I sat there frozen, wide-eyed, staring at them as they stood at the counter to pick up their coffees.

Please don't notice me, I thought, Please!

But just my luck, Sam looked behind me and spotted me at the table behind them. He chuckled at me, smirking.

"Hey." He said, slapping Trevor's shoulder. Trevor turned as Sam added, nodding over to me, "Look who it is." Trevor looked over and spotted me too. I bit my bottom lip as he grinned, chuckling. He turned his head and whispered to Ricky, making him nod and glance at me.

Oh god!

"Three coffees for Ricky!" The woman shouted, sliding three hot coffees across the counter toward them. I watched them carefully as they grabbed their coffees and walked over to the table I was sitting at. I shifted uncomfortably away from the chair next to me as Sam sat down. I glanced at him, then flickered my eyes up at Trevor and Ricky sitting across from me, smirking, making me a little creeped out. I tried to stay calm, but I was my whole body. I was shaking on the inside.

Why was this happening now?

"What up, Ariel?" Ricky said, staring at me. My eyes quickly fell on my lap as my heart began racing.

"Someone doesn't feel like chatting." Trevor teased, making them all laugh. I just sat there, not saying anything. I secretly and quickly glanced at the time on my phone.

8:03.

It took a little over twenty minutes to drive home, and I had to walk maybe five minutes to Julia's car, which meant I had to get out of here now. Just, then something happened, sending shivers down my spine. I felt Sam's arm slowly wrap around me and touch my shoulders.

That set me off.

I shot up out of my chair like a racket, sending my chair flying back behind me as Sam quickly took his arm away at the same time. I didn't say anything as I scrambled around the chair and grabbed my bag, I quickly walked past Sam, but before I could pass Ricky, he grabbed my arm, stopping me from leaving.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, demanding as I looked down at him, "You pathetic loser."

"Let go of me, asshole!" I yelled at him ripping my arm away and shoving him against Trevor, making them both fall out of their chairs. When I realized what I just did, I took off out of Starbucks pushing the door open, and ran down the outlet as fast as I could...

"Ariel, there you are!" Julia said when she saw me speed walking toward her car, "Where are you?" She asked as I walked around to the passenger's side.

"Nowhere." I quickly said, "We need to go." I added, opening the car door and immediately slipped inside, slamming the door right behind me. Julia looked at me for a split second, then got into her car as well. We were on the road within a minute. I glanced at the clock on her dashboard.

8:11.

When we pulled into my driveway, I unblocked my seat belt glancing at the clock again. It read 8:34. I sighed, squeezing my eyes closed.

"I'm late," I mumbled to myself, then thanked Julia for the car ride and shopping trip.

"Anytime." She replied. I opened the passenger door and got out of the car, shutting the door behind me. I watched as she pulled out and drove down the street.

Once she was out of sight, my smile faded into a frown as I walked up to my front door. I unlocked it, pecking my head inside to see if someone was waiting for me. I bit my bottom lip as I slipped inside and turned to shut the door softly, only making it slowly creak. I locked the door again, and that's when I heard a light pop on behind me.

"Ariel." An angry voice said.

"Shit," I whispered, cursing to myself, then turned around. I saw my dad sitting in his armchair in the corner of the living room, "Hi, Dad." I said, trying to act like nothing was wrong.

"Where the hell were you?" He asked, demanding as he shot up out of his chair and stormed over to me.

Great, he was already pissed off.

"I was out with Julia," I whispered as he hovered over me. He looked down at me, shaking his head.

"Don't lie to me." He shouted at me. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He grabbed the back of my neck and shoved me down onto the floor. I landed on my palms and whipped my head back to him.

"It's all your fault!" He shouted, storming over to me again. I didn't understand what he was talking about until he said, "She would still be alive if you didn't exist!"

Of course.

He was talking about my mom's murder.

"You should have never been born!" He shouted as he kneeled and started punching and kicking me everywhere, "You killed your mother!" I heard him shout as he struck me in the head,

Making me blackout.