• Prologue
    I knew something was wrong as soon as I heard it. That guttering, choking sound coming from his room. Mum still swears she never heard it. Maybe she didn't. Maybe it was in my head, but I was so sure I had heard something. I had always thought that I was linked to him in some sort of supernatural way. Of course, none of that mattered. By the time I got to him, it was already too late. He was already gone.

    One
    "Miss Barton? MISS BARTON!" Ms Dench yelled.
    "Hmmm? What? What is it?" I had just been napping on my desk, and Maths is so boring that half the class is out in 5 minutes anyway, so I figured I could get away with it. Of course, Ms Dench had other ideas.
    "Can you PLEASE answer my question? My class can't be so boring that it puts you to sleep."
    "Wanna bet?" I muttered under my breath.
    "What was that, young lady? Are you making fun of me? Alright, you can come back after school." she said.
    "What for?"
    "Two hours of detention, Miss Barton."
    "WHAT?"
    "Would you like to make it three?"
    "I don't really care."
    "Alright, three hours then."
    "Okay then."
    "Okay what?"
    "How should I know?"
    "Okay Miss." she pointed out.
    "You don't have to call me Miss."
    The whole class laughed, and I smiled. It didn't last long, though.
    "Alright, you little smart a**, you can come back for two hours of detention every day this week! How do you like that?" It was obvious I'd pushed her a bit too far, but at this point, I was too bored to care.
    "As long as you're not my teacher, Miss. I don't want to have to look at you any more than I have to."
    The class exploded into laughter. I, on the other hand, just sat there.
    "Why you, how dare you say that, you little b***h! Get out! Get out of my sight right now!" She was borderline crazy now, and I figured it was time to go.

    I wasn't very happy anymore. I was already in enough trouble with my parents and I didn't want to give them any more ammunition to use against me.. Especially Jack. That guy was a grade A a*****e. Unfortunately, he just happened to be my step father. And he never missed a chance to insult me. Never. Mum never noticed his subtle comments, his personal attacks. She only ever saw him being nice to me. But I knew what he was really like.
    "Oh, Jessie, why can't you clean your room?"
    "Oh, Jessie, why can't you be more like your sister?"
    Here's a thought.
    "Oh, Jack, why can't you stop being such a whiney b*****d and actually be nice to me? Just for once?"
    And when he starts drinking...don't ask. Lets just say his insults get a lot worse.
    He's not exactly a good step father, in fact, he's one of the worst. But he makes Mum happy, and that's the important thing. So I just have to put up with him until she realises just how bad he really is. It can't take THAT long, right? Right?