Prologue: Part Four

"Holy hell, calm down, would you? It's just me," Shark said, "You really want your parents running in here right now?"

"How did you get in here?" I managed to squeak out as I tried to slow my racing heart.

"I climbed in through your window. Figured I'd snatch you up for the day," he responded.

"Well, tough cookies," I said, gaining my confidence back, "Thanks to you, I'm grounded from now til eternity."

"Hmm...that is a shame. Guess that means we'll have to entertain ourselves indoor then," Shark said as he locked my door. Then he approached me, grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into him.

"Wh-what are you doing?" My heart started racing again for very different reasons. I felt my palms start to sweat and my cheeks flush.

"Just trust me," he whispered into my ear.

The minute he kissed me, I surrendered any fight I had planned on making. Before I knew it, we had moved to my bed.

"Shark, I think we should stop..." I said somewhat unconvincingly.

"And I think you don't really mean that," he replied.


***30 minutes later***

Shark had left pretty quickly after we...well, you know. I was glad to see him go. I felt awkward, and all I wanted was to get in the shower.

As I let the hot water run over me, I thought about the last 24 hours. A lot had changed for me in a very short amount of time. I wasn't really sure how I felt about that. Part of me found it thrilling and exciting. Another part of me just felt wrong. Looking back, I can see that I was still so young, facing situations that I was too immature to handle.

I passed Ashley on my way back to my room. "Anna, could I please talk to you for a minute?"

I shrugged, and we moved into my room.

"Listen," she began, "I wanted to explain why I was so upset about you going to prom with Shark."

Here we go, I thought. Instead, I said, "I'm listening."

"Do you remember Isabel Evans? She came over here a few times a couple years ago?"

I nodded, "Didn't she die in a car accident?"

"Yes and no. I'll get there. She was a really great friend to me. She was funny and so incredibly smart. Well, she kind of had a thing for bad boys. She always thought she could 'fix' them." Ashley shook her head in sadness. "She started seeing Shark, and eventually they started sleeping together. After about a week, he got tired of her and refused to speak to her anymore. What's more is he made sure that everyone knew what they had done. She was called horrible names and her friends, myself included, either stopped talking to her or weren't allowed to be around her. Pastor Bill even did a sermon shortly after about the sins of the flesh, and even without saying her name, everyone knew who he was talking about. It was all so cruel, Anna, I just can't even tell you, but you know how people in this town can be. A month later, she drove her car into a ravine and died. The papers reported it as an accident, but the official report ruled it a suicide."

I didn't know what to say. I believed Ashley was telling the truth. She's not the kind of person to make things up, but I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea that the guy I had come to know over the past few weeks would hurt someone so deeply that they felt they had to take such extremes. What's more is if this is true, and I've already...Oh no.

"So, do you understand now why I'm worried about you?" Ashley asked, mistaking my silence as mere quiet reflection. "And after you came home in handcuffs last night, I knew he hadn't changed. He left you to take the fall last night, didn't he?"

Yeah, he did, I thought. But I stayed quiet.

"Alright, you don't have to say anything. I just needed for you to hear this. I know I can be silly and ditzy sometimes, Anna, but I do care about you. I don't want anything happening to you." Ashley stood up and left me in my room with my thoughts.

***The Next Week***

We had the following week off due to a mysterious flood at the school, so I was excited that Monday to see Shark standing outside of school with his friends. I had spent a lot of time mulling over what Ashley had told me, but I couldn't write him off completely, at least not without talking to him first. I decided there was no need to be awkward about what had happened between us, so I went up to him and said hi. His friends all started laughing and he walked into school without even saying a word to me.

My heart sank. Maybe he just didn't want to talk in front of his friends, I thought, Just because they were laughing doesn't mean he told them what happened.

It wasn't until lunch time when I ran into Ashley that I knew things were far worse than that.

"Come with me," Ashley said, pulling me into the girls' bathroom, "Do you have any idea what people are saying about you?"

I started feeling shaky. And a little sick. I shook my head.

"They're saying that you sleep around! That you're the "up-and-coming whore" of the freshman class!"

I gulped. This is very, very bad.

"Do you have any idea what's going to happen when mom and dad hear about this?" Ashley was hysterical at this point. "They're going to ship you off to boarding school in the middle of nowhere, and I'm going to be left with them all alone! So tell me the truth: did you sleep with Shark?"

"Yes," I squeaked.

Ashley burst into tears. Whether she was crying for my sake or for herself, I wasn't sure.

At any rate, I tried to calm her down, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure I should have been the one crying. "Look Ash, there's only one more week of school left. We've just got to try to keep this under control until then. Once everyone goes on break, the gossip mill will shut down, and by the time school starts back up, no one will care anymore? Okay? But you've got to help me!"

"Okay," Ashley said, wiping a tear from her eye, "let's do some damage control."

***A Week Later***

I had truly underestimated Ashley's power of persuasion. When she spoke, people listened, and she was successfully able to convince everyone that Shark made up lies about me because I had turned him down. It's not like anyone really trusted anything he had to say anyway.

Shark and I, naturally, were not on speaking terms. I was absolutely furious that he was such a cold-hearted bastard, and he was furious that my sister and I had flipped his evil plan around on him. Luckily, he had finally graduated and moved to Bridgeport, so I didn't have to worry about ever seeing him at school again.

My parents finally let me off the hook after I came clean about what happened on prom night and shed a few tears. They believed I'd been taken advantage of, but they knew I'd learned my lesson. Despite their faults, they could be really fair sometimes.

Ashley and I were closer than ever. There's nothing quite like some drama and a good secret to bring two sisters together. I tolerated her incessant chatter a bit easier now.

Yes, everything was finally back to the way it should be. I was on good terms with the people who mattered, and the trying events of the past couple weeks were behind me. Nothing left to do but move forward.

***One Month Later***

Prologue: Part Three

My head is spinning...

I looked over at the clock. It was noon. I had never slept that late, unless I was sick. I usually liked getting up early and starting my day. What happened last night?

I went downstairs. I needed a glass of water before I even thought about things like showering. And did I ever need a shower.

Ashley was sitting at the bar eating lunch. She gave me a dirty look.

Forgetting our argument the day before, I asked, "What's wrong, Ash?" She ignored me.

My mother walked into the room. "Anna Marie, come to the study."

Uh oh. I just got middle-named. What did I do?

I walked into the study to find my father standing behind his desk. My mother shut the door behind her. Crap. Not good.

 My father cleared his throat. "Well, we let you sleep in after last night's...fiasco, but now I think you owe both of us an apology and an explanation." My mother nodded.

"Erm...uh..." was all I managed to get out.

"Look," my father said, annoyed at my stumbling, "we have been very tolerant of your little painting hobbies, but this 'artsy' lifestyle is starting to have just the effect on you that we feared."

I tried to think of any time that my parents were "tolerant" of my art. No success.

My father continued, his voice raising with each word, "We have a reputation to uphold in this town, dammit, and having our daughter paraded to our front door in handcuffs like some kind of street rat is completely unacceptable!" He slammed his fist down.

I jumped back, startled. My father and I never got along, but I'd never managed to make him this mad before. He was more of a "quiet rage" sort of man, so this sudden outburst was very unexpected and more than a little frightening.

"Dad, I-I'm sorry! I really don't know what happened...I just-"

"We don't want to hear excuses. Just go to your room and don't expect to leave it anytime soon," my mother said, wisely realizing that my father was still too angry to hear anything I had to say.

I walked slowly to my room. I'd never been in this much trouble before, and I couldn't even remember what happened!

Wait a minute. Did he say something about handcuffs? Was I arrested? And it was at that moment that the previous night's events came flooding back to me...

***

I remember the gym looked horrible. It was like they had just picked up some ugly balloons and spread them around. Knowing our school, that's actually probably what they did.

Shark crept behind the buffet line and poured something from a flask into the punch. He offered me a drink.

Against my better judgment, I took it. In my mind, it was time for me to start experiencing life. At 15, experiencing life seems to always equate to breaking the rules.

It didn't stop with just one drink either. I ended up losing count.

With my inhibitions significantly lower, I found myself drawn to the dance floor. Shark and I danced for what seemed like hours, and it felt like everyone was watching us even though I doubt anyone was.

And then there, in the middle of the dance floor, Shark pulled me in for my very first kiss. It was perfect.

By that time, the dance was ending and everyone was going home. The city-wide curfew for minors was in less than an hour, so there was no hanging around. For most, anyway. Shark and I went around to the back of the school and waited for it to clear out. I asked Shark, in between my fits of the giggles, what we were going to do now. He pulled out a carton of eggs from his backpack and ran off toward the nearest neighborhood.

I had my first "egging" experience.

Then the cops showed up. We started running, but I couldn't run very fast in my dress and heels. Shark got away, but the police quickly caught up to me.

The cops drove me home and spoke to my parents. I didn't really hear anything that was said. I simply walked past them and went to bed.

***

No wonder they're so mad at me, I thought. I'd never done anything remotely close to this before. I was embarrassed that I'd gotten caught, but I didn't really feel bad about acting out. That night was the most fun I'd ever had after years of having to "keep up appearances."

"Thinking happy thoughts?" a voice said from the corner of my room.

I screamed.

Nickel Note #1

Just a side note for everyone:

I know the chapters have been a little short. I'm still kind of making my way through this, trying to get the hang of everything. When I was writing my legacy, it still took a lot of work, but it didn't seem to take so much planning. Because I have this story idea in my head and know pretty much exactly where I want everything to go, I've been writing out my chapters before playing the game and making a list of exactly what pictures I want. So basically, I go into the game and choreograph everything to get the picture. I haven't been actually playing the characters, and I think that's what is missing. I have through Chapter 5 written (still have to get pictures), but after that, I think I'll just play for a bit and see where it takes me (to an extent). I have been far too OCD about this. Also, as those of you in the states know, yesterday was Black Friday, and I work retail so my brain is just...very tired. Along with the rest of me.

So, hopefully longer chapters are coming. Just in case you haven't been to the News page, I will have new chapters published on Mondays and Fridays at midnight (CST). The schedule is more to keep me on track than anything else :) Since the next 3 chapters will likely also be fairly short, I may do 3 posts this week if time allows.

Also, while I'm here...I'm planning on starting a 100 baby challenge. If I focus too much on one story, I will burn out, so if I can go back and forth between the two, I think I'll be happier. I want to start it soon, but as I mentioned, I work retail, so December is not forthcoming with a lot of free time. I've got an idea for the back-story already, and I'm hoping it will give it a new kind of twist. So be on the lookout for that.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading! It's great to be writing fiction again, and it's been nice to get feedback. If there's anything you've noticed that's driving you crazy, let me know!

~Nickels~

Oh, and if you have your own blog that I'm not following yet, let me know! I love reading them. I've been making my way through some of the 100 baby challenges, but those take so long to catch up on if they are far into the challenge that I've only read 3 or 4 so far.

Prologue: Part Two

As I arrived home from my meeting with Shark, Ashley ran toward me screaming, "Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!!!"


"Hmm..." I said, "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Ethan asked you to prom?"

"YESSSSS!!!!!" she squealed.

"I'm so excited, I just can't even believe it! I mean, Ethan Waters!" She rambled on like this for several agonizing minutes. "You know," she said, finally calming down, "you really should come to prom, Anna."

"Well, actually I-"

"I mean, even going by yourself can be fun! It's prom!"

"I'm probably going t-"

"Claire Hibbet actually went by herself last year. No one asked her because she had this HUGE pimple the day they announced it. She was so humiliated. She actually spent most of prom crying, I think...But that doesn't matter! She's dramatic. I bet you'd have a good time!"

"Ash, I'm trying to tell yo-"

"We could even ride in the limo together! I'm sure Ethan won't mind. He's a real gentleman like that, you know. Come on, Anna! Say you'll go?"

"I'll go."

"Yayyyyy!!!"

I guess she'll have a nice surprise when Shark shows up at our door. I laughed to myself.

The next couple weeks were fairly uneventful. I didn't see Shark much at school. He was a senior, so his classes were on a different side of school than mine. Sometimes, on the rare days he didn't have detention, I would see him after school. We'd hang out for a couple hours, but that was it. I was really starting to like him. He was such a charmer.

Before I knew it, prom night had arrived. I had found this really awesome dress at a vintage store in Riverview. It was a bit costume-y, but it was so unique and interesting, I couldn't resist. I thought I looked great in it too.

"Oh, Anna! You look fantastic!" Ashley exclaimed, walking into my room. Mom had taken her into Bridgeport last week, and she had picked out a bright blue designer gown.

"Thanks. You look beautiful, Ash," I replied.

"Oh, stop," she blushed. "Now come on, Ethan's here. Time to get our prom on!"

Prom on? "But my date isn't here yet," I said, trying to hide my smile.

Ashley gave me a puzzled look. "Date? What date?"

I couldn't hold back my smile anymore. Nonchalantly, I said, "Oh, did I forget to tell you? I'm sorry. Shark Racket asked me to go with him."

Ashley's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. "Shark Racket?!? You're kidding, right?"

"No," I said, starting to get a little annoyed, "Is it so hard to believe that someone would ask me to prom?"

Ashley's face became far more serious than I had ever seen her. "No, Anna, of course not. There's a ton of guys at school that adore you. It's just...do you not understand what kind of guy he is?"

"I understand that he's misunderstood. Like I am. And we're going to have a great time. We'll ride separately if his company offends you so."

"Anna! He's not just misunderstood! He's done some pretty foul things that I doubt you even know about!"

I was fuming at this point. She's just saying all this because she can't stand to share the spotlight. "Just shutup, alright?"

With that, I stomped out of the house. I called Shark and told him I'd just meet him at school. I didn't even want to ride in the stupid limo. I knew I was acting kind of bratty, but I didn't care. I'd finally found a guy who saw me and not just my family or money. I wasn't going to let that go easily.

Shark met me at school, and we did end up having a great time. I think. He apparently hadn't been kidding about the punch, and he even let me try some. That turned out to be a bad idea. I remember dancing and laughing a lot. After that, everything kind of spiraled into a blur. I woke up the next morning with a headache and a sense that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.