I walked into Trigonometry 10 minutes late.




“Welcome Emma,” Mr. Daniels said. “I’m glad you decided to come to class today.” I rolled my eyes and took a seat.




“It won’t happen again.”




“It better not,” he sneered as he proceeded to scribble on the board.




Ah, Mr. Daniels.




He was a very symmetrical man with thick dark brown hair in his early 30s. He was clad in a pair of tight wranglers and a black button up. It was safe to admit that I thought he was sexy as hell. I wasn’t the only girl who thought so.




“What is 180 degrees on your unit circle?” He turned to face us, his eyes scanning the crowd for victims. “Haley.” She jumped, startled at the sound of her name, and turned crimson red.




“Oh….uh-um……what?” He grinned showing his perfect right teeth. This was one of the things I hated about Mr. Daniels. If you didn’t know the answer when he called on you, it was going to get ugly. I thought he was going to go in for the kill, but he repeated the question. She still continued to stammer.




“It’s pie,” I said. Every pair of eyes turned to me and widened.




Yes everyone, I do exist.










He turned to me and glared. “You are not Haley.”




“Obviously, but she didn’t know the answer.”




He paused for a moment. “See me after class.”




I sighed and didn’t say another word. When the bell rang, I waited for everyone to clear out. Mr. Daniels waited patiently, and then shut the door behind the last few stragglers. I stood up.




“I apologize for speaking out of turn,” I said attempting to sound sincere. “I was just so excited because I knew the answer.” Ok, that last part was sarcasm. Sometimes I really couldn’t help it. His eyes narrowed.




“You do fairly well in my class, don’t you,” he asked coming closer.




“Yes.”




“So you must know the point system in my class?”




“Yes. Points for participation and points for homework.” What is he getting at?




He leaned on the desk next to me. I could feel his body heat and my heart started hammering.




“So you know I could take away your points for speaking to me like that.”




Really? But why would he?










“Please don’t,” I said. “I’m a good student. A warning should be sufficient enough.” His eyes bored into mine. They were dark blue and reminded me of the ocean during a storm.




“What would you be willing to do to earn back those points?”




“Well, I…..” I trailed off. I felt my blood run cold.




He wasn’t….




My eyes widened.




He was…




His pupils had dilated until the blue in his eyes was no longer visible. His breathing was short and shallow, like he had just got done running a few miles. His skin got flushed as he took a step closer to me.




Mr. Daniels is a pervert.




He was insinuating………..I couldn’t even say it.




Blood burned to my face making a pounding appear in my forehead. My nostrils flared and I took a step back.




“No thank you,” I growled. “I’d rather get an F.” His hands clenched into fists. He was angry.




“Don’t you even remotely care about your grade?”




“Not enough to do something like that.” I snarled. What he was saying made him a poor excuse for a human being. I had a strong mental image of sending my knee into his crotch repeatedly until his manhood fell off. He shook his head and opened his door roughly.




“As far as I’m concerned,” he said in a controlled voice. “I didn’t say a word. Please leave.” He motioned with his hand. I grabbed my books and glared at him menacingly as I stalked out of the room.

I opened up the door of my blue Pontiac and threw my bag in the backseat. I slid in and slammed the door shut behind me.



I can not believe what just happened.



Mr. Daniels had propositioned me.



What do I do now?



The most logical thing to do would be to turn him in. He has no right to do what he did. It is illegal and he might try it again. He might get physical. I would have to remember to put my pocket knife in my purse before I went to school tomorrow.



But.....



I groaned and lie my head on the steering wheel. That would cause so much of my life to go public. I don't want that because then they would know.



But I had to do what was for the greater good. I would have to go to the police department tomorrow and tell them the truth. He came onto me and threatened my grade point average if I didn't do what he wanted.



Did he?



I remember him invading my personal space. I remember the way he was looking at me. But I don't remember him actually saying those incriminating disgusting words.



He certainly implied it.



I could tell by the way he was breathing, by the way his strong hand trailed down my arm.



Then the decision is made. I would do nothing because there was nothing I could do. I would go to the police, they would talk to Mr. Daniels, and it would just be his word against mine. As if they would trust a seventeen year old's word over a trusted teacher.



I took a deep breath and looked up, a laugh escaping my lips. I was in a deserted student parking lot brooding about this when I could be at my house doing what I want to do. I shook my head and started the car. It growled to life with a rumble. Then I drove away



I stopped in front of the large iron bar gates of my home and rolled down my window. I pressed the buzzer on the small white speaker and looked directly into the camera. There was a short pause before the gates swung open with a screech. I drove up the long path and slid into the four car garage next to my dad's red corvette. I smirked.

Someday that could be mine.

I walked through the large corridor that went from the garage to the main part of my house. It opened up to the doorway and the main staircase. I walked up to the second floor to where the kitchen was at. I rolled my eyes. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to put the kitchen on the second floor. Oh right, my dad.

I walked into the kitchen and threw my bag on the kitchen island. I opened the fridge and started to dig through things for my after school snack.

"Good afternoon, Emma," Marshall said. I pulled out an apple and closed the door with a slam. Marshall stared at me politely. He looked rather dashing in his chef uniform, his hands clasped firmly behind his back. "Would you like me to make you an afternoon snack?"

I took a huge bite of my apple and thought for a moment. Should I use Marshall for what he was paid to do everyday?

Nah.

"No thank you, Marshall. I am fine with my apple." His eyes narrowed. Like he was angry that he couldn't do his job. Oh well.

I climbed the stairs all the way to the top floor to my room and looked around. What do I want to do?

I could do my homework.

No, I will just wait until my mom tells me to do it. (which she won't) I could get on my computer.

No, boring. I could think about more solutions to Mr. Daniels.

No, that will just give me a headache.

Oh I know.

I walked over to my closet and turned to the picture that was hanging on the wall next to it. It was a picture of my parents, their faces smiling with their false happiness. I unhooked it and set it on the floor. Behind it was a large red button. I pressed it.

The door slid open with a whoosh to reveal my most prized collection. My guns.

I have multiple guns. They all were strapped to the wall gleaming at me in all of their glory. I love going out and shooting them at targets that I nail to random oak trees. I love getting out tools and making them look shiny and brand new. They are the best.

Mom and Dad don't really know about my collection. They are not really around much to even care. But they do keep up a steady cash flow that I use to my advantage. And I can't really tell you their reactions. Mom would probably expect it. She has seen so many weird things happen to me that she is actually scared of me. She avoids me like the plague.

When we occasionally run into each other, she will jerk back. She will then proceed to try and do some small talk. She will fail and then pretend to have a phone call. That's pretty much my whole relationship with her.

I ran my hand over a few guns before I finally pulled a Smith and Wesson off the wall. As I was taking it apart I lost myself in the task. I forgot about what happened in Trigonometry, at least for a little while.

Marshall made me eggs benedict and some orange juice. He set it on the dining room table with a smile. "Here you go, Miss Emma."

"Thank you, Marshall." I replied politely. He bowed his head and stalked out of the room quickly. I grabbed my fork and dug in. I put the first piece of egg in my mouth and smiled. Marshall always succeeded in satisfying my taste buds. I stare at the huge life-sized family portrait staring back at me.

For as little time as we spend together, we sure take a lot of family portraits. We do look happy though, even if it is just fake. My mom walked into the room talking briskly into her cellphone. When she noticed me sitting at the table, she froze. Our eyes met and she gave me a hard nod. She pulled out a chair on the opposite end of the table and sat down pulling out her computer. She opened it just as Marshall walked in with her breakfast. I quickly ate the rest of mine and downed my orange juice in a few gulps. I probably won't get acknowledged. There was no point in sticking around to try. Marshall came in and picked up my plate as I left the room.

I got to school with enough time to get to Homeroom. The day passed just as quietly as the rest. There were no riffs or tears. I thought I was going to get through the day unnoticed until trigonometry came.

I walked into class and sat down quickly. Mr. Daniel's had his back to us. He was scribbling the latest problems he would spring on us today on the chalkboard. When everyone was seated he turned around. His eyes roamed over us and didn't stop to meet mine or give me a dirty look.

Oh.

So he was going to pretend I didn't exist.

I was relieved. I really thought he was going to say something or shoot daggers at me the whole class period. But as the class began, he didn't look at me once. He took attendance and started the lesson.

Today it was about the term SOHCAHTOA, so it was pretty much a review day.

Piece of cake.

He was writing down notes on the board. After he was done, he turned around and his eyes scanned the crowd again. He was doing his daily dose of embarrassing his next victim. I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest. He could pick on me if he wanted to.

Bring it on.

He grinned evilly. "Haley,"

I sighed as she squeaked out a "Yes?"

"What does TOA stand for?" He asked. He was twisting his chalk between his fingers. He was poised, ready to strike, dying for her to get it wrong.

She looked down and fumbled with the hem of her shirt. She stuttered. I rolled my eyes. Did this girl every pay attention?

"Well?" He asked triumphantly.

"I-I-"

"Tan equals opposite over adjacent," I said with a sigh. Mr. Daniel's eyes narrowed as they landed on me.

There are those daggers I was looking for.

"This is the second time in two days that you have spoken out of turn. I do not appreciate such disrespect." He said with pure contempt. His arms crossed and his face reddened.

"No body wants to see you yell at someone. It's not like we are going to use this stuff when we get older. Take a chill pill," I replied. There was a chorus of "oh's" and "ahh's"

Mr. Daniel's looked taken aback. He glared at me. "That will be a detention with me after school,"

I shrugged slightly annoyed at my sudden sense of charity.

I really hate you Haley.

When I got to detention, Mr. Daniels was no where to be found. I sat in a desk in the front row and dropped my bag on to the floor next to me. It echoed in the quiet.

Someone could really get tired of being in this room all day. The white washed walls were blank. There was no posters with inspirational quotes telling students of how much fun learning is. There were no photos of students anywhere saying that Mr. Daniels had any real bond with the student body. His desk looked the same everyday. It never strayed from being meticulously neat. The only thing in this room that did change was the problems on the board.

"Good afternoon," Mr. Daniels said, though his voice sounded like it wasn't.

"Good afternoon."

He shut his classroom door softly and I heard the twist of the lock. My back went rigid. He was not going to do this now.

Mr. Daniels leaned against the front of his desk directly in front of me. I could smell his cologne; the scent that use to be almost orgasmic was now nauseating. I felt his eyes travel down my body before he looked at me and smiled.

"Emma, there is a way for you to stop getting detention." He said in a sickly sweet voice. I nodded.

"Yeah, I got to stop speaking out in class. That poor Haley-"

I was interrupted by his fist slamming down on the front of his desk. His eyes turned wild. "You know that is not what I'm talking about! C'mon Emma, you're a smart attractive young lady. I can make you feel good if you just let me."

I felt the bile rise up and I struggled to get it to go back down. I stood up and straightened my shirt.

"I will never," I said in a controlled voice. I would not shout at him. He didn't deserve that much emotion. "ever sleep with you in a million years. You are the most disgusting creature on the face of the Earth. You trying to proposition me so I can save my grade? That is pathetic. Frankly, I'd rather do drugs."

His nostrils flared. He was livid. I didn't give him any time to reply.

"I am going to leave now. You don't have any power to keep me here. And if you so much as touch me, you won't have anything to proposition a naïve student with." I slowly walked towards the door, not taking my eyes off of him, and left the room. He never moved from his position at his desk.

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I got to my car in a huff. I snatched my keys out of my pocket and shoved it into the keyhole. After I wrenched the door open, I slid inside and slammed the door. I was just about to start my car when something dawned on me.

I left my backpack in Mr. Daniel's room.

I sighed and let my head fall onto the steering wheel with a thud. I contemplated the pros and cons of going back. I quickly got out.

The cons won.

I quickly walked back to the school and all the way to the math wing. I paused just outside his door. I put my hand on the knob and froze. I could hear noises. I leaned my head in closer to hear better.

It sounded like moaning.

My first thought was that someone was hurt. After all, that could be someone moaning in pain.

My next thought was that Mr. Daniels had found his next victim.

I wanted to leave. I was deep into this mess already and didn't want to go any deeper.

But I really needed my homework.

I took a deep breath and threw open the door. My eyes widened.

Mr.. Daniels had Haley bent over the front of the desk. I cleared my throat and crossed my arms. When they finally realized that they had an audience, they sprung up quickly and started to redress. Haley fumbled with her mini skirt, since that was the only thing that seemed to have disappeared.

"This isn't what it looks like." Haley said. I shook my head and put a hand up to stop her. I turned to Mr. Daniels.

"You are one sick motherf*er, you know that?"

He looked appalled by my language. "What gives you the right to speak to me like that?" I raised my eyebrows. Really?

"Never mind," he said. "Are you going to tell?" I looked from him to Haley. They both looked at me with pleading gazes.

"How long has this been going on?" I asked Haley. Even though it was illegal, it made it less of a monstrous act if she was okay with it. She fumbled with the buttons on her blouse.

"About 2 months now."

My eyes widened. Oh...... It made me wonder if she knew that he had propositioned me too. "And you were okay with him asking me too? You know he asked me to join in on this little fun that you're having, right?"

Her eyes darted to Mr. Daniels. He looked down guiltily. I wanted to laugh. She had no idea.

I grabbed my backpack and slid it onto my shoulder. "Well," I said. "Your secret is safe with me. Just leave me alone Mr. Daniels. Oh, and I hope you work out whatever the hell this is." I waved goodbye as I closed the door behind me. I laughed loudly.

My problems were over. But his were just beginning.

The next few days of Trig passed with an alarmingly slow rate. It seemed like everything I had now recently discovered floated to the surface and caught my eye at every turn. I mean, they were relentless.

Mr. Daniels continued to pick on Haley at every chance he got. But I now noticed the way his pupils dilated. And instead of squeezing the chalk to death, he was caressing it. His mouth would twitch in his grin.

He liked publicly humiliating Haley in front of the entire class.

It was like a game to him. Everything she did he brought out into the open. I'm surprised that no one else noticed. The only thing that stopped me from saying anything was.......

she enjoyed every bit of it. I saw the way her eyes would glance away shyly, a red blush coloring her cheeks. I once thought that it was out of embarrassment. But the way she rubbed the buttons on her shirt, the way her hands rubbed the tops of her legs told otherwise.

She was getting off on it. I wanted to scoff at the thought. How could someone enjoy humiliation?

The only advantage was that Mr. Daniels never once looked my way. I even decided to test it once. I arrived ten minutes late to class. He was writing problems on the board while everyone else struggled to keep up. I paused at the door to make sure he saw me. He turned to face me, his eyes narrowing.

"You are very late today, Emma. Do you have an excuse?" I put my finger to my chin in an overexagerrated way to make it look like I was thinking. There was a small swell of laughter.

"Nope." I slumped into my seat and dropped my bag onto the ground. Mr. Daniels crossed his arms.

"Oh," I said loudly. "There were these two people fondling each other against my locker. They were sickly sweet and really loud." There were a few whispers and a chorus of "who?"

"I don't know," I said looking at Mr. Daniels meaningfully. "But the couple was being very obvious and I was kind of getting sick of watching them do things." He swallowed deeply, his eyes looking down guiltily.

"That's a warning," he said turning back to the board. "Don't let it happen again."

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I walked to my car slowly pondering the events of the day when I was approached for the first time in four years.

"Emma!"

I turned to see Haley and a group of mini skirted Barbie dolls following her. I rolled my eyes as she turned to them and gave them the universal sign for stop. They gave their bleached ends a flip and pulled out their phones. It was probably to post another selfie.

Haley walked over to me and stopped. She looked frightened, as if I was going to reach over and bite her head off.

"What do you want?" I asked with my eyebrows raised. It felt strange to be approached directly like this. Usually people came at me from the side or in a brief tweet. She fidgeted with her clothes and tried to pull down the edge of her mini skirt.

"I want you to stay away from Hayden. He is mine." It probably didn't sound nearly as threatening as she wanted it to be. I laughed loudly.

"Trust me," I said. "There is no way I would ever touch that. You have nothing to worry about." She glared daggers at me with all her might.

"Mr. Daniels is not a THAT," she said in defense. "He is sweet and smart. The way he makes me feel when he is touching me...." She trailed off for a second to close her eyes and moan. "Oh, it is the best thing." He eyes popped open and she stabbed a manicured finger in my direction. "Stay away from him or else."

My blood boiled for a second. I hated it when people threatened me. Then I remember that it is an empty threat. I was in her face quickly. She flinched back but stayed where she was at.

"You think I'm scared of you," I asked menacingly. I knew that when I used this voice it sent chills down people's spines. "You can't even stand two feet away from me like a normal person. When I came up to you, you flinched back like I have the plague. So don't threaten me. I could poison you with chemicals you didn't even know existed."

She glared at me. "You're a freak!" She shouted. She walked away taking her Barbie cloud with her.

I wanted to throw the family photo off my wall. I punched the red button and started to relax when the familiar whoosh filled the air. My eyes trailed the rows of guns for the one that jumped out at me.

Nothing did.

So I grabbed several.

I stuffed them into a large black duffel bag and tiptoed down the stairs. I could hear both of my parents at the dinner table on their cell phones. It was a typical night.

They would have great conversations at the dinner table, stimulating even. Just not with each other. I made my way to the garage and blew a kiss to the red corvette before I slipped out the backdoor.

The stars were not visible behind the heavy blizzard clouds. The snow wasn't falling yet. But it was suppose to start later this evening. I could see my breath in the air.

I sauntered through the large expansion of my yard and didn't stop until I was in the thickest part of the trees. My dad also thought it would be a good idea to put a small forest in our backyard.

This time it was.

I set my bag down gently and slid one of the zippers open to pull out a target. I looked around for a decent sized tree. Once I found one, I nailed the target to it and made sure it wasn't cricked. I grinned.

I loved my targets. They were police issued with the black outline in human form. It wasn't hard to imagine Haley's manicured face on it. But I really don't think these targets should go through such mutiny.

I unzipped my bag and ran my hand over the guns that were peaking out.

What should I shoot tonight?

Hand gun, shot gun, rifle? Or maybe a semi-automatic?

Naw, I'm not that angry.

I settled for a 9 millimeter hand gun. I shoved in a magazine and pulled back the slide, locked and loaded. Just as I spun around to face the target I heard a noise outside the trees.

"Emma? Are you out here?"

It was my dad. He had stopped at the edge of the trees and was pacing the perimeter. I rolled my eyes. I stuffed the gun in the back of my jeans and threw my sweatshirt over it. When I made it to the perimeter, my dad walked over to me. He was wearing his business smile, the one that said he was only here to make casual conversation. It was going to be short, overly polite, and straight to the point.

"Hey dad, what's up?" I asked. I could feel the wind start to nip at my cheeks. If I was going to shoot, I would have to do it soon.

"How are ya, sport?" He asked. I was about to answer when he interrupted me. "Are you okay, sport? You seem down."

I picked my words carefully. I couldn't tell him about Mr. Daniels. He probably wouldn't take that well. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

I shook my head. "Not really," I said, hoping to get this over with soon. The wind was now moving the branches on the trees.

"Oh I know," he said ruffling my hair. "You could throw a party here. That would cheer you up." I shook my head.

"Not really."

"Why not?" He asked.

"I don't really have any friends." I said with a smile. He looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind," I said. There was no point in explaining. "There is just really no point in throwing a party."

He shoved a check into my hand. It was blank other then his signature. "Here is some money if you change your mind."

A shrill ring pierced the air. He walked away and answered it. I stared at the check and shook my head.

A party? Right.

I shoved it into my pocket as something wet hit my face. The snow was beginning to fall. I walked back into the trees and pulled out my gun. I put an extra nail in my target.

A little snow wouldn't hurt.

I shuffled the books in my locker trying to get the one on the bottom. My Spanish book.

That's what I hate about lockers. The books have no where else to go, so they just dog pile on top of each other. The heavier books always seem to think it's a good idea to be on top. I grumbled as I pulled out my 1,000 page English book. Stupid English.

I heard a heavy thud next to me and saw my English book slide across the floor 20 feet. It hit the bottom of the water fountain. A group of jocks walked by me guffawing with glee, like kicking a text book was the best thing in the world.

It is probably their biggest accomplishment.

That right there is why I don't want to throw a party. Everyone here is an imbecile.

"Here you go."

I looked up and met the eyes of a girl. She had dark red hair that went down to about her shoulders, pale skin with a dusting of freckles, and dark blue eyes outlined by eyeliner. She looked edgy. I would have said thank you, if not for the genuine goody two shoes smile that graced her features. I smirked as I grabbed my book.

She must be new.

I stood up expecting her to be already gone. People like her get peeved when they don't receive a thank you.

"Hi, my name is Jessica. What's yours?" She asked in that goody goody voice. I expected her to then spout off some remark about how great teachers are.

"Leaving," I replied. As I made my way to the Spanish room, I heard her tagging along. She continued to talk.

"I'm new here. I use to go to a school down south. Mostly Dallas, Texas to be exact. It was a small school. Nothing like here. There are so many people here. I don't know how I'm going to make any friends. What's your name, by the way? I forgot to ask. At least I think I forgot. I just don't--"

"Emma." That is all I was going to give her. Anything to get her to stop talking. I made a sharp turn around the corner hoping that she would get swept up by a wave of people, but I had no such luck. She stayed glued to me like I wish my gun was.

"Oh, I really like your name," she said. "What class do you have next? I have Spanish. I don't really like Spanish that much. I had to take it at my other school. A bunch of people use to cheat and I told...."

I tuned out her rambling and threw open the door to Spanish. I swallowed down my revulsion as she sat next to me, never once closing her mouth. This hour was going to be hell.

The thing that made it worse was Sam Ames. He seem to have a revenge plot against me after I kicked him in his family jewels. He saw Jessica talking to me and decided to intervene.

"Why are you talking to that," he asked her scrunching up his face. His pack of mongrels quieted down to pay attention. She stopped talking and turned to him. Her eyes turned fiery.

"She is my friend."

Sam and the others laughed. "She is a freak though. Everything bad that happens, happens because of her."

"You're just mad that I damaged the only brain in your body," I said with a smirk. I watched, satisfied as the smile on his face was wiped clean. He sent me a glare and turned to Jessica. He put on his signature smile.

"Hey, how abouts you come and sit over here? It's much better then sitting next to the Devil incarnate."

Jessica smiled at him sweetly. She leaned forward. "How about you," she said, her smile turning malicious. "and your friends shut your sausage brained pie holes, you arrogant pompous narcissistic asshole."

I watched with amusement as the smile left his face for the second time this class period. He turned to face the front muttering under his breath. "B****."

Jessica smiled in a satisfied way. She turned to face me and started rambling again. "I hate guys like that. They only think about one thing and that's sex. I'm going to wait until I'm married though. I'm a Christian. Are you religious? Hey, do you want to hang out tonight or something? Maybe I could come over....."

I turned to the front of the room and put my head in my hands. Will this ever stop? I should have just hit the book out of her hand or slapped her across the face. Is it not obvious how much I want to be alone?

But I can't even tell her that now because I can't get a word in. Maybe sometime tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I still had to figure out what I was going to do about this party.

The whole day Jessica never leaved my side. Even if she didn't have the same class as me, I found her leaning against the wall next to the door. Waiting for me.

"Hey Emma, how was Trigonometry? My Algebra class was good. I really want to hang out tonight. Do you want to hang out tonight? I need to get to know more people. Cause I really like having friends, you know......"

As she was rambling, I felt the metaphorical light bulb flick on in my head. I knew how to get rid of her. I turned to her.

"Hey," I said. "I know how to get you more friends." Her eyes lit up and I stopped her before she could get going again. "I'm having this party at my house. You can help me organize it if you want too."

"Yes! Yes! Yes! A party would be amazing. I can't wait."

"Follow me to my house after school," I said and turned to walk down the hall. She started up again. But this time it was about how excited she was to throw a party for the entire high school.

That makes one of us.

I just can't wait until she has other people to bother and nag.

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The last hour of the day I overheard the buzz of a new rumor going around. I tuned into the conversation of two sophomore girls sitting in front of me. It was hard to distinguish what they were saying over the smack of their gum.

"party.........smack, smack, smack........at the freak's house.....smack......Saturday night......smack,smack......I want to go......smack.....but she's a freak."

"Smack....Smack, smack........I know right!"

I rolled my eyes. Jessica had been blabbing. It wouldn't be long before the entire school knew.

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I met her outside next to my car. She bounded over to me with that smile.

"Hey Emma! I will follow right behind you." She pointed at a neon green bug across the lot. "That's my car." I nodded.

That makes perfect sense.

She was in her car then following right behind me. In fact, she followed me all the way to my gate and up my driveway. I heard her car door slam.

"Oh my gosh," she gushed looking at the house. She had to bend her head back to look at the top. "This is your house? This party is going to be freaking awesome. We have so much to do."

"I know."

She trailed behind me all the way to the kitchen. Marshall was seated at the kitchen island reading a cooking magazine. When he saw Jessica, a look of surprise flashed across his face.

"Jessica this is Marshall," I said politely. "He is our cook."

"Hi," she said with a smile. He nodded his head.

"Might I ask what she is doing here, Miss Williams?" He asked me. This was the first time he had seen someone come to the house even close to my age.

"She is helping me organize a party," I told him. "That reminds me. I will be needing you to make up a menu for Saturday night. There will be a lot of people here."

"Who told you that you could throw a party?"

"My dad."

He didn't say anything. But his eyes narrowed and his shoulders went rigid.

"Very well," he said harshly. "But I will be getting paid extra."

"Yeah, yeah."

I walked up to my room. Jessica gasped, her eyes going wide. "This is your room? Wow.."

I waited for her to go on. But for once she was speechless.

I grabbed a pen and the check, turning to face her. She had her hand on the picture of my parents. She was caressing the edge of the picture frame like she had seen nothing like it. I cleared my throat. She jumped and turned around to face me.

I started scribbling on the check.

"Look," I said. "I figure we need around $7,000 to get this party rolling. So here is the check. I'm not good with this kind of stuff. So you get all of the stuff that you think we need."

She took the check with her mouth open wide.

"I will not let you down," she assured me. "And you can trust me. I will take good care of this check."

I nodded and motioned for her to go. "Ok, you can show yourself out."

The thing I remembered later that night, after I had used my rifle as an emotional outlet, was to advertise. After all, there were those people that never knew what was going on at school until the day of. So I opened up my MacBook and got onto twitter and Facebook.

Western Peak High School Party. 8pm-1am. 404 Rosebud Drive. Big brick house.

So as Jessica was directing set up, I pondered on the thought of how many people would attend. Maybe no one would show up. I am the Western Peak freak. I shook my head.

They would show up.

I am a mystery to them. I boggle their imaginations. So they would be dying for the chance to prove that I sleep in a coffin or worship Satan.

"I need the D.J to set up in the living room. The lights will hang off of the main staircase." She pointed and prodded at the random movers in orange caps. They lugged around heavy rainbow lights and mini disco balls. I think I even saw some with black lights. "Are we going to use all of the rooms in the house?" She asked me.

"No, just the first and second floor. The bedrooms upstairs are off limits."

She snapped her fingers. "You heard her people. First and second floor only." Her request was followed by a wave of movers who scurried to carry out her orders.

Pretty soon the house looked grand. Streamers and lights were placed in every nook and cranny. Most of the flowers and breakables were placed in the locked cabinets in the kitchen. The dining room table was covered with delicacies. Chocolates, mini sandwiches, Doritos, and other various snack foods were placed in between the creations made by Marshall.

It was around 6 when I went upstairs to get ready. I settled for a simple short black dress. It had no sleeves and hugged my slender form perfectly. I paired it with a pair of stilettos and blood red lipstick. I checked my reflection in the mirror.

I look mysterious.....and good.

There was a soft knock at my door. Jessica came in wearing a low cut, knee length dress that matched the color of my lipstick. She paired of her look with a pair of hoop earrings.

"You look great," She said, putting in a piece of gum.

"You do too." I flinched. Since when did I give out compliments? God, that kind of hurt. As we put on the finishing touches, we heard my doorbell go off. I checked my clock. It was already 8.

"S***, Come on." Jessica said walking downstairs. I followed her out and closed my door, pausing to lock it. I took a deep breath.

Let's get this s*** over with.

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I was right.

People came in waves, their eyes wide with curiosity. They looked around oohing and ahhing. Some of them looked confused. Like they couldn't believe that I would live in a place as good as this.

The music started. People started dancing. I let people in silently while Jessica directed them to the food and the dance floor. There were a lot of people that I recognized. Some were in my class. Some were the ones that have used a variety of names on me for the past 10 years. Everyone had to see where the famous Emma Williams lived.

I now realized that I would probably never have the anonymity I once had ever again. Everyone would know who I was. The would know the amount of resources that I have and try and use it to their advantage.

I won't let them.

As the night went on, I was dragged to the dance floor a few times. A few brave people came up to me and commented on what a great party this was.

"Hey Emma," this brunette girl said. "This is a great party. Thanks for inviting me."

Then the D.J. would make his "hip" announcement and change up the song. There would be a chorus of cheers throughout the house. I rolled my eyes.

I really didn't see the point of parties. They seemed so trivial.

The doorbell rang a few times and I went to go answer the door.

Another wave of kids came through the door laughing and awing. I narrowed my eyes. Some of these kids looked older, maybe late twenties. I even caught sight of a few cases of beer being carried in.

Alcohol usually leads to things being broken.

I decided to let it simmer for an hour to see what happens. I checked the clock on the wall.

11:10

Pretty soon, the people that started coming up to greet me smelled a little suspicious. One of Haley's barbies stumbled up to me and put up an arm to study herself.

"Hey," she said leaning really close to my ear. Her breath washed over to my face. Her breath was so strong that I could have gotten intoxicated by it. "This party is sooooooo great. You did good, really good. You are soooo niiccce." She put an arm around me in what I thought was a hug. Then she stumbled into the crowd of undulating bodies.

I ran upstairs to my room to make sure nothing was happening where it wasn't suppose to. I found multiple couples in the process of fornicating on my staircase. I kicked them gently. "Move it."

They adjusted themselves and scurried away, probably to find a different place to finish what they started.

There was even a few couples stationed outside my door.

"Move it!"

I opened my door and flipped the light on.

Mr. Daniels had Jessica up against the wall in the process of f*ing her.

Well she definitely found someone else.

Mr. Daniels jumped back away from Jessica who gave me a guilty look as she adjusted her dress.

"Emma I didn't-"

"Wow," I said. "And I thought you were different from all of these skanks and whores. I guess I was wrong." I glared at her as she proceeded to walk out of the room. Before she went she opened her mouth to say something. I cut her off. "Go."

She didn't look back.

"And you," I snarled pointing at him. "What the f*** do you think you are doing here? This is a high school party. You're not even suppose to be here. You can't keep your _ in your pants for one f*ing second?"

He walked up to me and got into my personal space. "C'mon baby, don't be like that." He ran his finger down my cheek. "You know, those other girls don't mean anything to me. Your the one I want. This has all been for you." His breath smelled heavily of beer. "C'mon. just relax. Let me make you feel good." As he started to lean in to kiss me, I did the most logical thing I could think of.

I punched him in the face. He stumbled backwards holding his cheek. The only thing that will be is a nasty bruise.

He glared menacingly and made a lunge for me. He landed a hit to my stomach knocking the wind out of me. Then, as he made another grab, I ran to my small dresser next to my bed. I shoved open the top drawer and pulled out a 9 millimeter hand gun.

I pointed it at his face.

He jerked backwards and froze, his eyes the size of dinner plates.

"If you ever pull the s*** you did tonight, I won't hesitate to pull the trigger." My voice sounded breathy because I hadn't caught my breath yet. "Now get the f*** out of my house."

He backed up slowly and pulled the door open.

"You are one crazy b****," he slurred. "And you will get what's coming to you."

He stalked out of my site. As soon as he did I stomped down stairs. I went up to the D.J's both and snatched the mike out of his hand. I practically screamed into the mike.

"You have a total of 10 f*ing minutes to grab your s*** and get out. If you don't, well.........." I held up my gun for everyone to see.

The rooms were cleared out within minutes. I held the door open rudely ranting and waving my gun around as people rushed by.

"Have a good night. Do your homework. Don't f*ing come again."

The last person to walk out was Jessica. She paused at the door.

"I'm sorry," she said pleadingly. I pulled back the slider. The clicking of my gun loading made her jog out of the house. I slammed the door behind her.