5 years later…
“Hey Jaqlyn! How are you this fine morning?” Brielle says laughing and poking her.
“Shuuuut up Bri! I’m so damn tired. I didn’t get a lick of sleep last night. Just kill me.” Jaclyn replies in a soft, tired voice.
Brielle laughs, “Alright, alright. Sorry. Why didn’t you sleep last night?”
“I had so much homework. By the time I was finally done with it, it was already time for me to start getting ready for school. Coffee can’t even remedy how I feel right now.”
The bell rings for class.
“Oh! I gotta get to class bye!”
“Bye Brielle.”



Brielle bears through the day and meets up with Jaqlyn at the bleachers overlooking the football field. The lacrosse team is practicing. Brielle and Jaqlyn love to watch the practices and just relax.
“Hey hey hey!” Jaqlyn says as Brielle approaches her.
“Hey, how’s the practice going?” Brielle says looking over her shoulder at the lacrosse players.
“Oh you know, just the usual. Andrew is, of course, the number one player and is outshining the rest of the players.”
“You say that like he’s such a terrible guy…”
“He’s just the generic jock.” Jaqlyn shrugs.
Brielle focuses in on Andrew and gets lost in the sight of him. She notices his long blonde hair and how it, even all sweaty and oily, still looks amazing.
She whispers to herself, “Wow I didn’t even noticed his eye color. Have they always been light green?”
“What?”
“Huh? Oh nothing.”
“Uh huh, sure.”
Brielle’s mother drives up and honks at Brielle.
“Oh! That’s me! See ya later Jacky!” She says as she jogs down the bleachers.



“Hey mom.”
“Hi sweetie. How was school?”
“Oh you know, school.” She replies shrugging.
“Oh, okay honey. Well, your father isn’t in a very good mood today so just go to your room and lock the door. Okay?”
Brielle sighs, “Isn’t he always?”
“Come on Brielle.”
“Sorry, okay I’ll just go to my room. No problem.”
Her mother sighs in relief, “Thank you.” She turns and smiles sweetly at her.



Walking up the steps you can already hear her father screaming at the T.V. for some reason. Brielle pauses at the door, takes a deep breath and walks in.
“It’s about damn time you got here! Where the hell have you been?” her father yells as her and her mother walk in.
“I was picking up Brielle from school. I’m sorry it took so long.” He mother replies sweetly.
Brielle quietly walks to her room trying so hard to not be noticed.
“Brielle? Hey, Brielle! Get your ass over here now!” her father yells.
Brielle walks into the living room, “What do you want!?”
“You treat me with respect!” He gets up. “You got that?!” He grips the back of her neck roughly.
“Yes, father. I got it. What do you need?”
His grip tightens, “You go get me another beer. Now!” He throws her back.
“Okay.”
Brielle goes to the fridge and picks up a beer. Walking back into the living room she notices the stench of alcohol. She hands sets the drink on the coffee table and leaves quickly. Making it to her room she sits on her bed and starts on her homework. She takes a minute to look around and take in the mess and clutter. To her right there is a side table with a white lamp that gives off just enough light to do homework and read. To her left there is an unused desk with a pathetic little laptop covered with clothes and papers. Her eyes fall on the window, she finds a perfect white rose staring back at her. She sighs and turns up her music then proceeds to do her work. Blasting her music she is done quickly.
“Why does my life have to suck so badly?” she says to herself. “It’s such s***, I swear. My father is a drunken asshole and my mother is too scared to stop it.” She pauses. “I don’t blame her. Last time she tried to help me, he beat her pretty damn close to death.” She sighs, “Oh well, maybe it will stop soon. Maybe he will stop treating me like s***. Maybe he will become a real father and treat me like a daughter, not a slave.” Tears start to roll down her cheeks. “Maybe I’m the problem. Maybe I’m not good enough for him. Maybe it’s not grades he cares about, maybe it’s my appearance or I don’t know, something.” She reaches over to her nightstand and pulls out a razor blade. “Maybe if I was,” she puts the blade to her skin, “prettier he wouldn’t treat me or my mother like this.” She cuts and blood seeps down her arm. The tears turn to sobs. “Maybe he was right all those years ago. Maybe momma doesn’t love me.” She cuts again, deeper. Her sobs eventually become so unbearable she is unable to speak. She continues to cut with every reason she comes up with.



The next day Brielle wakes up with a bloodstained rag on her arm. She sighs as she stands up, pushing blankets off of her. The floor creaks as she walks to her door. Opening the door she is overwhelmed with the sweet scent of bacon and eggs. She grabs a jackets and goes for the kitchen.



“Good morning, sweetie! How’d you sleep last night?” her mom says as she dishes food up for her.



“Uh,” she takes the food from her, “thanks. I slept alright.”



Smiling she replies cheerily, “That’s good! Well I better get ready for work.” Before rushing off she kisses Brielle on the forehead.



“Thanks again for the food!”
Brielle finishes up and heads back to her room with the floor creaking under every step she takes. She quickly takes a shower and gets dressed. Sitting in her room she takes a minute to stare at the blade she used last night. She picks it up and throws it in her nightstand drawer. She jumps a little when she hears a car honk for her outside.
“Wow, she’s early today.”



Brielle rushes out of the house and sprints to the car.



“Why so early?” Brielle asks.



“No reason really. I just found myself sitting there waiting to leave so I decided to come a bit early.”



“Oh, okay. No problem.”



Jaqlyn smiles at her and starts driving toward school. When they finally arrive, they see Chloe and her Barbie minions at their usual spot. Brielle rolls her eyes and looks at Jaqlyn, she laughs a little and rolls her eyes too. They start to pass Chloe.



“Hey, look girls! It’s Brielle and her poser friend!” Chloe and her minions laugh.



“Oh f*** off Chloe! No one wants to deal with your s*** today.” Brielle replies as they pass her.



“Awww, that’s not nice language. You should really learn to be more polite.”



“Oh I’ll show you polite!” Brielle says and she turns around quickly and darts at her.



“Whoa, whoa, whoa Brielle chill.” Jaqlyn says and she drags Brielle away. “The last thing you need is to get into a fight. Just relax.” “ Whoa, Brielle, why?” Her voice becomes sad as she sees the cuts on Brielle’s arms. Brielle notices her jacket came up when she was being pulled away by her.



“Uh,” she pulls down her sleeves, “nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Brielle looks behind her and finds Andrew looking at her sadly. “S***.” She whispers to herself.”



“No, Brielle please. Talk to me. I’m worried now. I thought you said you stopped.”



“Well I lied, clearly. It’s just my father and my thoughts. Nothing you can fix or help with. You can worry but don’t stress about it too much.”



“I’ll try.” Jaqlyn gives her one more worried look right when the bell rings and they have to go to class.



“Bye.” Brielle says as she rushes away.



Brielle is too distracted and lost in thought to be able to focus. She’s so worried about what Andrew saw and what he may think. Before she knows it class is over and she has to go to chemistry which is one of the many classes she has with Andrew but, in this class she is lab partners with him. Nervously, she walks to her next class. She takes her seat next to Andrew and sits quietly.



“Hey.” Andrew says.



Startle she replies, “Uh, hi.”



Andrew smiles at her, “So I saw what you did, well almost did to Chloe.”



“Oh”



“I wish your friend let you go. I’m getting real tired of her. I’m her next project. She’s been coming on to me and I really don’t like her that way,” he pauses, “or in anyway. She’s is just not a nice person.”



“You watched my friend pull me away?”



“Uh, yeah.”



“How much did you see?”



“Probably more than you wanted me to.” He looks at her with friendly, comforting eyes.



“Oh, sorry.”



“Hey,” he places his hand on her wrist, “don’t be sorry. I’m sure there is a reason.”

She is so focused on his hand touching hers she forgets to respond. He squeezes his hands around hers and leaves it there. He continues to watch her. They both miss a direction from the teacher and the teacher notices.



“Andrew! Brielle! Pay attention!”



They both jump, pulling away from each other.



They reply in unison, “Sorry!”



Brielle looks over at Andrew, who is now paying attention, and smiles to herself. The rest of the day goes by like a blur. She nearly sprints to Jaqlyn, who is waiting in her car.



“You would never guess what happened to me second period!”



“What-“ Jaqlyn doesn’t get anything else in before Brielle is going on about it.



“Andrew saw my arms when you did. He talk to me in bio today and was all like I saw your arms and it’s okay and you must have a good reason and yeah! Oh and the best part was when he put his hand on mine and he just didn’t want to move it. Oh. My. God. What if he likes me?!”



“Uh, Brielle, isn’t he supposed to be Chloe’s next big BF?”



“He hates her. Just as much as us!”



“Oh, I thought you didn’t like him that way.”



“I don’t think I do.” Brielle goes quiet.



“It sure seems like you do.” Jaqlyn laughs. “Let’s get you home.”



Brielle stays quiet. For the whole drive. She stares out the window as she tries tofigure out whether she likes him or not.



“Home, sweet home.” Jaqlyn says as she pulls up to Brielle’s house.


“Bye” Brielle says as she gets out of the car.


“Bye bye!”


Brielle runs into the house and straight to her room. She shuts the door and locks it.


“Oh my god. Do I really like him? He can’t findout. What if that was all a trick? Remember his face when you looked back. That was genuine. He really cares. He does. How could someone like him like someone like me? This is all so confusing. It seems unreal. This is too much for me.” Brielle closes her eyes and before she knows it she is asleep. She wakes up every hour but goes back to sleep. She just wants it to be tomorrow already.

The next day Brielle is up bright and early. She is ready before her mother is even done with breakfast. Brielle waits outside on the front steps of her house for Jaqlyn to pick her up. Her mother comes outside with breakfast for her.



“Hey sweetie! I see you were up bright and early. I made you some eggs and bacon, your usual.” She smiles as she hands Brielle the food.

Brielle returns the smile as she takes the food, “Thanks mom!”

“Have a nice day!”



“You too mom!”

Brielle eats the food quickly and runs the dirty dish back into the house. By the time she makes it back outside, Jaqlyn is already honking the horn. She waves and Brielle and she waves back as she jogs over to the car.



“Hey Bri!”



“Hey!”



“You seem very happy today.

“I’m not any different.”



“Uh yeah you are! You seem so much happier!”

“Oh don’t be ridiculous!”

“I’m not!”


“Well I guess you’re right.”


“Yeah I know.” Jaqlyn smiles at her.

“I hope you’re proud.”



“I am.”



They both laugh. Pulling up to the school they don’t see Chloe in her usual spot, they don’t see her at all. Brielle and Jaqlyn don’t notice her absence. They hear someone walking behind them.



“Hi Brielle!” Andrew says looking at Brielle sweetly, “Hi Jaqlyn.” He says quickly one he notices her.



“Hi Andrew! What’s up?”

“Oh nothing special, just walking to class.”

Jaqlyn falls silent.
“Oh, yeah, same. What’s your first period?”
“Oh it’s just tech theatre.”
“I didn’t know you took tech theatre. That’s really cool!”
“Uh still here.” Jaqlyn says putting her hand on Brielle’s shoulder.
“Oh sorry Jaqlyn. I didn’t mean to do that to you.” Brielle says apologetically.
“Uh huh. Well my class is right here. Bye.” She says as she opens the door to her classroom.
“Bye Jacky! I’m sorry!”
“Bye Jaqlyn!” Andrew says politely. “So what’s your first period?”
“Uh, just graphic design. Nothing special.”
“That’s pretty cool. I’ve always wanted to date someone who was a graphic designer.” He says smiling and winking at her.
“What makes you think I am going to date you?” She replies smirking.
“Oh I dunno because I asked nicely?”
“But you didn’t even ask.”
Andrew chuckles, “Will you, Brielle, go on a date with me?”
Jokingly she replies, “Oh I don’t know.”
“Don’t make me beg.”
“I think you may have to.” She says look at him slyly.
“Please go on a date with me!” he gets on his knees. “Please! I beg of you!”
“Aw alright I guess one date wouldn’t hurt.” She says giggling.
He stands up and leads her to a bench close to them. They both sit facing each other.
“So, what will this date consist of?” Brielle asks.
“The usual dinner then movie. Does that sound good to you?” He puts his arms around her, pulling her close.
She rests her head on his shoulder and looks up at him, smiling. “Of course.”
He looks down at her and smiles. “Good”
Their faces slowly inch closer and closer until their noses touch softly. Brielle brings her hand up, softly placing it on his cheek. He responds with a hand softly brushing through her hair. She pulls his face closer to hers so their lips just barely touch. Andrew presses his lips against hers and kisses her sweetly. He pulls away to look at her face. Her eyes flutter open and look at him. She smiles then kisses him again. This time they don’t pull away until the bell forces them apart. With one last quick kiss they go their separate ways to class.

“God she is so beautiful.” Andrew thinks to himself. “Why doesn’t anyone else see her like this? It’s just crazy. She is perfect in every way. Even the scars on her wrists are a part of what make her beautiful. I don’t think it will ever change how I feel about her. Oh! There’s my princess!” He thinks as he rushes up to her and hugs her from behind.

“Hi beautiful!” He says softly into her ear.

Brielle smiles and looks back at him, “Hi my love.”

“We’ve been together, what? Three weeks and we already have great pet names for each other.”


“I know! Aren’t we just so perfect for each other?”

“I’d like to think so.”
Andrew smiles at her and kisses her forehead. The bell rings and they start walking together to their next class together. They sit next to each other, still holding hands. When class starts they let go of each other and pay attention. After school that day when Andrew and Brielle say their goodbyes,Brielle rushes over to Jaqlyn’s car and jumps in.
“Hi!” Brielle says happily.
“Took ya long enough.” Jaqlyn replies sarcastically.
“How was your day?”
“Uh, fine. Very boring.”
“Oh cool. Mine was alright.”
“Uh huh. That’s cool.”
Jaqlyn starts the car, “Nothing don’t worry about it.” She pulls out of the parking lot and starts driving towards Brielle’s house.
“Come on Jacky! Talk to me!”
“Fine! I have been so alone ever since you and Andrew got back together. I have been so left out. Is there any way you can stop ignoring me?”
“I’m sorry. Yes I will stop ignoring you. I promise. I didn’t mean to do that to you. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. Just try okay?”
“Okay.”
They pull up to Brielle’s house.
“Bye Jacky.” BRielle says as she gets out of the car.
“Bye”
Jaqlyn waits until she is in the house before she drives away.
In the house, Brielle tries to get to her room as fast as possible, but she doesn’t make it.
“Brielle, honey, is that you?” Her mother says in a strained voice.
“Uh,” Brielle starts to walk toward her voice, “yeah it’s me. What;s wrong?”
She finds her mom sitting on the couch with mascara smeared down her cheeks. She is only partially dressed and is sitting in a ball, hugging herself tightly.
“Oh my god. Mom what happened?”
“He was just so angry.” she replies shaking her head. Tears threaten to come streaming down again. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t make him upset like that.”
Brielle looks around and sees the room thrashed and destroyed. There is a hole in the t.v., a tear in the couch, and all of the tables were turned over. Brielle looks back to her mother and now notices the cuts and bruises covering her.
“This isn’t okay mom. This was not your fault. Do you understand that?”
“Well, I shouldn’t be so hard on him. I,”
“No! Stop it. I am sick of him walking around thinking he can do this to us. Mother! He beat you. He clearly pulled a knife on you and cut you. I am not going to let this happen any longer.” Brielle walks over to the house phone.
“No! Don’t do that! He doesn’t deserve that!” She grabs Brielle.
“Mom. Stop. This needs to end. I can’t deal with this anymore. Let me call them before he gets back home. Please!”
The front door opens and her father stumbles in. The strong stench of alcohol instantly burns Brielle's nose. They both freeze once he comes into view.
“Did you tell her?!” Her father slurs.
“N-no! O-of course not!” Her mother stutters quickly.
“Ohh really?! Then why does she,” he points at the phone in Brielle's hand. “have that?”
“S-he was going to call one of her friends. nothing to worry about honey.”
“Oh really?!” He stumbles over toward Brielle. “Is that true?”
“U-uh. Yes!”
“I don’t believe you! I think you are lying like usual. You are just a stupid, little, lying whore!”
“Dad, please, just let me go to my room. Please.”
He grabs her arm and slaps her. “Now why would I do that?”
Brielle makes eye contact with her mother who is watching helplessly.
“Because I don’t want to be hit anymore. Please let me go to my room.”
He falls over on top of her. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you sweetcheeks.” His hand slowly moves to grope her butt.
Brielle grabs his hand and places the phone in it. She pushes him off of her and starts to walk to her room. As she is about to open the door the phone whizzes by her head, she turns and looks down the hall to find her dad stumbling towards her. She opens her door and runs in quickly, locking the door.
“Let me in! You little b****! You will let me in!” He is pounding on the door.
Brielle walks over to her speakers and turns on music as loud as the speaker will allow her. She turns and see her phone light up. Walking over to her phone she starts to break down, everything that just happened is hitting her, she reads the text on her phone, it’s from Andrew.
Hey babe! I’m 5 min away. c u soon!
“S***.” She mutters to herself.
Don’t go to the front door. Dad is very drunk. come to my window.
ok
She hears a knock at her window, she walks over and opens it, letting Andrew in.
“Hi!” Brielle says happily.
“Hey babe. How are you.”
“I’m alright. Just a bit beaten and worn.”
Andrew looks at her wide eyed as he now notices all of the bruises and cuts covering her. “Awe babe,” he hugs her,”I’m sorry. Why didn’t you call me?”
“I was busy, dealing with everything…” She sighs and buries herself deeper into his chest.
“I love you, baby.”
In a muffled voice, “I love you too.”
Brielle jumps up and reaches for her phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Wait hold on.” Brielle walks over to the door and tries to open it but it’s blocked by something. “Huh, he passed out. I better call now.”
“Call who?” Andrew stands up and walks over to her.
Brielle starts to dial 9-1-1.
“Whoa why are you doing that?”
“I’m sick of my father treating up like this.”
“What? You dad did this to you?!”
“He’s done worse. Well,” she pauses. “attempted worse.”
“So you are going to call the cops on him now?”
“Yes.” Brielle walks over to her speakers and shuts the music off. She hits the call button and waits.
After the call she sits on her bed and starts to cry.
“Are you regretting the call?” Andrew asks.
“No. I just, I don’t know. I am just so ready to be free from him.”
Andrew sits next to her and wraps his arms around her. They sit like this until there are police in front of her house. Brielle and Andrew get up and climb through the window. Brielle makes it outside before her parents notice.
“Uh, hi officer.”
“Hi, were you the one who reported the domestic violence?”
“Y-yes, he’s inside. My mother may not want to press charges but I do. The amount of damage he has done to this family is ridiculous.”
“Okay, ma’am I will get this handled.”
Brielle watches two police officers walk up to the door and knock. Andrew and Brielle stand and watch as Brielle’s mom answers the door. Her mother goes silent as she listens to what the police say, then bursts into tears. She looks behind the officers, at Brielle. Brielle looks away as tears slowly roll down her face. Her mom steps out of the way and the officers go in. They come back out with Brielle’s, still drunk, father in cuffs.
As they pass Brielle says, “Thank you.”
Her father is yelling incomprehensible things at her. Brielle’s mother disappeared into the house. Andrew and Brielle go back into her room. Brielle pulls him over to her bed and lays there in his arms. They lay together listening to the music. Andrew looks down at her and smiles now realizing she is asleep. As Brielle breathes softly, Andrew kisses the top of her head and carefully pulls a blanket over them and falls asleep too.

When they awaken her mother is up making breakfast. Brielle looks up at Andrew, he smiles at her and she smiles back. They get up and walk into the kitchen.

“Good morning sleepyheads!” Her mom says.

“Hey mom, uh, this is Andrew.”

“Hi Andrew would you like some eggs and bacon?” she says as she holds up the pan.

“Uh, if you don’t mind yes please.”

“Sure thing.” she says as she puts food on some plates and puts them in front of them on the table.

“Thanks mom.”

“Thank you.” Andrew smiles.

“You are quite welcome.” Her mom says as she walks back into the kitchen and starts to clean it up.

“Let’s just ditch school today.”

“I dunno Andrew. I really don’t want to miss any school. I don’t want to fall behind or anything and I’ll have to call Jaqlyn and tell her not to pick me up.”

“Come on baby, lets just not go. You need a day to recover.”

Brielle hesitates and looks away. “Okay. Fine. Lets ditch. What are we going to do instead?”

“Oh I don’t know,” he pauses and smiles, “maybe a movie?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Let’s do it but first I need to go home and get some different clothes. Go get dressed then we will head over to my house.”

“Okay.” Brielle gets up and walks to her room and rushes to get dressed.

Andrew waits fifteen minutes before asking, “Almost done babe?”

“I am done!” Brielle calls back as she walks out of her room.

“Okay, gorgeous let’s go.” He says as he opens the door and lets her out and leads her to his car.

They finally get to Andrews house, they go in and Andrew takes her up to his room. Brielle follows reluctantly.

“Uh. Am I suppose to be up here?”

“It’s alright babe. You are fine. No one is home anyways. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

“Are you sure?”

Andrew nods and he opens the door to his room.

“Okay.”

In his room there is a king size bed with navy blue blankets. The walls are white and are covered in band and sport posters. There is a walk in closet and a desk to the right of the bed. In the far left corner there is a drum set and next to his bed on the left there is a light brown nightstand. The bathroom door is near the entrance of the room on the left.

“You can sit on the bed if you want. I should take too long.”

“M’k!” Brielle says as she sits on the bed.

Andrew takes her wrist and swings her back towards him. She catches herself in his arms, looking up at him. He leans down and kisses her. He releases her and goes to the bathroom. He’s gone for 10 minutes then comes out fully dressed.

“Wow, that was fast.” She giggles a little.

“I was trying to hurry for my love.” Andrew walks over to her and takes her hand. “Come on, let’s go.” He leads her to his car and they head to the movie theatres. “So what should we see?”

“A scary movie?”

“Sure why not.”

“Yay!” She says happily.

They make it to the theatre and buy their tickets. Brielle happily leads Andrew to the right theatre and to their seats. She leaves to buy popcorn and soda. When she comes back Andrew is there waiting for her, smiling.

“Hi baby.” Brielle whispers.

“Welcome back my love.” Andrew wraps his arms around her and brielle leans into him. She rests her head on his shoulder and her hand on his leg. He pulls her closer to him. She shivers and looks up at him. Chuckling he takes his jacket off and give it to her. With the movie about to start, she quickly puts it on and goes back to sitting next to Andrew. He wraps his arms around her right away and pulls her close. Brielle smiles and kisses Andrews chin quickly before resting her head back on his shoulder. Throughout the movie Brielle gets scared a few times and with being scared she buries hers head in his chest. Andrew chuckles whenever she gets scared because of the little noises she makes. After the movie they go out for ice cream. It’s a silent and happy walk to the ice cream shop.

“What flavor are you gonna get?” Brielle asks.

“Hmmm maybe some strawberry cheesecake. How about you babe?”

“Rocky road for sure!”

“Yum! I like that flavor too. Good choice my love.”

“Look! There it is! Come on!” Brielle grabs Andrew’s wrist and drags him over to the ice cream shop.

“Whoa there! Careful! I am fragile!” Andrew says chuckling.

Brielle giggles and starts to order her ice cream. Andrew takes his time as he watches and admires the way she does things.

He thinks to himself, “Wow, look at the way she moves. So confident now, and happy. Is it all because of me? I hope so. I’d like to think I was able to make that kind of change in her beautiful life. Oh my god, she has changed me too. I’m so much more open and carefree and happy and lovey dovey. It sure is crazy how one person can affect you so much. I love you so much, I swear it will never change.”

Brielle has her ice cream and sits there waiting for Andrew to order his but he seems to be spaced out so Brielle goes over to him and kisses his cheek and that brings him back to earth. He orders and they start to head towards the mall across the street. Andrew finishes his ice cream first and Brielle slowly eats hers.

“Why rush eating it?” she thinks to herself. “Wow, just look at him. The way he looks at me is like I’m the only girl in the whole world that he would even imagine being with. It seems like he just has this amazing unconditional love for me that I can easily return. He just cares so much about me. I need someone like him in my life. If he didn’t exist or if he didn’t find me attractive then I would probably be still dealing with my fathers abuse. Is it not just crazy and amazing how just one person can change your life so much? I really do love him. I don’t know what I’d do without him. I really don’t.” Brielle smiles to herself and looks at Andrew, finding him looking at her too. They smile at each other lovingly and Andrew reaches his hand out for hers. She takes his hand and feels him pulling her closer. Following, she eventually makes it to his face but more importantly his lips. She looks up at him and whispers, “I love you.” then kisses him gently. He pulls away from her and whispers back, “I love you too.” They continue to walk to the mall and find a nice bench to sit on and relax. Brielle finally finishes her ice cream then Andrew takes the trash and throws it away for her. When he walks back he notices Brielle looking at a pair of black Doc Martens through a window of a store.

“Do you like those?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah I have been looking at them for two years now. I’ve been saving up for them but I just can’t get the money saved as long as I am helping my mom with bills and such.”

“Well, lucky for you you have a boyfriend who loves you very, very, very much and can afford them.” Andrew smiles and takes her into the store.

“No, I can’t ask you to do that for me. Really, I don’t need them.”

“Then don’t ask for them. Sometimes what people want are what people need for their current situation whether it is to help get over something big or needing some hiking boots for a long you are going to go on. It doesn’t matter we are getting you some. They will look good on you, I promise.”

“Babe, please don’t do that. I know how expensive these are and I don’t want you to spend that kind of money on me whether you have it or not. Please don’t do it!”

“Too bad. I am now tell the nice man what your size is so we can get you a size that fits you and so I can pay for them. Okay? Okay.” Andrew says winking at Brielle and chuckling a little.

“Fine, just this once okay? You got that?”
Andrew salutes her and says in a stern, joking voice, “Yes ma’am!”
“Thank you Andrew. Thank you very much.
“Anything for you baby.” The store clerk comes out with her size and as Brielle tries them on Andrew goes over to the cashier to pay for the shoes. Brielle doesn’t notice him go over to pay for them because she is just too excited for the shoes. She has actually fallen in love with the shoes.
“Hey, Andrew! I think you just bought some competition.”
“What do you mean?
“I may be falling in love with the shoes too. You just bought your competition.”
“Too? You mean you are falling in love with me or are in love with me?”
“Uh, I didn’t mean to say it like that. I’m sorry if I made this awkward or anything.”
“No, no, it’s alright because I think I may be falling in love with you too.”
Brielle pauses and lets that sink in. “Really? You are? I have been for a while now. How long have you been falling in love with me?”
“It started the day when you almost beat chloe up. I was instantly lovestruck by you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“I was waiting for just one person to stand up to her and that was you.” He smiles and hugs her. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Brielle sighs as she embraces his love and affection. She is just now realizing how much he means to her and her to him. It makes her feel special, a feeling she has never experienced before. She has never been cared for so much.

“Alright ladies, we have a bit of a problem.” Chloes says.
“What is it?” One of her friends ask. “Did someone wear the same shirt as you today? If so, I can go find her and something tragic will happen to that nice shirt of hers.”
“No, Bonnie no one that I’ve seen.”
“Did we miss a shoe sale? Oh, that would be terrible!” Another friend says.
“No, Jen it’s not that either.”
“Then what is it?” Bonnie asks curiously.
“Yeah, what is it?” Jen repeats.
“Brielle has something I want. I didn’t want him before but I want him now. We need to figure out a way to get him. She doesn’t deserve someone like Andrew. He’s just too popular for her. Jocks and emo nothings can’t mix. Got it? We just need to fix the balance of our two worlds.”
“You mean the popular and unpopular worlds?” Jen asks, confused.
“Yes, Jen, what else would I be talking abou? God you are an idiot sometimes.
“Sorry.”
“Yeah, whatever. So what are we going to do about this do you two have any ideas?” Jen opens her mouth to say something but Chloe interrupts, “That aren’t absolutely ridiculous and out of reach.” Jen shuts her mouth and looks down.
“What if we show him that there are better out there?.” Bonnie smiles.
Chloe smiles and nod,”Good idea. Just for that I will let you do my math homework.” Chloe says as she walks away.
Jen and Bonnie stand there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. They wait for a little bit longer for some sort of signal from Chloe. Bonnie looks at Jen and with this look they run after her.
Chloe makes this disgusted sound when they finally catch up. “Took you long enough. God. You guys are so slow and unreliable.”
“We’re sorry!” They say together.
“Yeah, we didn’t know if you wanted us or not.” Bonnie says quickly.
“Yeah.” Jen agrees. “We only waited a minute.
“Yeah, whatever. A minute too long. That’s for damn sure. Anyway, do you see this?!” Chloe says pointing at Brielle and Andrew who are sitting and laughing together. ”This isn’t right. He should be mine not hers. Ugh! I want him. That little- little- ugh! He will be mine. I mean, look at them! He isn’t right for her! Why did he choose her anyway?! He could have any other girl. There are girl just waiting for him to be single again. There are girls everywhere here and he had to choose the one girl I can’t stand. This is ridiculous. Come on girls I can’t watch this freakfest anymore.” Chloe turns and walks away with Bonnie and Jen close behind.

Then next day….

Brielle and Jaqlyn are walking down the halls to their lockers , talking casually. This is usually the time when Andrew meets up with them because their lockers are 4 lockers apart.
“So how was that chem test? I feel like I’m going to fail.” Brielle sighs, “It’s just one of those days.
Jaqlyn scoffs a little, “It wasn’t too hard. You should ace it no problem.”
“Really? I’m really unsure, I mean I have been struggling a lot with this unit so…”Brielle trails off as she looks straight ahead frozen. Time stops, all she can focus on is Chloe and Andrew kissing right on her locker. Chloe steps away when she sees Brielle and shoot a smile at her before walking away. Brielle stumbles back as if she was punched in the gut. Tears start to stream down her face as she stands there staring straight ahead. She sees Andrew starting to run over to her but the second he takes a step towards her, she is already half way back down the hall. Jaqlyn is running and calling after her. Brielle runs straight into the bathroom with Jaqlyn not too close behind. Jaqlyn bursts into the bathroom and she sees Brielle standing there staring at her reflection in the mirror. Brielle turns around and looks at Jaqlyn. “Why?” Is the only thing Brielle can get out before passing out. Andrew enters the bathroom just as Jaqlyn runs over and drops to her side. He stops, frozen watching Jaqlyn and Brielle. Jaqlyn looks down at her hands and sees blood. Quickly, she pulls Brielle’s sleeves up and sees 4 vertical cuts going up her arm. She jumps up, grabs paper towels and puts them on her arm to try to help the bleeding.
“What the f*** are you doing just standing there?! Go. Get. Help!” Jaqlyn screams at Andrew.
This snaps him out of his trance and before he realizes it, he is already halfway down the hall headed for the nurses office. He bursts into the nurses office and runs over to the first phone and starts to dial 9-1-1.
Taking the phone away from him, “What are you doing?” the nurse says sweetly.
“It’s Brielle, she cut herself and lost too much blood and- and she,” Andrew takes a deep breath and tries again. “she passed out in the girls bathroom right down the hall. I was call 9-1-1.”
The nurse starts to dial 9-1-1 then turns to Andrew. “You look strong, can you pick her up?” Andrew nods. “Go get her and bring her back her. Hurry.”
Andrew runs out of the nurses office straight back towards the girls bathroom where Brielle is. He sprints through the door and in an instant he already has Brielle in his arms and he is already back at the nurses office. He lays Brielle down on one of the many beds laid about and steps away. The nurse quickly cover the cuts with bandage and softly whispers to herself, “Damn these are really deep.”
“What?” Andrew asks.
“Oh I just noticed how deep they are. This girl must have some serious problems. Whatever made her do that must have really hurt her.” The nurse says looking back at Brielle. “I called the paramedics, they should be here very soon. Are you friends with her?”
Andrew pauses, “Uh yeah something like that.”
“Oh, okay well I did all I could to stop the bleeding for now.”
“Thank you.” Andrew says.
Jaqlyn come through the door and glares at Andrew as she rushes over to Brielle’s side.
“It wasn’t me, Jaqlyn. Chloe planned that. She waited until you guys turned the corner then just kissed me. Do you really think I would do something like that to her? I know how unstable she has been since all that drama with her dad happened. I’ve been trying to help her. I hate Chloe. I would never do anything to hurt her.” Jaqlyn scoffs. “I’m serious Jaqlyn! I’m in love with her do you not realize that? I have been from day one. I hate to see her like this because of me. I’m tearing myself up inside right now! Jaqlyn! You have to believe me!” Tears threaten to come streaming down his face. “I love her Jaqlyn!”
Jaqlyn sighs. “Alright alright. I believe you but what do you expect to do to make her believe that? She is going to be gone for a long time while she gets help. It’ll be at least 3 months. You are really going to have to think.”
Andrew looks at Brielle then back at Jaqlyn. “I’ll figure it out.”
The paramedics come rushing into the office and pick up Brielle. One of the medics turn to the two, “Who will assist her?” Andrew and Jaqlyn look at each other Andrew opens his mouth to say something but Jaqlyn beats him to it. “He is. He’s going with you.” She turns to Andrew, “I’ll text you her mom’s number and I’ll sign you out. Go hurry before they leave.”
Andrew looks at her concerned, “Are you sure?”
“Yes, now go!” Jaqlyn pushes him to the door.
“Okay, thank you. Bye.” Andrew runs out and jumps into the ambulance with her.

The next morning, Brielle’s mother and Andrew are waiting silently for Brielle to wake up. Brielle's mom is falling in and out of consciousness.
“You should go home and get some sleep. You haven’t slept in a long time.”
“I-I’m okay.”
“I’ll take care of her just go get some rest. At home.”
“Okay, thank you Andrew.”
“Do you need a ride home?”
“No I’ll just call someone to come get me.”
“Alright, bye”
“Bye Andrew.” She smiles at him tiredly.
Andrew sit there silently, watching her. There are dark black bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. The only thing keeping him company is the beep of the many machines hooked up to Brielle. Brielle moves a little but not waking up quite yet. Andrew starts to slump down, falling asleep slowly. His eye flutter shut and then nothing but darkness.
When he opens his eyes again he sees Brielle sitting up looking at him. He gets up quickly and runs over to her side. Brielle moves away from him slightly, just looking at him.
“What are you doing here?” she asks gently.
“I was worried babe. I haven’t left your side. I wanted to be here when you woke up so I could explain-”
“There is nothing to explain! You were kissing her! I hate you for that but you I both know that I still love you but after that I don’t know what to think of you.”
“Babe, please.”
“No, don’t call me that.”
“Okay, Brielle just listen for two seconds. Please.”
“Leave.”
“What? No! I won’t! You need to understand that she set that up!”
“Can you tell me what happened to not liking her. What happened to hating her?”
“I do! I hate her so much more that she caused this.”
“Just leave.”
“Brielle please!”
“Leave!”
Andrew get up to leave and just before exiting he says, “I love you, Brielle. Just know that.” He leaves and see’s Brielle’s mom on the way out of the hospital.
“Is she awake?!”
“Yeah she is. She was wondering where you were. You should hurry.”
“Okay! Thank you for being so nice and thoughtful.”
“No problem. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye!” She says as she jogs further into the hospital.
Andrew gets into his and speeds away. In the car he lets the tears roll. The tears become so heavy they are blinding him. He is so enveloped in the tears he doesn’t see the red light and he just runs right through is. Just about to make it he gets sideswiped by a truck. His car spins out and stops facing the wrong way of the intersection. Another car comes full speed at the front of his car and hits him full on. The front of his car is smashed flat and the side has a huge dent from the truck. Both driver sides windows are shattered and the front window is cracked and shattered. Andrew tries to get out but he is unable to move. With adrenaline still pumping he doesn’t quite feel the pain yet but he look down at his leg and notices a large piece of glasses in it. “F***.” He mutters to himself. His mind is just swirling and everything is going black and white. He blinks quickly trying to make his eyes refocus but it isn’t working. When he looks up he sees a huge crowd of people surrounding his car. He can hear sirens coming closer and closer. Andrew felt himself starting to black out but he was doing everything in his power to stay conscious. Firefighters came to the drivers side and started to cut the door open. Andrew watched and tried to focus on them working. He feels himself going under again and he does.
When he wakes up he is in the hospital with a bandage on his leg and and his arms are casted. The right one from the wrist down and the left from the shoulder down. He looks around and finds his mom and Brielle’s mom sitting there talking. The first to notice is Brielle’s mom and she points toward him and in an instant his mom is up and next to him.
“Hey honey, how are you feeling? Are you hungry?”
“Yeah a little. How long have I been out?”
“Uh just a little over 2 days.”
Andrew sits up quickly and is hit with nausea instantly. His right hand goes up to his head and he lays back slowly. “Ow, uh, yeah I’m hungry can I talk to Brielle’s mom for a moment?”
“Okay I’ll go get you some food.”
“Thanks mom.”

“Your mom said you wanted to talk to me?”

“Uh yeah, how’s Brielle? Is she still here?”

Brielle’s mom sighs, “Yeah she’s still here. She somehow got a hold onto another knife and reopened the cuts. She passed out again and they put her on lock down.”

Andrew sighs, “Will I be able to see her anytime soon?”

“They asked us if we wanted to put you guys in the same room. We just didn’t know if you guys would be okay with it.”


“Oh uh yeah can I be moved into that room now?”

“It shouldn’t be too hard. She is right next door. I’ll go ask for you.”

“Thank you.”

She turns and smiles, “It’s the least I can do.”

Andrew smiles back. As Brielle’s mom leaves, his own mother walks in with food. When she enters the smell of chicken noodle soup fills the room. Andrew’s stomach growls and he suddenly feels extremely hungry. He looks at the tray of food and sees chocolate pudding and a small slice of meatloaf with a soda. His mom sets it on the little plate next to him.

“Thank you mom. I am so hungry. I haven’t actually eaten in 4 days because of the time I spent here with Brielle.”

“Well then eat up!”

Andrew digs in and is done with all the food in record time. A nurse comes in and take the dirty plates away. Another couple of nurses come in to move him into Brielle’s room. When he is set up in her room she is already awake and watching t.v. Andrew looks over at Brielle who is ignoring him entirely.

“Hey, ba- er Brielle. How are you feeling.”
“I’m alright just a little suicidal. I’m better though because I got to talk to Jaqlyn and she backed up your story. I’m sorry for being so upset.” She pauses and looks at him apologetically. “I love you too.”
Andrew looks at her and smiles. “I would never hurt you.” He shifts slightly and winces at the pain.
“What happened to you?” The apologetic look turns to worry instantly.
“Uh a car accident, I think.” he stops to think for a moment. “Yeah, a car accident. I left the hospital and got in my car. I think I was crying and I couldn’t see very well but I didn’t care and I kept going. I didn’t see the red light and just drove through it. I almost made it but a truck sideswiped me and spun me around and then another car hit me from the front. For a moment I did actually hope for it to kill me. I thought we were really over.” Andrew falls silent and looks over at Brielle who is standing next to him. She takes his hand light being careful of the i.v.
“I’m so sorry Andrew. I should have believed you.”
“It’s my fault I should have taken care of the whole situation better.”
Brielle leans down and kisses his forehead. “I’ll never doubt you again. I promise.”
Andrew looks up and smiles. “Kiss me babe.”
She leans down and kisses him softly. The sweet taste of the kiss finally relaxes Andrew and with that he knows she loves him. He moves over the best he can to give her room next to him. She sits in the space and he puts his arm around her. Brielle smiles and both, Andrew and Brielle slowly fall asleep again. Both mom’s see this, smile at each other and leave the room quietly, closing the door behind them. Andrew wakes up before Brielle so he just watches her sleep silently. About an hour passes before Brielle wakes up. When she does she doesn’t move until she has to take her meds. She gets up carefully and goes back to her bed. She takes her meds and drinks some water and lays down facing Andrew. They watch each other silently for a while.
“What are we going to do about school?” Brielle asks.
“I asked Jaqlyn to pick up our work and she is coming to give it to us today after school.” Andrew winks at her. “I got us covered.”
“Thank you so much! I have been so worried about it. I swear school can be the most stressful thing sometimes.” She laughs. “Even when you’re in the hospital you worry about it. How ridiculous!” She smiles.
“Yeah I know! That’s why I texted Jaqlyn. I was going to do it but then I got injured and suddenly I’m useless. Heh, I hate being hurt.” He looks at Brielle. “I hate you being hurt. It’s the worst thing ever. You know that right?”
“Yeah babe I do but, do you know that I hate you being hurt too. It’s terrible to see you like this.”
Jaqlyn finally makes it to the hospital with their work. Both of them have a huge folder of work.
“Damn, they couldn’t have taken it easy? We are in the hospital.” Brielle says as she goes through the folder.

“Yeah seriously. I’m lucky I can even write right now.” Andrew says holding his arms up.

Jaqlyn shrugs, “I tried to say something but you guys got the assholes this year. They would not listen at all. Hell! They even threatened to give me a homework assignment if I kept arguing with them.”

“Thank you Jacky. You are such a big help. You better know that.”

“Yeah, thanks Jaqlyn. I’ll make it up to you somehow.” Andrew says smiling slightly.

“It’s really not a big deal. You guys have nearly all the same classes. The only difference is 2 periods and even then they are right next to each other so it made it really easy. Oh and your lockers are right next to each other and everything that involves your two is right next to each other. How did you manage that?” Jaqlyn asks.

“I actually don’t know. Do you know Brielle?”

“Nope! Maybe it’s just because we are just meant to be?”
Andrew gets a big cheesy grin on his face and nods in agreement.
Jaqlyn smiles, “Looks about right. So, how have you guys been in the hospital?”
“Oh you know, it’s been good,” Brielle gestures around the room, “considering.”
Andrew chuckles.

Brielle and Andrew continue with their normal lives until one week before school ends. This is when there are bad news, tears, and the possibility for something special to end.
Andrew seemed a bit off to Brielle the whole week. Little did she know he had some heavy things circling his mind.
“Is there something wrong with you?”
“Huh?” Andrew looks at her. “Yeah. I’ve been waiting to tell you.”He pauses. “I have been diagnosed with stage four skin cancer. It’s from lacrosse and being outside with no sunscreen.”
Brielle stumbles back, “What? No, this can’t be happening.”She shakes her head as tears stream down her face. “This can’t happen. I love you. Are you getting treatment? Chemo? Radiation? Something? Anything?”
Andrew pulls her close, “Yes I am. I am getting surgery next week then I have to get multiple treatments of chemo and radiation after that. I am going to be fine. I promise.”
Brielle shakes her head and buries herself into his chest. She sighs and looks up at him. He leans down and kisses her. “It’s okay baby.”
2 years later….
Andrew is sleeping with Brille in his arms in the hospital. Brielle is flipping through the channels on the television. There is a soft knock on the door. She looks over, it’s the doctor who has a sympathetic look on his face.
“Is everything alright?” Brielle sits up, careful to not wake up Andrew.
“Well I have good news and bad news.” He pauses. “You may want to wake him for this.
Brielle