Jessica lay in her warm, comforting bed, her eyes lifelessly perusing the ceiling. Her body was completely over-wrought with exhaustion, but she couldn�t manage to fall asleep. In fact, she�d hardly been able to sleep all night.

The uncharacteristic thoughts which had crossed her mind last night had kept her up for the better part of the night. These feelings were a totally new and slightly scary experience for her. What�s happening to me? Why do I even care? she couldn�t help but wonder.

As Jessica lay pensively attempting to sort through the whirlwind of confusion occupying her mind, her bedroom door suddenly flew open. Her mother marched in angrily, her eyes flashing and her hair dishevelled. The absence of makeup upon her face revealed the dark circles around her eyes.

She strode purposefully over to Jessica�s bed, her eyes flashing angrily. �Get up!� she screamed shrilly, jabbing a finger accusingly in Jessica�s direction. Without any hesitation, she reached down and yanked Jessica�s luxurious comforter from the bed and sent it flying across the room. She leaned towards Jessica, her breath reeking of alcohol. �All you ever do is sleep! You�re useless,� she muttered as she roughly grabbed Jessica�s arm. Jessica winced in pain as her mother�s firm hands grazed the large bruise on her arm. Her mother took hold of her arm and roughly yanked her to her feet. �At least try to make yourself useful,� she spat at her.

Jessica bit her bottom lip hard, forcing herself to hold back the tears which were threatening dangerously to spill. She knew from experience that tears only made her mother more angry. It was as if they somehow fuelled her with more energy.

Her mother stood glaring stonily at her for a few moments. With one last angry shake of Jessica�s arm, she finally turned and stalked unsteadily out of the room. As the door slammed loudly behind her, Jessica sank slowly down onto her bed, her body shaking with quiet sobs.

If only people knew, Jessica couldn�t help thinking to herself. No one would ever find out about the vicious person her mother truly was though. It was as if her mother was like some sort of devious genius. She though of everything. She would beat Jessica on her arms and legs, but never lay a finger on Jessica�s face where anyone could see it.

Jessica's mother always appeared calm and collected when in the public eye. She was a member of the country club, attended prestigious galas and even occasionally went to church on Sundays. Not a soul knew of her late night alcohol binges or the countless different men she spent her time with. To the community, she was and always would be Mrs. Turner, woman extraordinaire. She had even strategically decided to keep the Turner last name because it sounded so much more elegant than her own maiden name did.

With a shaking hand, Jessica reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes roughly. Slowly, she rose from the bed. Taking a deep breath, she walked towards her bathroom. Be strong. That�s all you can do. It�s your best defense, she told herself.

Nick sat staring absentmindedly into his now cold mug of coffee. He�d spent his morning gazing off into space as his mind ran rampant with thoughts of her.

He�d been with many girls and looked into many eyes in his time. For some reason, this time had been different though. He�d never looked into someone�s eyes and been so enraptured that he wasn�t able to look away. The way his heart had jumped the moment their eyes locked was a sensation that he�d never felt before. Not even with Rianna.

Last night when she had walked away from him, he had felt as though his heart would leap out of his throat. He had wanted so badly to tell her to stay, but for some reason he couldn�t. It was as if some powerful force inside him was telling him that it would just be best to let her go.

He had stayed at the beach for almost an hour after she had left, roaming it tiredly. He had been exhausted but he hadn�t wanted to go home. It was as if he was there for a purpose. Like he was searching for something. Nick knew in his heart that he had secretly been hoping that she would come back. As the minutes passed though it became obvious that she wasn�t coming back. He�d never see her again.

With a tired sigh, Nick disgustedly pushed the mug away from him. The coffee sloshed around in the mug, spilling over the edges and onto the table. He didn�t care though. He was angry with himself. It seemed like every time a situation arose where he needed and wanted to express his feelings, he wasn�t able to. Nick was never able to let anyone know exactly how he felt. Sometimes he wasn�t even sure that he himself knew.

Glancing up, Nick eyes accidentally fell upon his kitchen clock. �Shit,� he cursed suddenly. He had been so caught up in the confusion of his thoughts, that he had managed to forget all about his dentist appointment. Runnning a hand anxiously through his hair, he rose quickly to his feet. His now totally cold coffee was completely forgotten as he headed towards the door.

Fishing around in his pants pockets, Nick found his keys and hastily locked the door. He jogged towards the elevator and pressed the button roughly.

Nick glanced down at his watch. 1:26. His appointment was at 1:40. He had exactly 14 minutes to make it all the way downtown. He was definitely going to be late.

Jessica sang along quietly to the familiar slow ballad which filtered from her car stereo. Her voice was beautiful. It was sweet and clear and filled with unmistakable passion. She never sang openly though. Singing was one of her talents which she preferred to keep to herself. Jessica was fairly certain that her mother wouldn�t approve of her singing. She sang only when she was certain she was alone. Singing had a way of comforting her when she felt alone. It was strange, but somehow when she heard her own voice fill the often unbearable silence, she didn�t feel as lonely any longer.

Now Jessica sang openly, as she drove to work. She had diligently been volunteering at Memorial Hospital for the past 2 years. At first, she had started working there a few times a month just to get away from her mother. Jessica had quickly found that she quite enjoyed helping others though. Just seeing the looks on the patient�s faces was amazingly self-gratifying for her.

She worked in the children�s ward, bringing happiness to the lives of terminally ill kids. All the children loved her and eagerly anticipated her visits. Somehow, helping children whose outlook on life was bleak and desolate was soothing for her. She wanted to be there for these kids as best as she could. She hoped desperately that they never had to feel as lonely as she had as a child.

Now since it was summer, Jessica regularly volunteered at Memorial as often as 2 or 3 times a week. Surprisingly, her mother approved of her working there too. She said that it gave Jessica that wholesome �good samaritan� image. Her mother could never actually fathom that Jessica enjoyed work. She always assumed that Jessica had some sort of hidden ulterior motive for going out of her way to help the less unfortunate.

Jessica sighed unhappily. She couldn�t and didn�t want to believe at times that she was even related to her mother. Just thinking about how different they were from one another almost brought tears to her eyes.

Instinctively, Jessica glanced at the clock. 1:36. If she didn�t hurry, she�d be late. She hated disappointing the sweet little children who so innocently and eagerly awaited her visits. She took a deep breath in attempts to compose herself and forget about her mother. Glancing down, she noticed her hands were slightly shaky upon the steering wheel. Determined to forget her mother and not be late, she pushed her foot to the pedal, sending the car lurching forwards. However, it wasn�t until she raised her eyes from the steering wheel that she noticed a black BMW directly in front of her. By that time she noticed it though, it was too late.

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