The school started keeping tabs on me as the first semester started to fly by. My grades were dropping at an alarming rate, mostly because I refused to do any of the work. I'd managed to get caught up in another world, one that connected me very deeply to the Summer that had left me standing in the cold. In the last few weeks, I'd started to skip much more often than I should have. I would leave school grounds to smoke and snort a pill or two, only showing back up at lunch and that was just so I could see all of my friends. Truthfully, I had a lot of them, but there were select few that I cared about. Adrian (who was a grade ahead of me) was leaving lunch when I came back, so I'd stay and talk to her for a bit. Then I was hang out with Steph for about ten minutes, then I'd skip my way over to see my friend Zachary, who I may or may not have grown attracted to over the last few weeks. We bonded over the fact that we were both November babies and ran with it from there.


However, I'd missed so many classes lately that the school was threatening to get me for truency. I wasn't afraid of this, I'd had to deal with worse, but the fact that my old therapist dropped me made me uncomfortable. Now I had no fall back plan, nothing to prove to them that I was screwed up. Do you think that stopped me from bailing out early? Nope.


That's why I created a brand new plan to get me by. I'd printed papers on a college that offered home schooling to kids like me, the ones who couldn't focus when it came to public school, and gave them to my mother. She didn't like the idea because everything was so expensive, but she agreed to look over them just to get me off of her case. This was my ticket to freedom.


And what is it that I did with that freedom? I got high with Alex in the parking lot outside of school. He's the one who convinced me to get home schooled in the first place, once I told him how much I hated that place and all the rules that came with it. I was just thankful I had a friend who understood - This was a side of Alex I'd never seen before. After the day we met in Hardee's, he started calling me every night just to check in. Calling turned into meeting every Friday when school let out, which led to him picking me up when I was skipping. Over time, I guess you could say we'd gotten back together, though we weren't exactly official. We just met up, made-out and got fucked up. It was perfect.


"Let's go back to your house," Alex mumbled into my lips. "Your mom is at work, right?"


"Mhm," I mumbled back before breaking the kiss entirely. "I'm not having sex with you, assface."


"That's fine," Alex grinned. "We can go watch a movie or something."


Shrugging my shoulders, I laid the seat back and let Alex start on the twenty minute journey to my mom's. Thankfully, in these last few weeks, Alex had made his car legal. This meant I could see him whenever I wanted. This also meant that, since Steph and her family had officially moved in with us, she could see Jack whenever she wanted as well. Dennis still wasn't okay with us being around them, so most of the time we had Adrian come pick us up and take us to meet them, where we'd all get high and cause trouble for the town.


I guess to everyone in my life, excluding my teacher's, I seemed to be okay. I was doing what any teenager would do, just having fun. But it's not like all of my problems when away after my suicide attempt. I was still fucked up, still sick in the head, still screaming silently for someone to notice that I'm not okay. My hopes were too high, though, no one could see past my mask.


"Jess? Why is your mom home?"


I lifted my seat and let my thoughts go as we pulled into my driveway. It was true, my mom was home, but Dennis was here as well. It was odd, but I had hopes that they were just meeting to fuck at lunch. Shrugging my shoulders, I climbed out of the car with Alex. Mom never cared that I skipped.


We shuffled into the house, stopping by the kitchen door to listen to the sounds coming from the living room. Oh crap, they're fighting. Alex took my hand in his own and pulled me into the kitchen. Even though he was a total dick for what he did, I knew a part of him still cared, especially when he would grab my hand and give it a soft squeeze.


"I'm fucking done, Julie!"


"Fuck you, Dennis!"


My heart started to race. What was happening? My question was answered when Dennis came through the house holding three bags, one for himself, one for Kris and one for Rae. He stopped in the doorway to stare at me with sad eyes, because by this point, I was crying.


"Dennis, don't leave," I pulled away from Alex to grab the bags in Dennis' arm. "Please don't take them away from me. They're all I have!"


"Jessie, I love you, but I have to do better for my girls. This place isn't healthy for them and with everything they've gone through-"
"What the fuck do you mean it's not good for them?" My mom came flying into the kitchen, a bottle of liquor in her hands. "They love it here!"


"They love Jessie! Look at you, getting drunk at twevle o'clock on a work day? And what about Jessie's grades? Everytime the school calls you ignore it!"


"How I raise my daughter is none of your business!"


"No, but who I raise mine with, is."


He turned to leave again and I felt my world fall apart. I took off after him, grabbing his arm just as he stepped down the staris to the driveway.


"Dennis, please don't leave. Don't take her away from me!"


"I love you, Jess. I'm sorry."


Alex wrapped his arms around me just before I hit the ground. Tears were falling from my face and my body was shaking. This was all my fault. He was taking her away from me. I knew, I fucking knew this would happen eventually. Bawling into Alex's chest, I heard Dennis start his car and pull out. My world was comign to an end all over again.

Notes

Hey guys, I started writing this before I got the news that my great-aunt died, but since it was still opened on my computer I finished it later that night. Don't judge the rest of this story based on this chapter, for obvious reasons it isn't my best. And I would just like to say since most of my loyal readers are here, my aunt battled breast cancer for the SECOND time for SIX years and only took medication during the LAST week. She was my role model since I was a little girl and I ask that you all be patient with me while I deal with this. I love you guys. <3.