EMMA

"No, no this is all wrong", Emma said to herself. She stood in front of her easel, staring at her painting.

Will had dark brown hair. But she had painted them golden brown. He had grey-green eyes, but she painted them sea-green. No, it was all wrong. This was not Will.

"I look a lot better, you know", said a voice behind her.

Emma whirled around. Matt stood at her door, smirking at her. This was a complete deja-vu.

"At least you got my eyes right", he said.

"Jesus Christ! You need to start knocking, you manner-less bastard", Emma said in one breath, "And I'm not painting you", but, was she?

"Then who are you painting?", Matt asked.

"Will."

Matt looked at the painting closely, "That does not look like Will."

"I know", said Emma, frowning. She took the easel off the stand and sat on the bed, motioning Matt to do the same. He sat down and took out his Chemistry book.

"So what were we going to do today?", Emma asked.

"Hydrogen sulphide", Matt said with a smirk.

"Ha-ha very funny."

"Aromatic compounds", said Matt leaning on one of her pillows.

"Okay", Emma said, opening the book to the correct page.

"Listen Emma about that night-", Matt began but Emma cut him off.

"What's left to say, Matt?", Emma asked with a sigh.

"I don't know - everything!", Matt said sarcastically.

"I meant, what's there to explain. I saw everything with my eyes. Just, let's study, okay", Emma said and looked at the book. End of discussion.

MATT

"Okay, team. You have worked so hard the entire year. Dont waste it by losing this match. There will be a ton of college scouts at the playoffs. Just think about that while playing", said coach, looking each of them in the eye, his stare lingering longer on Matt.

This was his opportunity. He could not throw it away. This game was a very big part of the future. He would do it. He would prove to everybody that he was the best point guard a team could ever have.

"Harriers on three", said Matt, "One, two, three..."

"HARRIERS", the team shouted.

The players stepped onto the court and Matt went to the middle, where the referee stood with a basketball. The point guard from the Manatees also came forward and stood opposite to Matt. Matt stared at the ball until it was in the air, when he leaped and hit it towards Chad before the other could.

Chad ran across the court, Matt trying to keep the Manatee's defenders out of his way.

Chad passed it to Penny who shot directly from the three pointer line, and ball went in, earning a huge amount of cheering from the crowd.

Matt stole the ball from the power forward and was about to pass to Chad again, but another defender, a huge guy slammed into him, and sent him stumbling out of the border line. But he did not really hit Matt as much as he hit the ball, so the referee did not give a foul.

This happened to him multiple times the entire game. This team liked it rough.

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"Be careful, Matt. These players are more sly than they let on", said coach, "we need you for playoffs."

"Yes coach", said Matt.       

"Huddle up, team. I know you are leading, but don't let it get to your big heads. An overconfident player is the one who loses in the end."

The coach clapped his hands and the team dispersed onto the court. Matt did have to be careful. He could not afford to get injured. There would be college scouts at playoffs. There was his golden chance to play college ball and get into NBA. He could not lose it at any cost.

So when he got the ball, he tried hard not to get hit by the defenders. But he was still hit, these players took any chance they could get.

Twenty five seconds on the clock and the Harriers were down by four. They would not be able to win, even if he got Penny to shoot a three-pointer. Unless...

He called a time out and huddled with team, explaining his plan to them. It was risky, but it improved their chances to win. Everybody reluctantly agreed.

The referee blew his whistle and Matt got the ball. He threw the ball to Griffin who took the ball towards the basket. Matt ran towards it with all his might. His knees ached more the faster he ran, but the pain did not stop him. Griffin passed the ball to Matt who in turn jumped to dunk it into the basket.

As expected, he saw the defender jumping up to intercept Matt. Matt turned himself in mid-air his left shoulder facing the player. The player hit his left shoulder, but Matt dunked the ball into the basket, after which he fell sideways to the floor, his knee taking the entire impact.

The referee blew his whistle, indicating a foul and count.

Matt had just gotten himself two free throws.

He stood at the free throw line, players from both the teams surrounding him. It was now or nothing. He took a deep breath and looked at Emma. He could see her watching him with expectant eyes. He could not let her down. He could not let the team down. He could not let the school down.

Confidence surged through him as he bent his knees, which had begun wobbling, aimed and released the ball, which flew towards the basket and went straight in, nothing but net. He could feel his school cheering, calling his name. The two teams were tied now. All he had to do was get one more point to take his teams into the playoffs for the State Championship.

The referee caught the ball and passed it to him the second time. He closed his eyes and tried to focus himself. He then opened them again and turned to look at Emma. He saw her slightly nod her head from the distance, as if to say I believe in you.

Emma had confidence in him. Twice the energy than before filled his body as he turned towards the basket and aimed. He felt everybody suck in their breath. This was the deciding moment. The ball flew towards the basket, and it went straight in.

Matt could faintly hear cheering around him, over the blood roaring in his ears.  His heart was still pounding as it was before he took the shot.

They made it to the playoffs. Ten more games to win to win the State Championship. They were finally advancing towards the States. He would now have a shot with the scouts from Ivy League colleges.

And...then his knee buckled and he collapsed on the court. He tried to get up and pain, like acid, shot up his left leg and he sat back down again. Almost everybody around him ran towards him and hovered over him like a pack of seagulls.

Emma was the first one to come over to him. She knelt next to him.

"What happened?", she asked, eyeing his knees with worry. She looked cute when she was worried. Her eyebrows would knit together, her nostrils flared, and her mouth would open slightly. And what was wrong with him? His knee was throbbing with pain and all he could think about was Emma running up to him before everybody else. Progress, right? Or maybe it was because she was a part of the track team...Yeah he was gonna go with the first option.

"My knee", he said, "it's throbbing. I can't move it."

OLIVIA

"Okay, fine. I'll try talking to them", Liv said to Will, outside the boys' locker room. But she knew she wasn't going to do it. It was already very late, and Will had still made her sit down and tried to talk her into leaving her house.

And she wanted to, really bad. But then those images flashed through her mind. That whip, the sound it made when it whistled through the air.

She shuddered. The money was great. With this job, she would somehow be able to afford college, even if she was not able to get a scholarship.

Will smiled that beautiful smile of his, which made her get goosebumps all over her body. Even her toes, even though she did not know how it was possible.

"Okay, then. I hope you I get to hear something good tomorrow", he said then turned around.

Liv's stomach turned. It was now or never. She would tell him the truth, tell him everything. It was better to be distant than to do what she was supposed to do.

"Will, wait!", she called.

Will turned, "What?"

"I need to tell you something", she said.

"Okay", said Will simply.

Her heart pounded. She was going to say it.

"I-", she began, but Will's mobile cut her off.

He looked at it, "It's Emma. Do you mind?", he asked. 

"Oh, its okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow', she said. Now she'll have to come up with something to talk to him about. Like the other eight times. Great. She was a coward. She was a pathetic, horrible person who was doing something that Will did not deserve at all. It was not fair. But she couldn't back out either. She was stuck, she was helpless.

He smiled at her once more and left, talking to Emma on the phone.

Liv too lifted her backpack from the ground and was about to go, when she was pulled into the locker room, a hand clasped hard on her mouth.

"Well, well, sis. Planning to leave home?"

"What do you want, Stan?", Liv spat.

"Oh, you know", said Stan, running his fingers down her arm. She pulled her hand away, and glared at him.

His mouth pulled into a feline smile and he put his hand on her throat, "So now you're whoring around with Will, whose bastard father ran the case on us in the first place? Good job."

He started stroking her hair. She squirmed, tried to scream, but he pressed his hand back on her mouth. There was no use. There was hardly anybody else at school. She tried to hit him, she even bit his hand, but he just winced. 

"No! Please!", she begged, having no other option left, "I was not going to leave!"

"Liar! Do what you were supposed to do, bitch", said Stan, was about to undo the first button of her shirt when she heard a soft click.

Apparently Stan heard it too, as they both turned to see Will holding up his phone.

"This will be enough to get you to the college for criminals. Juvie", Will growled. Kevin came up behind him.

"Take this to the police. Now", Will said, tossing the phone to Kevin. Kevin took it and ran. Stan let Liv go and pushed Will out of the way to follow Kevin, but Will swung his hand and knocked Stan flat onto the floor.

"You sick bastard", he said, and pressed his knee on Stan's chest. He then held his fist up and hit Stan's jaw hard. Liv winced when she heard a crunch.

Will kept hitting, and did not stop till Stan actually passed out. And Liv, she did not know what she was feeling. Horrified? Relieved? She was feeling such a complex of emotions, that she did not know what to do.

Should she tell Will to stop? Or should she tell him to hit harder?

Will got up and kicked Stan in the stomach.

"That was for Chloe", he said.

Then he kicked Stan in the balls, "And that was for Liv."

Liv stood over there, frozen, as Will turned towards her. She was actually scared of what would happen next. Her father would get to know that Liv was the reason his son would be imprisoned, and then...the whip...

"You okay?", Will asked, wiping blood off from under his nose.

Liv nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Will put his strong arms around her and held her for a while, as she sobbed into his shoulder. He stroked her hair, muttering that everything would be okay. And she loved him for that. And felt extremely guilty.

He let go and she sank to the floor, cradling her backpack in her arms. Will sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder, as she rested her head on his shoulder, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

She was shaken awake to see police officers around her, questioning Stan, who was now awake, giving her an icy stare. She shivered. What was gonna happen now?

Will appeared next to her, "It's okay, the police is here."

But Liv was terrified, so she spoke without thinking, "B-but D-dad, w-whip."

Will stiffened, "They hit you?!"

Liv nodded. What was there to hide now? She lifted the hem of her shirt slightly for him to see the purple marks underneath.

She could see his hands curl into fists, "I'll kill them for this", he said, and Liv knew that this was not an empty promise. She did not even deserve to be his friend for what she was doing.

"Will you have done more than enough for me. Thank you", Liv said, with a steady voice, "but I think it's time to fight my own battles now."

Will put a hand on her shoulder, "And I'll be there fighting next to you."

And she couldn't control anymore. She leaned up and pressed her lips on his, fighting down the guilt building up in her stomach, clawing at her heart, reminding her of who she was, what she was doing to him.

She was terrified that this would either strengthen their relationship or destroy their friendship.

Will was shocked at first. She could sense it because of his stiffness. But then after she had regretted the kiss, he kissed her, harder than ever, holding her face in his hands.

Even though so much had happened that night, Liv would think it was one of the happiest ones in her life. Even though she knew the nights ahead would not have happiness etched into the stars. She should not have agreed to it. She shouldn't have.