I walk over showing no concern and trying to hide what happened. I grab a cookie standing between L.J. and Leo and take a bite, ignoring their looks to me.

"Rain why don't you take some cookies and go to your room?" Leo says.

"Alright!" She says piling a bunch in her shirt before walking off.

I take her end seat next to Willow.

"Alright, whats on your arms?" Willow says turning to me.

I sigh and carefully peel off my hoodie revealing my arms, covered in bruises.

"F%$#," Gray says as he looks at my arms.

"No kidding," Willow says as they study me.

I finish my cookie as they look at me.

"You don't even look affected by it," L.J. says.

"Can we talk about something else?" I say.

I soon hear the front door open. I gasp and quickly slide back on my hoodie and use my hair to cover one side of my face. They watch as me, Leo, Rain, and Asher all come over to the front door and they follow.

"Dad!" Asher screams while running down the hall. 

"Hey, buddy!"

Rain and Asher beat us to them and as me and Leo head over they look to us.

"Beth, what happened?" Mrs. Elliot says pointing to the side of her face.

"Oh, it was just an accident, I'm good," I say smiling.

"What's that smell?" Charles says.

"Beth made cookies!" Rain says excitedly.

Gaby smiles warmly at me till seeing the guys and Willow behind us all standing awkwardly.

"Who's here?"

"Just some friends, came by to work on homework," Leo says, lying.

"What homework?"

"Math."

"Where's the cookie's?" Charles says smiling at Rain.

"This way!" She says running off. 

He follows by walking behind her and smiling at me but glaring at the guys.

"We better get back to work on homework," Leo says about to head upstairs and all of us about to follow.

"You can all work down here," Charles says glaring at the guys again from the kitchen hallway.

He doesn't trust us, does he?

"Actually, I just had to get going."

"Same here.

"Yeah, I need to pick up my sister pretty soon."

They quickly go out the front door, leaving me and Leo to deal with the questions.

"So you have a boyfriend now?" Gaby says smiling.

Why does everyone assume that? I mean guys and girls can be friends without being together.

"No, we are all just friends."

"She's telling the truth actually," Leo says backing me up.

"Alright then." She says giving us that scary yet approving mom look as she heads to the kitchen.

We all finish about half the cookies, putting the rest in containers before we all go get ready for bed.

I take the first shower which burns and the water turns red and brown as it runs down the drain. The tear stains that covered my face disappear as I am careful of getting out. I quickly dry off and put on some shorts and a long hoodie not bothering with a shirt underneath. 

I am pretty lucky I have no fight tonight, it's all levels higher than myself right now. I step out with my hair back and go straight to my room. I put some long bandaids over my cuts to cover them and go to bed.

I toss and turn all night, not able to sleep but when I do. My dream leaves me gasping for air.

In my dream, I am at a fight, except I'm in an actual ring and wearing real boxer's gear.

I have my hoodie and hat on though that cover my face. I look at my gloves as everything is silent. But when I look up, lights flash and rows upon rows of seats are filled and someone stands in another corner. It's like a real UFC fight. My breath quickens. I turn around to my corner to see Liam and the guys all in seats just a little bit away from me. I turn back to the fight.

The guy quickly comes up to me and I am trying to fight back. I continuously get punched till my hood and hat are pulled from my head. Cheers are replaced with gasps and I am quickly shoved to the ground and everything around me changes.

I am back at school in the grass on the ground in my normal school clothes I look around before looking up to meet a gun to my temple held by Becky. I turn and soon see my old parents, my real parents and my now parents all holding gun pointed at my head.

"It's your fault." They say in unison.

A gunshot sounds.

I quickly jump up from my bed, breathing quickly and with sweat rolling down my forehead and my head pounds in an unexplainable pain. I take in air greedily like I have never before and blink away tears in my eyes.

I suddenly feel sick and jump up, going to the bathroom and go to the toilet and start throwing up. I grab onto the sides as I continue to empty my stomach. My whole body aches and trembles as tears form in my eyes from the burning sensation. 

My hair is in a ponytail and keeps the vomit from my hair till I finally finish. I take in air greedily filling my lungs. I wipe my mouth with some toilet paper and get up. I flush the toilet and look at my face in complete disarray.

I slowly make my way downstairs as it is two in the morning and still dark. My temperature is just fine, guess the cookies got to me. I get a drink of water which tastes nasty but swallows it anyway.

 I silently head back to my room and straighten my mess of a bed. Too tired to do it well though. I lay on my side and close my eyes, hugging a pillow as I start to relax. I soon fall back asleep. Nightmares arn't uncommon to me.

oOoOo A Few Hours Later OoOoO

I wake up to my alarm and turn it off as I swing my legs over the bed. I stand up and shiver as I remember everything that has happened.

The day goes on as any other except with Becky and she taunts me about dating one of the guys all day until the end and I go to walk out. I did I good job of covering up my cuts and bruises. Not noticeable at all.

I walk out the back door and are pulled to the side behind some trees by the hood. I quickly gasp and cover my face as I see Jace and the others all there.

"I gotta admit, I'm impressed you hid it so well," David says as I am quickly thrown to the ground.

I quickly scoot back as I see Henry holding a pocket knife in his hands.

"Calm down, it's not for you, it's for your friends you are gonna call over. Now."

"No."

"Oh, so I guess it can be for you to then."

Jace quickly ties up my arms behind me and David helps to hold my head still while Jacob and two other guys watch as I am restrained and Henry brings the knife up to the burn mark on my face. Jacob has a ciggret in his mouth which brings back flash backs.

"Bring them over here or this mark will become permanent."

"I don't have any friends anymore," I say trying to protect them.

"Too bad, that will make it a whole lot harder to get them over here."

"Beth?" I hear Gray call just from the other side of the trees.

They all look at me and smile. 

"Call them over." Davis strains out as he pulls a pocket knife as well, they all do.

"Slit. My. Throat. I won't make a sound." I whisper back.

Jace grabs the sides of my face and pushes his blade into my cheek. I take a slow and quiet inhale from the searing pain.

"Alright, bring her out from behind the trees," Mason says.

They smile at me and push me out of the trees to face the guys. Jace holds my arms behind me while David helps him and Henry hold a knife to my neck. The others stand beside them.

"Look who's here Little B."

"Go suck a d*&^." I mutter out loud enough for them to all hear.

Henry pulls my head back further with the knife closer to my neck. The guys chuckle at me but I see the worry in their eyes.

"Yeah, I bet you do plenty of that yourself." He says pulling my head back by my hair even more.

"What do you want?" Trever says crossing his arms.

"Drop the weapons you have on you," Jacob says.

"No need guys. They don't have the balls to slit my throat, otherwise, they would have done it way sooner." I say through my tight airway.

"Yeah, cause that wouldn't hurt you as bad as hurting these guys because of you and in front of you now would it?"

I swallow.

"I'll be fine, go," I say strained.

He pulls my hair back further and puts the pocket knife to my gut and pushes in so that I have to suck in my stomach so that it doesn't cut into my stomach. The guys stay unmoved. They look to be perfectly fine with this but I see past them. I see the worry and fear for me in their eyes which makes my stomach's knots become tighter.

"Fine, then maybe this will get you to listen." 

Henry pulls back his knife and puts his hand back to Jacob. I watch him hand him his lit cigarette. My gut pulls back as he pulls up my shirt revealing bruises from them and scares from my car wreck that covers my stomach that has a faint line of a sixpack from me always fighting.

It hurts me for my entire stomach to be revealed. It is covered with small scars and big bruises. He holds the cigarette close to my stomach and I look to the guys.

"Just walk away, they are doing this to get to-" I am cut off mid-sentence from a burning pain.

He pushes the cigarette into my side in the center of a bruise and holds it there, looking to the guys. I bite down and try to show no emotion.

"Fine," Gray says.

They all pull out their weapons and drop them, making Henry pull the cigarette from my side and drop it, stomping on it after and pulling the pocket knife out instead and putting it across my stomach and across the burn mark.

"Down on your knees or she starts loosing skin," Henry says.

"Pick up your stuff and walk away! It's not worth it! Go away!" I say to them but Henry quickly pulls a tighter grip on my hair.

"Shut it b*&^%."

"Suck one *$$&^%$." I retort with.

He pushes the blade into my skin and I show no emotion trying to get the guys to go away.

"Beth, we aren't gonna leave you like this," L.J. says.

I struggle from their grip and Henry pushes the blade into my skin, looking to the guys.

"Fine." A says taking a knee.

They all follow and do the same. Henry pulls the blade from my stomach and pushes me aside and Jacob holds me to him as if in a straight jacket and puts his hand over my mouth. The guys all watch me as the others come up to them with pocket knives in hand. 

I quickly stomp on Jacobs' foot and bite his hand making him loosen his grip and I grab his arm, breaking it. He lets out a scream and all attention is on me. 

I rush over and send a punch to Henry's face like I would as Beth. I hit him square in the nose, sending him flying back and I break my knuckles. 

The guys quickly stand up and I elbow Jace in the face before punching him and as I turn I see the other guys quickly go down and the girls running away. 

I walk over to the guys.

"What is wrong with you?" I say pushing Gray back by the shoulders and he stumbles back.

"What are you talking about? We were trying to help." He says.

"If you wanna help, stay away from me," I say as I back away from them.

"Beth, we were trying to help you. They had a knife to your throat!" Trever says.

"If you want to help me then stay far away from me," I say as I continue to back up away from them.

My lip quivers and tears surface as I say it. It hurts me to push them away but the best way to protect them is to keep them away. The only way they can hurt me anymore is by hurting them and I can't let that happen.

"Beth-" Alan starts but I quickly turn and run away.

I watch them start after me as I grab my bag they had yanked off of me but I quickly make my way out of there and wipe away tears that start down my cheeks as I do.

I turn the corner and people look at me wiping away tears as I straighten my shirt.

"Hey, Beth, what's wrong?" Leo says coming up to me and the guys coming up behind me, almost catching up completely.

"Just stay away from me!" I say as my voice breaks and tears come down my face.