I just stood there….stunned. I couldn’t believe it. No, this was not happening to me. I thought he was different!

Oh my god……I felt like I was going to be sick.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I didn’t want to tell you but I really like you and you are so innocent and that fucker does not deserve to have you on his arm like some trophy while he is going behind your back and fucking everything with a pussy. I’m sorry Ellie. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I hope that you can forgive me some day.”

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I looked her right in the eyes and I could see how embarrassed and disgraced she was.

“Thank you Denise for telling me, I really do appreciate it.”

I tried to get composed before I turned and walked out of the bathroom. As I walked back up the table where Bryce was sitting he had the nerve to smile and wink at me. He must have seen Denise come out of the bathroom behind me because his face fell for a second.

I walked right up to him and gave him my best smile.

“Hey Ellie, is something, um wrong?”

“Nope….just realized something though Bryce.”

He looked around as if he was looking for Denise….or maybe he was looking for a way out.

“Ahhh, what’s that Ells?”

I reached down and picked up a piece of pizza and took a bite of it and then looked at his nice white t-shirt and smiled.

“I realized that you are nothing but a cheating bastard!” I slammed the pizza right into his chest and then picked up his root beer and dumped it over his head.

As I walked away from Bryce I made a mental note to have Jefferson kick his ass.

I was never going to date again!

CHAPTER ONE

Ellie ………

Two Years later………

Two days before I was set to graduate and here I stood against my locker in a state of shock. People were walking by and going to class, not knowing the hell I was going through or at least not caring.

Memories of what my mother said to me when I was seven had to come back to me right at that moment.

My whole body started to shake.

Why? I wanted to just scream out as loud as I could WHY?

Maybe my mother was right; no man would ever want me or would ever truly love me. I needed to just give up on them for good.

I just wanted Jefferson, when would he get here? I had to tell him what happened or he will know something is wrong the moment he sees my teary red eyes. Jefferson will know what to do to take away this pain before I have to go home and face my mother. I can never let her know what happened. She will never let me forget this just like she always brings up Bryce. God, I was having a problem getting air in my lungs. I just needed Jefferson.

Jefferson is my older brother by three years. He has been the only person in my life to be there for me. He was going to the University of Texas and studying Architectural Engineering. He worked his ass off in school to get perfect grades and of course he kicked ass on the football field as well. He received a scholarship to play football at the University of Texas. He could have gone anywhere, but he stayed in Austin to help take care of my mother and me.

He would not leave me all alone to deal with her. He is all I have in this world.

My father left when I was three. He came back to see us only once after he left. It was right after Jefferson got his scholarship to UT. He showed up on our door step acting like a proud father. I thought Jefferson was going to beat the shit out of him. He only stayed long enough to give Jefferson and me part of an inheritance from a grandmother neither of us remembered. He also caused our mother to go into another drunken fest and lose another job.

Jefferson made me put the money away for college and he bought his truck and paid off what was owed on our mother’s house. My mother is nothing but a drunk who half the time does not even know she has two kids. I’m nothing but a reminder of the man who left her alone and unwanted. She would tell me how much I looked like him when I was younger. Her hatred for him drives her to drink away her problems, or at least she attempts to drink them away.

Jefferson is another reminder of our father but my mother pretty much just ignores him more than she does me. As long as he puts money in her account each month for her alcohol she is happy. Jefferson has worked since he was fourteen to help keep food on our table. I stopped counting how many jobs my mother has had in the last ten years. Sometimes she would be gone for days at a time which was fine by us. How Jefferson managed to work, study and get to football practice all the while taking care of his baby sister I will never know.

I love my brother so much for all that he does, even for our mom. Jefferson is the only person in my life who has been there for me.

I only needed two people in my life…….. Jefferson and Ryan……. Well shit……at least up until thirty minutes ago I thought the only two people I needed in my life were Jefferson and Ryan. Ryan has been my boyfriend for the last eight months; pretty much all of my senior year has been spent with him…….. what a fucking waste.

I guess I should say he was my boyfriend. That fucker! My body started to shake again as the image came back into my mind. I felt the tears threaten to come again. No! I was not going to cry over him anymore.

I had gotten a text message from Ryan asking me to meet him in the auditorium during sixth period. I was an office monitor and it was not uncommon for me to meet him during sixth period before he left campus for the day. I could have sworn he told me he was leaving right after fifth.

Today something was different and I knew it the moment I walked through the door of the auditorium. I heard moans coming from behind the stage. I slowly walked up and found Ryan behind the stage having sex with Jessica Harris. I thought I was going to throw up. I stood there like an idiot watching them for probably a good minute before my brain started to work again.

I finally was able to turn myself away from one of the worst moments in my life only to walk into a prop for the stupid Wizard of Oz play the drama class was putting on tonight. It made a loud crash as it hit the floor and I turned just in time to see Ryan look up at me with a stunned look on his face and to see Jessica give me the most evil smile I had ever seen. I mean really…that bitch could throw daggers at her mother while singing a Disney song. At that moment I knew this was all her doing, she set it up for me to be here and see this.

I turned and jumped over the prop to run out the door. All I knew was that I could hardly breathe and I really needed to get out of there and fast. I heard the bastard calling out for me.

“Let me explain! Ellie! PLEASE let me explain!” he kept yelling out. Really…how could he possible explain why he was having sex with the one girl in school who hated my guts?

Ever since Ryan asked me to the fall dance Jessica has made it her mission in life to hate me and take Ryan away. With her perfect blonde hair, blue eyes and daddy’s money, she wanted for nothing and got almost everything she wanted. I guess she accomplished her mission of take Ryan from me.

After I spent the last twenty minutes in the girl’s bathroom ugly crying with my best friend Arianna standing outside the bathroom stall begging me to tell her what was wrong, I was ready to go beat the shit out of Jessica Fucking Harris.

I was finally able to somewhat speak to Ari once the sobs settled a bit.

“Ohhh, my gawd, Ari that fucker….that no good for nothing”…..and there it was…another round of endless sobs.

“Please Ellie, you are really scaring me. Please tell me who and what the hell you are talking about before I scale this fucking door and beat it out of you.” Ari screamed over my loud cries.