A while later, Blake had to leave for football practice. We didn't get to finish the project, but he dicho we could work on it sometime during the week. It was strange, I actually felt a little sad when he left. I shook it off; I barely knew the guy.

"See ya in school," he smiled. I nodded, and he left.

I spent the rest of the día doing nothing; I didn't have work today. Then I heard the front door open. Crap, did I forget to lock it?! Did Drew get in?! My corazón was racing. What do I do? Should I just go to him? Should I hide and hope he thinks I'm not here, then he'll leave? My fear was so strong I couldn't move. I sat there in a ball, frozen on the couch.

"Irina!" I heard a voice call. The relief was amazing. I sighed.

"In here, Dad," I called. I got up from the couch; excited to see him. I haven't seen him in almost two weeks. I stopped when I saw him. Kara was with him. Of course. The wedding wasn't for another six months; but I was kind of hoping they'd break up. I felt kind of selfish about it, but I do not like that woman.

"Hello Irina," she dicho in a sickeningly sweet voice. It took all my strength to not grimace. Dad came over and hugged me.

"What've tu been up to?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I did nothing basically all day. Blake came over before to work on a project." Dad raised an eyebrow.

"Is Blake a boy?" he asked. I groaned. God forbid I mention a boy's name. He doesn't even know anything about Drew.

"Yes," I sighed. "We just had to work on a project. That's all," I insisted. He smirked.

"Ok... Well, tu need to start packing," he said. Just then I noticed the boxes por the door. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"For what?" I asked.

We're moving," Dad dicho nonchalantly. My corazón dropped. Oh yeah; I forgot to mention. Not only am I getting a new step mom, I'm also getting a new step sister. Her name's Hera, she's twelve. I've only met her one other time. We didn't say one word to each other. Kara is almost never with her; she's always at her dad's house, while Kara gets to be young again and date.

"Dad.... Do we have to move? I mean, seriously, who would buy this house?" I stalled.

"Lots of people would! We just got to fix the house up!" he dicho enthusiastically. I folded my arms. I didn't want to move. This was the house I grew up in. Something beeped. Kara looked at her watch.

"Oh, sorry Dear. I gotta go; Hera has a soccer game." She stood up on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek then left. I wanted to throw up again. I followed Dad to his room where he began putting his belongings into a box.

"Aren't tu excited?" he asked. He looked like a little kid on Christmas, but instead he was putting the presents away.

"No," I muttered. He stopped and looked at me.

"Why?" he asked. He was seriously confused. I folded my arms.

"Dad, why can't just be the two of us?" I sighed.

"Irina? Why don't tu like Kara?" he asked exasperated. I turned to face him.

"Because! She's not my mom! I don't want to move, and I don't want tu to marry her!" I shouted. He stormed over to where I was standing and towered over me, jabbing a finger in my front of my face.

"Now tu listen here, young lady. Who I see is none of your business! It's my choice and it's not up to you! Now you'd better knock off this bitchy little attitude of yours o tu will be grounded for the rest of your life! Do tu understand me?!" he screamed. I felt myself shrink closer to the floor.

"Yes sir," I said, my voice up an octave, and nodded. He we to the living room and angrily shoved things into boxes. I stormed into my room and slammed the door behind, fearfully locking the door when I heard him slam something as well. He'd never yelled at me like that before.

Not ever.

I stayed in my room the rest of the night, not even bothering to come out when my stomach was growling.

***

That siguiente Monday, I went to school like normal. However, it wasn't a normal day. Blake kept talking to me. During English, he sat in the asiento siguiente to me and kept talking to me. I contributed to the conversation, but I couldn't help but wonder why the hell he was talking to me. I was sure he hated me before. And besides, we were just partners; he didn't have to act like he liked me just to escape the awkwardness.

"So, do tu think tu could come over to finish the project?" he asked.

"My car's still broken," I reminded him. He was quiet for a moment, then smiled.

"I'll pick tu up then. tu can stay for dinner," he concluded. I raised my eyebrows. This was getting weirder and weirder. The campana rang, and everyone turned their attention to the front of the room; except me. I just stared at Blake in disbelief. Then Mr. Sullivan called for everyone's attention, so I dropped the subject... for now. After class, I got to him before he could leave.

"No offense, but why do tu want me over? I thought tu hated me," I admited. He looked surprised and taken off guard.

"I don't hate you, Irina. Well, not anymore. You're... different than I expected tu to be." I don't know whether I should be happy o offended. "I don't know, I just... like you. You're fun to be around," he smiled. I was speechless. "See ya later," he said. He lightly punched my shoulder and turned to leave. This kid is weird, I thought.

When I got inicial though, I saw that I would not be able to go to Blake's.

"We're going to my house. I'm having a couple people over," Drew told me. He loves having parties... a lot.

"But I have to work on a project," I dicho in a mousy voice. He raised his eyebrows at me and folded his arms. I thought quickly. "I mean, never mind. I can work on it another time. But I have to call and let them know I can't, ok?" He nodded. I took out my cellphone, and called Blake's.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Uh, I can't work on the project today... Something came up. How about another day?" I asked.

"Sure. No problem," he said.

"'K, thanks for understanding. Bye." I hung up. Drew furrowed his eyebrows.

"Blake's a girl, right?" he dicho in a tone that told me to agree.

"Yeah... Yeah, she is," I dicho nervously. He couldn't tell the difference in my voice, so he believed me,

"Good. Let's go," he ordered. I followed him out, and we got into his jeep and drove to his house. His house is a bit bigger than mine; it actually has a segundo story. We went in, where his parents were arguing in the kitchen. His mother stopped when she saw me. She pasted on her pleased smile.

"Oh. Hello Elena," she smiled. The first couple times I met her, last year, she'd been drunk and thought my name was Elena. I don't bother try to convince her otherwise.

"Hello, Mrs. Bartel," I squeaked after Drew stepped on my foot to get me to speak. His father was silent for a moment, then went back to barking at his wife. We went to his living room, waiting for the others to mostrar up. Only Laken and Blaine did. Joy... I hate Laken with all my heart. We were sitting on the couch, watching TV when they showed up, letting themselves in. Laken jumped onto the sofá siguiente to me, and put his hand on my hip.

"Hi Irina," he said. He leaned in closer, and I grimaced. Drew chuckled. His hand moved, and I slapped him. He was shocked to say the least. So was Drew. He grabbed a fistful of my hair, and yanked me back real hard so that the back of my head was against his chest.

"Knock it off, bitch," he growled. He jerked me adelante, hacia adelante and then let me go. "Go get me a beer," he ordered. I got off the couch, trying to avoid Laken's eyes, and went to the kitchen. His parents never notice, and probably wouldn't care, that Drew drinks. I grabbed a bottle from the fridge and returned, handing it to him. Laken smiled darkly. I sat back down in my place, and he put his arm around me. He talked to me about things I didn't care about, so I didn't listen.

Then Drew became wasted.

He stood up, pulling me with him. He told me something that I had no idea what he asked. It sounded like a question.

"What?" I asked. He grew angry. I took a step back, but couldn't pato fast enough as his fist flew towards me. He hit me in the mouth, his rings slicing a good cut on my lip. It stung like crazy, and the blood ran a small trail down my chin and neck.

"Geh oudda her!" he shouted. That I understood. I turned and ran, right out the door, down the driveway, and down the street. I didn't stop until I was about a mile away from my house. I walked the rest of the way, panting and still bleeding. I went home, and collapsed on my bed. My corazón was still racing, and I didn't feel the slightest bit relieved.

Everything went black.

***

I went to school the siguiente day, hoping for a better day. Blake talked to me in English class again, but this time I was prepared and not taken off guard; until Mateo came over. He looked at me with an expression of resentment, then turned his attention back to Blake.

"Man, don't forget about that party tonight! It's gonna be awesome!" he smiled. I'm pretty sure he was also trying to make a point that I was not invited to wherever they were going. He chuckled then went back to his asiento across the room.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I can't work tonight. Like tu heard, I have plans," Blake said.

"It's fine," I shrugged. He pursed his lips.

"You wanna come? Everyone's gonna be there," he offered. I smiled.

"No thanks. I've probably got plans tonight too," after yesterday, I'm sure Drew wants to give me a piece of his mind... o what's left of it.

"Ok," he said, kind of sadly.

"Isn't Heidi going?" I asked. I'd definitely not be going if his evil girlfriend would be there. But he shook his head.

"She has to go to her Aunt's o something. She's busy." I shrugged.

"I'm sure you'll have fun."

When I got home, my preconceptions were proven true. Drew screamed and yelled at me for ditching him yesterday. I didn't even bother to argue my point that he had told me to, because he wouldn't remember, and he wouldn't care.

"I don't even know why I put up with you! You're useless!" he hollered. I stood there and took it. Finally after what seemed like forever, he calmed down some. Then he sighed. "Come on, I've got plans for us tonight." As if right on cue, a horn honked. It was Laken and Blaine; apparently one of them had taken Drew's jeep to go get the other. Drew got in the driver's seat, switching with Blaine who took the passenger seat. Lucky me, I got to sit in the back with Laken. I'm not even going to describe the things he did on our drive. Let's just say I swore a lot, he didn't get the message, I fought back, and Drew was laughing the whole time.

We soon came to a club. I recognized the name; I've heard a lot of kids talk about it at school. When you're my age, it's a fun place to dance and hang out. If you're the legal age, it's also a fun place to get wasted. As we walked in, I noticed a couple faces from school, but I couldn't match a name with the face. Drew grabbed my wrist roughly and puled me to the lounging area; he never likes to dance, which I am grateful for.

"Go get us something's to drink," he ordered. I nodded obediently and sneaked over to the "Over Age" area to the bar. The bartender raised his eyebrows, but I showed him my fake ID that say I'm 22. I guess I could pass for a very short 22 año old. He shrugged and got me all four drinks I asked and paid for, with my own money of course. I went and handed Drew and Blaine their drinks first, then went back and got mine and Laken's. As I was walking past, someone bumped into me, spilling the cerveza all over me.

"Hey, man! Watch it!" I said. The guy turned around, then looked surprised. I was too, for lack of a better word.

It was Blake.