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Anna looked at herself and a part of her wanted to laugh at her reflection in the mirror. That fueled the larger part that wanted to cry so much.

There was spaghetti in her hair, ketchup on her jaw and different pieces of other people's lunch on her face.

A bathroom stall opened behind her and a girl stepped out to wash her hand beside her before seeing Anna's face. Her mouth opened in shock and she pressed her hand against her mouth as she tried to stifle a giggle. She left the bathroom with with her face red with laughter.

Anna could not hold the tears anymore. The pain swelled in her and the tears ran down on her face.

She did not blame anybody.

She did not blame the girl that choose to laugh at her rather than feel sorry for her.

She did not blame the girls who accidentally stuck out their legs out making her fall head first into other people's food. She didn't blame the whole cafeteria for bursting into laughter.

She didn't even blame Mr Jerome and miss Martin, her own teachers, who saw the whole thing happen but pretended to be oblivious.

She blamed herself for always thinking things will get better and being stupidly naive.

She picked spaghetti and fries out of her hair, rinsed her face free of ketchup and other condiments.

She looked at the mirror again. There was a little bruise forming on her forehead because of where she smacked against it the table.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a black hoodie that she was grateful she packed.

She put it on and pulled the hood over her head. She stepped out of the restroom into the hallway. It was empty.

Apparently the bell had rung and students were in class.

She could not go back to class where everybody could not see that they actually got to her and she cried.

She wanted to go back to the restroom and spend the rest of the day there but it was the same if every girl came in and laughed at her. She had no strong reason to ask for permission to go home early. She didn't even have the energy to pretend she was sick.

She shrugged and just walked through the hallway and past classes but no one noticed her. Not even when she made her way out of school.

She walked as fast she could away from the school towards her house.

Normally, she would take the school bus home but seeing as it was not closing hours yet. She had to walk all the way home. She walked for almost an hour.

Her legs protested but she ignored the pain. At last, she got home. She saw Bennie's truck in the driveway and groaned.

Bennie was her stepbrother and her legal guardian after his father and her mother died in a car crash a year ago.

She walked up to the small house they inherited from their parents and knocked the door and waited for a minute before Bennie opened the door. His eyes were bloodshot and there was a familiar white substance under his nose.

*Uh oh. Not again.*

"Why the fuck are you so home early?" He asked "and why is your hair wet?"

"Uh... I had a headache and the nurse told me to rinse my head and go home early." It wasn't a good lie. In fact it was a terrible lie.

He stared at her for a long moment before shrugging. "Well, come on in."

She entered the house and was immediately hit by a wave of weed. Without a word, she hurriedly found a way into her room and shut the door quickly.

With a sigh, she dropped her bag, undressed and stepped into the shower.

She fully washed the grime from her hair and body. She scrubbed every inch of her body as if she could wash away the shame and embarrassment.

When she felt clean enough, she turned the water off and stepped out of the shower.

Her heart skipped a beat as she found Bennie in her room, staring at her with the towel barely covering her body. A vicious smile spread across his face.

"B... Bennie how did you get in?"

" 'av got keys to every part of this house, sis."

"Bennie, please leave my room."

His smile grew wider. "Come on sis, don't be like that."

Anna's heart thundered in her chest. Not again.

He stretched out his hands towards her. "Come here."

"Please Bennie, just get out."

He stepped forward and she stepped backwards.

She was so stupid. She should have ran away when she saw him high at the front door.

She broke into sobs. "Please Bennie, you promised you would never do this again."

He lunged at her and she screamed. He flung her towel from her body and threw her on the bed. She she looked up at his eyes and knew he was beyond reason.

He removed his shirt in a flash and knelt over her.

"P... please Bennie stop." She clawed at his chest and tried to push him off her. He held both her hands and pinned it over her head with a strength she couldn't fight.

She wanted to die. She would rather die than let him do this to her a second time.

Her skin was tingling. He was using his second hand to unzip his pants.

White hot pain lanced through her. She had to stop him. She closed her eyes and somehow pulled her right hand free and punched his chest with all the strength she could muster.

He froze and went slack against her, she opened her eyes to see him. His eyes wide open, a look of shock and pain on his face.

"Bennie?" She called out softly but received no answer.

He slowly fell off her unto his side.

"Bennie." She called out again and tried to touch him but withdrew in shock. He was stone cold.

She stood up with a different kind of fear spreading in her chest. She walked to the other side of the bed and saw a gaping red hole on his back.

Something fell from the wall to the ground with a wet this behind her. She flinched and whimpered at the sound.

She turned around and looked at it. She had done enough biology in school to know what she was looking at. His heart.

She looked down at her hands then to Bennie's dead body. She had done that.

Her hand trembled and her vision blurred. She wondered what she was going to do.

*Calm down* . An inner voice told her. She took several breaths to calm herself.

She could not stay here. She hurriedly went through her clothes and put some clothes on. She opened drawer and grabbed her secret stash of money she had been saving for a while. She took some more clothes and put it into her bag. All while avoiding the view of Bennie's lifeless body on her bed.

She went out of the room and seemed to breathe easier. She looked around at the house so she had many memories in.

She blinked away tears and made her way out of the house.

She tried to walk at first but failed miserably as she soon broke into light jog trying to put as much distance between her and the house, knowing she was never coming back.