I woke up lying on a bed that wasn’t mine in a room that wasn’t mine. I slowly sat up and looked around. The room was obviously a teenage boys bedroom. The walls were painted blue, while the carpet and ceiling was white. There were a few posters of girls on the walls and ribbons and trophies were scattered around on the desk. The room was spotless and looked very expensive, with a big screen t.v in the front of the bed, a computer on the desk, and a sterio on the dresser. I was so terrified that it was Justin’s room.

Suddenly the door started to open. I froze and stared at the door expecting it to be Justin. I wanted to scream, but at the same time something was holding me back. My entire body was tense and time seemed to slow down.

To my relief it was Adam. He saw me and said, “Oh! Your awake!” He walked a little closer. “Here it’s for your head!” He handed me an ice pack and sat down on the bed.

“Thank you...” I whispered. I had a bad feeling about being in his bedroom. “How…how did I get here?”

“Well, after you passed out I grabbed that pipe you tripped over and scared Justin off with it. I brought you back here because I don’t know where you live. Are you OK? You have some pretty bad bruises…” he said motioning towards a bruise on the side of my face that was normally covered by my hair. I knew that the bruise on my face wasn’t from Justin…it was from Jeff, my step father.

“Yeah” I said nervously, “I just want to get home!” I glanced at the alarm clock. It was 8 O’clock at night. I tried to stand up but he stopped me.

          “Where do you think your going?” he asked. My heart started pounding even faster.

“I really need to get home! My step dad is going to be furious!” I said trying to stand up again, but again he stopped me.

He looked at me questioningly and asked, “Can’t you just tell him? He should understand that it wasn’t your fault!”

I let out a laugh of sarcasm. “You obviously don’t know my step dad!” I said sarcastically looking down at the bed spread.

He frowned and then said, “Well atleast let me clean you up a bit before you go home!” He took the ice pack and set it on the nightstand before I had time to argue.

He stood up and picked me up bridal style. He carried me through a door that led to a small bathroom. He set me down on the counter. “I could have walked…” I said wincing a little as he washed some blood off my face.

He smiled sweetly and said, “I know!”

I blushed slightly and looked away. I was becoming the type of girl that I had always rolled my eyes at. The type of girl that inside was jumping up and down like a little girl because a good looking, popular, senior was talking to me. Why should I even care? I mean, this was the first time he had ever talked to me. The first time that a jock had even given me the time of day. Could it be some kind of cruel joke? I was brought back to reality when he tried to wash over an old bruise. This wasn’t a bruise from Justin…it was a bruise from Jeff. I pulled away out of instinct and made a small whimpering sound.

He pulled his hand away in surprise and fear. “I’m sorry” he said with concern in his eyes.

My face softened and I said, “It’s OK…it was an accident!” I made an attempt to smile. He smiled back and finished what he was doing.

“There…all done!” he said smiling and staring into my eyes.

I jumped off the counter and said, “I’m sorry, but I really need to get home!”

“I’ll drive you!” he said while walking out of the bathroom with me trailing closely behind.

“Jeff would have a fit if he saw your car. I think I better just walk home!” I said nervously.

He frowned but agreed. He led me down to the front door. His house was amazing to say the least! “It was nice to finally meet you Taylor. I hope I see you again soon!” he said opening the door for me. I was a little weirded out by his comment about finally meeting me, but pushed it to the back of my mind. He took my hand gently and kissed the top of it. He flashed me a smile. I blushed and looked away shyly.

“Goodnight Adam” I said walking out of his house. I slowly made my way home. I didn’t want to go home, but I knew that if I didn’t I would be in even bigger trouble with Jeff.