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I don't get any editors ): 'Cause no one wants to read fifteen chapters all at once, it scares them.

crying It's not that long...

Ewww. Is this gonna get any worse? This doesn't bother me, but Mr. Skeezy Old Man is creeping me out. X.x

Crap.

* * *

“That’s sick, he’s not supposed to do stuff like that,” Alyssa said as we walked through the parking lot to our tree after school.

“He’s still human, though, just like everyone else. Just because he’s not supposed to doesn’t mean he won’t.”

“You should tell somebody.”

“Who would believe me? He’s a priest, remember?”

She shook her head and took out a cigarette. “There’s that guy again,” she said and lit the tube. I looked in the direction of her gaze and saw him look away.

“Yeah? And?”

“I thought we were going to follow him today.”

“No, you were going to follow him, I had no say in it.”

“Well, I’m not going alone, you have to come with.”

“I couldn’t go even if I wanted to.”

“Why not?”

“I’m grounded.”

“Oh, yeah,” she looked defeated and took another drag. “Well, I still want to talk to him.”

“Why?”

“Because.” That’s a fantastic reason, Alyssa, really. She dropped the cigarette and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Hey! Hey you! Come here!”

“He has a name, you know.” She ignored me. Az started towards us and she dropped her hands. “What is your fascination with him?”

“He’s cute.” Typical teenage logic. He reached where we were standing and stared at Alyssa blankly, but threw me a few glances with a slight smirk in the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah?” He asked.

“Hey,” Alyssa said, pulling out another cigarette and attempting to look sexy. “What’s up?”

“Not much,” he glanced at me again.

“Want one?” She held out her flattened pack of cigarettes to Az. He looked down at them and his smirk faded. He shook his head and looked her in the eye.

“I don’t smoke,” he told her calmly. She shrugged and raised her eyebrows.

“Whatever,” meaning: killjoy. She lit her cigarette and took a drag. There was a moment of silence as I watched the parking lot for my mother, Alyssa watched Az, and Az occasionally watched me.

“What?” I finally asked after locking eyes with him for a few seconds.

“You’re really pretty.” So are you, wait, no!

“Uh, thank you,” I tried to smile, but he was scaring me.

He’s a freak.

He’s a pretty freak.

No! It’s just a physical attraction, he’s still a freak. Like a Mormon.

Az continued to stare at me and I felt more uneasy.

“You’re pretty cute yourself, Az,” Alyssa said, exhaling. His gaze left me and he quickly glanced at her again. I saw in her eyes that she was irritated as she inhaled again. Alyssa was making Az uncomfortable, Az was making me uncomfortable, and I knew that Alyssa and I would make each other more uncomfortable later. I kept looking out for my mother and tried to ignore Alyssa giving Az the third degree.

Eventually, I saw the car pull into the parking lot and informed the two of it’s arrival maybe a little too eagerly. Alyssa dropped what was left of her cigarette and said goodbye to Az with a snap.

“Bye. Bye…your name’s Ebony, right?” Who, me?

“Uh…yeah.”

“Bye, Ebony,” God, you have a sexy voice, too!

“Uh, bye. C’mon, Alyssa.” We quickly climbed into the back of my mother’s car and watched Az out of the back window as we drove away.

“You were right, Eb, he is a freak.”

“Who?” Mother asked.

“The boy we were talking to,” we? “Eb thinks he’s Mormon.”

“Well, that doesn’t make him a freak.”

“Yeah, but he was staring at Ebony the whole time.”

“No he wasn’t,” who am I kidding? He was probably undressing me mentally or something.

“Who is he?” Mother asked with some worry in her voice.

“His name’s Az,” Alyssa, you make a better daughter for my mother than I do. Want to trade?

“Was he waiting for someone?”

“That’s what we thought, but it turns out he’s not. He’s waiting for something.”

“Something?”

“Yeah.”

“Did he say what?”

“No, but he’s been waiting for a few weeks.”

“Hmm.” ‘Hmm’ as in ‘well, I’m panicked’. Join the club. “I don’t think I want you girls talking to him anymore.”

“Yes, m’am.”

“Ebony?” Mother asked after a moment.

“Yeah?”

“You won’t talk to him anymore, will you?”

“I hadn’t been talking to him to begin with. He’s a freak,” remember?

“Ebony,” she said sternly. “Promise me.”

I sighed. “I promise.”

“Okay, good,” there was a tone of satisfaction in her voice as she readjusted her fingers on the steering wheel and smiled. She dropped Alyssa off and I moved into the front seat. “Ebony, we need to talk.”

“About what?” I already knew by the tone in her voice.

“I just want you to know how much I care about and how hard I try to keep you healthy and happy,” I could almost mouth the words. “It’s not easy for me to do this by myself, but I try. You’re getting to be so grown up now and I want you to be able to make the right decisions. I can’t always be there for you, and if there ever comes a time when I can’t be there to help you,” like ages two through sixteen? “I want you to know I tried and He will always be there for you.”

I sighed; again with trying to have Jesus raise me.

“The reason I’m saying this now is, that boy you were talking to scared me, Ebony, because I know he wants you for sinful things,” oh god, shoot me now. “And I know he’s not the only one. You know how men are; they use you and lie and leave you heartbroken.”

“Just because Dad did it to you doesn’t mean it will happen to me!” I said angrily. She winced slightly and readjusted her hands on the steering wheel.

“But I want you to be careful, Ebony, don’t make the same mistakes I did.”

“I’m not going to, Mom, I know all of this already. I have no interest in Az or any other boy. I’m not going to get hurt.”

“I just want you to be aware, though. Boys will try to tempt you.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“I know,” I sighed, deciding not to get into anything with her even as I felt my anger build up inside me. I’d gone rounds with my mother before about my father and God and temptation, and each time we both gained nothing. I went up to my room when we parked to begin my homework and vent. I sat near my window and went through three different samples of the quadratic equation before seeing my mother leave through the front door. I watched dully as she started the car and backed out of the driveway. She was gone for about an hour before returning with a handful of papers, by then I had finished my homework and had nothing better to do but watch the happenings of my street. She threw open the screen door and I heard nothing more from her until dinner when she called me down. Sitting next to my plate were three brochures; The Power of Jesus in Children, Sex: The Decision, and The Dangers of Teen Pregnancy.

Haha, why, thank you.

* * *

Detention at St. Mary’s was an hour of scrubbing the bottoms of the pews, replacing the Holy Water, mopping the aisles, and any other tedious task the staff could find to keep you busy. When I finished up erasing the pencil marks in the hymnals I threw my bag over my shoulder and headed for the door.

“Goodbye, Ebony,” the Father said from one of the front pews.

“Goodbye.” I nearly ran out of the building in need of some fresh air. The Father was being extra-creepy the entire hour he was with me and I was just waiting for him to pounce, but he never did. Maybe words and inappropriate hand placements were as far as he went, which wasn’t to say it was right, but it was better than what it could have been. I walked through the front gate and heard my name called from behind me. I looked around and who should have been waiting for me but Azreal. He smiled when I turned around and stepped towards me.

Oh great, from one freak to another. I can’t win!

“Hey,” he said. I didn’t reply. I could feel him watching me as I walked by. I tried not to think it him, watching me and judging me, and I quickened my pace.

“Ebony!” Oh what now? The Father ran up to me and I slowly turned around.

“Yes, Father?”

“You dropped this,” he said, smiling, and handed me my geography book.

“Oh, uh, thank you.” I grabbed the book and glanced over his shoulder at Az. I smiled and began to walk away again.

“You’re sure you don’t want a ride home?”

“Very sure, thank you, Father.”

“See you later, Ebony.”

“Uh-huh,” I briskly walked off of the school grounds and didn’t slow down until I was about a block away from the school. I was mumbling something to myself about how the school needed better security or something when I was once again burdened by the sound of the Headmaster’s voice.

“Ebony!”

I stopped in my tracks and a chill ran up my spine.

Stop following me before I report your a**.

“Yes, Father?” I turned around to face him and allowed him to catch up to me, all the while considering running off screaming obscenities and false emergency situations.

“I’d like you to have something,” he said in a wheeze and extracted a bulky silver cross on a chain from his coat pocket. He extended his hand out to me and I hesitated before reaching out for it.

“Thank you,” I said, taking hold of the cross, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he walked closer to me, forcing me to back up nervously and let go of the cross.

“Ebony, I want you to know, I think you’re a very special girl,” he took my hand and forced the cross into my palm, using his fingers to wrap mine around it tightly around it. I kept walking backwards, my heart rate growing steadily, and eventually I hit a brick wall.

s**t!

The Father, or John as it seems more appropriate to call him, came ever closer until our chests touched. I felt his breath, hot and damp, on my face and neck.

“Father-” I began. He put a rough finger on my lips and shushed me.

“Don’t talk, don’t talk.” He pulled the cross out of my hand and held my wrists together next to my naval. His face drew closer to kiss me and I turned away, closing my eyes. He pinched my cheeks and brought my lips to his. I squeaked and pressed myself into the wall trying to pull away only to have him pinch me harder.

“Hush, my child.” I could feel the cross bouncing off my chest as it hung from his wrist. He let go of my cheeks and I squeaked again, trying to hold back my tears. He put his finger to my lips again and I quieted, then he took his finger and ran it down my chin and chest, toying with my buttons as he went. I struggled to get away and he pushed me even harder against the wall. He got to the top of my skirt and stopped, using his whole hand to grab my stomach and un-tuck my shirt then round to my hips and butt. John brought his pelvis to mine as he felt me up and I prayed I was just imagining the bulge in his pants. His hand made its way down my thigh to the hem of my skirt and pulled it up. I squeaked again and a tear escaped my eye. I soon felt the cold metal of the cross on my thigh as John took the top of the cross underneath the side of my panties and used the top to hook them and pull them down.

“You are a very, very special girl,” he said, laughing a bit. I opened my eyes to face him and another tear escaped.

“You’re a sick ********,” I whispered. He smiled and dove in on me, before I had time to pull back there was a snake of a tongue in my mouth that was wet and unnatural and foreign to me. It definitely wasn’t the way I imagined getting my first kiss. I tried to scream and was only choked and made to slam my head against the brick wall behind me. And then it was gone, there was cold air where John had been standing and nothing holding me up, so I fell to the ground and scrambled for my bag in an attempt to find anything I could protect myself with. My house keys were the only thing I could find that would be of any help, so I shoved them between my fingers and thrust my fist into the air with my eyes closed and my other arm over my head. Through my breathing, I heard the slapping sound of flesh on flesh and the murmured grunting sound of something fighting. There was a moment of silence before I felt someone’s fingers on my arm and I flinched and shrieked.

“It’s okay, Ebony,” a soft voice told me. I looked up slowly and locked eyes with the last person I’d ever love.

Define irony.

That's good. xd And don't worry, that's as sexual as it gets.