The next morning, Alex found herself lying in a familiar place. A ceiling fan rotated slowly above her head and as she glanced around the room, she noticed that she was in the living room of her aunt's apartment. When Alex attempted to shift herself up on the arm of the couch, she found herself hardly able to move. Every joint in her body was stiff to the bone and her ribs ached whenever she inhaled. When she attempted to stretch out the soreness, hot knives of pain shot up her back and sides and she wanted to shriek out in agony. She felt like she had aged to a hundred years old overnight.

Sighing heavily, she swung her legs off the couch and winced slightly once a slice of pain ripped through her back. It took her a little more effort than usual to walk in a straight line down the cramped hallway, probably due to the fact that she was extremely sore and hadn't eaten or drank anything decent for the past few days. Walking through the hallway and glancing over at the old, yellowing black and white photos of nameless family members hanging on the walls was all a blur in Alex's vision.

Then, she heard an odd sound coming from ahead of her. She strained to listen. Someone was crying.

A kid was crying.

She quickened her pace towards the door at the end of the hall and gently pressed her ear against the door to listen.

"Daddy doesn't love you!" a high-pitched voice yelled, "He loves me more!"

"Daddy loves me too!" the other voice shot back in between uncontrollable sobs.

"No he doesn't!"

A loud thud pierced the air as if someone had thrown the other to the floor and something within Alex made her snap.

She barged into the room in a fuming rage and saw her two younger cousins, Kirk and Ross, struggling on the floor, Ross's hands wrapped tightly around Kirk's throat and Kirk desperately gasping for air. But what shocked Alex the most was the look on Ross's face, the glint of pleasure in his eyes. In his youthful, murderous face, she saw the image of Michael. She noticed his vicious smirk lurking a few years away from his. She couldn't sit still and watch this happen. Alex knew that if no one confronted Ross in time, he would only grow up into being another Michael and Lord knows that there were already enough of those type of people in this chaotic world.

"Stop it, Ross!" Alex shouted as she stomped towards him.

"Get outta here!" Ross shot back as he tightened his grip around Kirk's neck.

Alex felt her rage boil within her and on her hand's own volition, it twisted Ross's ear backwards in the most possibly painful way that Ross released Kirk instantly. He shrieked out in pain and frantically began to throw punches on Alex and if she hadn't been as sore as she was then, it probably wouldn't have hurt her but at that moment, it was excruciatingly painful.

She shoved him into the direction of the doorway and shot him a cold glare before kneeling down to aid Kirk's injuries. His minuscule hands gently touched his throbbing neck that had become a slightly red tinge and he timidly gazed up at Alex through his thin lashes.

"I'm tellin' daddy on you!" Ross threatened and both Alex and Kirk craned their necks to face him with their looks of annoyance shown clearly on their faces, "And he's gonna kick you out on the streets and you'll be living in garbage!" Alex feigned a smile.

"And once I tell him what you did to your little brother, you'll just be keeping me company at the dumpster." Ross flushed angrily and gave Alex one final glare before storming off down the hall. Alex rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of short arms snake around her waist and with a look of surprise, she glanced down at Kirk who was now sobbing into her side.

"Th-Thank you..." Kirk choked out in between sobs. Affection claimed her features as she gave his shuddering back long, comforting strokes.

"Your welcome, Kirk."

"Please don't tell on him... I-If you do, he's gonna take it out on me..." Alex didn't respond to his plea.

She could feel Kirk's pain, how he felt pathetic in the eyes of the one who was superior and dominant against him. He was in the exact situation as herself. He was stuck in a severe problem where he was forbidden to tell anyone about, even if he wanted to. She didn't know why this had happened and she figured that it was just the way people like her and Kirk got treated, with no care or kindness, no mercy, no respect. She was sick of the mistreatment. She was sick of being taken advantage of. She was sick of everything. Especially, Michael.

It shouldn't be this way. None of this should.

"Are you ready to return to school tomorrow?" Aunt Becky asked Alex during dinner. Alex nearly choked on her water.

She had completely forgotten about school and she hated her aunt for reminding her about it and even hated herself for not bracing herself for the horrid question.

"Yep. I sure am," she replied adopting an enthusiastic tone. Aunt Becky smiled in response and as soon as she glanced down at her food, Alex's smile fell from her face.

Ale didn't want to return back to school. She was satisfied just being here with her semi-loving family. Just the thought of returning back to Charington made her cringe. It wasn't because she was afraid of her peers, or the upcoming dread of the long, drawn out hours of completing the assignments that she had missed or that she knew that she would continue to spend her days alone in her classes and at lunch but it was because she knew that she would see him again.

When she arrived at Charington, he would be there with his friends alongside him, roaming the halls, sitting in her classes, hanging out on the football field, glaring at her, scowling at her, judging her, mocking her, desiring her pain.

Michael would be there patiently waiting for her return.

Wandering down the street that led to Charington and entering through the double doors of the school was all a blur to Alex whether it was the fact that she wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings or because she was so anxious to thinking of what could happen to her was unknown but as she emerged into her first class of the day, the room seemed to spin around her as the lingering stares of her peers fixed on her.

She wondered if Michael and his friends had been gloating about how they had beat her senseless the other day and how they had took all of the money that she had. She also began to wonder if they had told the rest of the school what had happened because as she looked around, it seemed like everyone around her was pitying her with their eyes, apologizing, sympathizing, feeling sorry for her. She even felt as if the teacher knew because when her teacher had handed her the assignments that she had missed over the past few days, he shook his head at her and glumly made his way back to his desk.

So far, there was no sign of Michael or his friends but several moments later, to Alex's dismay, they made their arrival and they looked more pissed than ever. She began to tremble.

What if they're mad about something and they want to take it out on me?! She thought looking as if she were on the verge of panicking, I just got back. They wouldn't be that cruel to me, right?

Her thoughts were proved otherwise because when Michael first met Alex's intimidated gaze, he smirked deviously and began to murmur amongst his friends. Whatever he said, it must have been funny because his friends doubled over in fits of laughter, causing Alex to blush with embarrassment. Though the teacher was at the board, Michael still managed to elbow Alex as he made his way to his desk and she nearly shrieked at the pain throbbing in her side.

"Whoops," came the innocent reply, "My bad, Alex. My arm slipped."

"Wonder how that happened..." she murmured to herself. She didn't realize how loud she had said that until Michael got a tight hold of her arm.

"If you got something to say," he snarled, "how about you say it loud enough for everyone to hear?"

The students surrounding them fixed their stares at them.

"Mr. Jackson!" the teacher exclaimed and all heads whipped around to face him, "Keep your hands to yourself!"

Alex was overwhelmed with relief once she realized that her teacher was finally using his eyes for both of their advantages but Michael scowled in response and snapped his glare down at Alex before roughly releasing her from his cold iron grip. Once the teacher turned his back to the class, Michael kicked her desk and plopped himself down in the seat behind her, loudly placing his feet on the iron basket below her chair.

Alex sighed in relief and mustered enough comfortability to focus her attention back on the board. She jolted in surprise once she heard several pops and crackles coming from behind her. She knew that Michael was cracking his knuckles just to intimidate her and she hated to admit that it was actually working.

Two large hands clutched Alex's shoulders and they yanked her backwards sharply, causing her to yelp in surprise.

"I know you've been hiding from me," Michael whispered somewhat seductively into her ear.

"I wasn't hiding from-?!" The grip he had on her shoulders tightened and she silenced instantly to hold back her shriek.

"Gurl, don't you dare sit here and throw that shit at me. You know goddamn well you've been avoiding me so wouldn't have to pay me. You owe me money, bitch and I want it."

Alex didn't know how he looked then but by the anger strangling his voice, she could tell that the scowl on his face was intense enough to haunt her nightmares.

"Michael and Alex," the teacher called out and Michael's hands snapped down to his lap, "Is there something that is so important that you have to interrupt my lesson in order for you to talk about it?"

Alex desperately wanted to tell him the truth about what Michael had said and her mouth cracked open to attempt to explain her case but no words escaped her lips. In the end, she quickly shook her head as Michael remained silent.

"Mr. Jackson." The teacher motioned for him to come up to the front where he pointed towards an available seat in the front row.

"But Mr. Matthews-?!"

"Now. Sitting in the back is too distracting for you."

Michael scowled and slowly got to his feet and as he made his way to the front, he punched Alex's shoulder, eliciting a slight whimper from her and causing himself to smirk triumphantly. She was upset to the fact that she had given him a bit of pleasure of her pain but she was relieved that he was no longer near her. She wanted him to be as far away from her as possible.

During the entire lesson though, Alex kept looking up at the clock, anxiously counting down the minutes that class would be dismissed and calculating how much time she would have left to be able to run away from Michael and make it to her next class.

After Mr. Matthews continued on with his lesson, Michael glared back at Alex several times and once, he even clenched his hand into a fist and pounded it against his palm, making a loud slap sound that Mr. Matthews didn't acknowledge then rubbed the tips of his fingers together, reminding Alex of the last time he had threatened her.

Once the bell rang for dismissal for the next class, all of the students scrambled out of their seats and proceeded the normal buzz of rumors and chatting, leaving only Michael and Alex alone. Alex hastily gathered her belongings and shoved them into her backpack in hopes of beating Michael to the door but once she straightened herself up to her feet, she bumped into Michael's chest.

"Sorry," she stammered in a murmur.

"Me too..." Alex's eyes snapped up at him in shock and startle to his reply.

"Huh?" she mumbled.

"You've been gone for two days now so you owe me twenty dollars."

"Twenty dollars!" she exclaimed. He pinched her arm and she bit back a whimper.

"Shut it," he snarled. He glanced over at Mr. Matthews who was gathering his things to bring to his next class. He turned back to Alex with his glare hardening.

"I swear, if you snitch on me or on any of the guys, I'm gonna bust you in half." Alex swallowed hard. "And I better have my money by the end of the day."

"You will..." she assured uncertainly.

Somehow.

Michael nodded at her, still uncertain whether he should trust her or not. In the end though, his trust or distrust was unknown to Alex and he left her alone with a bonk on the head and a cold glare that made her insides twist.

Twenty dollars... Where am I going to get money like that?!

Sighing heavily, she sauntered out of the classroom with Mr. Matthews's gaze wistfully and sympathetically following after her. She idly blended into the crowd of students swaying in the hallway, listening to the incessant chattering of her elated peers, the latest gossip, and the high squeals of "steaming hot" celebs. People were all around her left and right, front and back, in every single possible direction and yet, she still felt so utterly alone as if she were the only student standing in the hallway.

It was such a horrible feeling to endure by herself and she was a bit surprised that she still felt that way since it has already been a week of no one to meet up with in the morning, at least, no one she wanted to meet up with.

A flash of green jolted her out of her reverie and she curiously glanced down at the folded twenty dollar bill lying on the floor. She swooped down to retrieve it and stared ahead at the lone girl walking in front of her.

It must be hers.

"Excuse me?" Alex questioned timidly.

The girl didn't respond the way that she had expected. In fact, she didn't even turn to look at her. Alex felt ridiculous walking after a complete stranger who didn't even choose to acknowledge her voice but she couldn't keep the money for herself. Even though she needed it for another purpose, she knew that she was doing the right thing by returning the money to it's rightful owner. She braced herself to try again.

"Excuse me?" she questioned again, her voice a tad bit louder than previously.

The girl then stopped abruptly and whirled around in a slight panic to face her to let Alex become enraptured by her ravishing beauty. She was achingly pretty and Alex felt so embarrassed and unworthy to even glimpse at something so magnificent, so flawless. Especially, since her eye was slightly swollen from the fight.

"Um," Alex began awkwardly, "I think this is yours." She handed her the money but the girl didn't attempt to glance down at it but only stared intently at Alex's black eye with her turquoise orbs. Alex felt her heart sink.

She knew that she was thinking about how ugly she looked and to add more humiliation upon that, she was probably judging her background, how her commoner life was as the victim of others. Worse, she thought that she was actually feeling sorry for her because of how useless and scared she looked then.

She was utterly shocked once she felt the pad of the girl's thumb caress her black eye. Alex flushed considerably.

"This is all my fault," the girl sobbed. "If I hadn't let you stick up for me that day, he wouldn't be doing this to you."

Alex was utterly perplexed at this and had been bracing herself to question her remark but once she realized that this was the same exact girl she had defended that day, the day she had made the worst mistake of her life that still worked out for good for the other, she held her tongue.

"Well, he's not hurting you, is he?" Alex asked worriedly with sheer concern weaving in and out of her voice.

"No," she sniffled. Alex's face broke into a broad grin.

"Then that's all that matters." The girl stared questioningly at Alex with her tears still streaming down her flushed cheeks.

"But... he's hurting you." Alex merely fanned her hand in reassurance.

"Please! It was bound to happen anyway with my motormouth and all." The authentic reassurance was strong enough to make the girl smile and giggling nervously, she brushed away her tears.

"I apologize for crying. I can be such a baby sometimes." Alex stifled a chuckle.

"It's not a problem."

The girl gasped lightly, "How rude of me! I hadn't even introduced myself properly." She presented her a small, courteous smile, "I'm Monica Stephens."

"Alex Avery." They both exchanged content smiles and Monica beamed.

"Hey. We have second period together. You want to walk with me there?" This time, it was Alex's turn to beam.

"Sure."

Finally. Alex thought overwhelmed with relief, I'm not alone anymore.

With a broad grin, Alex presented Monica the twenty dollar bill she had found on the floor, "I believe this is yours." Monica glanced down at it questioningly as if she had never before seen a twenty dollar bill. Soon enough, she met Alex's perplexed gaze.

"That's not mine. I only carry fifties." A look of sheer surprise claimed Alex's features as her wide eyes darted wildly around the hall in search for a person who was looking at the floor for their missing money but the only person she was able to see was the same exact one she didn't want to see.

Michael stood by Mr. Matthews's classroom with his hands shoved deep into the front pockets of his timeworn jeans and once he noticed Alex's curious stare, he scowled and lightly rubbed his fingers together as he mouthed the words, "After school," to her.

Mr. Matthew, who had stepped out of his classroom to start towards the next one he had scheduled, seemed to have finally noticed Michael's threats after what felt like ages of not acknowledging them and began to scold him. Their dialogue reached deaf ears and Alex strained to listen to their conversation. Whatever Michael had used to plead his case, it must have been a good because Mr. Matthews's features softened into an awed expression and he gave Michael a friendly pat on the shoulder.

Alex's brows furrowed in utter confusion, "Could he have...?"

No. Michael's a bully. He wants to see me get hurt. He would never...

Alex's thoughts were shattered once Monica waved a hand in her face and she jolted in surprise.

"We should get going. I can't risk tainting my perfect record." Alex nodded in agreement with her and followed her down the barren hallway. As she walked, she could still feel Michael's stare lingering on her body and when she turned, he was no longer there.

He's nothing but a bully, Alex. He'll never change.