"I'M DONE WITH YOU!"

"I HATE YOU!"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

My mom chugged down another beer. "And how do you plan to make me leave, Matthew?" She spat out his name in a bitter teasing sort of way, pushing his buttons.

I turned to my dad, who was shaking his head. "Get. Out."

Her eyes flashed and she slapped him, before driving away, drunk.

I ran up to my room and slammed the door behind me, ignoring the bang that echoed throughout the suddenly quiet house. I grabbed a red pen on my desk and pushed it hard against my skin and dragged it, not enough to make it bleed, but enough to peel the skin. The ink made it look like it was bleeding, and it still hurt and left a cut.

This was my alternative to cutting. I never found it in me to take a knife and drag it across my skin; I was too scared to. I wasn't a brave person.

This wasn't the first time I'd resorted to the pen. I used the pen once a week; not out of habit but out of necessity.

I quote, "Pain demands to be felt."

My life motto.

It's true, though, isn't it? When you're hurting, you want other people to feel the pain you do. But for me... I inflicted pain on myself, hiding my true feelings from all those I knew. I had only written down my feelings once, maybe twice, but once for now. I'm pretty sure I suffer from depression, but that's just a self diagnosis and who can ever trust themselves to make the right decisions?

I was naturally a good student in school; I had friends and I knew a lot of people. As it turns out, I know a lot more about other people than they know about me. But Zachary Goode was a work-in-progress. All new kids are: The goal of every student is to find out as much as possible about new students- and to unleash the wrath of gossip upon them.

I was curled up in a little ball in bed. My dad, was passed out on the couch downstairs while my older brother, Grant, was blasting music in his room. "My songs know… What you did… In the dark…!" I let out one arm from under the covers and knocked on the wall separating us.

"Yeah?"

"Can you please turn it down?"

"But I always do this when we have school." Shoot. I'd almost forgotten.

"Never mind, Grant. Carry on."

I groaned as I threw the covers off of me and walked to my closet to pick out an outfit. Dark denim shorts, a light pink tank top, and my signature red Converses. I left my bedroom to step into the bathroom, tying my hair up into a high ponytail when Grant walked in, grabbing his toothbrush.

"Ready?" He asked. I grabbed my toothbrush, squirted some toothpaste on it, and nodded.

"Three... Two... One... Go!" We shoved our toothbrushes in our mouths and brushed for two minutes. This was our tradition every school morning on Mondays. The day we didn't would be the day we die. We did everything in sync until the alarm on my phone rang, signaling us to go downstairs, grab some breakfast, and head for school.

I told you before. I can hide my depression. Too easily.

I slung a backpack over my shoulder and opened the passenger door to Grant's car. He ran out of the house moments later, a chocolate doughnut in his hand. I stared at him as he opened the car door and shoved the keys in, handing me his doughnut to hold while he drove.

Gallathorne Academy and Institute, or, as the students refer to it, GAI, is recognized nationally for its historic accomplishments. At first, GAI were two separate schools- Gallagher Academy and Blackthorne Institute. Gallagher was girls only, and Blackthorne was for our male counterparts. The two schools were originally built next to each other, and the first headmaster/mistress were mortal enemies. But when they died, their replacements fell in love with each other and decided to merge the two schools. Cute love story, really. Humongous school.

My best friends were Rebecca (Bex) Baxter, Elizabeth (Liz) Sutton, and Macey McHenry. I knew them more than they knew themselves, but they would never know the real me. No one ever would.

But I suppose I spoke too soon.

Zachary Goode was tall; physically fit; smart; cocky; and, in short, hot. Zachary Goode was hot. And when the new kid is hot...

No one noticed Zachary Goode until he walked in through the schools maple double doors. He was clad in jeans, and a polo that wasn't too tight, but did reveal some of the muscle hidden. He strode casually to the school office, smirking a bit at the gaping girls. The first period warning bell rang and I rushed with my friends to first period science. I actually loved science; my teacher was awesome.

"Cameron Morgan, please come to the principal's office." I flinched at the sound of the secretary's voice, then glanced quickly at my teacher who nodded. Everyone looked at me while I walked out, a bit perplexed why good girl Cammie was being called to the principal's office.

I wasn't in trouble.

"Hey, Cammie," Principal Bailey greeted me when I walked in. Her office was amazing, and Principal Bailey was young, too, so she understood teenagers more than most of the other teachers. She was sitting on the edge of her mahogany desk that worked double duty as a desk and a room divider. Zachary Goode was sitting on one of her beanbags. "I've dubbed ye tour guide to Sir Zach Goode," she said in a faux posh accent.

The three of us laughed lightly, and Zachary Goode stood up, offering me a hand. "Hey. I'm Zach. Goode." I took his hand and shook it. "Cammie Morgan. Nice to meet you," I added. We withdrew our hands and Principal Bailey smiled. "Good. Intros out of the way, check. So, Cam, I've dubbed you to be Zach's tour guide for the next few days until he gets the hang of it. You both have all the same classes, so have fun with that. And don't worry about being late to your classes. I've talked to the teachers to excuse you if you guys are a little late. I expect you, Zach, to be able to navigate your way smoothly throughout all the school grounds by the end of his month." Zach smirked.

"But Bail-" She glared at him, and I raised an eyebrow, slightly amused. Zach was about to call her by her first name - Why?

"Principal Bailey." He stuck his tongue out at her. "I should be able to navigate the grounds by the end of today. Can't be too hard, right?" Principal Bailey and I took one look at each other and burst out laughing. "The Gallathorne grounds total 42 acres, Zach." His eyes widened when I said that. "Seriously?" I nodded, smirking. "It's okay if you need a longer time, just let me know beforehand, Zach," Principal Bailey said. She smiled. "We should be done now. Get to class! Oh, wait, take some candy." She threw me a bag of KitKats. I was about to open it and take one, when she giggled. "Keep the whole bag. I have tons." Zach glared at her. "What about mine?" He pouted, and she rolled her eyes. "You're not risking precious social time to show the new student around, are you?" He sighed, and we left. I stopped by my locker to put the chocolate away.

He didn't seem fazed by awkward small talk.

"What brings you to GAI?" I asked.

"My sister," he replied. He laughed seeing my tilted head and stopped in the hallway. "Yeah. Principal Bailey's my sister. She moved out east last year because she got this job here, and after just one year of... Principal-ing, she decided she wanted me to move out here and be with her. We're pretty close." I smiled, reminded of my own sibling relationship. "What did your parents think?" I asked when we had started walking to science again. He looked down at the ground and scratched the back of his neck. "My... Uh... Parents died when I was eight. I was living with my grandparents in Cali before coming here." My mind blanked before I mustered up an apology. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked-"

"No, really, it's okay," he interrupted. I walked over to the science room and opened the door for him. "Welcome to science with Mr. Solomon."

Bex, Liz, Macey, and basically every other female in the room sat up just a little straighter, staring at Zach. "Oh, yes. New student. Introduce yourself, and then pair up with Cammie at table number 8 to work on composing a pair science project." Zach smiled and shook his hand before turning to the class. "Hey. I'm Zach. I moved here from California." His posture was perfect, and he spoke with such confidence that I couldn't help but feel attracted to him. We headed for table eight and sat down next to each other, legs almost touching.

"Any science ideas in mind?" I asked him, and he smirked. "Quite a few. I did some independent research at my old school. What about a focus on something with the brain-"

"What about sarcasm?" I said. "I was thinking of doing something like that, but then it would become more of a-"

"Psychological report," we chorused together. I blushed an ugly shade of red, and he smirked. Mr. Solomon chuckled. "Stick to something non-psych," he said, and I sighed with relief. Anything psychological related almost always lead to talks about depression. Eventually we decided on conducting an investigation on global warming. Common topic, I know. We traded numbers, emails, and addresses so we could work on the project due in a month outside of school.

"What's our next class, Gallagher Girl?" he asked. "Free period. And what brought up Gallagher Girl?" I replied. "I know the history. You're a girl. Therefore, Gallagher Girl." I rolled my eyes and he smirked, cocky as ever. "Let's play twenty questions. I want to learn more about you."

'Sup. Trying to edit this story so I can update it for you guys and get a refresher on my own story =) However, these edits aren't as I'd like them to be, because if I were really editing this story the entire story would change. I'm trying to fix basic errors while not changing the plot line, so please bear with me! Thank you; you guys are the best. RFRF (Read, Follow, Review Favorite) and send me your ideas!