Jane woke up to the sound of her mother knocking on her door and walking in. She quickly sat up and noticed that Peter was gone. She frowned but figured it was for the best.

"Jane," Wendy said. "You've slept in almost an hour past school."

"Oh my gosh..." she swung her legs off the bed and started brushing her hair.

"Sweetheart, why are you still in your clothes."

"I was just really tired last night. Had lots of homework!" She smiled widely.

Wendy pursued her lips. "Alright. Just try to finish your homework earlier, dear."

"Got it," she smiled with a quick nod. She quickly put on her clothes for the day and brushed her teeth before running downstairs.

"Bye mum!" She gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Jane, wait! What about breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry," she fibbed, twisting the doorknob. I'm already late enough as it is. I'll just wait until lunch.

Jane sped walked to school. She immediately headed for her locker. The hallways were empty because everyone was still in first hour. She grabbed the books she needed for her next few classes and set her backpack on the floor so that she could put them in there.

She jumped a little when she heard footsteps at the end of the hall, which was exactly where she needed to go. Shoot. She squeezed her eyes shut. I hope it isn't a teacher. Once they came into view, she saw that it was a student. Elliot, to be specific. Oh. Jane ignored him and finished placed her books in her bag.

"Hey Jane," he said.

No response.

"How've you been?"

Not a word.

"Need help with those books?"

She sighed before grabbing the last textbook and zipping up her backpack. "What do you want, Elliot?"

"Well, uh...you know how I told everyone that you slept with me?" He asked.

Jane shut her locker. "Yeah. So what?"

Elliot walked closer to her. She bit her lip nervously and backed away. "So what if we made that true?"

Jane felt a shiver up her spine. And not the good kind. "What are you talking ab-" she cut herself off with a gasp when she felt him grab her waist with one of his hands. Before she could say anything, he roughy pushed her up against the lockers.

"G-get off of me!!" She yelled as he moved his other hand to the back of her head and ran his fingers through her hair.

"I thought you wanted me, huh?" Elliot smirked before slowly kissing her neck.

"Stop!!"

He ignored her and started biting. "Ow!" Jane glared and lifted her leg, getting him right in the groin.

"Ahh!" He fell to the ground in pain.

"That's what you get, bastard," she spat, taking her backpack and leaving.

Jane didn't realize that her hands were shaking until she got into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She was definitely more scared than she had let on back there.

Was he actually going to try to touch me? Right in the hallway. The very thought of it made her sick to her stomach. She absolutely hated herself for ever liking him. She wondered if he'd done this to other girls. Or he's ever done worse.

Jane noticed a dark red mark on her neck. Her eyes watered and she got her scarf out of her backpack to hide it. Who knows what people would make of that. She wanted to tell someone, but she feared they wouldn't believe her. For now, she would just have to get through the day.

**

"Where were you this morning?" Mia asked her during lunch.

"Um..." Jane bit her lip. "I slept in an hour late."

"Let me guess. Homework?" She nodded. Mia rolled her eyes. "Of course. You're such an overachiever."

"Hey, don't make fun of that," Isabell replied. "At least she has good grades. I call it a miracle if I get an A on something. Or even a B."

"Do you have lots of homework tonight?"

"You know it," Jane smiled sleepily.

"And what's with the scarf? It's like 12 (about 54 Fahrenheit) degrees out."

"I'm cold," she said.

"It's even warmer in here."

"You're sweating," Isabell pointed out.

"Alright, so?"

"You can't possibly be cold."

"Would you two just leave me alone about it? I can wear whatever I want." Jane crossed her arms.

A smile slowly crept onto Mia's face. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing."

"Uh huh, sure." She grabbed her scarf.

"Hey-!" Jane tried to stop her but she was too quick.

Both Mia and Isabell gasped when they say the mark on her neck. "Oh my goodness, what happened here?"

Her face wen red with embarrassment. "Nothing! I accidentally burnt myself!"

"Oh Janie, you're such a bad liar," Isabell teased. Jane glared at her before Mia spoke again.

"Isabell, don't force it out of her. She'll tell us when she's ready," she winked and they both giggled.

Jane shook her head and practically tore the scarf out of Mia's hands. She quickly wrapped it around her neck again.

"There's no need to be embarrassed. We've all gotten hickeys before. Although it was very scandalous to make out during school hours. You don't have to tee us who it was now, but we'll be expecting an explanation at some point."

Jane nodded, her eyes burning with tears. She bit her tongue to keep from crying. And to make matters worse, she heard Elliot and a couple of his friends  get up from their table. She saw that they were heading their way and looked down.

"Hey girls," one of his friends greeted as they passed them.

"What do you blockheads want?" Isabell snapped.

"We're saying hi," he shrugged. "Is that a crime?" They all chuckled.

"I love your scarf," Elliot commented as he walked by Jane. He smirked devilishly. She gritted her teeth, but her anger was quickly replaced by fear. She was reminded of how he was physically stronger than her and how much taller he was than her. He had grabbed her with hardly an effort and he probably could have held her down if she hadn't kicked him. She found herself shaking again. She had never been so afraid of a boy before.

As the day went on, Jane began to notice just how strong every guy looked at school. They could easily grab her when she was walking down the hallway. She made sure to stay as close as possible to any girl she could find. Boy, was she thankful that she always walked home with Mia.

Unfortunately, Mia's boyfriend, Christopher, came with them.

"Jane, mind showing Christopher what's under your scarf?" She said as they were all walking out of the school building.

"Yes, actually." Jane stuck up her nose.

"Fine. Then I'll tell him. She got a hickey."

"Really?" Christopher smiled. "Who's the guy?"

"No one," she mumbled.

"So it was a girl?"

Mia gasped. "No," Jane glared.

"She's going to tell us when she's ready," Mia said.

Tell 'us?' I hardly know Christopher! Jane held her anger in. She didn't want to start anything, especially since they didn't know what really happened.

She thanked the Heavens that they changed the subject for the rest of the walk. After what felt like an eternity, Jane made it home.