settling for a fitted black leather jacket with a pink lining and the word 'beauty' written in hot pink running writing across the back of it, Evie then applied bright red lip liner and some lip gloss and dark eyeshadow. She also put on black eye liner and mascara. She fluffed up her blond hair and curled it. Looking in the mirror, she liked what she saw, but also realised she wasn't looking very in trend or even like herself. Normally, she wore delicate things and light colours. She supposed that the dream last night had put her in this mood, and proceeded downstairs. Once her bag was packed and she'd eaten breakfast, Evie made her way out the door, Janie in her usual dark hoodie and black jeans with the headband on her head and grubby 'converse' style sneakers walking beside her.

"Woah, Evie. Has Michael warped you or something?" She exclaimed, referring to her new fashion choices.

"Just in the mood." She shrugged one shoulder.

Making it to the bus stop, they stood in wait. Michael's skateboard soon skidded to a stop alongside them.

"Hey girls." He greeted them, leaning in and kissing Evie,

"What are you wearing?!" He exclaimed, walking around her, "I like it!"

"Thanks." She smiled,

"Waaay better then your stupid girly girl shit." He told her,

"Michael!" She shrieked.

"What?- I mean sure your arse looked great in that skirt, but the daddy's little angel aura you let off was getting quite tiresome." Michael commented offhandedly,

"Michael..." her tone was warning,  slightly annoyed.

"Hey, what the hell's wrong?" He asked,

"You are such a perve. Do you have any tact?" She seemed shocked.

"Sweetie, it was cute, but now you look like a goddess!" He explained. Evie straightened up and then glanced down at herself,

"You think?" She asked,

"Oh yeah. This is really sexy; shows off your beautiful body and your playful side." Michael smirked in a way that caused that stirring down low that she was starting to expect while around him.

"R-really?" She stammered, thoughts wandering to what she wanted to do him.

"Really." His deep voice penetrated her thoughts.

Their classes that day were fairly uneventful, with everybody commenting on Evie's new style. She wasn't sure she liked all of the attention. At recess, one guy wolf whistled and another came right up to her and simply handed her a bit of paper with his phone number written across it as she walked with Michael and Conner from the entrance of the school building to behind the canteen block. Lunchtime brought on pointing, whispers, cat calls and more wolf whistles.

She finally looked like she belonged in the grimy place that Michael and Connor favoured over the quadrangle.

After school,  Evie was in her bedroom doing some of her homework and listening to her favourite band. She decided to go and get a drink, as she felt thirsty. There was a knock at the front door as she walked out of her room and down the hall to the kitchen, and her father promptly answered it. Evie continued to the kitchen,  thinking it was probably just one of her father's friends. She pulled a glass from the cupboard and froze in place as she heard his voice.

"Hello, i'm Evie's friend. I was wondering if I could hang out with her for a bit." Michael's tone was unmistakably friendly. Probably waiting for something along the lines of 'oh awesome, great to meet you, I'll just go and get her!'. Instead...

"Wrong address." Her alcoholic father snarled, and then slammed the door. Evie's knuckles turned white from her tight grip on the glass, she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Evie Starr!" Her father's voice came out low and growly. She swallowed hard.

"Yes dad?" She answered tenatively, her father was very close by now.

"Who was he?" He asked her, voice angry,

"A friend."

"Did i say you could give out our address or have friends around? No. I said quite the opposite, didn't I?!" Her father's tone got angrier and he spoke louder with every word.

"I- I'm sorry!"

"I-i- I... quit stuttering." he mocked. He quickly unthreaded his leather belt from his waist and came towards her. She put the glass down on the counter. If she smashed it he'd hurt her more.

"Please dad-" she begged, slightly panicky.

Meanwhile, after Bruce (Evie's dad) slammed the door, Michael peered through the windows until he found Evie. He was about to rap his knuckles on the glass when the man himself walked in.

He watched as he looked angry, Evie looked frightened and he unthreaded his belt. The man whipped the belt across her face and Evie fell to the ground. Michael winced, unknowing of what to do. Bruce continued, laying fists and feet heavily into Evie until he felt better, then he picked up the dazed girl by the throat and pressed her against the fridge. He was saying something and Evie was crying. He dropped her, she hit the ground hard and he walked away.

Now Michael knew their secret.

He decided it would be best to go home and talk to her about it at school tomorrow then to risk her being beaten again by hanging around.

Michael was restless and unable to sleep that night.

The following morning, Evie turned up at the bus stop and Michael was already waiting there for her. He had deliberately gotten ready faster and arrived earlier in order to talk to her. He took her hand and pulled her aside.

"Evie, I came by your place yesterday. Your dad seems... friendly." The last comment sounded sarcastic. "He told me I had the wrong address but I was positive it was the right one. I began to look through different windows. You had to be there somewhere-"

"Woah woah woah. How much did you see?" She seemed scared by what his answer might be.

"Eves, baby. How could you let him do that stuff and not tell anyone?!" He exclaimed,

"Michael... I- wha?" Evie was stunned. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, it felt like all the breath had been knocked out of her. A tear slipped down her face.

"Honey, no don't cry!" He pulled her into a hug, running his fingers through her hair.

"Well what am I supposed to do?!" She sobbed, "why does he do those things to me? Do I deserve it?" She clung to Michael for dear life like a small, broken thing blown in the wind of an oncoming storm. Michael rubbed her back, frowning.

"No Evie. You do not deserve any of that." He told her firmly, anger building in him. How dare that bastard do those things to her?

Please leave a comment! Hope you liked it. Should have internet at my house tomorrow.