"One day someone is going to hug you so tight that all of your broken peices will stick back together."

[32]

the strength to survive from a handful amount of people in my life. Friends are the family that you are given by choice, not force.

For weeks now I've been ignoring David and I can see how annoyed he has been getting. Well, guess what, Asshole? I've moved on.

He has been nothing but the darkness of my life. Actually, scratch that. That whole family has been that constant darkness in my life. I had nothing and yet they thought I was still a spoilt brat that got everything. They thought – think I'm the reason my parents died in that crash.

And the saddest thing about this? They still don't know the whole story.

"I can't believe that it's been flippin' three weeks since that asshole came back to fucking haunt you!" Lily yells into my ear. Frightened, I jump causing my chicken wrap to be lodged down my throat. I cough up the remaining chicken and nod my head in agreement.

"I know," I whisper in disbelief, my eyes filled with water from before. Lily grins at me and nods her head eagerly.

"And..." she drawls, "It's been three weeks since you and Adam have begun dating!" She screams happily, jumping up and down. I smile at Lily and laugh.

"So much has changed..." I mutter quietly. Lily – Who somehow has super hearing abilities – nods her head and begins dancing on one foot.

I eye her weirdly and laugh when she begins to do another mini dance, shaking her butt in circles and receiving weird glances from the students passing by. I laugh even harder and hold my stomach as I watch my friend dance ridiculously.

"What would I do without you, Lily?" I ask through gasps of air. Lily shakes her head and stops her dancing.

"Honestly Isabelle, I have no fucking idea..."

I feel a warm hand press against my lower back and I shiver in delight. Adam snakes his arms around my waist as I turn around in his arms, my own hands wrapping themselves around his neck.

"Why, hello, Isabelle Thompson," he whispers huskily into my ear. I grin at him and pull him into a hug.

"Hello, Adam Black," I murmur back. Adam grins and presses his warm lips against my forehead. I smile back at him and grab onto his hand, pulling him to our next class, English.

"How's everything with fucking David Greenhill?" Adam asks through gritted teeth. I shrug my shoulders and open my mouth to say something.

"It's really weird, to be honest. He seems to have stopped messing with me and now I'm getting this really bad feeling that some shit is about to hit the fan," I mutter. Adam stops walking and turns to look at me.

"Nothing's going to happen to you, Isabelle," Adam says and grabs both my cheeks with his hands.

"Adam," I start, looking into his eyes. "He may not do something to me though. He might hurt someone else – you, he might even hurt you."

Adam shrugs his shoulders and smirks. "Nah, he's too weak for that, Isabelle," he says. I nod my head in agreement before turning on my heels and walking to class.

"We'll see, Adam..."

All eyes turn on me as I enter the student courtyard and I fiddle under their intense gaze. Lily walks next to me silently, her eyes too, looking everywhere.

"Why the fuck is everyone staring at us?" Lily whispers next to me. I cautiously look around me and shrug my shoulders.

"I honestly have no fucking idea," I reply. Lily purses her lips in annoyance before turning around and sticking her finger up in the air, flipping everyone off.

"Mind your own fucking business," she screams.

Lily then turns back around and walks straight past me, her head held high as if she is the queen bee of this school.

I just love Lily.

Everyone hastily turns back around in fright and the chatting of their conversations mingle with one another's, the noisy courtyard turning back to its normal self. I roll my eyes at how stereotypical the whole thing is and quickly catch up to Lily who's now sitting down at our table.

"I hate school so much! Why does the thing even exist?" Lily asks in exasperation. I shrug my shoulders and swallow the bit of apple I have in my mouth.

"That's what I ask myself every single day, Lily. Welcome to the other side, or, in other words, the side where you have no fucking idea whats ever going on," I respond, a giggle slipping through my mouth every so often.

Lily grins at me and rolls her eyes. "Typical Isabelle, always the one to be melodramatic also the one to always get the boys."

We both crack up in a fit of laughter, students casting annoyed looks our way. We both glare at them and they quickly spin back around in their seats.

"I love being scary," Lily screams. I laugh again and clutch my stomach in hysterics.

After a few more minutes of Lily and my jokes, I decided to go clean myself up in the bathroom. I quickly zip my bag up and swing it onto my back. Lily waves at me before I begin to walk back to the main building. An edginess suddenly shadows over me and I feel as if I'm being watched.

I shiver in fright but continue my way. It's probably one of those creepy kids that have nothing better to do but watch all the other kids walk down these old halls. I sigh in frustration and swing the girl's toilet door open.

I run a hand through my messy hair and look at my reflection in the mirror. My blue eyes are brighter than usual and a small smile grazes my lips. I grin at myself and bend down to splash some water on my face.

Just as I do that, my mouth gets covered by a hand and I let out a few muffled cries for help. I claw at the hand with my nails until finally, I draw blood. I hear the person hiss in pain and then, I freeze. My body tenses up when the strong hold on my body is released. I slowly turn my body around until I see him standing in front of me.

He grins at me before grabbing me by the throat and shoving me up against the wall.

"You're such a fucking worthless piece of shit, you know that, right?" David asks through gritted teeth. I squeeze my eyes shut and gasp for air as David squeezes my airway tighter and tighter.

"Please..." I manage to croak out. David evilly smiles at me and shakes his head, before finally, his grip on my neck loosens and I slump down on the ground. I groan as I feel the world around me, beginning to get dizzier.

"Why?" I ask. David's laugh pierces through the air and I wince in pain, memories flashing back into my mind.

He has no fucking right to come back into my life like he didn't just abandon me and say, 'we don't want you anymore.'

He's such an asshole and I think I may vomit if he touches me again. I stare into his eyes angrily and clench my jaw tightly. David glares back at me before stepping back and raising his hands.

"Alright, Isabelle, you win. Just know this though, you're going to regret the day you stepped into all those friends of yours life. Mark my word, Isabelle, you'll feel like a worthless piece of shit soon, that's a promise..."

With that said, David runs out the bathroom and I stay seated on the ground in shock.

No...

My friends, they're going to get hurt, because of me! I won't – no, I will not live with knowing the fact that I had been the reason for one of my friend's injuries or pain. Slowly, I lift myself up off my feet and glare at my reflection in the mirror.

No, no one will get hurt because of me again.

Mark my word when I say this, David Greenhill, no one will get hurt because of me again, and that's a promise...