I started writing this last night, so I've only got like, the first chapter done. I don't have a title for it yet either.
Also, I haven't gone through this yet to fix any grammatical errors or anything, so I'm sure a lot of it still needs fixing.
But will you please let me know what you think of this? And let me know whether or not you think I should continue writing this story?

Chapter one!

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Where am I? I don't recognize this place; an extravagant house in a rich neighborhood. I don't recognize these people. It appears that I'm at some sort of party, but who's? How did I get here? I keep wandering, searching the crowd of people for a familiar face, but coming up empty-handed. I walk up the staircase, in hopes of finding someone I know. How long have I been here? It feels like hours. I keep wandering and searching, searching, searching, searching.
Then I wake up.

Oh. It was just that dream again.

Every night, for the past three months, I've had the same re-occurring dream: I'm at a party, surrounded by people I don't know, in a house I've never been in. The whole time I'm just wandering around, trying to find someone I knew. But I never do.

I hear someone banging around the hallway, clambering up the stairs.

"Milli, wake up!" my mom screeched in her shrill voice.

"Coming!" I called back.

My name is Millicent Grace Johnson, though I just prefer "Milli." I have auburn colored hair and rich, deep brown eyes. I'm 5'2" and average sized. I'm just your regular 17 year old girl. Another face to blend in with the crowd. From the outside, I'm just another happy-go-lucky teenage girl.

But looks can be deceiving.

Two years ago, I was the victim of a horrific crime. A crime that only I, and the one who carried it out, know about.
Two summers back, I was just a care-free girl. I was loving life, and didn't have a problem in the world. I was at the beach with some friends, enjoying the sun, the water, the overall atmosphere. My friends went off and made their way down to the snack bar, while I walked the opposite direction to the bathrooms. It was at this point where my life was changed forever.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone standing behind the bathroom building. Not really knowing why, I walked up to the edge of the wall, peeked around the corner, and right there, out in the open, in broad daylight, I witnessed a murder.

I gasped aloud.

The murderer saw me, and I had no time to run. I was frozen with shock and fear. He started strangling me, so I wouldn't be able to scream. I flailed my arms and legs, hoping that somehow, I'd be able to hurt him in some way. Unfortunately, I didn't do any damage. I prayed with all my might that he would kill me quickly, that I wouldn’t have to suffer.

I felt sharp blows to my head, my back, my face, everywhere. I could feel the searing pain as a knife went through my forearm.

In that instant, adrenaline kicked in, and I managed to kick him in the gut and deliver a sharp blow to his face.

He could tell I wouldn't go without putting up a fight. He saw that there might be a chance of me getting away. He managed to pin my arms to my side, long enough to say,

"Look here, girl, I know who you are, and I know where you and your family live. If the authorities find out about this murder, I'll know it was you who snitched. You're the only witness. You tell them it was me, and I'll come back for you, for your friends and family as well. You say one word about this to anyone, and I'll make your life hell."
He then pushed me down to the ground, lunging at me, with his knife aimed for my chest. I managed to roll over just in time to avoid being stabbed again. He had just fallen to the ground when I got to my feet. After one hard kick to his head, I took off running.

I heard my mom yelling at me once more, bringing me back to the present.

"Milli, if you don't get up RIGHT now, then so help me I will, "

But I didn't bother listening to the rest of my mom's threat. I rolled over on my bed, picked up my MP3 player, put it on Karate High School (my favorite band), and tried to tune her out.

My mom and I had always had a good relationship, up until 2 years back. When I got home from the beach that day, covered in bruises and blood, looking abashed and completely frightened, no doubt, she continually asked me what was wrong, and what had happened.

I felt bound and compelled to keep what had happened a secret. I didn't want to tell anyone what happened. The guy said that he knew me, so I assumed he lived around this area. I knew that if I snitched, he would find out, and he'd come after my friends and family, and me. I wasn't worried about myself, necessarily, but I couldn't bear to know that I had a hand in the death of my friends and family.

I told her part of the truth; that I had gone to the bathrooms by myself at the beach, and someone jumped me. I never told her about the murder I witnessed, about narrowly avoiding death, or about the threats. Every time she broached the subject, I started talking about something else. My evasiveness ticked her off, made her suspicious. She started to assume that I had gotten into drugs, or drinking, and that someone had attacked me because I ripped them off on a deal. How she came to that conclusion, I have no clue. She should know me better than to think I'd get mixed up in anything like that.
Ever since then, we didn’t talk nearly as much, drifting farther and farther apart.

Mom had recently remarried; my dad disappeared when I was a little girl and has never been heard from since,

Ever since mom married John, our relationship has gone from bad to worse. John thought I was the most miserable excuse for a human being, didn't want to have anything to do with me, and tried to talk my mom into throwing me out of the house.

She wouldn't, of course, but she might as well have. My step-dad's negativity towards me rubbed off on my mom and she started to act and think the same way as him. So now, according to them, I was nothing. I was worthless.

The only interaction we have now is when she's yelling at me to clean the dishes, or do her laundry, or go run errands for her. It was like I was her own personal slave.
"MILLI!!!" I heard my mom call from downstairs.

Not wanting to put up with her today, I rolled out of my bed, dressed swiftly, ran my fingers through my hair, and quickly applied a bit of eyeliner and chapstick. I snuck out of my window, agilely climbing down the tree that was right next to the side of the house.

I wasn't sure where I was going. I was just happy to be out of the house. Away from my mother.

I walk down the street, grateful to be away from home, if only for a little while. I put my iPod on Mae, another favorite band, enjoying the calm and serene atmosphere. I tilted my head back and stared up at the sky, letting the warmth of the blazing Texas sun soak through my skin.

I decided I'd go visit my best friends, Alex and Bo.

Alex was a smart, good-looking guy, who had black hair and bright blue eyes. He was tall, and always wore a dazzling smile. He was into music, reading, and playing guitar.

Bo was athletic, tall, and husky, with blonde hair and green eyes. He was the kind of guy who was loud and obnoxious, but you couldn’t help but love. Bo was mainly interested in sports, fast cars, and girls.

I never seemed to fit in with any of the girls my age. I was more of a "spend the day having belching contests and playing video games" than "spend the day shopping, gossiping, and gushing over hot guys" kind of girl.

And not even Bo and Alex, my best friends of about 4 years, knew my horrible secret.

I sent Alex a text, asking him if they wanted to hang out. He replied quickly, seeming eager and accepted the invite. I was overjoyed by his eagerness, but I would never let that be known to anyone.

"Hey Bo! Hey Alex!" I called when they came into sight as I was walking down the sidewalk about five minutes later.

"Hey Milli! You look nice today." Alex had said, flashing a brilliant smile, only to be made fun of by Bo, shortly after. ("Got yourself a girlfriend, eh, Alex?"

I could feel my cheeks turning pink.

The relationship between Alex and I was more than just your average friendship. He was my best friend. I could talk to him about anything, at any time. He was always there for me, as I was for him.

And each and every day I found myself falling more and more in love with that boy.

"Thanks, Alex." I had said, ducking my head to hide my embarrassment.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Alex had asked.

"Let's go toilet-paper someone's house, or egg someone's car!" Bo suggested. He was always up for anything that would most likely get us in trouble.

"How about we just go back to my place and chill?" Alex said.

"That sounds good to me." I agreed. I was up for anything Alex wanted to do.

So we stayed at Alex's house, playing video games and listening to music, eating junk food and talking about "the good old days." We were all laughing and having a good time, and everything was going fine until Alex said,

"Hey, whatever happened to you that one day at the beach? We all looked for you after we got back from the snack bar, but we couldn't find you anywhere."

I could feel the color drain from my face; I didn't know what to say.

None of my friends ever mentioned my sudden disappearance that day. Why would he bring it up now?

"Uhmm, my mom had called me. She wanted me to come home quickly for some reason, but I can't remember why." I lied quickly.

"But you didn't get a cell phone until about 6 months ago, how did your mother call you at the beach?" Bo pointed out.

I started mumbling something about payphones, knowing that what I was saying didn't make any sense. I got up quickly and said that I needed to get going. Bo thought nothing of it, but Alex could tell something was up. In my haste to get out, Alex stopped me, grabbing me by the wrist, spinning me around, and putting his hands on my shoulders, momentarily making me lose my train of thought.

"Okay, what's going on here?" He asked, his face stern.

I just gazed back into his ocean eyes, seeing nothing but concern for me in them.

"Nothing," I retorted.

"C'mon Milli, don't lie to me like that. I know something's up, or you wouldn't have reacted that way. I know you too well. Now spill."

"Look, I've really got to go, before my mom finds out where I've been." And that really wasn't a lie.

I quickly made my way back home, feeling jumpy and nervous. Them bringing up the subject of that day at the beach made my buried memories of what happened come back to the surface of my thoughts. I was thinking of the murderer. Thinking of the guy he killed, lying on the ground, blood spilling from his chest. Thinking of him attacking me, and the threats he made. I was feeling anxious the whole time I was walking home.

I knew it was ridiculous for me to have reacted that way when they asked me what had happened. Why did I freak out that way? It wasn't like me to lose my head like that. Why couldn't I have just created a simple lie and convinced them it was nothing?

What happened two years ago was something I tried very hard to not think about. The very thought of it always made me jumpy and nervous.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I always feared that that man would come back for me. That he would come back to finish off what he had started two years ago.

I was almost certain he was never caught. I watched the news often to hear if they had ever caught the guy in the case of "the murder at the beach", but they never did.

I thought, or hoped, really, that maybe he was caught somewhere else. That maybe he had committed a crime elsewhere, and that he was put away for that.

But I knew that it was a vain hope.

Chapter two!

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Consciousness was threatening to override my dream. My eyelids fluttered and I rolled over a let out a muffled groan. I was not ready to wake up; I’m much too exhausted. Feeling dazed and slightly disoriented, I pulled myself up. I looked over at the clock; it’s 5:00 in the morning. Ugh. It’s Monday.

I got up and got ready methodically, taking a shower, blow-drying and straightening my hair, and then started fussing over what I was going to wear. I finally settled with a pair of black skinny jeans, my favorite band tee, and silver ballet flats. After applying some eyeliner, I dug my books out of my backpack and looked over my homework, checking the answers. I needed to do something to kill the time. I woke up much too early today.

I'm a junior at Spring Hill High School in Longview. I've gone to school there for practically my whole life, with the exception of two years. Those two years, I was attending elementary school in California.

I was born in Texas, but my mom had moved to California for a few years, to live with some family. But all too soon, she started to miss the blazing heat, the big cities, and the Mexican food back home. So, after I finished 2nd grade, my mom and I moved back to Texas.

High-school definitely hasn’t lived up to its’ expectations thus far. It’s said to be some of the best years of your life, but for me, it’s just like any other time.

I’m not a reject at school, but I’m not popular. People know me, but they don’t talk to me often. Bo and Alex are in a lot of my classes though, so I have that to look forward to.

Mr. Bowler was rambling on and on about electromagnetism, whiles Alex and I sat in the back of class playing Hangman on the back of an old math quiz of mine.

"So what was up with you on Saturday?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, playing dumb. I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"When I started asking you about that day at the beach… you got all freaked out and started rambling. That’s not like you."

"Oh, I was just worried. I had snuck out of my window to go and see y’all, and I wanted to hurry and get back before my mom would notice that I was missing." I replied, shrugging it off.

Mr. Bowler interrupted with a question, then, so he didn’t have a chance to broach the subject again.

The bell rang, and I jumped out of my seat, grabbed my books and my binder, and shoved them into my messenger bag. Alex caught me before I was able to leave the classroom, and, worried that he was going to bring up the subject again, I said the first thing that popped into my mind.

"So who are you taking to the back-to-school dance?" I asked, while we were walking to Spanish 2 together.

"I dunno," he said, contemplating, "I was thinking about asking Jessica Wheeler."

"Oh," was all I could manage to say.

"Who are you going with?" he asked, with what seemed to be intense curiosity.

"Eh, I don't know really. I might not go at all." I wasn't much into dancing, or any kind of school function, for that matter.

"Why don't you ask Skylar? He seems like he's into you."

Skylar is a guy I’ve known for several years. He’s a junior, like me. He has brown eyes and light brown hair, which is usually styled in little spikes all over the place. He’s the captain of the soccer team.

I looked up at Alex, stared at his perfect face, gazed into his eyes, so mesmerizing and hypnotizing, and blurted out the truth.
"Nah, I'm not going to bother with Skylar. I've already got my eye on someone else." I said. I could feel the color rushing to my cheeks. I wish I could just cut my tongue out.

Thankfully, we had reached our next class, so nothing more was said after that. I took my seat next to Anthony, while Alex took his seat behind me, next to a red-headed girl with freckles. I had this nagging feeling that Alex was staring at me, but I didn't dare turn around in my seat to find out. The final bell rang, and we all made our way to the parking lot.

Alex and I rode to school Bo; we all lived within 5 miles of each other, so he picked us up every morning in his Nissan Versa.

Bo was already at his car, leaning against the side, when Alex and I walked out of the building. I could see Bo scrutinizing the looks on our faces; no doubt a hint of awkwardness on them.

The car ride home was quiet, as far as conversation between me and Alex goes. Bo and I talked for a while, mainly about music. We always got into arguments over which bands were the best. I’ll try to convince him that rock music is better than country, but he doesn’t agree with me. He’ll try to make me listen to Brad Paisley, and I’ll try to get him to listen to Alesana, all to no avail. Alex sat quietly in the back seat, looking quite deep in thought.

Bo pulled up to my house, which was a fairly decent-sized, two story house, with blue shutters and burgundy doors. I hopped out of the car, waved at Bo and Alex, and walked up the steps to my house.

My mom was at home, of course. She never left the house these days. She sits around all day, drowning her sorrows in a bottle of booze. I walked in her room, asked her if she needed anything, ("Yeah, for you to get the hell away from me.", and ran up to my room to start on the massive pile of homework we were assigned today.

Forgetting about my homework for the moment, I laid on my bed and stared up at the ceiling, wishing for something, though I wasn't quite sure what it was.

My life wasn't horrible; my mom and step-dad treat me like crap, but it could be worse. I wasn't really deprived of anything; I got everything that I needed. I had the best friends a girl could ever ask for. But it still felt like something in my life was missing. Something was lacking.

Contemplating this, I picked up my guitar and started playing. Not really playing a song, but just playing a series of random chords, figuring out what sounds good together and what doesn't. I created a little melody consisting of the A minor, D minor, E, and E minor chords. I quickly jotted it down in my spiral notebook, which consisted of poems and songs I’ve written over the years.

Music had always been a big part of my life. Music and reading. There's nothing I enjoyed more than hearing a killer guitar solo and some heartfelt lyrics, or curling up and reading a good book. It was my temporary escape from the let-downs of reality.

I put down my guitar, laying back down on my bed, thinking about life. My eyes scanned around my room, not looking for anything in particular. I let my eyes rest on my bookshelf, reading the names of each book.

I was in the middle of deciding whether I wanted to re-read Pride and Prejudice or the Harry Potter series, when I heard my phone go off.

Someone had sent me a text message.

I picked up my phone, hoping that the text was from Alex, when I read it and it said "I see you."

Quickly, I scrolled down on my phone to see who had sent it. It said "Sender: Unknown."

Weird. As far as I knew, it wasn't possible to block your number in a text message.

Thinking it was a joke from one of my friends, I called Alex and asked him if he had sent it. I didn't think he would do something like that, but I thought I would check, just in case. He said he hadn't sent it, and I could tell he was being honest.

I hung up with Alex and called Bo, whom I knew would do something like this. But when I asked him about it, he sincerely sounded like he didn't do it, and I believed him.

Freaking out, I looked at the text message again, and again. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't text back, as there wasn't any number. Therefore, I couldn't try calling, either.

Then it hit me, like a truck running into a brick wall at 200 miles per hour – what if it was him?

I stood there holding my phone, hands quivering, body trembling. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't tell anyone, of course not. His threat was definitely not something I had forgotten.

Frantically, I went to my window, locked it, pulled down the blinds, and drew the curtains closed. I ran to my door, pulled it shut, locked the doorknob, and slid the sliding lock to the left, locking that one as well.

I sat back down on my bed, staring intently at the window with wide eyes. How long I sat there, I don't know, but next thing I knew, I was waking up to the bright light of the early morning. I sat up, feeling slightly dizzy, thoughts buzzing around in my head like angry bees.

Did I dream it all up?

I looked at the windows, blinds down, curtains drawn. I looked at my door, the doorknob locked and the sliding lock at the top slid into place.

Maybe it wasn't a dream, I thought.

I picked up my cell phone, the clock claiming that it was 6:30 in the morning, looked through my text messages, and sure enough, the text was there, from the unknown sender, saying "I see you."

I was a nervous wreck all morning. I woke up late, so I had to get ready for school quickly; Bo and Alex would be here in an hour. I still had homework to finish, and my hair was all matted, no doubt from me tossing and turning so much in my sleep last night.

I finally brushed through the tangled chaos that was my hair, showered quickly, towel-drying my hair and rubbing some gel into it (it was naturally wavy), and finished up the last bit of homework I had left. I ran down the stairs, popped two waffles in the toaster, and started to fix my make-up at the kitchen table.

At that moment, I heard four quick knocks on the front door. I swiftly ran over to the toaster, grabbed my waffles, flung my hair brush and make-up into my school bag, and ran to the door. I looked through the peep-hole before opening the door, and then swung it open to see Bo and Alex sitting on my porch, talking about some concert coming up.

"Heya, Milli! Good morning." Bo greeted me.

"Mornin' Bo." I replied.

Bo made his way down the steps towards his car, but Alex stopped right in front of me, blocking the way.

"Milli, you look like a train wreck," he said, looking over my face, seeing the fear in my eyes, my frantic expression. "What is going on here?"

And to that, I didn't know what to say.

I stared back into the face of my best friend, the guy that I loved more fiercely than I've ever loved anyone else, trying to make a decision.

Should I tell him the truth?

Chapter 3!
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I sat in the back seat of Bo’s car, listening to my iPod, and singing along in my head to one of my favorite songs by Mae.

Lately I’m alright,
Lately, I’m not scared.
I figured out that what you to do me,
Feels like floating on air.

Bo and Alex looked back at me like I was crazy. Crap. Did I just sing that out loud? How embarrassing.

Every so often, I’d catch Alex throwing impassive glances at me. I didn’t answer his question; I didn’t tell him what was going on. I just walked passed him, not saying a word, and got in the car.

He definitely knows by now that something’s up. What else would explain my abnormal behavior? I tried to act like it was nothing, and that he was just overreacting, but he saw straight through me.

We all made our way to our first class; English. We were lucky enough to all have this class together. I slyly glanced over at Alex; his expression is hard and he looks like he’s in a bad mood. I tried to lighten things up by making a joke about our bald-headed gym coach, Mr. Williams, who very strongly resembles Mr. Clean. This joke had no effect on him, though, most days it’ll have him laughing hysterically.

I fervently wished that Bo would go off on his own; Alex and I needed to talk. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to him, but I needed to say something.

We finally made it to English, and I was surprised when Alex didn’t take his normal seat right next to me. Instead, he went and sat in the desk next to Jessica Wheeler, the girl he said he might ask to the Back-To-School dance, and they started chatting away.

Jealousy burned inside me, but I tried to reel it in. Why should I let this bother me? I’ve known all along that Alex and I were just friends. I knew that our relationship wouldn’t progress any farther than friendship.

I tried to force them from my mind. Needing a distraction, I turned to Bo, who was sitting behind me, and chattered away until the teacher came in the room.

Three more classes were over with, and Alex and I still hadn’t talked. I was determined to get him alone during lunchtime, to try and sort everything out. Things had never been like this between us before. All such plans were ruined, when I saw him sitting at a table alone, with the exception of Jessica.

I was so mad, and so jealous. I was mostly mad at Jessica, irrational as that may be. I knew there was no reason why I should be mad at her. She hadn’t done anything wrong. But I couldn’t help but feel this strong resentment towards her.

Bo, Alex, and I had always sat together during lunch. Well, apparently Alex wouldn't be joining us today, I thought sarcastically. I scanned the cafeteria, looking for Bo, but came up empty-handed. I didn’t see him anywhere. He must have skipped lunch to go practice football; he did that occasionally.

The lunchroom was already packed, and there wasn’t anywhere for me to sit. I was just about to turn around and walk out of the cafeteria, when I heard Skylar calling my name.

"Milli! Hey, Milli! Why don’t you come sit with me?" He asked.

I walked over to his table and sat down, feeling kind of self-conscious. Skylar was one of the more popular guys, and he usually had a different girl on his arm every week. Why would he want to talk to me?

"So… what’s up?" He asked, sounding awkward.

"Nothing much," I said, feeling pretty awkward myself. "Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Err, well… I was kind of wondering if maybe… if maybe you’d like to go to the Back-To-School dance with me?"

I was just about to turn him down, when I looked over and saw Alex and Jessica, flirting and giggling, and Jessica putting her hands on him every chance she could get.

Hoping in vain that it would make Alex jealous, I instantly accepted his invitation.

"Sure, Skylar, I’d love to go with you." I said, with a sweet smile. Skylar’s responding smile lit up the room.

Not wanting to deal with any more awkward silences, I quickly said, "Hey, I have to go, but I’ll catch you later?"

Skylar just nodded and smiled in reply.

The rest of the day dragged by slowly. I was counting down the minutes to the final bell, when I would finally be able to talk to Alex. I caught up with him in the hallway, stealing a quick glance at his face. He obviously wasn’t out of his bad mood yet.

"Hey, what’s with you?" I asked him.

"What’s with me? What’s with you?" He snapped.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." I said, though we both knew that I knew what he was talking about. He was angry. His next words came out in a rush.

"Look, Milli. We’ve been best friends for four years now. I’ve always been there for you, no matter what. Whenever you needed me, I was there. Lately, you’ve been acting so strange, so different. You’re not yourself anymore. You’re always looking anxious, and you’re extremely jumpy. I know that something is going on, something major, so don’t play dumb. If you can’t trust me enough to tell me what it is then maybe we’re not as good as friends as I thought we were."

We had stopped walking. I stared at his face, his features a mix of fury and anguish. I could tell that I had really hurt him by being so secretive. But what was I supposed to do? If I didn’t tell him the truth, it might mess things up between us. He feels like I don’t trust him. But if I do tell him, how do I know that he won’t go running off and tell someone? If I told him, he would get worried, he would freak out, because someone tried to kill me, because someone threatened me. He would want to protect me, and he would end up telling the police the whole thing. And obviously, the police are the last people that I would want to know what had happened.

Of course, I couldn’t be certain that he would do that, but I knew there was a good chance that he would.

I looked up at his face, at his deep, pleading eyes.

I was torn.

What I wanted more than anything in the world right now was to be able to tell him the truth. Tell him the truth so that we would be on good terms again. If there was one thing I hated more than anything else in this world, it was causing him pain. And it was clear on his face that I was causing him an immeasurable amount of pain right now.

"Alex…" I said, placing my hand on his shoulder.

Before I could say anything else, he shrugged my hand off of his shoulder and walked off.

The car ride home with Bo and Alex was one of the quietest rides ever. Bo knew something was up between Alex and me, but he didn’t dare bring it up with both of us present.

I hopped out of the car quickly, anxious to get out of that tense atmosphere. I walked in the house, trudged up the stairs, and chunked my school bag on my desk. I sprawled out on my bed, thinking about everything that happened today.

I was so frustrated I wanted to cry.

The murderer sent me that text (I was almost certain it was him), saying he could see me, so did that mean he was spying on me; trying to see if I’ve told anyone yet? What if I confided in Alex, and the murderer happened to find out? I couldn’t bear that.

My life without Alex in it wouldn’t be much of a life at all. He was the very best part of my life. This wasn't just your average ordinary teenage infatuation; I was so deeply in love with Alex, it was ridiculous. With one look, he knocked me off my feet. The sound of his voice took my breath away. His smile never failed to make me feel weak all over.

A loud, shrill tapping on my window pulled me out of my abstraction. I froze with fear. Certainly that wouldn’t be him, the murderer. Could it be?

I didn’t know what to do. I figured I should probably run, but I couldn’t seem to make my legs move in the right direction.

I slowly inched closer toward my window, and much to my relief, I saw that it was just a little jay bird; he had gotten stuck in the tree next to my window.

"Calm down," I said to myself, "You’re just letting your imagination run wild."

Slowly, I made my way back to my bed, and plopped down, suddenly feeling exhausted. I picked up my cell phone, went to my contacts, and went to Alex’s name.

I probably sat there for about 30 minutes, staring at my phone, at his number, debating. Finally, I hit "options" and then "create new text message."

Fingers trembling, I typed "Two years ago, I witnessed a murder. The murderer caught me, and tried to finish me off, but I escaped. He had threatened me, saying if I told anyone that he would come back for me, my friends and family."

I lay there for another 10 minutes, my finger hovering over the "send" button. Finally, with a resigned sigh, I pressed "send." I rolled over in my bed, quickly glancing at my clock, which claimed that it was 2:30 in the morning, and prayed for a peaceful sleep.

Y d break? i was actually feeling the flow of d story, its rily nice, i wish u wud go on wit it cos u are doin real great.

[color=#006600][/color] O my Gawd, dis is da bomb. its wonderful. trhe flow gets more captivating as you progress. pleaze, write the next chapter.
but here's my rating:
diction: 50%
style: 70%
choice of words: 70%

plz, keep writing!!!!

Aww, thanks, you guys!
Here's chapter 4!
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Chapter 4

I rolled over in my bed and looked at the clock; it was 6 in the morning. I felt groggy and restless, but I slowly stumbled out of my bed and headed towards the bathroom to take a shower. After my shower, I dried off quickly, and went to my bedroom and put on the first clothes I could find. I didn't really care about what I looked like today. I pulled on my shoes and threw my hair up in a ponytail.

Remembering the text that I had sent to Alex early this morning, I made my way towards my nightstand and picked up my cell phone. I had one new text message. I went to my inbox, and then to the text that Alex had sent. It said, "I'll be at your house around 7. We need to talk."

I breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't seem to be freaking out about this, so hopefully I wouldn't have to worry about him telling someone. I made my way downstairs to get something to eat. I ate my breakfast, not really paying attention to what I was eating. I was too lost in thought to pay much attention to anything. I still had about 15 minutes until 7. Needing something to do to distract me, I dithered around the kitchen, tidying up here and there, and quickly put a load of dishes in the dishwasher.

A few quick knocks on the door made my heart jump. I quickly ran towards the front door and pulled it open. Alex stood there, with an expression on his face I didn't really understand; it was hard, cold.

He ushered me outside onto the front porch. "So this is what's been going on?" he asked, with an edge of bitterness to his tone, and held up his phone, showing me the text that I had sent him.

"Yes," I replied. I didn't know what else to say.

"So, you saw this guy murder someone, then, he attacked you, threatened you, and now he's got you scared silly. Correct?" He asked sharply.

"Yes," I said, looking down at my feet. I didn't understand his tone, his hostility.

"Well, I guess you kind of deserve it, after what you've put me through these past few days." He spat.

"What?" I asked, incomprehension clear on my face. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What's going on? What are you talking about?" I asked, feeling hurt and confused.

He just laughed, a cold, bitter laugh.

"I'm sorry, Milli," he said harshly, "but I'm not getting myself sucked into this situation."

I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. "Don't you care?" I asked, my voice weak and shaky.

"Care?" He threw his head back and barked his cold, bitter laugh. "Not in the slightest. I'm sorry, Milli, but you're on your own here."

And with that, he turned his back towards me, and walked away.

I was in hysterics. Tears were pouring down my face, and I felt numb all over. I couldn't make myself move from where I was standing. I couldn't believe what he had just said, the way he acted.

Suddenly, a shrill buzzing sound in my head made me jerk upright. I was still in my bed.

It was just a dream.

I leaned back against the headboard of my bed, and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand; I had been crying in my sleep.

I looked over at my nightstand, my clock saying that it was 6 in the morning, and I picked up my cell phone. I had one new text message. I opened it quickly, and saw that it was from Alex. It said, "I'll be at your house around 7. We need to talk."

An abrupt wave of de ja vu washed over me. I tried to shake it off, and got off of my bed and made my way to the bathroom. I took an extra long time in the shower, letting the hot water relax my muscles. I got out and finished getting ready quickly, because it was already 6:45. I went downstairs and made two pieces of toast, not having much of an appetite. I heard Alex knocking on the door then, and opened it quickly.

He just stood there and stared at me, for what seemed like an eternity, with a pained expression. Then, all of a sudden, he ran up to me and locked me in a vice tight hug. We stood there like that for a moment, and then, he took my face in his hands and said,
"Why on earth didn't you tell me sooner?"

But I couldn't answer; I had started crying. I was feeling so many different emotions. I was scared, because I was thinking about the murderer. Thinking about him coming back for me, or coming after Alex. I felt guilty for dragging Alex into this situation; what if something happened to him? But mostly, I felt relieved. Relieved because I was finally able to tell someone the truth. I didn't have to hold it in anymore, and let it eat away at me.

He pulled me back into a hug, and pressed his lips to my hair.
"Shhh, settle down, honey. Everything will be fine." He assured me.

And in that instant, I felt fine. I wasn't scared or worried. In his arms, I felt safe from any kind of harm. I just stood there, letting him hold me. It seemed as though we only stood there like that for a few short minutes, but it must have been a while, because we saw Bo pulling up against the curb in front of my house.

Bo was making his way up the stone steps when Alex finally let go of me.
"Don't worry about a thing, hun, I'm not going to let anyone hurt my girl." He whispered, only for my ears to hear.

Bo finally made his way to the porch, eyeing the two of us suspiciously.
"Thought you’d come here early so you could have Milli all to yourself, eh, Alex?" He asked with a laugh.

"yes, you caught me, Bo." Alex replied in an off-handed tone, trying to make a joke of it, but not succeeding. Bo knew something was up; he could see it on Alex's face. But, for some reason, he didn't voice his questions.

We all walked to Bo's car, but, instead of taking his seat in the front, Alex slid in the backseat with me. The whole duration of the ride, Alex had his hand tightly around mine, our fingers interlocked, while his other arm was around my shoulders. I knew that that was just because he was trying to comfort me, but I couldn't help but think of how it would be if things were like this between us all the time. If he held my hand because he wanted to, because he felt the same way for me as I felt for him, and not just because he felt obligated to comfort me.

Whatever his reason for doing that was, at the moment, I didn't care. I laid my head on his shoulder, dreaming of what could be, what should be. I didn't ever want him to let go of me.

Chapter 4 (continued)
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All too soon, we made it to the school. Alex let go of me, and we all made our way to English class. Alex walked as close to me as was physically possible, like he was expecting someone to attack at any second. I noticed that Bo kept looking over at Alex and I, trying to be surreptitious about it. His features were a mix of confusion and frustration. He still hadn't said anything about Alex and I, so I figured he had already made assumptions, and that Alex had proved those assumptions to be correct. To Bo, or any outsider, really, it probably seemed as though me and Alex were dating now. I think that's what Bo had assumed when we were on my front porch, and now Alex's behavior confirmed it for him. Oh, how I would love for those assumptions to be true.

We walked into our classroom and made our way to our seats.

"Hey, Alex, why don't you come sit by me?" Jessica called, a smile spreading across her face.

But Alex wasn't even listening to her. His eyes were locked on mine. I tried to suppress the joy that that brought me; I knew he was only acting that way because of the situation.

The next three classes, Alex acted the same way; walking as close as possible, and paying attention to no one but me. Bo tagged along with us, with a somewhat resigned expression that I didn't really understand.

The three of us walked into the cafeteria together. We had all just sat down when Skylar approached me.
"Hey, Milli! So, we're still on for the Back-To-School Dance this Saturday, right?" he asked, appraising the close proximity between Alex and I, and shooting dirty looks at him.

Dang. I had forgotten all about going to the dance with him.

"Yeah, definitely," I replied with false enthusiasm. He didn't see through it, though.

"Alright," he said, grabbing my wrist, "I look forward to seeing you then. His eyes locked with mine, and, after one quick kiss on my hand, he left.

"What was that all about?" Alex asked, speaking for what seemed to be the first time in years; he hadn't spoken all morning.

"Ehh, nothing, really." I replied, "Yesterday, Skylar asked me to go to the dance with him, and I agreed to go with him."

"Why?" Alex, who seemed completely befuddled, wondered.

"Well, I didn't want to be rude and say no," I replied, confused by his question, "and besides, I figured I might as well go with him. I didn't think anyone else would ask me."

Alex turned his head and muttered something under his breath. It sounded like he had said, "Why would you think that?", but I couldn't be sure.

Poor Bo just sat there, scratching his head and looking as confused as ever.

The bell rang then, signaling the end of our lunch break. Alex and I made our way towards our next class - physics - while Bo went to Spanish. On the way, Alex asked me all kinds of random questions; my favorite animal, favorite color, favorite flowers, favorite food, favorite candy, favorite video game, favorite movie, and more.
"Why are you so curious all of a sudden?" I asked, wondering what brought on this sudden interest.

"I don't know," he replied "I just feel like there's so much about you I don't know.

"Oooh, I see." I said, not really knowing what to say to that.

He continued to question me about casual, random things, when he surprised me by asking, "So, why is it that you don't have a boyfriend?"

It took me a second to answer. "Well, I guess the right guy just hasn't come along." I said, looking down. "Or," I added, "maybe he has, but he just hasn't caught on yet." I peeked over at him from the side.

Crap. Did I seriously just say that out loud? I wanted to shoot myself in the foot.

I could see a small smile playing around the edges of his lips, making me feel even more embarrassed. So, before he could say anything, I quickly asked,
"So, why is it that you don't have a girlfriend?"

He thought for a second, and said, "I guess the right girl just hasn't come along. Or, maybe she has, but she just hasn't caught on yet." His eyes locked on mine, and his smile grew more pronounced.

Feeling kind of awkward and self-conscious, I broke our eye contact and looked down at the floor. We had reached our physics class room at this point, so the questioning stopped. I knew I should be paying attention to what Mr. Bowler was teaching, but I couldn't stay focused on him for very long. My mind kept wandering back to the conversation between me and Alex. What brought on the random questioning? And why the sudden interest in my love life? I couldn't figure it out.

The bell rang, and I got up to make my way to my next class; P.E. Alex walked me to the door, and then he headed towards his math class.

The gym was on the other side of the school; you had to walk out of the main building, and then through the outside eating area to get to it. I walked down to the end of the hall, and opened one of the double doors, leading out into the bright light of the sunny afternoon.

I just got to the outside eating area, when I noticed a man walking towards the main building. He was holding something in his hand. I couldn't be sure, but I thought that it was a photograph. I knew at once he wasn't a teacher; he looked completely confused, and his face wasn't really familiar. I kept my head down and started walking again. We bumped into each other a few seconds later, and I looked up at his face. He held my gaze for what seemed like forever. His face wasn't all that familiar, but his eyes, his deep, dark brown eyes, I could have sworn I had seen them before. An expression of recognition lit up his face, and he leaned forward to get a closer look. I dropped his gaze and quickly made my way towards the gym. With one backwards glance, I noticed that he hadn't moved an inch from where he stood when he stared at my face. He watched me the whole time I walked towards the gym. Finally, I reached the doors of the gym, and, with one last glance back, I saw that he was still watching me. I opened the doors quickly and ran inside.

if u wrote this, then u are good,
pls dont keep us waiting

Chapter 5
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When P.E. was over, I called Alex and asked him to walk over to the gym to walk me out. I was still freaked out about that strange man that was wandering around the school grounds. He agreed at once, and said he'd be there in about 5 minutes.

I had a feeling that the man walking around might have been him, the murderer, but I couldn't be sure. During our one encounter, I never really had the chance to get a good look at his face, seeing as how he was trying to kill me and all. When he pinned my arms to my side, to get a chance to threaten me, my back was towards him, so I didn't see him at that point either. But, a few times, I got a slight glimpse of his face, of his brown eyes. The man wandering around had brown eyes as well, but I couldn't be sure if they looked the same as the murderer's or not; it had been too long since I had seen them. All I knew was that those eyes looked incredibly familiar.

Alex walked in the gym then, and bombarded me with questions. I explain what had happened on my way over to the gym, about the strange man wandering around, and how I thought it looked like he was holding a photograph.

"So, you think it was the murderer?" He asked, his expression worried.

"I'm not really sure. It could be. But that man looked so confused, I'm not really sure what to make of it." I replied, feeling kind of worried myself.

Alex stopped walking and stared into my eyes, and then hugged me tightly.
"Don't worry about a thing, hun. I told you, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

We walked back to the main building, Alex's arm wrapped tightly around my waist, and made our way to Bo's car. On our way, we received many suspicious looks from students walking around, and I got the death stare from Jessica. Immature as it may be, a huge, smug smile spread across my face. I couldn't help it; the look on her face was priceless. Alex fleetingly looked over at Jessica, with an uncaring expression, and looked away.

"So, " I said when we were safely out of Jessica's hearing range, "did you ever ask Jessica to the Back-To-School dance?"

"Nope."

"Oh, why not?" I wondered.

"I had someone else in mind, but she's already agreed to go with someone else." He replied, with a sly glance in my direction.

"Who were you going to ask?" I inquired, curious.

But he didn't get the chance to answer. Bo had caught up with us as soon as I asked.

"Wow, Milli. I still can't believe you're going to the dance with Skylar. The whole school is talking about it!" Bo said, sounding astounded. Alex looked kind of mad.

"Bleh. I'm not too happy about it." I responded, with an apathetic tone.

Bo just looked at me like I was crazy, while a small smile spread across Alex's face.

"So, who are you going to the dance with, Bo?" I asked.

"Ehh, no one. I couldn't get up the nerve to ask anyone, and by the time I did, all the girls I were interested in had already said yes to other people." He said, looking bummed out.

"You could take Alex as your date," I said with a chuckle, "he didn't ask anyone either."

"What? He told me he was going to ask yo-" he was cut off by Alex, who had slyly elbowed him in the ribs.
"Uhh, your, mom" Bo continued.

"Rightttt, " I said, laughing. "But seriously, why don't you two guys go with each other? I don't want to go if my best friends aren't going to be there."

And to that, Alex stopped walking, grabbed Bo's wrist, and Alex got down on one knee. From his pocket, he pulled out the first thing he could find, which was a piece of gum. He held it out to Bo, and said "Bo, would you do me the honor of being my date to the dance?"

Bo took the piece of gum, and, through false sobs, he replied, "I would be delighted, and honored, to be your date, Alex."

Alex got off of his knees and embraced Bo tightly.

"Okay, seriously you guys, I'm not going to hang out with you two if y'all keep this up." I said, laughing the hardest I had laughed in the past several days.

We started walking towards the parking lot again, and Alex leaned over and whispered, "It's good to see you smiling again. Happy looks good on you." And to that, I couldn't help but smile some more, and Alex let out a small chuckle.

We got to the car, and Alex let me have shotgun. The whole time we were in the car, we were all laughing and having fun and arguing about stupid stuff. I tried talking Alex and Bo into wearing matching ties, but they refused. Then they went on to tease me about how weird it would be to see me in a dress, and a formal dress, at that.

With the exception of the mysterious man at school, I had a really good day. The best day I've had in a long time. I hadn't felt this cheerful in quite a while.

Bo pulled up to the curb in front of my house, and after saying our goodbyes to Bo, Alex and I hopped out of the car; Alex had driven over here this morning to come see me.

Bo drove off and Alex walked me to the door. "Would you like to come inside?" I offered.

"I cant. I have to get my dad's truck back to him by 4:30." He replied with a sigh.

"Oh okay. Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow," he repeated, taking a loose lock of my hair and tucking it back behind my ear. He turned around and headed for his truck in the driveway. I waited until he pulled out and drove off, and then I went inside and ran up the stairs. I went to my bedroom and picked up the vase on my bookshelf where I kept my money. I counted it, and figured I probably didn't have enough for a dress. I decided to be brave and go ask my mom if she could lend me some money. I walked into her room, and was surprised to see her smile at me.

"You need something?" She asked, without the usual bitter undertone.

"Well," I said hesitantly, "There's this dance in two days, and I was wondering if maybe I could borrow a little bit of money to get a dress? I don't think I have enough."

"Sure," she said, to my amazement, "I'd be glad to help out." She leaned over and picked up her purse, searching for her wallet. She pulled out her credit card, handed it to me and said, "And why don't you get you some jewelery and shoes as well?"

"Thanks a ton, mom, I really appreciate it." I replied, wondering what had gotten into her. "Oh, hey," I added, "would it be okay if I borrowed the car for a while?"

"Of course." She replied.

"Okay, thanks again, mom."

"No problem, sweetie."

I walked back to my room, trying to figure out why my mom was being so nice all of a sudden. I couldn't figure it out, but whatever it was, I was glad. Maybe we'd be able to salvage our relationship after all.

I drove to our local department store, in search of the perfect dress. I wanted to make sure I looked especially good, but not necessarily for Skylar. I had someone else in mind.

The Back-To-School dance wasn't a dance to get super dressed up for, so I was wanting to find a shorter, more casual dress, and in green. Everyone always told me that green goes the best with my hair and skin color. After 30 minutes of searching, I found the perfect dress. It was knee-length in the front, and went down to the middle of my calves in the back, and it was emerald green. It was a halter dress, and it had no back. I then made my way towards the shoes, and quickly found a pair that looked really good with my dress; silver peep-toes with a strap that goes around the ankle. After that, I found a pair of simple silver dangling earring, which came with a matching necklace. I went to the register and checked out, then made my way back home.

I was just about to pull onto my street when I looked over, and saw the strange man from school. I quickly looked over at the stoplight, then back to the sidewalk where I had seen him, but there wasn't anyone there. He couldn't have disappeared like that; it wasn't really like there was anywhere to hide.

Wow, I'm losing my mind, I thought to myself. I was probably just making myself see things. I finally pulled into our driveway. I grabbed my things quickly, and hurried into the house. I walked up the stairs and into my bedroom, and noticed my cell phone sitting on my nightstand still. I always forgot to take it with me. I set my bags down on my bed and picked up my phone. I had 4 new text messages and 2 missed calls.

The first text message was from Alex, asking what I was up to. The other three were also from Alex; he was worried because I hadn't responded to him. The missed calls were also from him. No doubt he was probably freaking out; he worried way too much.

I sent him a text message telling him to clam down, and explaining how I had just forgotten to take my phone with me, and then started on my homework. After I finished, I laid down on my bed and closed my eyes, thinking about today and how different things were between Alex and I. Surely he didn't think of me in a more than friendly kind of way, did he? I doubted as much, but what he had said and done today kind of suggested otherwise. He had never really shown any signs of liking me before, so why would he now? Did this whole situation just have him sort of confused? I couldn't figure it out. While I was contemplating this, I could feel consciousness slowly drifting away, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up to the light of the bright morning sun.

School proceeded on in the same manner as yesterday. Alex was being as protective as ever, walking as close to me as he could, and not letting me out of his sight unless it was absolutely necessary. Bo was still trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Alex walked me to P.E. today, even though he knew it would make him late for his own class. But he didn't need to bother; that strange man wasn't wandering around the campus today. I went home and did my homework, cleaned up the house a little, took a shower, and went to bed early.

I awoke to the the sound of my phone going off; someone had sent me a text message. I rose up out of my bed and picked up my phone. The text was from Alex, asking me if I wanted to ride with him and Bo to the dance. I accepted the offer, grateful that I wouldn't have to ride to the dance with Skylar. That's one awkward conversation I'd be glad to miss.

I hopped up out of bed and looked at the clock; it was 12:30 PM. Wow, I couldn't believe I had slept that long, especially since I went to bed early. I went downstairs to get something to eat. I had just placed a frozen pizza in the oven when I heard my mom walk into the kitchen.

"Hey Milli." she said, with a sheepish expression.

"Hey, mom. Need me to get anything for you?" I asked.

"No, that's okay, " she said, and hesitantly continued. "Milli, I just wanted to say that I, I'm sorry." And with that, she walked over towards me and gave me a huge hug, and started crying. "I don't know what got into me, honey, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I've put you through these last couple of years."

Nothing more was said after that. We just stood there for a while, hugging each other. And in that moment, I knew things would be better between us. I don't know what caused her to change, or why she suddenly felt bad for everything, but whatever the reason was, I didn't really care. I was just glad to have my mom back.

Chapter 6!
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I spent the majority of the day upstairs in my bathroom, getting ready for the dance. My mom popped in and out, helping me with whatever she could.

I applied my make-up sparingly; nothing looks worse that having on too much make-up. My mom came in after that and helped me style my hair into elegant curls. Looking down at my phone, I realized that I needed to hurry; it was 5:15 and Bo and Alex would probably be here within the next 15 minutes. I quickly ran into my room to put on my dress, shoes, and jewelery. My mom helped my slip my dress on carefully, trying to avoid messing up my curls. I put in the earrings, and then the necklace, and then slid on my shoes. I walked over to my full-length mirror to get a good look at myself, and to be honest, I liked what I saw. My dress clung to my body in exactly the right way, accentuating my features perfectly. My necklace drew attention towards my neck, and the heels gave me a bit of added height, without overdoing it.

I turned towards my mom to get her opinion. "So, what do you think?" I asked, while doing a quick spin.

"You look absolutely gorgeous, honey." she replied, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Thanks, mom," I said, walking over to her and pulling her into a hug.

Three quick raps on the front door made my heart jump. "Oh, they're here!" I exclaimed excitedly, running towards the bathroom to do all the final touches.

While I was finishing up, my mom went downstairs to let the guys in, to their amazement, no doubt. They really hadn't seen her at all these past two years.

I ran to my room and grabbed my clutch, which contained my cell phone, my money, and some eyeliner. I made my way downstairs, and then into the living room, where Bo and Alex waited with my mom.

Much to my satisfaction, I saw Alex and Bo take in my appearance, their eyes nearly bugging out of their heads.

Alex spoke first, saying, "Wow, Milli, you look, " he seemed to be at a loss for words. "completely stunning!" he continued, his eyes raking appreciatively over my dress.

"Pshh, screw that," Bo interjected, "MIlli, you look fineeeee!"

"Thanks, guys," I responded through giggles, "you both look quite stunning as well." I finally tore my eyes away from Alex's face to see what he was wearing. He wore a jet black suit, which contrasted nicely with his tanned skin, and an electric blue tie, which brought out his eyes quite nicely. He looked like a male model that came straight out of a magazine. Upon ogling at him, I felt like one of those cartoon characters when they saw a hot chick and their eyes fell out and they had to put them back in.

I noticed, with a chuckle, that Alex and Bo decided to humor me and wore matching ties. I was about to point that out when Alex said, "I bet Skylar's going to be one happy guy tonight." his smile slowly fading.

"Aww crap. To be perfectly honest, I had forgotten about him completely." I said, grimacing. This seemed to cheer him up a bit, and his dazzling smile made its way back on to his perfect face.

To my surprise, my mom had brought out her old camera. She insisted that we let her take some pictures before we left, so we let her. We all took one together, then she took a picture of Alex and Bo, Alex and I, and then Bo and I. She wanted to take one more of the three of us together, so, Bo and Alex stood on either side of me, both of them kissing me on the cheek, while I slung both arms around each of them. A few goofy pictures later, we all said our goodbyes to my mom, and made our way towards the car.

Alex had driven his mom's Altima to pick us up. Bo called shotgun, which I fought over with him while we walked down the driveway. In the end, I won, of course. It was only a two-door car, and I wasn't about to climb in the backseat and risk messing up my dress or my hair. We got to the car, and, Alex being the good date that he was, he opened the passenger door for Bo and helped him climb into the back seat. He then proceeded to help me in, clutching my hand so I'd have some support. His eyes lingered on mine for a moment, and then he withdrew his hand from mine, every so slowly. Every time he touched me, even just a slight touch on the shoulder or a soft touch of the hand, it was as if an electric current coursed through my veins.

We reached the school, and Alex quickly hopped out of the car and opened my door. He offered me his hand again, and, though I honestly didn't need the support, I willingly took it anyway. It was unseasonably cold tonight, being as that it was mid-August. I shivered slightly, and Alex, who was still holding my hand, pulled my closer to him. Bo roughly managed to climb out of the backseat, and he turned to Alex and said, "Hey, I'm your date, not her! Why didn't you help me out of the car?"

"I'm sorry Bo, it must have just slipped my mind." He responded with a small chuckle, and a smile that could have brightened the darkest of rooms.

We headed towards the gym, the feeling of unease sinking deeper into my stomach with each step we took; I wasn't the kind of girl to get all dressed up and go to dances, much less with one of the more popular guys whom I really didn't even know all that well. This was going to be awkward for sure.

Skylar was already there; he was leaning up against the wall at the entrance of the gym. He spotted the three of us, sized me up, and said, "Wow, Milli, you look amazing. I've got to be one of the luckiest guys ever." And a huge grin stretched over his face. He looked over at Alex, who had his arm around my shoulders in an attempt to keep me warm, and with a nasty look, said, "I think I can take over from here, thanks." and then he proceeded to take me by the hand and pull me away from Alex and Bo. I shot an apologetic glance back at them before walking into the gym.

Upon our entrance, we received lots of stares. The majority of the people looked slightly awed; they were surprised to see me with him, that much was obvious, and they were surprised at my appearance. I can't say that I blamed them; most days I just flung my hair back into a ponytail and wore only a little bit of eyeliner.

Surprising as it was, I was actually having a good time with Skylar. We danced a few times, talking about music, school, and other random topics. I found that we both got a long quite nicely, and we had a whole lot in common. We were a much better match that I'd ever thought we'd be, not that I had really given it much thought before. However, wrapped up as I was talking and laughing with Skylar, I couldn't help but to look over at Alex every now and then. He appeared to be sulking. I told Skylar I was going to go talk to Bo and Alex for a minute, and he didn't seem to have a problem with it. He then started dancing with some girl who had her eye on him all night.

"Hey guys!" I called when I came into view, "why aren't you two out there on the dance floor showing them how it's done?"

"I don't have anyone to dance with," Bo replied, "and Alex is being all pouty for some reason." he continued with a frown.

With a sigh, I walked across the room, and then my way back towards the guys, followed by a girl that I noticed Bo looking at. She asked Bo to dance with her, and he readily agreed.

"That was nice of you, Milli." Alex commented.

"So what's your deal, hun?" I asked him.

"Nothing, nothing, " he trailed off, staring into space, with a pained expression that I couldn't bear to look at anymore.

I jumped up out of my seat and held out my hand towards him. "Would you like to dance, Alex?"

"Are you sure your boyfriend over there won't get mad?" He asked, frowning.

"Pshh, boyfriend? Are you kidding me?" I asked, laughing.

"Well, that's what it looks like. You seem to be having such a good time with him."

"Sure, I'm having a good time with him. Skylar's a pretty cool person, but he's got nothing on my guy." And with that, I pulled him out of his seat and onto the dance floor, watching as a heart-breaking smile arranged itself on his face.

Of course, as soon as we walked onto the stage, a slow song had started playing. He placed one hand on my waist, and the other on my shoulder, sliding it so far down that it was touching the bare skin of my back. I slung my arms around his neck, feeling the muscled contours of his shoulders, and interlocked my fingers around the back of his neck. With the hand that he had on my waist, he pulled my body closer to his. I looked down at my feel, feeling kind of awkward.

He lifted my chin up with his hand, and said, "You really do look incredible." His deep blue eyes bore into mine, and my heart did a somersault. We had both been leaning forward unconsciously, and his face was mere inches from mine. He inclined his head yet closer towards me, and I got a good whiff of his cologne; it was simply amazing. I could feel his breath on my cheeks. I stretched up on my toes, leaning in closer, and closed my eyes,

"Hey, Alex! I need your ke- Oh! Err, was I interrupting something?" Bo asked, with an apologetic expression.

"It's cool. What did you need?" Alex asked, his breath staggered.

"I just needed to borrow your keys for a sec. I left something in the car." Bo replied, glancing swiftly between Alex and I, trying not to smile. Alex pulled the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Bo, and he turned around and walked towards the parking lot.

Alex turned back towards me, his expression playful, a smile playing around the edges of his lips. Thankfully, another slow song started playing, so he placed his hand back on my waist, the other on my shoulder, and I eagerly flung my arms around his neck, playing with the little pieces of hair that hung down to the nape of his neck.

"Have I told you how gorgeous you look tonight?" He asked, his eyes smoldering.

"You might have mentioned it once or twice," I replied, looking down to hide the flush of color that just made its way to my cheeks. He lifted my chin up again, and started playing with a loose strand of my hair. He locked his eyes on mine and said, "You have the most mesmerizing eyes I have ever seen." It was his turn to blush this time, as he blurted out the words he didn't mean to say. I took one of my hands off of his neck and placed it on his face, running my hands over his cheeks gently; running it through his soft, black hair.

"Alex, I, " I started, but he cut me off. He kissed my shoulder, then again, and again, making his way up my neck. His lips caressed my skin ever so gently, and my breathing hitched. Both of my hands made their way up the back of his neck, into his hair. He kissed my forehead, then my cheek, then,

"Mind if I cut in?" Skylar asked sourly, clearing his throat.

Grrr. I seriously wanted to punch Skylar right in the nose.

Alex loosened his hold on me, but I pulled myself closer to him. I did not want this boy to let go of me. But I thought about it, and since I technically was Skylar's date, I pulled my hands from Alex's hair and let go of him. He was amused to find that I had a hard time keeping my balance, due to feeling so light-headed. With a small chuckle, he walked off and left me and Skylar alone.

"So what was going on with you two?" Skylar asked with a hint of bitterness to his tone.

"Oh, nothing, " I led. I wasn't quite sure what was going on with Alex and I, but it was clear that something was going on.

I danced with Skylar for a few more songs, looking over at Alex every so often, who looked positively cheerful. A huge, involuntary smile spread across my face. Eventually, Alex and Bo had gotten so bored that they went on stage and danced with each other, doing the robot, and every other lame dance they could think of. All too soon, the DJ announced the last song of the night, and shortly after, we were all heading back towards the parking lot. Skylar walked me out with Bo and Alex, glaring at Alex the whole time. He helped me in the car, kissed me on the cheek, and sauntered towards his car. I couldn't help but laugh. I could feel Bo looking back and forth between Alex and I. No doubt he had seen our little, display, on the dance floor. But he didn't say anything, and neither did we.

It had been one of the best nights of my life. I knew that I'd never forget this night. All too soon, we arrive at my house, and Alex walked me to my front door, trying to give Bo subtle hints to stay in the car, but not being too subtle about it.

"So tonight was, fun." I said, which was an obvious understatement.

"Mmm, that it was." He agreed.

"Well, goodnight, Alex." I called and headed for the door. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back, leaning closer and closer towards me. This is it, I thought to myself. He pulled my body closer to his, and lightly kissed the very edge of my mouth. I leaned forward on my toes to make it last longer, but he pulled away, laughed, and whispered "Goodnight, Milli." and headed back towards his car.

It wasn't fair; he knew just how to drive me crazy. That boy was such a tease

[color=#006600][/color]girl, u are good. u have carried the story this far with no dull moments. Bravo babe. plzzzzz, next chapter.

i have however observed the folowing:
1. You dont mention having dinner after you get back from school.
2. in your kiss, dance scene, you sounded just like 95% of all the writers i've read. girl, approach that part of the story with a new approach and make your style original.

if u think dis isnt relevant, just ignore. but, NEXT CHAPTER PLZZZZZZZZZ?

[color=#006600][/color]girl, u are good. u have carried the story this far with no dull moments. Bravo babe. plzzzzz, next chapter.

i have however observed the folowing:
1. You dont mention having dinner after you get back from school.
2. in your kiss, dance scene, you sounded just like 95% of all the writers i've read. girl, approach that part of the story with a new approach and make your style original.

if u think dis isnt relevant, just ignore. but, NEXT CHAPTER PLZZZZZZZZZ? OK?

@poster

Just seeing this.

Well done.!! Bravo!!!!

Thanks, you guys! :] Here's chapter 7!!
_______________________________________

I awoke the next morning feeling positively chipper. I hopped out of my bed and walked over to my window, pulling my curtains back and my blinds up, letting the bright morning sun light up my room. I walked down the hall and poked my head into my mom's room, chiming a cheerful "Morning, mom!" before heading downstairs. In the back of my mind, I noted that John wasn't here; he was most likely at a friends house getting drunk, as usual.

I went into the kitchen and decided to make some chili. While it was cooking, I pulled out my iPod and listened to it while I ran around the kitchen, doing the dishes and sweeping the floor. I was humming along to Puddle Of Mudd's "We Don't Have To Look Back Now," then soon before long, I danced around with the broom, belting out the lyrics.

No one can stop us now, the world is rushing by,
The wind is at our backs, everything's new tonight.
We're going our own way, no matter what they say.
Our bridge is on fire, we're flying higher.
You and I will ride tonight, until the past is out of sight,
We don't have to look back now.
We are knocking down the wall, all for one and one for all.
We can stand together, we're never going to look back now.

Of course, I got caught. My mom walked in, and, through a lot of giggles, managed to say, "Someone sure is in a good mood." in a speculative tone.

I couldn't help but laugh along with her; I had to have looked pretty stupid. "Eh, I'm just happy it's the weekend," I replied, shrugging it off.

"Oh shut up, we both know it's because of Alex. I can see it on your face." She replied, with a genuine smile.

I looked down, feeling embarrassed, but also grateful. Things had returned pretty much back to normal between me and my mom within only a few days. It was nice to have another girl to talk to.

"Oh, he might have something to do with it," I said, trying to make it sound like no big deal, but she saw through me, of course. My mom knew everything. After me and my mom ate some chili, talked, and laughed, I went upstairs to go play my guitar for a bit; I hadn't touched it in ages. I felt like I was going to have withdrawals soon. I picked up my cell phone from my nightstand, and saw that I had a new text message from Alex.

"Hey, will you come over today to help me study?" It had said. That was kind of weird, he always asked Bo to study with him. I responded immediately though, saying, "Sure, no problem. Why didn't you ask Bo, though? Just curious." I picked up my guitar, and plopped down on my bed and started playing. Within a few minutes he had texted back, saying, "Bo is going out of town today with his parents." What a liar that boy is, I thought, laughing to myself. I texted Bo a little bit last night after I got home, and he said he would be spending his Sunday in his room being lazy and playing video games. Regardless, I texted him back, asking, "Hmm, okay, you want me to come over now?" Almost instantly, he texted back, saying, "No, no, can you come over later? Around 7 or so?" I texted him back, and agreed.

That was weird, I thought, that he wanted me to come over later. Usually when I helped him study, he preferred me to come over earlier in the day. Oh well. I hopped off my bed and went and took a shower, taking an extra long time. I got out, and fussed over what to do with my hair. Normally I straightened it, but I think Alex liked it better when it was wavy. So, I let it dry naturally, putting in a little bit of gel so it wouldn't get super frizzy. I still had a few hours to kill until 7, so to pass the time, I ran around the house, cleaning up here and there, vacuuming, sweeping, and dusting, and humming merrily to myself.

I heard my mom walking down the stairs. "Got a date with Alex tonight, huh?" she asked when she came into the living room, picking up on my mood.

"Ye- No," I said, interrupting myself, "I'm just going over to his place to help him study."

"Uh huh, whatever you say," she said with a smile, and then walked off.

I looked at the clock, and realized that it was 6:30. I ran up to my room, trying to figure out what the heck to wear. I went with a pair of red skinny jeans, a pair of flats, and my Cartel band tee. I hurried to the bathroom and sprayed a bit of hairspray in my hair, and then applied some eyeliner. I walked into my mom's room, and she said, "You sure look hot, for just going to go study."

"Whatever mom," I replied, laughing, "do you mind if I borrow the car for a bit?

"Of course not." she said, tossing me the keys. "Love you, Milli!" she called as I was walking out of her room. It was the first time I had heard say those words in what seemed like an eternity. "I love you too, mom." I called back.

On my way to Alex's, I drove a little faster than necessary. I was anxious to see him. I pulled up into his driveway, which was empty; his parents weren't home. I walked up the steps and knocked on the door, my stomach full of butterflies. He opened it quickly, as if he had been standing there waiting, and a huge smile lit up his face. He pulled one arm from behind his back, holding a bouquet of pink and yellow roses in his hand; my favorite flowers.

"For you, my dear." He said, handing them to me. I didn't know what to say.

"Aww, thanks, Alex," I said, blushing. He ushered me inside and, feeling kind of awkward, I said, "So, where are your parents?"

"Business trip." he responded.

"Oh, so what did you need help studying?" I wondered.

"Ohh, I didn't need help studying, I had something else in mind." He said with a playful smile. He guided me into his living room, where on the coffee table sat chicken quesadillas he had made, and some Gatorade; also my favorites. Maybe this was his reason for all the questioning the other day,

"Alex, " I started, but he silenced me, and sweetly kissed my forehead. He picked me up and then sat me on the couch, while he put Pride and Prejudice into the DVD player; my favorite movie. We ate our food, and then he grabbed some blankets and we cuddled up to each other on the couch and watched the movie. I couldn't believe how incredibly perfect this boy way. I was awe struck. I was more in love with him at this moment that I had ever been. I nestled my head onto his shoulder, and he took one of my hands in both of his, rubbing his thumb smoothly over my hand. We sat this way throughout the whole movie, and every now and then he'd lean over and kiss my cheek or my forehead, but never my lips. Wow, this boy was driving me absolutely crazy.

After the movie ended, Alex got up and put on some music. It was my favorite song; "We're So Far Away" by Mae. After that, he ran off to the kitchen, saying he'd be right back. I sat on the couch and waited, while I listened to the sweet music playing in the background.

Remembering everything about my life and when you came,
Wondering the change you'd bring; it'd mean nothing else would be the same.
Did you know what you were doing, did you know?
Did you know how you would move me? Well, I don't even think so.

It was the perfect song for this perfect night. Alex came back then, with more of my favorites; cookies and cream ice cream, and Butterfingers and Hershey's Kisses. We finished our ice cream, then leaned back on the couch and started on the candy. We just sat there for who knows how long, staring intently at each other.

"Alex, you are without a doubt, the most amazing guy I've ever laid eyes on." I said, blurting out the truth. His smile grew wider, and I looked down at the couch, embarrassed.

I picked up a Hershey's Kiss and held it out to him. "Kiss?" I offered.

"Mmm, I'd love one," he replied. And with that, he took the Kiss out of my hand, threw it over his shoulder, and took my face in his hands. He slowly inclined his head towards mine, heightening the excitement of the moment. At last, his lips finally brushed against mine, in a way that made my heart skip a few beats and my breathing stagger. Cliche as it may sound, it really felt as if Alex and I were the only two people on this planet. Nothing and no one else mattered at the moment. He ran his hands through my hair, and I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me. At this point, I was laying on my back on the couch, while he held himself over me. He stopped for a second, pushing a lock of my hair out of my eyes. He stared down at me, his beautiful face simply glowing, and smiled a heart-stopping smile. He rubbed the back of his hand over my neck, then my cheek. I couldn't take it anymore; grabbing two fistfuls of his hair, I pulled his lips back down to mine.

He chuckled a little at my impatience, and I couldn't help but join in; we were both in such high spirits. His lips found mine again, and we started back where we left of. We heard the front door open then, and the shuffling of feet.

"Hello?" Bo called as he walked into the living room.

Alex poked his head up over the couch, startling Bo. "Oh, hey, Bo!" he said.

"Hey, Alex," he said suspiciously; I knew he had seen my car in the driveway. "what are you up to?"

At that, I lifted myself up and poked my head over the edge of the couch. Bo's eyes widened. "Hey, Bo," I said sheepishly, "we were just, uhhh, getting some studying done."

"Pshyeah, studying each other's lips, maybe." He said, while plopping into a chair, trying to hide his smile. He had always wanted me and Alex to get together.

"Hey, Bo, don't you have somewhere to be?" Alex asked, his eyes darting down to me and back towards Bo.

"Psh, naww man. I actually walked over here because I was bored out of my mind. I was hoping maybe we could - OH!" he said, placing his hand on his forehead, "you're right! I completely forgot! I had to go do that one thing, so I'll just uhh, go do that now then." he said, lifting himself out of the chair and walking towards the door.

"Later, Bo!" I called after him.

Alex and I burst into laughter as soon as Bo walked out; we had gotten caught. The sound of his laugh made me melt. He had no idea how crazy I was over him. I pulled his lips back to mine, cutting off his laughter, which lead to him laugh some more.

For the remainder of the evening, we cuddled on the couch, laying as close to one another as possible, because it was absolutely freezing in his house; no doubt a part of his scheme. We just laid there, talking and laughing, stealing kisses from one another while the other wasn't looking. I looked over at his clock and realized it was past midnight. Crap, I needed to get home soon. I got up off the couch quickly, offering my hand to Alex to help him up. He walked me to his door, and I thanked him for the absolutely perfect evening. He leaned in to give me a little goodnight kiss, but I couldn't help myself; I eagerly threw myself on him, running my fingers through his hair, while his hands rested on my lower back, pulling me closer to him. All too soon, he pulled away, chuckling, saying I should probably get home before my mother had a heart attack. I agreed, and leaned up on my toes for one last kiss.

I grabbed my bag and my flowers, and walked to my car. I was so deep in thought on my way home that I very nearly took out a mailbox. I tried to direct my thoughts towards a different subject, because I really wanted to get home in one piece, but I couldn't help it; Alex crept back into my thoughts every time.

I pulled into the driveway and grabbed my things out of the backseat and headed towards the door. I was startled to see a man sitting on my porch. He looked up at the sound of my arrival, and I stopped dead in my tracks. It was the man that I had seen lurking around the school.

[color=#006600][/color]OH MY GAWD, THIS IS JUST WONDERFUL.
NEXT CHAPTER, PLZZZZZZZZZZ

angel_empy:

[color=#006600][/color]OH MY GAWD, THIS IS JUST WONDERFUL.
NEXT CHAPTER, PLZZZZZZZZZZ

i echo your kind sentiments

one love

Thanks, guys! :]
Here's chapter 8.
_________________________________________

I didn't know what to do; I was frozen with fear. I wanted to make a run for it, but what if this guy really was the murderer? I had to get around him to let my mom know. I took a step forward, and then froze again. I was so confused. I took another step towards the man, and I was comforted by his expression. It didn't look angry or sinister; it looked kind of confused, worried, and even, happy. Assuming this man didn't oppose any threat, I took a few careful steps closer.

"Milli." the man said, and it wasn't a question. His voice was saturated with recognition. He looked down at the ground, and then his feet, as if he wanted to take off running, but then, he outstretched one arm, as if he was wanting to touch my shoulder or pat me on the back. Who was this man, and what the heck was he doing at my house? He took a couple steps closer towards me, and beckoned me to come closer, trying to convey to me that he wouldn't harm me. Against all my better instincts, I closed the space between us in 6 steps. I stared up at his unfamiliar face and into his eyes. Confusion set in at first - his eyes were so familiar, but his face wasn't - and then, recognition. I knew where I had seen those eyes before. I saw them everyday in the mirror, in my reflection.

"Dad?" I choked out in a barely audible whisper. I felt like I couldn't breathe. So many thought were running around in my head. I plopped right to the ground from where I was standing, sitting on the sidewalk and rubbing my fingers on my temples. I didn't even know what to make of this situation. "No, no, no, this can't be." I repeated over and over, mumbling to myself. My dad walked over to my and picked me up off the ground. He tried to pull me into a hug, but I shoved him off of me.

"Does my mom know that you're here?" I asked sharply.

"No, no, I don't believe so. Not unless she's seen me." He replied.

He tried to hug me again, but I shoved him away once more. "What are you doing here?" I snapped.

"I, well, I just wanted to see my baby girl." He said, looking down. I think my hostility surprised him; he had probably imagined a different reaction from me, but I couldn't help it. I had such harsh feelings towards him. I couldn't believe he actually thought he could just pop back into my life, after all this time. I was furious. My next words came out in a rush.

"Don't you call me your 'baby girl', because I'm not. How dare you show up at our house after all this time. No visits, no phone calls, no letters, and you just show up out of the blue and expect everything to be okay again? Well, I'm sorry, but it's not going to work that way. How could you leave us? How could you leave your wife and your 4 month old baby? No excuse you give me will ever justify that. You don't know how I've felt, not having a dad around. You don't know what I've been through." I had to stop; I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

"What have you been through?" he asked, with an intense curiosity.

"It's none of your damn business! Why should I tell you? It's not like you care. You didn't care enough about me back then, so why the hell would you care now?" I screamed back at him. I could tell my words had hurt him. Good. That was their intention. He deserved it.

"Milli," he started, but I cut him off.

"I don't want to hear your crap. I don't want to hear all of the irrelevant excuses that you've thought up. I don't know what makes you think that you have the right to track us down and then screw up our lives again. You don't know how long it took mom to get better. No matter how happy she said she was, I could still hear her crying herself to sleep at night. So if you think that you're going to march into that house and ruin her life for the second time, then you've got another thing coming!" He was almost in tears now, but I didn't care.

I couldn't bear to see my mom go through that kind of heartbreak again. For years, I heard her cry herself to sleep at night. She had been so deeply in love with my dad that it was ridiculous. I couldn't even fathom the depth of her pain.

"Milli, I am so incredibly sorry for what I have put you and your mother through. You will never know the depth of pain that that caused me. But I did it for you, Oh, if you only knew, " he said, abruptly stopping himself and looking at me with alarmed eyes, as if he had said too much. His face displayed nothing but anguish, and I knew that the words he had spoken were true. Seeing him in that much pain made my anger dissolve, and I felt the sudden urge to comfort him. I reached out and hugged my dad, for the first time in my life. I was crying hysterically, and I could tell that he was crying too.

We both just stood there for a while, embracing each other. Thoughts were swarming around in my head. Why had he come back? What was the meaning of what he had said, "If only you knew?" It seemed like there was something he was keeping from me. Something important. He didn't seem to want to talk about it right now, though, and I wasn't going to force it out of him. How long we stood there, I'm not really sure, but I could tell that it had been a while.

I pulled back and looked at his face; he still looked distraught. "I'm sorry for what I said, you just don't know how hard it's been on me."

He took my face in his hands and said, "Don't apologize, honey, I can't say that I blame you." He pulled me back in for another quick hug and said, "I'm sorry for intruding, I just had to see you, and make sure that you were okay. I guess I should be going now, " he said, trailing off. I was a bit confused, he wanted to make sure I was okay? That thought was pushed to the back of my mind, though, and I said, "Oh, where are you staying?"

"Well," he replied, "I don't technically have a permanent residence nearby, I've just been staying in my car." He admitted sheepishly.

I wasn't having that. No matter what this man did, or how I felt towards him - which I wasn't really sure how I felt about him at the moment - I wasn't going to let him live in his car.

"Come inside, I'll make you something to eat, and you can stay in my room."

"Uhh, I don't know, I'm not sure that your mother would like that too much, " he said nervously.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure things will be fine. You can stay over here tonight, and I'll go talk to her about it in the morning. You know, get her prepared and stuff." I replied.

"Okay, I just don't want to impose, "

"It's no problem, Dad." I said, and he positively beamed at the word.

I lead him into the house, and he sat down at the kitchen table while I gathered all the ingredients to make us up some grilled cheese sandwiches. I was digging through one of the bottom cabinets for the skillet, and finally found it. Of course, I dropped it on the floor. The sound echoed through the entire house. Crap. My mom was sure to hear that; she was an incredibly light sleeper. My dad looked over at me, his expression panicked, as was mine; there was no telling what my mom would do.

We heard her walk down the stairs, then through the living room, when at last, she appeared in the kitchen. She stood there for what seemed like hours, just staring at the both of us. It was like the moment before a big, huge waved crashed onto the shore, causing all sorts of mayhem and devastation. I had figured she would completely flip out, so her reaction really surprised me.

"Steven!" she breathed, and so much love saturated her voice, it was almost sickening. She ran up to him and flung her arms around him, embracing him tightly. She was in hysterics. I decided I would let them have some time to themselves. "I'm just gonna, " I trailed off, making my way towards the stairs.

I knew that my mom had never truly gotten over my dad. Anytime I broached the subject, she vehemently refused to talk about it, saying that that was the past and she didn't care about him anymore. I knew that her real reason for not wanting to talk about it was because it hurt her too much, and of course, I stopped bringing it up.

I made my way towards my room, laughing at the impossibility of such a day. So much had changed, it was ridiculous. First, my mom apologized and started acting like herself again. Then, there's all the stuff that's been going on between Alex and I, and now, my long-lost father had returned. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the thought.

I opened the room to my door, and almost slammed it back shut. There was a man in my room. I peeked through a crack in the door to get a closer look, and was relieved to see that it was just my step-dad, John.

"Hey, John. Uhh, what brings you to my room?" I asked, curious.

"Just hiding out. Ya see, your mum thinks I'm at a friends house right now." he said, slurring the words. He was beyond drunk.

'Oh," I said, not really sure what else to say.

"So I saw that your loser of a father came back," he said, glancing out the window, indicating that he had seen my dad and I talking outside.

"Don't talk about him like that," I replied harshly.

"Why the hell did you let that man into this house?" he said angrily, a wicked glint in his eyes.

His anger frightened me. When John was drunk, and especially this drunk, you did not want to make him mad. There's no telling what he might do. I shrunk back at his words, and replied, "Well, I couldn't just let him leave, "

"Oh yes you could have. I don't want that piece of trash in my house!" he roared.

"Do not talk about my father that way!" I yelled back at him. It was the wrong thing to say. He leaped across my room and took my face in his hands, holding on so tightly that it brought tears to my eyes.

He put his face right in front of mine, and his bloodshot eyes seemed like they would burn a hole right through mine. "Look here, missy, I'm tired of you and your disrespect. I brought you up as my own, and for that you should be grateful. I gave you everything you needed, while that loser downstairs didn't even care enough to stick around. If that dirtbag gets anywhere near my wife, I'll kill him." And with that, he threw me across my bedroom, making my head smash into the foot board of my bed with a loud crunching sound. I fell to the floor, and felt incredibly dizzy. The entire room was spinning, but I was able to make out John's figure. He was standing over me, hissing out a string of profanities. Then, with a wicked smile and a drunken laugh, he pulled a shotgun out of his jeans; he had it tucked in the waist of his pants, and his shirt had covered it up. I was about to scream, to warn my mother, when he kicked me in the head with a force so hard it nearly knocked me out. I could hear him running out of my room. Unconsciousness was threatening to overtake me, but I was hanging on for dear life. I had to get downstairs and do something, but I couldn't. I couldn't find my voice, and everything around me was black. I could smell the blood that was seeping out of my head.

I tried to use the foot of my bed to pull myself up. At that moment, I heard my mom's piercing scream, and then the sound of a gun being shot.

[color=#006600] go girl, this is really interesting.

plz, try to make every next line hot, just like it was in chapter 7.

Girl, u are gud.

NEXT CHAPTER PLZZZZZZZZZZZZZ[/color]

u mydear have no rival on here
ur simply amazing
ur story if in print would definitely be a page turner

Plea, se dont do dis to me,
d suspense is killin.you're good girl.

This is a really, really good story. The way you carry the audience along with you is amazing. I hope you are thinking of publishing.

Can't wait for the next Chapter. . .

plsssssssssssssssssssssssssss next chapter

Thanks a ton for the encouragement, you guys! :]
Sorry for the delay,  I had a bit of writer's block.
I'll probably hve chapter 10 posten within the next few days.

Here's chapter nine!
________________________________________________________________

I finally pulled myself up, but everything around me was still black; I couldn’t see anything. The blackness was trying to overtake me, but I wouldn’t let it win. I had to get downstairs and do something. I felt a hot, sharp pain in my right arm; I must have broken or fractured it when I landed on it. I was about to pass out at any moment, but I had to hold on, for just a little bit longer. I had to make sure that my mom, and my dad, were both okay.

I eventually made my way down the stairs, and slowly getting my sight back. By the time I reached the kitchen, I could see objects and figures, but they were still blurry. I could see well enough to make out my mom’s figure, standing over a body lying on the floor, blood spilling from some part of their body.
 
She looked up at the sound of my arrival, and let out a scream; I must have looked pretty bad. I felt incredibly horrible. I knew that at any second I could fall to the floor.

“Milli! Oh my God, Milli!” I heard my mom scream in terror. I saw her running towards the kitchen counter, trying to find the phone so she could call the police. Through the intense, lashing pain, and my black, blurred vision, I slowly shuffled towards the body lying on the floor. It was my father.

Next thing I knew, I fell to the kitchen floor, cracking my head once again. I could
feel unconsciousness threatening to take over me, and this time, I didn’t try to fight it.


I laid there motionless, not sure if I was able to move. Something was trying to break through my thoughts, something of vital importance, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Then I started getting these flashes of John, my father on the kitchen floor, bleeding, and I heard the sound of my mother’s piercing scream. I suddenly jerked upright in my bed.

Did that really happen? I wondered to myself.

Then that’s when I was aware of a pounding ache in my head, my blurred vision, and a sharp pain in my arm. I then realized that I wasn’t in my own bed; it was a white bed with rails. I was in the hospital.

I tried to open my eyes wider, in hopes of it improving my eyesight. It helped, a little, and I was aware of a figure near my bed. It looked like a person, but they weren’t looking at me; they were looking out the window.

“Where’s my mom?” I screamed, “Where’s my father… where’s John? What happened?” I was in hysterics. I was in an immeasurable amount of pain, in an unfamiliar place, and I didn’t know if my parents were still alive. I was on the edge of a serious mental break down.

“Milli?” the person asked. It was one of the most beautiful voices I had ever heard; it was Alex’s voice. “Milli, love, calm down. Everything is okay.” He said in a soothing tone.

“Where are my parents?” I asked, feeling panicky.

“Your mom is around here somewhere, honey. I believe she’s talking to a nurse.”

“What about my dad?”

“Your dad… well… he’s in another room. He had gotten shot by John.” He replied, taking my hand in his in an attempt to soothe me.

From the scene that I remembered seeing in the kitchen, I had figured as much, but his words still felt like a bullet being shot through me.

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked frantically, tears welling up in my eyes.

“Well, there was a lot of tissue damage, but he’s going to be just fine, Milli.” My mother answered as she walked into my room, pain and agony clear on both her face and in her tone. “John, being as that he was incredibly drunk, only shot him in the shoulder, thank God. They took him into surgery immediately, of course, and now he’s recovering. He should be coming around here in a few hours; he’s knocked out on pain medicine right now.” She said, trying to sound reassuring, but her voice cracking every so often.

“Is he really going to be okay? Don’t lie to me. I want the truth.” I demanded.

“Yes, he will be fine, Milli. Don’t you worry about a thing. Just focus on yourself right now; you sustained some intense injuries.” She said, looking like she was about to cry.

“What’s wrong with me? What did the doctors say?”

“Well, sweetie, you had several cracks in your skull, and your right arm is broken.” She replied in a pained voice. I could feel the tension rolling off of Alex; no doubt he was probably wanting to kill John right about now. “You’ll have to stay here a few days,” she continued, “so the doctors can keep an eye on you. They said they could release you tomorrow, but they wanted to be safe and keep you here longer, considering all your serious head injuries.”

“Oh, okay…” I replied. I didn’t feel like saying much else. I was so exhausted that even talking seemed like hard work.

“Well, I’m going to let you get some rest, sweetheart. I’m going to be right down the hall in your father’s room, if you need me. I love you so much, Milli.” She said, kissing my forehead. She walked out of the room quickly after that, anxious to see how my dad was holding up, I assumed.

“Milli, I am so sorry,” Alex started, but I cut him off.

“Why on earth are you apologizing? You haven’t done anything wrong!” I said, feeling confused. The look on his face was one of sheer anguish and agony.

“I don’t know… there has to be something I could have done. I should have offered to drive you home, instead of letting you drive by yourself so late at night. Maybe then I could have prevented whatever happened. I don’t know, Milli, but there had to have been some way I could have stopped this –“ I took his face in my hands, cutting him off again.

“Alex, don’t do this to yourself. You haven’t done a single thing wrong. There’s no way you could have prevented what happened, even if you had driven me home. Don’t beat yourself up over this; I hate seeing you this way. When you’re in pain, I feel it too. So please, stop thinking about this, okay? It is not your fault.” I replied, in a slightly angry tone. I couldn’t believe he was blaming himself for this.

“Okay, if that’s what you want…” he trailed off.

“Wait, what day is it?” I wondered suddenly. How long had I been in here?

“It’s Wednesday. You’ve been out for about two days.” He said, his expression pained.

“Two days? Wow. How long have you been up here?” I wondered.

“I’ve been in here since your mom called me, early Monday morning.” He replied, with a yawn. I noticed, for the first time, that he had bags under his eyes, and his eyes were red and he looked completely worn out.

“What? You didn’t go to school?” I asked, feeling shocked. I couldn’t believe he had missed two days of school to stay at the hospital with me.

“Well of course not, hun. I couldn’t possibly bear to leave you. You don’t know how I’ve felt these past couple of days. During the first day, you wouldn’t wake up at all. I was so scared that I’d never see those beautiful brown eyes again, that I’d never be able to hold you in my arms again, that I’d never be able to tell you how I truly fee-“ he said, cutting himself off. He didn’t look like he was about to continue, so I asked, “What do you mean, how you truly feel?”

“Milli, do you remember the first day we met?” He asked.

“Of course I do,” I replied.

“And do you remember what happened when I first saw you?” He inquired.

“Yes. You were riding your bike on the sidewalk, and when you saw me, you crashed into a tree and fell off of your bike,” I replied with a chuckle.

“That I did,” he said, laughing as well. “And you know what? I’ve been falling for you ever since.” He continued, his lips pulling up into a breath-taking smile, and his eyes staring intently into mine.

“Milli, you don’t know what you do to me. Whenever I’m near you, I feel nervous, happy, anxious, light-headed, crazy, and blissful. Your smile makes me go weak in the knees and one look from you simply takes my breath away. When I look in your eyes, I feel like I could get lost in them forever. You’re simply the most amazing girl that I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I just couldn’t fathom the idea that someone like Alex would be interested in someone like me.

“Alex,” I started, but he unintentionally cut me off. He started mumbling to himself, saying, “Of course, I couldn’t possibly expect someone like you would feel the same way for me as I do for you. There’s no way that someone as incredible as you would want to be involved with someone like me…”

I wasn’t having anymore of that. I pinched his lips closed with my thumb and index finger, and said, “Alex, you really don’t have a clue do you?”

“What are you talking about?” He asked, a glint of hope in eyes.

“Oh, just shut up and kiss me, you idiot.” I replied, and a huge smile made its way onto his face. He bent down and gently placed his hand on my cheek, being careful not to hurt me, and pressed his lips to mine. He tickled the back of my neck with his fingertips, and I ran my fingers through his hair. The sound of someone approaching made him slowly pull away, but I propped myself up on my elbow to make it last longer. I didn’t care who it was; they were just going to have to wait.

We then heard someone clearing their throat, and we looked up to see that it was my mom, of course. It looked as though she was trying to suppress a smile. “Hope I wasn’t interrupting anything,” she said, laughing.

“I just came in here to let you know that your father’s awake now, and he’s doing fine. So don’t worry about a thing, honey.” She continued.

“Good. Thanks for letting me know, mom.”

“No problem, sweetie. I’m going down to the cafeteria; you want me to get you anything?” She offered.

“No thanks, I’m good.” I replied.

And with that, she turned around and walked out of the room. I looked over at Alex, who was looking out the window, and said, “Get back over here. I wasn’t done kissing you.”

With a laugh, he walked back over to me, and we started back where we left off. All too soon, he pulled away, and said, “You look exhausted. You need to get some rest.”

“Speaking of which,” I replied, “you need to leave so you can get some sleep. I’m worried about you; you look like a freaking zombie.”

“If you think I’m going to leave you, then you’re absolutely crazy. I’m not going anywhere.” He replied.

I knew that he wouldn’t go home and get some sleep; he was much too stubborn. So I scooted over in my bed, and motioned for him to come lay down next to me.

“No, Milli, that’s okay. I want you to get your rest. I’ll be fine.” But I wasn’t going to give up that easily.

I eventually won, of course. So, he came and lay behind me on the bed, wrapping one arm around my body, and tracing patterns on the back of my neck with his other hand. Shortly after, he fell asleep. Exhausted as I was, I had way too much on my mind to be able to go back to sleep. I looked around the room, and noticed my red skinny jeans sitting on the table right next to my bed; the jeans I had worn to Alex’s on Sunday night. I also realized that that meant someone must have changed my clothes while I was knocked out. Awkward much?

I reached for my jeans, remembering that I had some chap stick in one of the pockets. While I was searching, I felt something in one of the back pockets. I pulled it out; it was a folded up piece of paper, which had “Milli” written on the front. It was in Alex’s handwriting. He must have slipped this into my pocket when he kissed me goodnight.

I unfolded it quickly, reading the four short lines over and over again, tears welling up in my eyes. It was the lyrics from one of my favorite songs, and Alex had written it to me. It said:

Well, I’m a wreck. I really can’t explain it,
But I… I hear the music when I think of you.
Orchestrating the song to accommodate the moment,
Well, I’m so in love with you.

I couldn’t believe how much those words affected me. I felt completely blissful. This boy was so amazing, so perfect… and he was mine. I never would have thought that he felt this way towards me. I always dreamed about it, thought about it, but never in my life did I think it would happen in reality.

My mom walked into the room, then, taking in Alex and I lying next to each other. She look like she wanted to burst out with a loud “Awwwwww!” but thankfully, she refrained from doing so.

In a hushed whisper, she said, “I’m glad to see he’s getting some sleep. He’s been awake for two days straight, worrying about you. Milli, you are so lucky to have found a guy like Alex. You couldn’t have asked for a better boyfriend.”

“Well, he’s not technically my boyfriend,” I replied.

“Well, he may as well be,” she said, laughing.

She just sat there for a while, eating her food, while I stared up at the ceiling, finding shapes and patterns. I was completely lost in thought. I was thinking about how things had changed so drastically, in so short a span of time. It then donned on me… something I should have thought of a long time ago.

“What happened to John?” I asked my mom, pulling her out of her abstraction.

“Well, honey, the police never found him.” She replied, hanging her head. “After he shot Steven, he took off running. They don’t have a clue where he went, but they’re still searching.”

“He’s not going to stop, mom. He’s going to keep evading the police, and try to find a way to get back here… to us. He won’t stop until one of us is dead.”

And to that; she didn’t have a single word of comfort. Her expression was a mixture of anguish and fear. She knew that I was right; she knew John wouldn’t give up. She knew that he’d come back.

Was it ever going to end?

u know wat Girl, try to redo this chapter nine.
i think it isnt as hot as the others.
plus, try to maintain the tempo of the first chapters.

but great joy babe, its perfect!

next CHAPTER PLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ[/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][color=#990000][/color]

what a wonderful work you ve done here,this is absolutely wonderful.keep it up girl.am a good writer too and i think u ve done a very good job. NEXT CHAPTER PLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.lol

Thanks, guys! :]
Here's chapter 10.
____________________________________________

"Alex, stop!" I ordered through giggles. He was playing with the buttons on the side of my hospital bed, making the bed move up and down. Boredom had definitely taken its toll. I smacked his chest with the back of my hand.

"Hey! What was that for?" He asked.

"For not listening to me!" I replied, with a fake scowl.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to make it up to you then." He leaned in for a quick peck on my lips. He looked at me with his pouty, puppy-dog face.

"Aww, alright, you're forgiven." I finally said, with a sigh. He knew I couldn't resist that face. He sat in the chair next to my bed for a few minutes, looking deep in thought. I looked over to my left, staring out the window; it was such a nice day. Alex took advantage of my being distracted and leaned forward quickly, playing with the buttons on the bed again. While I fought with him to get him to stop, he ended up hitting the "Call Nurse" button. The nurse walked in about a minute later, and Alex quickly said "Sorry, she was playing with the buttons and hit "Call" button on accident. The nurse walked out with an exasperated sigh. Alex looked over at me, trying his best not to laugh.

"You're horrible. You know that, right?" I asked him, pretending to be mad. It didn't go well, though; I couldn't help but smile at his smile and the amusement on his face.

"Oh, I know. Will you forgive me this time?" He asked with a smile, leaning in towards me again. I stretched my hand over his face and pushed him away.

"Sorry, but I won't be so easily swayed this time." I replied, trying not to give in.

"Oh, is that so?" He asked playfully.

"Mhmm."

"Well, maybe I'll just have to use other means of persuasion, "

"Whatever," I replied, "I'm not cracking." That said, he sat himself down on my bed, leaning down and nuzzling his head into my neck, and my lightly kissed my shoulder, then my neck. He placed a hand on one of my sides, sending shivers through my entire body. He gently placed his lips on mine, then pulled away, looking at me as if he was waiting to see what I'd say. I couldn't help myself; I grabbed his shirt with both of my hands and pulled his lips back down to mine.

He pulled away, long enough to say, "So I take it you forgive me?" while laughing. I laughed along with him, and then flung my arms around his neck, bringing his lips back to mine.

"A-hem." We heard someone say. We stopped and looked up, and saw that it was Alex's father. How embarrassing, I thought to myself.

"Hello, Mr. Channing." I greeted nicely, while a flush of color made it's way to my cheeks.

"Hey Milli. Nice to see you're feeling better." He said, looking back and forth between Alex and I, while a small smile rearranged itself on his face.

"Thanks," I said, blushing again. He threw a smile in my direction, and turned to Alex and said, "Can I talk to you for a moment?" He glanced to the door and then back to Alex, trying to hint that he wanted to talk in private.

"Okay, dad," Alex agreed. He quickly kissed me on my forehead, and walked out of the room with his dad.

I guess they didn't realize that I could still hear their conversation, even though they were in the hallway. I had to strain, but I managed to catch all of it.

"Alex, it's Wednesday. You've missed three days of school!" His dad said, sounding angry. I felt a twinge of guilt, knowing that I was the reason why he was missing school.

"So. What's the problem?" Alex asked.

"The problem is that you're not going to school. You think it's okay to just skip like this?"

"Dad, you don't understand. I can't leave her."

"Why not?" His dad asked, still sounding mad.

"I can't leave her here in this hospital. I couldn't bear to be away from her while she's in here. You just don't know what it would do to me, Dad." He replied, with sadness in his voice. "I can't leave her." He repeated.

I could just feel his dad staring at Alex's face, seeing the depth of his affection in his eyes, the pain in his expression.

"Alright, I get it, you really like this girl." Alex's dad said.

"I don't just like her, dad, I think I -" He stopped abruptly. I could hear the shock in Mr. Channing's voice as he figured out what Alex was about to say.

"Okay, well, I'm not going to make you leave, Alex. But you will get caught up on your schoolwork." He said sternly, but affectionately.

"Thanks, Dad."

I could hear the both of them making their way back towards my room, so I stared at the window, trying to make it look like I wasn't paying any attention to their conversation.

Alex took his place in the chair next to my bed, while his father stood on the other side, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry for everything that you've had to go through these past few days, Milli. I'm really glad that you're feeling better." He said, with a sincere smile.

"Thanks, Mr. Channing." I replied, smiling back.

"Milli, I've told you, you can call me Peter." He said, laughing. Despite the numerous times he's told me to call him "Peter," I still always called him by his last name, out of respect. He walked over to Alex and patted him on the back, while surreptitiously glancing back and forth between Alex and I, who had his gaze locked on mine.

"Well, I gotta get out of here and get to work. Later, kiddos!" He called as he walked out of the room.

Alex scooted his chair closer towards my bed, and grabbed my hand. After a couple minutes, I nonchalantly asked, "So what did he want to talk to you about?"

"Oh, nothing, really. He was just worried about school and stuff."

"Well, I can't say that I blame him. You've already missed three days because of me! I feel really bad." I replied.

"Don't feel bad, babe, I want to be here with you. I couldn't bear to leave." He took my hand and placed it on his cheek, holding it there. I placed my other hand on the back of his neck, and pulled his face down to mine, starting back where we left off when Alex's dad interrupted. We heard someone walk in a few seconds later.

"Knock knock!" My mom said, sound more cheerful than earlier.

Oh, for the love of all things holy! I was getting pretty dang tired of all these interruptions.

"What's up, mom?" I inquired.

"I just wanted to come in here to tell you that you're father is doing a lot better. He really wants to see you. If you're feeling well enough to get up, that is." She replied.

"Oh! Of course I am." I said, slowly pulling the covers off and about to hop out of the bed. I felt a draft.

"Uhmm, mom?"

"What is it, sweetie?"

"Er, well, I'm not exactly, decent, Stupid hospital gowns." I grumbled to myself.

"Oh!" she said, with a chuckle. She threw my red skinny jeans to me, and Alex walked out and shut the door behind him. I pulled my pants on, not bothering to put on my shirt, as almost all of my back was already covered.

I walked out into the hallway where Alex was waiting, smiling to himself. Alex and I walked hand-in-hand towards my father's room, and I could just feel my mother's stares on my back.

We walked in his room, and he looked bad. Not in the way of looking gory or nasty or anything, but he looked incredibly exhausted. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked likely to pass out at any moment. Alex and I walked towards his bed, and I hugged him gently. He looked up at me and smiled. He looked over at Alex, then down to our interlaced fingers, then up to my face. I then realized that my dad had never met Alex. Duh.

"Oh, dad? This is Alex. my, " I hesitated, as I didn't really know what he was to me. "my, friend." I continued.

He held out a hand towards Alex, and Alex took his hand gently and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you, Alex."

"It's nice to meet you as well, Sir." He replied. My dad smiled. I knew he would like Alex. I went and sat down on the edge of his bed and asked, "How are you feeling, dad?" Wow, that was a stupid question, I thought to myself.

"Eh, I'm not doing too bad," he replied, "I could be a lot worse off." He looked over at me and said, "How are you, though? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, just have a bit of a headache, and my arm feels like it's on fire, but other than that, I'm fire." I said, smiling weakly.

"Milli, I am so sorry," he started, but I cut him off by saying, "Ugh! What is it with you guys?" He just shot me a confused look. "Never mind," I said, "but what the heck are you apologizing for?

"Well, I'm the one that got you into this mess. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be in here, with a cracked skull and a broken arm," he said, in a pained voiced, and continued, "All I ever do is cause you pain, and I'm so sorry, honey, I'm so sorry."

"I bent over and embraced my dad as tightly as I could without hurting him. "Don't be apologizing to me, Dad. You haven't done anything wrong. This wasn't your fault. It was only a matter of time until John snapped." I replied, sneering at the name. At that moment, the nurse walked in, informing us that he needed to rest and visitors would have to come back later.

"Bye, dad. Get you some sleep." I said, quickly kissing his cheek. By the time I had gotten off of his bed, he was almost asleep.

My mom made her way down to the cafeteria, while Alex and I walked back towards my room. As soon as we walked in, we heard a loud "Surprise!"

Bo was standing in my room, holding about ten confetti poppers in one hand, and letting them all off at once, covering me and Alex with confetti. I couldn't help but laugh at Bo and his one-man-surprise-party. He ran up to me and embraced me tightly.

"I'm so glad you're feeling better, Milli. I've missed you and your stupid self. And you," he said, pointing to Alex, "where have you been? I've been so lonesome this week." He said, pretending to cry.

"Where do you think I've been?" He replied, looking over at me and laughing. Bo smacked himself in the forehead for missing the obvious.

After getting all the confetti out of our hair, Bo and I went and sat down on the bed, and Alex sat down in the chair. We sat there forever, talking about old times, the laughs we've had, and how things were so easy "back in the day." Occasionally, Alex would grab my hand, but I'd pull away. It took all my effort to do so. I wanted to hold his hand, of course, but I felt bad with Bo being around. I wanted it to be just like old times, when all three of us hung out with no awkward feelings. I didn't want Bo feeling like a third wheel. After a while, I think Alex got the hint, and he stopped.

"So, what have you been up to these past three days, Bo?" Alex inquired.

"Oh, nothing really. I've just been out partying, hanging out with hot girls and all. Ya know, the usual." Alex and I looked at each other and burst out laughing, and Bo joined in. "Okay, no, seriously, I've just been sulking due to the fact that I didn't have my best friends around." He said glumly.

"Aww, poor Bo," I said, patting him on the shoulder. "They're not letting me out of here for another two days, so you think you'll be able to survive until Friday?" I asked.

"Mehh, I'm sure I'll manage somehow." He said dramatically. He then mentioned that he was hungry, and said that he was going to go to the cafeteria. I motioned for Alex to go with him; I wanted them to get to spend some "guy time" together.

About 10 minutes after they left, my mom walked in my room.

"Hey, sweetie." She said, smiling.

"Hey, mom. What's up?"

"Nothing, really," She replied, sounding deep in thought. I could tell there was something she was wanting to say.

"Is there's something you're wanting to talk to me about, mom?" I asked.

"How'd you know?" She asked.

"I know everything," I replied, laughing. "Now, spill."

"Well I was wondering, well, as you know, your father doesn't have anywhere to stay, and I didn't know if maybe, if, " she seemed hesitant to continue.

"Just spit it out, mom." I urged her.

"Would you care if he stayed with us?" She asked abruptly. Was I really hearing her correctly? I wasn't expecting this. It'd just seemed so, weird.

"I know it may seem weird," she said, as if reading my mind, "to let him stay with us, a man that we haven't seen in almost 17 years, but he was my husband, and he's your father, and I just can't turn him away." She said trying to downplay her real reasons.

"Is that the only reason why you want him to stay with us? Just because you feel bad for him?"

"Yes, " she lied.

"Oh, come on, mom. Don't think you can fool me. Don't think I can't see that sparkle in your eye when you look at him. We both know that you're still crazy in love with him." I replied. She bit her lip and looked down.

"I know you probably think I'm being stupid, but I just can't help it, Milli. He's the only man I've ever truly loved. I know I shouldn't let him back into our lives after he walked out the way he did, but I just can't let him leave this time. Not again, " she said, pain clear in her eyes.

I then explained to her what my dad had told me when I first saw him on my porch. How he said he left us for us, how he had said. "If you only knew, "

"I think he honestly had a good reason for leaving, mom. I'm not sure what it is, but I believed him when he said it."

"But what do you think it could be?" She asked, a glint of hope in her eye. I knew she wanted nothing more than to find out that he left for us, and not because he had stopped loving her.

"I'm not sure, and he doesn't seem ready to tell us, but I'll get it out of him soon enough, mom."

"Milli, you're the greatest. I can't believe the way I treated you. I don't even know what came over me. I know that's no excuse for what I did. I just think I had gotten so depressed, because of your father and him leaving, that I couldn't take it anymore. I let it bottle up inside of me for so many years, and I guess I eventually just snapped. I am so sorry, honey. You will never know how bad I feel." She said, with tears in her eyes.

"Mom, don't worry about it. I can understand that, and I don't begrudge you for it. The past is in the past, and now it's time to focus on the present." I said, pulling her into a hug. "So, when is he moving in?" I asked, feeling strangely excited. It was weird; I had really only known this man for a few days, but I felt so emotionally connected to him. He didn't feel like a stranger to me, he felt like my dad, and nothing would please me more than to have my mom and dad together, happy.

"I'm not sure," she replied, "I'll have to talk to a nurse and find out when he's going to be able to leave. I'll go talk to his nurse now." She kissed my forehead and walked out of the room.

Bo and Alex walked in the room about 15 minutes later. It was almost midnight at this point, and we were all sleepy. Bo had fallen asleep on the chair, while Alex lay behind me on the bed, fast asleep. I was exhausted, but sleep evaded me. I was thinking about these past few weeks. Everything had been so crazy.

First, everything was fine, then went bad when I wouldn't tell Alex what was going on. They got better when I finally told him, and then they went bad because I was being followed by that guy. Things got better when I found out it was my dad, but then went bad when John went crazy and tried to kill both me and him. Now, things were finally starting to get better. Would the pattern continue? I had a feeling that it would. The question was, what would happen this time?

good work,dnt gt da gist was her dad d murderer.

good work,dnt gt da gist was her dad d murderer.

real good i must say,waiting for the concluding part.

Girl your writeup was really great, i have been glue to my system reading your story, every sentence seems to captivate. I can'nt wait for the concluding part. Make sure you publish this story.

Okay, you guys. I made a [semi] big change to my story. I'm going to repost it in a new thread so I won't have to worry about going back and editing all of my previous posts.

The new thread will be titled "A story I'm working on [New Version!]"