Adriana P.O.V.

The wind whistled through my hair as Jake reeve the motorcycle, making us whirl down the empty freeway to school. I had my arms wrapped tightly around his chest, making sure I stayed perfectly still. The bright morning sun only enhanced the happy glow I was currently basking in.

Today, for the first time since I had moved in with the Collins, I was wearing my old classical outfit of a baggy t-shirt, my glasses, loose jeans, and my old Converse. I had no one to really impress today and the tight clothes weren't really my thing.

As we pulled up to school I loosened my grip on Jake only to hear him yell above the wind,

"I told you not to let go, babe."

Even with the cool April breeze on my face, I felt myself slowly turn warm and red when he called me 'babe'. I always pegged Jake as the kind of guy to say babe but I never thought it would be aimed at me. I smiled and tightened my grip again.

When we arrived at school I slid off the bike and Jake followed, holding my hand. I moved to walk forward when I realized Jake was frozen to spot, staring at me. At his heated gaze I blushed and asked,

"What's wrong?"

Jake hurriedly dropped his gaze and to my utter astonishment, starting to blush all the way up to his ears. He mumbled something under his breath that I couldn't quite catch so I grinned teasingly and held a hand up to my ear,

"Sorry what was that?"

He looked up and my heart skipped a beat when I realized his face was so red he looked like he was about to pass out. I realized that was must how I must look around him all of the time.

"I said you looked like my cute Bookworm again."

I smiled and squeezed his hand softly, hoping I didn't have to voice what I was feeling. He smiled fondly at me, squeezing back as we walked up to the school. I snuggled into Jake's side when I realized everyone was staring and whispering. I hated being the center of attention.

Jake kissed the top of my head to comfort me, kudos to his height. We were almost into the school when a loud nasal voice screeched behind me,

"Wow the slut has a new toy? I didn't know you had a habit of sleeping with taken men."

I froze when Tirana said that, loud enough for everyone to hear. I slowly turned around and glared at her. She was wearing a hot pink tube top that barely held in her chest and a skirt that being called underwear would be an exaggeration. Her sleek black stilettos looked slutty and ridiculous.

I snapped back,

"Are you talking about yourself, whore?"

A crowd had started to gather and was whispering among themselves, watching us. Jake rolled up his sleeve and started towards Tirana, his face flushed with anger. I quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him back, whispering in his ear,

"I need to do this."

He gave me a look full of concern before nodding and backing away. I turned my attention back to Tirana when she snarled,

"How many fuckbuddies do you have now? Three? Four?"

"Is that how many STDs you have, Tirana?"

She got in my face and whispered menacingly,

"I suggest you take your trashy ass back where you came from."

Then she laughed loudly and practically yelled to our crowed,

"Oh wait you can't go back to where you came from! Your own daddy didn't want a hooker like you!"

The crowd gaped at her as she revealed my biggest secret. Horror made me freeze and simply stare at her. That made it so I didn't notice two of her clowns behind me until they had pinned my arms behind my back.

As I struggled, feeling tears of desperation threaten to fall, Tirana stalked towards me, her hips swishing. She placed a finger under my chin and said,

"How 'bout we show what happens to little sluts?"

My desperation turned to pure panic when I heard a ripping sound. The next second, my shirt fell to the ground, cut in half by one of the clowns behind me, revealing my scars to half of my classmates. I screamed in horror and tried to cover myself but I knew they had seen, they had seen how much I was unwanted. Tears now freely fell and the blood roared in my ears so loudly I didn't hear Jake yell something and run towards me. The next second, something soft was draped over me, hiding my scarred body from everyone's staring eyes. A hoodie that smelled like Jake.

When Tirana laughed triumphantly, her little slut friends chiming in, something in me snapped. I saw red as I staggered to my feet. I shoved off the hoodie, not even caring I was standing half naked in a black bra in front of a bunch of guys. Tirana didn't notice me as I stalked towards her. I tapped her shoulder. She turned around and that was when I nailed a punch right in her face.

She gasped and fell to the ground, a bruise already starting to form around her eye. I held my quivering fists at my side as I whispered,

"Why...Why...What did I do to deserve this...?"

Tirana grabbed her pride and rose to her feet, spitting,

"Because you act like you are so great, when in reality you're not! You've stolen everything from me! You stole Madison back then; you stole my pride, YOU STOLE JAKE FROM ME YOU BITCH!"

Before I could blink she had landed a slap to my cheek with such force I fell back on the ground. Tirana landed a kick to my ribs screaming,

"You thought you were entitled to everything I wanted! Guys whispered about you in the halls when they should have been talking about ME!"

I swung my leg at the tendon behind her knee, making her buckle to the ground beside me. We tore at each other hair while she continued to scream,

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS SO FUCKING SPECIAL ABOUT YOU, YOU DAMN ORPHAN! I HAVE EVERYTHING, THE BODY, THE MONEY, YET YOU STILL HAVE EVERYTHING I WANT!"

She managed to twist her body around so she could kick me with her death 6 inch heels. I cried out when she nailed me in the stomach, driving the air out of my lungs. Before I could think, I pulled back my fist and punched her as hard as I could in the nose.

She flew away from me, blood gushing out of her broken nose.

Damn I broke her nose? Mr. Muscles would be proud.

"What is going on?!"

The voice of our principal, Mr. Harvard, made everyone freeze in panic.

Well shit.

~~~~~~~~~

"It was her fault Mr. Harvard! I was simply walking to class when she came out of nowhere and started assaulting me! I will sue and I can guarantee I will win and make this schools life hell!"

Mr. Harvard glared at her, his "I am not in the mood for this today" face on.

"Miss Tirana, I demand respect. If you cannot keep your mouth shut, I will skip right to the part where I give you suspension AND a month of community service. Are we clear?"

Tirana snapped her mouth shut and I snickered at her.

Mr. Harvard had to be the most intimidating man I had met in my life. He was bald with a big bushy white beard. He was short and stocky and ran a cattle ranch. He had lost both his thumbs in some roping accident, so if that doesn't scream bad-ass, I don't know what does.

Mr. Harvard turned to me and instantly flushed bright red, coughing awkwardly,

"M-Miss Adriana, you seem to have a startling lack of clothing."

Well if sitting in my principal's office wasn't awkward enough, he was my BLUSHING principal. I felt my own face grow heated in embarrassment as he slipped off his suit jacket and tossed it to me. Oh God just kill me now.

Once I had covered myself, he turned back to us and said solemnly,

"I want you each to tell me what truthfully happened. Keep in mind you two made quite a scene so I have already heard the correct story from witnesses so it would benefit you greatly to be honest."

I wanted to laugh at the horrified frustrated look on Tirana's face. Well, there goes her ingenious plan to lie.

He turned to me and waved for me to speak.

"Well Mr. Harvard. I was walking in with Jake Collins this morning, minding our business, when Tirana made a comment about me being a quote, slut. Admittedly, I got upset and replied but then her two friends cut off my shirt. In self-defense, I punched Tirana and then it descended to a fight where you found us."

Mr. Harvard nodded, pleased with my story, and then turning to Tirana. She made a big show of clearing her throat before beginning theatrically,

"See little Miss Perfect here, stole my boyfriend so I was really bitter. Her story is true except for the part where she said she punched me in self-defense. She came up to ME and then punched me. So I am the victim here!"

Her high-pitched voice had risen to an unbearably high screech with desperation, making me and Mr. Harvard wince. Mr. Harvard turned to me, a look of curiosity on his face,

"Why did they cut off your shirt?"

I immediately stiffened and Tirana smirked at me. But before she could open her mouth to tell Mr. Harvard he spoke up,

"Well that doesn't matter. From who I have talked to, Tirana, you are quite the bully to her. So you are the antagonist and she is the victim, no matter how you look at it. Actually, I have received concerned students about your treatment of Adriana so that only nails the coffin shut on this case. Adriana, you have still invoked a fight, so I will leave you with two weeks of detention with Mr. Martin. Tirana, you will be suspended for a week with two weeks of detention with Mrs. Snow."

I could barely breathe as I tried to hold in my laughter. Tirana was stuck with Mrs. Snow for two weeks! If I didn't hate her so much I might even feel sorry for her.

Tirana sent me a death glare as she stood up and yelled,

"I will not stand for this! My family could ruin your life and own this school if they wanted!"

Mr. Harvard barely blinked at her,

"Well too bad for you I am the one in charge here. If the School Board deems my punishment unfair, then please, by all means call me out on it. But till then, you are a student under my jurisdiction and if this is the punishment I have given you, you must serve it. As for your parents, they have signed a legal document enrolling you in this school, placing you in my care and decision, so in a legal case, I can just pull that out and show them. So on that note, have a good day."

He blew her off and turned back to his computer. If I could, I would have given him a high-five. He sent me a sly wink on my way out of the room.

It was only then that I noticed I stole my principal's suit jacket.

~~~~~~~~

Jake ran up to me and engulfed me a huge hug, squeezing my bruised ribs. I let out a pained gasp and Jake immediately let go. He cupped my cheek and slowly stroked it was his calloused thumb, sending shivers down my spine.

"Are you alright, Ri?"

I smiled and closed my eyes, pushing my face into his palm, enjoying the comfort. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, I was interrupted,

"Shouldn't you be caring how I am, babe?"

Tirana fluttered her eyelashes at Jake, obviously trying to be cute but only succeeding in looking like she had an eyelash stuck in her eyes. Jake made a deep growling in his chest and pulled me closer to him by my waist. Yum.

"No I shouldn't Tirana, considering you hurt Adriana."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes,

"What is she, your girlfriend now?"

My heart stopped and my eyes went wide when he simply said,

"Yes."

We were girlfriend and boyfriend now? I didn't get a formal invite or anything?

I frowned and Tirana noticed,

"She doesn't look to happy with you Jake. Could it be she doesn't want you?"

Jake grabbed me by the hand and moved to pull me out of the school when Mr. Harvard's door opened and his shiny bald head stuck out,

"Mr. Collins, can I speak with you for a moment?"

Jake gave me a reluctant look before going into the office, leaving me with a

still bleeding Tirana. However, she didn't say anything and just stalked out of the school, leaving me baffled. She usually gave me a parting act.

When I moved to follow her a familiar voice piped up behind me,

"Adriana are you alright?!"

I smiled when I saw Zero running down the school corridor. He gave me a brief hug before pulling away and inspecting me. He sighed in relief when he saw I had no visible injuries, but tugged at the suit jacket questioningly. I laughed,

"It's Principal Harvard's."

Zero chuckled briefly but then looked serious again,

"How are you doing emotionally? That must have been pretty traumatizing."

My little smile started to fall and tears welled up. I whispered,

"I'm not ok...I wish my Mom was here, she would know what to do..."

Zero frowned and scooped up my hand, holding it tightly.

"Why don't we go to see her? I can come with you if you want."

I perked up a little bit,

"You want to meet her?"

He nodded almost shyly, making me smile.

"Alright."

~~~~~~~~

I held a bag of Lay's Salt and Vinegar chips in my arms, explaining to Zero,

"These are her favorite."

He laughed and elbowed my side,

"Aren't they everyone's favorite?"

We walked together, hand in hand, to the small cemetery by my old home. At first, Zero looked a little bit startled but then gave me a sympathetic smile. We marched into the cemetery till we found a relatively new tombstone.

Zero lingered behind me as I walked forward and placed the bag of chips on the ground by the tombstone. I got on my knees and began to quietly talk,

"Hey Mom sorry I haven't been here to see you for a while. So much has happened it has been crazy. I don't know where Dad is but I know he still misses you just as much as I do. I am now living with the Collins; apparently you were friends with them in high-school. Jake and I are getting along wonderfully; I hope I can have a happy love like you had. I brought a good friend of mine to meet you today, his name is Zero and he is really nice and sweet. He watches out for me like a brother would. His mom and you would have been the best of friends."

I turned behind me and gestured for Zero to come beside me. He slowly obeyed and sat down next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"Madison is doing wonderful as well, still as protective and spunky as ever. Her and this nice boy Reece have started to date and they make the best couple. I'm sure you wouldn't approve though. I wish you could have met all my new friends like Lucas and Loraine, you would have loved them all."

I paused as my throat started to close up as emotions swept over me,

"It is still so hard without you here. I try to think of what you would do and say to me in hard times. Sometimes I forget about how much it hurts without you here, and I try to be happy enough for the both of us. But sometimes it's just so hard without Dad here..."

I trailed off and Zero hugged me tighter as tears started to fall. He rocked me back and forth and whispered softly in my ear as he stroked my hair. I finally started to calm down and I heard Zero whisper,

"Huh... that's odd..."

I lifted my head and saw intense confusion on Zero's face.

"What's odd?"

Zero slowly turned to look at me, his green eyes looking misty,

"Layman was the last name of my father."

The world jerked under my feet and I whispered,

"Do you have that picture of your dad that you were talking about when we got milkshakes?"

Zero nodded and pulled out his wallet, taking out a worn folded picture. He unfolded it and handed it to me.

In that picture, I saw a younger version of my Dad staring back at me.

~~~~~~~~