Last night after eating dinner at the Becker's, I went home and my mother, no surprise, took off before my father could get home. Right when I walked into the front door, my father started to throw empty beer bottles at me, saying how he wished I was never born and all these other horrible things. I don't even remember how many times he punched me but let's just say it was a lot.

Foundation powder floated through the air as I repeatedly added it to my makeup brush. A big, dark purple bruise gladly made a home around and on my eye and on the side of jaw and neck.

Trying to forget about last nights chaotic event with my dad, I tried thinking about ideas for the English project.

Maybe I could volunteer at the animal shelter? Or help the homeless?

A foundation-covered face looked back at me in the mirror. I let my hair fall in front of my face but it only really covered the sides of my face, not the front.

"Whatever, it's good enough," I sighed and made my way over to my closet.

"I should probably wear a long-sleeved shirt," I said as I looked down at the cuts and scars on my arms from the glass of the beer bottles.

Grabbing a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans, I quickly changed and hurried out the door.

***

I tapped my mechanical pencil against my desk as I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to concentrate on my test. History is and will always be my weakest subject for some odd reason. I don't get why I suck at it because it's not that complicated. The only thing I really learned from history is to not repeat it.

Wiping my now greasy forehead, I glanced around the class and saw people getting up to turn in their test. How can they possibly be done?!

Focus!

Right. Focus.

I looked at my test paper and frowned.

WhO wA$ teh prezid£nt d]ring worrld vvar 1?

a) L!n3()n

b) wasS&i3ngton

c) gr4n+

None of the words made sense.

I rubbed my eyes and looked down at my paper again, but now it was even harder to read.

When I brought my sleeves up to rub my eyes for the second time, I noticed there were patches of foundation on them.

Ohhhh crap.....

Immediately, I rose my hand.

Mr. Evans, my history teacher, glanced up from what he was doing. "Yes?"

"Can I use the restroom please?"

"Fine but make it quic-"

I scooted my chair back, stood up, and ran for the door before he could finish his sentence.

I could barely breath as I raced through the long hallways, but not having enough air in my lungs didn't stop me from running as fast as Usain Bolt to the girls restroom.

Finally reaching the restroom, I kicked the door open and ran to the mirror.

Terror filled my complete facial expression as I stared at myself in horror. The foundation on my forehead and cheeks came off and only little remains of it were smudged on my black eye. I looked psycho.

Cupping my hands under the sink, I splashed cool water onto my face multiple times before turning the water off and drying my face with paper towels. I looked at myself in the mirror. Even though my black eye was now exposed, it's better than having random smears of foundation on my face. "Shouldn't of bought that dollar store foundation," I huffed under my breath as I tried to move some of my brown hair to the front of my face, which wasn't working.

Not having any notion of time, I continued to clean my face for another ten minutes or so.

YOU IDIOT GO BACK AND FINISH YOUR TEST!

My eyes widened. "My test! Shit," grabbing my phone from the counter, I fast-walked out of the bathroom.

Walking out of the bathroom, I turned the corner of the hallway I was in.

Time to run like Usain Bolt again.

The sudden contact of a body slammed against mine forced me to stumble backwards, but thankfully not fall on my ass. "I'm so so so sorr-" I said but shut my mouth as soon as I saw who I crashed into.

Heather...

"What the hell! You bitch!" she spat as she bent down to pick up her Louis Vuitton purse.

I looked in all directions. There wasn't anyone in the hallway since class was still in session.... My test!!

"It was an accident!" I managed to say and scurried down the hallway.

Behind me I could hear her annoying laugh. "Is that a hickey on your neck."

Stopping in my tracks, I turned to face her. "No," I whispered as I kept my head low, not making eye contact.

"Yeah right. I bet you gave yourself a hickey!"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "How on earth could I give myself a hickey? My lips can't reach my neck you fool."

"Using a vacuum with the long, circular suction thingy on it. Duh!"

I smirked and looked up at her "It seems like you know a little too much about giving yourself a hickey with a vacuum."

She opened her mouth and looked around, trying to find a comeback. Her cheeks became a bright red color. Heather stood motionless as she thought about what to say until she noticed the big bruise on my eye.

Big mistake to look up, Autumn. Bigggggg mistake.

Heather confidently stood tall and came closer to me. "The hell did you get yourself into? A fight?"

I opened my mouth to reply until she stopped me. "Nah, that's not it. You're too much of a pathetic, worthless loser to even be in a fight. Nobody would fight your weak ass. You're too easy to beat and everyone wants a challenge so you weren't in a fight. In fact, I think even something as small as a pebble would think you're too easy to fight."

"What? A pebble? That's so random and it's not even a living thin-"

"Oh I know!" she squealed, forcing me to plug my ears at her really high pitched annoying voice, "you slipped on nothing because you're clumsy and you hit your eye on the edge of a counter." Heather looked at me with a fake empathy expression. "That's really tragic, Autism."

A death glare etched onto my face and I clenched my fist and my knuckles whitened. "What the fuck did you just call me?"

The bitch smirked, knowing I was angry. "I called you Aut-"

"Autumn." A unfamiliar voice said from behind me.

I was hoping it was Ryder, even though I know his voice.

Wait...why Ryder?

I turned around to face whoever said my name. A tall, blonde-haired boy with specks of freckles on his nose leaned against the lockers behind me.

"Derek...." Heathers voice cracked as if she went through puberty in a matter of seconds, which made me want to laugh but I bit my lip to hold back my snickers.

"Autumn. Her name is Autumn and that's what you will call her, Heather." He pushed himself off the lockers and walked up to Heather. His eyes challenged hers, "don't call her a mean name ever again or else I will make this year the worst year of your fucking life. Got it?"

Heather's once confident figure now shrunk to a scared little girl. "O-ok," she gulped. The fair color of her skin managed to get very pale, as if someone used a paint brush to color over her fair skin with a pure white paint. She practically looked like a ghost. Her scared eyes met my confused ones. "Sorry....Autumn." With that said, she took off, and I was left with this mysterious stranger that just helped me get out of an awful situation.

"I um...I don't know if I should thank you or ask who you are."

The boy rested a hand up against the lockers and leaned a little closer to me but still gave me some space. "Well first off," he moved his blonde hair out of his eyes, "you're welcome, beautiful. And secondly, I'm Derek Lawson. I'm in your grade and even though you have only been at this school for a week, you obviously don't know who I am or have never seen me before because I always ditch."

"How do you know I've only been at this school for a week?" I asked him.

"Trust me, I wouldn't have forgotten a pretty face like yours over the summer, sweetheart. You obviously didn't go here last year."

I avoided his eyes at all cost. "Oh," I barely replied but he was able to hear it.

"What's wrong?" his slender finger forced my chin up and I tightly shut my eyes so I wouldn't have to look into his mesmerizing ones.

"Oh god," I heard him whisper. "Who did this to you?"

I opened my eyes and a small gasp escaped my lips at how close he was to me. The golden blonde hair that was once moved from his dark blue eyes now flopped in front of his face. My fingers tingled in a sudden desire to move it from his face, but I ignored that feeling and kept my hands to my sides.

"No one did anything to me. I guess I'm just," I inhaled a sharp breath, "....clumsy."

My eyes moved across the narrow hallway to the clock hanging from the wall. I squinted my eyes in an effort to read the time.

The clock read: 10:25am

"Crap," I sighed and face-palmed myself, "class is over in five minutes and I still have to finish my history test."

Derek released his finger from under my chin and averted his gaze to the clock then back at me. "History, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well you look like you're smart, so I bet you can finish in the next five minutes."

"Actually, history is my worst subject. I suck at it."

Derek smiled at me, his pearly white teeth glowing. "Well maybe I can tutor you sometime. History is my favorite subject after all."

Why does he even want to help me? None of this makes sense. None of it. This day is so confusing. First off, the really hard history test. Secondly, the fact that Heather was scared of someone even though she's the most popular girl and school. And thirdly, how this kid standing in front of me now seems to be interested in helping me when he hasn't even known me for a day yet.

You aren't doing that well in history, maybe you should just let him help. He seems nice, right?

"Ok sure," I gave in.

He held out his iPhone in front of me. "Great! Add your phone number so we can figure out a time to hangout before your next test."

Nodding, I took his phone and wrote my phone number in his contacts. Handing his phone back to him, I glanced at the clock again.

10:28am

"I'd like to stay and talk to you but I really need to get back to class." The sound of kids packing up from the classroom a couple yards down made me anxious and I had a sudden feeling like I was running out of time.

"Ok. See you around sweetheart," he winked and walked down the hall and around the corner.

I stood in place not able to move even though the thought of getting back to the classroom rang in my head like a siren. But I still stayed put.

What just happened?