Autumn's POV

After getting rid of the razor, I got dressed into my pjs and walked out of the tiny bathroom. Ray was in the living room, struggling to fold an oversized Batman blanket. As soon as he saw me, he dropped it on the floor in embarrassment.

"I know how much you love Batman, so I got you this, ya know, as a welcome home present." He looked up to find me smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"I love it! Thank you so much, I haven't gotten a present in years!" I gushed before pulling him into a tight hug. I honestly couldn't remember the last time I'd been hugged, either.

I pulled back and scampered to the couch. It was warm and comfy and smelled like worn leather, cigarettes and coffee.

"Do you smoke?" I asked, noticing the smell of tobacco.

"No, but my some of my friends do, and they hang out here a lot. You don't mind, do you? I have Febreeze in the closet if it smells that bad..." His voice trailed off.

"No, it's fine. When will the pizza be here?" I asked, suddenly realizing how hungry I was.

He looked at his watch. "I think fifteen minutes. I have some movies if you wanna pick." He said, gesturing to a drawer under the TV.

After searching for a while, I finally picked Jaws. I loaded it into the DVD player and sat back on the couch with the remote in hand.

"Good choice." Ray muttered just as the doorbell rang. He jumped and ran to the door. He paid for the pizza and slammed the door shut behind the delivery guy. He placed the hot cardboard box on the coffee table and opened it, revealing the most heavenly thing I've seen in years. A plain, thin crust pizza with a buttload of cheese.

I quickly ate as much as I could stuff down my throat without choking before falling asleep. And for the first time in years I slept without a single nightmare.

*Time Lapse*

"Autumn. C'mon, we have school today!" A voice whispered softly in my ear, a hand gently rubbing my shoulder. It only took me a minute to figure out that it was Ray that stood over me, and that I had to go to school today.

Ugh. Fucking Mondays.

"Ugh. Fine, I'm up. See?" I grumbled sleepily as I sat up. Ray pushed a hot cup of coffee into my hands, telling me that I shouldn't be late on my first day.

I chugged down my coffee and ran to the bathroom to get dressed in a Green Day T-shirt, black ripped skinny jeans and my black and purple hi-tops.

I ran back out to find Ray impatiently waiting by the door with my bag.

"C'mon, move your ass! We can't be late!" He yelled grabbing my wrist and pulling me out the door and into the parking lot. I ran to his car and hopped in the passenger seat, silently dreading the day ahead.

I hate school. It's not that it's boring, I actually love to learn. I'm even looking forward to college. It's the bullying that I hate. Ever since fifth grade I was made fun of because I wore a Metallica T-shirt on the first day. As I got older it became worse. It was more than the usual teasing and name calling. By the eighth grade I was getting beaten up every single day. I was even raped a few times.

So lost in my thoughts, I didn't even notice when we pulled into the Belleville Highschool parking lot.

Welcome to hell.