Jessica sighed aloud. Her heart went out to AJ. She knew what it was like to have a broken heart. She knew exactly how it felt to be betrayed, hurt, and alone. Tears stung at her eyes as she thought of Justin.
She wiped at her eyes, rolling over onto her side she carefully opened her night table. She sat up and rummaged through the drawer until she found what she was searching for.
From the drawer she pulled out a photograph. It was slightly creased and the edges of it were tattered. She stared at the picture as her tears fell, soaking the picture along with her bed sheet.
The picture was of her and Justin. It had been taken at their senior prom in high school. They had been so happy together that night. She remembered how they had danced the night away with only eyes for each other.
Jessica�s hands shook as she stared blankly at the picture. It was the only memory of Justin that she had left. She had thrown everything else out. For some reason, she had decided to hang on this picture though. Why, she had no clue. He had hurt her so badly. He had scarred her for life. Even a year later, she was still hurting.
Her hands shaking, she slowly and deliberately began tearing the photo up. She ripped the photo furiously, tearing the pieces into smaller ones. She continued tearing until her fingers ached and there was nothing left of the photo. Through her tears, she could see the shards of the photo scattered all over her bed. Getting out of bed, she gathered up as many of the shards as she could and threw them into the garbage can.
She flopped down on her bed with a sigh. She felt better. She felt like Justin was finally out of her life. He would never be able to hurt her again � or so she thought. She pulled the covers up around her with a sigh. She could feel herself nodding off to sleep as she closed her eyes tightly�
She fell hard into the sand. Swallowing, she could taste blood in her mouth. She tried to scream, but not a sound escaped her lips. Her throat constricted as she tried in desperation to scream. She attempted to roll herself over, but it was no use. Every part of her body was aching. Her head was pounding relentlessly as everything around her began to spin. Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands roughly turning her over. Her eyes squeezed shut, she prayed that he would stop. Prayed that he would leave her alone. Her prayers went unanswered though. He was so close now that she could feel his warm breath on her face. His breath was ragged and laboured as he stood over her. She opened her eyes momentarily and looked into his trying to understand. They stared back at her full of animosity and hatred. His face was distorted into an angry scowl as he glared back at her. Her heart thudded with each movement he made. She was terrified. She could feel herself shaking uncontrollably as he lashed his arms out towards her. Once again, everything went black�
�Stop! Leave me alone!� she screamed as her body shuddered. �Leave me alone!� she repeated again. Her eyes flew open abruptly. As her vision cleared, she realized that she was no longer on the beach. She was safe in her room and Justin was no where to be seen.
Her tears flowed freely, soaking the front of her shirt. When will this end? When will I be able to forget? she wondered to herself for the millionth time. Curling into a ball, she wrapped the covers around her and cried.
Nick woke up early unable to sleep. He had stayed up all night thinking about Jessica. He didn�t want to admit it, but she was falling in love with her. Ever since he had seen her the day he arrived, she had captured his heart. There was something magical about her. Even her presence could light up a room.
Nick sat on his bed, lifting his weights to chin. He usually worked out everyday, but this was the first chance he had gotten since he had arrived in L.A. He grunted slightly as he lifted his weights up and down.
His thoughts strayed back to Jessica. He thought back to the conversation they had as they walked across the beach. What had she meant when she had said that was scared? Scared of what or who, and why? He wanted so badly to help her, but he couldn�t. She wouldn�t let him.
His mind swimming with questions, Nick turned his attention back to his weights. He began pumping harder and faster, his muscles rippling with each movement. What hurt her so badly? He was determined to find out. He cared about her too much to just dismiss it.
Until then, he had never felt anything so strong for a girl. His feelings for Jessica though, were different. These feelings consumed his whole body inside and out. He never believed in true love until now. Now he knew that it existed. Even with Mandy, it had never been anything this strong.
Nick threw his weights down onto his bed with a sigh. He picked up a towel and wiped his glistening brow. He threw the towel onto the floor. As his breathing returned to normal, he got off the bed and headed towards the bathroom to shower.
Elizabeth sat, staring blankly into her bowl of cereal which was now completely soggy. She hadn�t slept at all last night. She had stayed up the whole night staring bleakly at the walls of her room � wondering. Wondering if she had made a big mistake. She had wanted desperately to call AJ - just to hear his voice. She needed to know if he was hurting as badly as she was. Elizabeth had refrained from calling him though because it had already been hard enough letting him go and she didn�t want to complicate matters anymore.
Elizabeth was so enraptured in her own thoughts that she hadn�t noticed that Jessica had entered the kitchen and was sitting across from her. Elizabeth looked up from her bowl silently acknowledging her presence.
�Are you okay?� Jessica asked quietly.
�Not really. I�m trying though,� Elizabeth replied with an attempt at a small smile. Her smile quickly vanished as she noticed Jessica�s bloodshot eyes and puffy face. � I should ask you the same question,� she said reproachfully.
Jessica bit her lip. She couldn�t keep it bottled up inside her for much longer. �I had another dream last night. It was horrible. It was so real. You should�ve seen his eyes Liz. They were so angry. So accusing,� Jessica blurted. Her eyes clouded over with a mixture of pain and fear as she spoke.
�Jess. Maybe you should talk to someone about these dreams. It�ll help you. What Justin did to you was horrible, but you have to let it go so that you can move on with your life.�
�You don�t understand Liz, it�s not that simple. No one can help me. No can give me back what he took from me. He took away my innocence, my trust, my faith, my everything!� she yelled. This time she wasn�t crying. She had promised herself that she would not cry anymore. She was done crying. Crying didn�t get you anywhere. Besides, she had to be strong for herself, otherwise she would never get through this alone.
As the day wore on, the girls tried desperately to cheer Elizabeth up. Their efforts were no use though. Elizabeth spent the whole day sulking and moping quietly about the place. She was miserable. Shortly after dinner, she had retired to her room claiming that she was tired and was going to turn in early.
Once in her room she lay in the darkness � staring into space as her tears slowly soaked her bed sheet. She finally fell asleep a few hours later.
Lila was left to fend for herself. She spent the better part of her day attempting to uplift Jessica�s spirits. Jessica hadn�t said much, but it was evident that something was wrong. Something was troubling her. Whatever it was, Jessica had chosen to keep it to herself though.
Brian had called Lila early asking if she wanted to go out, but she had declined his offer. Jessica needed her and there was no way she was about to leave her alone.
Sitting in the kitchen across from one another, Jessica played with her hands nervously as Lila stared at her. She had been silent for the past half hour. She didn�t want to talk about her dream. It was just too painful.
Lila watched as Jessica fidgeted incessantly with her hands. If Jessica didn�t want to discuss what was bothering her, she wasn�t about to pry. She just wanted to let her know that she was there for her. Jessica was a total wreck. It was obvious that she hadn�t slept much the night before. She was sporting a pair of baggy sweat pants along with an oversized UCLA sweatshirt. Her hair was tied loosely at the nape of her neck in a ponytail. Just from her appearance, Lila could tell that something was wrong. Being a fashion chameleon, Jessica usually put time and effort into choosing her outfits.
�Maybe you should get some sleep Jess. You don�t look so great,� Lila said gently.
Jessica yawned sleepily as she glanced over at the stove�s digital clock. It was getting late and she was exhausted. She didn�t want to sleep though because of the haunting images of Justin that came to her. Still, she was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. �Maybe I will,� she said her voice lacking conviction. �You don�t mind?� Lila shook her head fervently.
�No way. You need it. Go ahead,� she said giving Jessica a hug.
Jessica sighed as she walked slowly up to her room. Once in her room, she perched herself rigidly on her bed. She was aching to go to sleep. She was just too terrified.
She sat on her bed staring out the window watching the waves as they rose and fell. A million thoughts raced through her mind as she studied the surge of waves that crashed against the rocks spraying in all different directions. She sat, mesmerized for almost an hour, various images racing throughout her mind.
As she looked around her room, she could feel the walls closing in on her. �I have to get out of here,� she said aloud.
She swung her feet over to the side of the bad and got up quickly. She opened the door and silently tiptoed down the stairs. She didn�t want Lila to hear her. She didn�t want to have to explain to her where she was going and what she was doing. The truth was she herself had no clue. All she knew was that she had to get out of the house.
She stumbled down the stairs. She was in such a rush that she hadn�t even noticed that she had forgotten to lock the door. As her feet touched the sand, she began walking faster and faster, trembling with each step that she took. She stared out at the endless deserted stretch of beach. Jessica eyed the water, keeping her attention glued to the steady flow of the waves rolling in.
The wind whipped through her hair as she walked. Thoughts raced through her mind as she looked out at the seemingly endless waters ahead of her. Surprisingly though, they weren�t thoughts of Justin. In fact, these thoughts had nothing to do with Justin at all. There was only one person on her mind as she slowly inched her way down the beach.
Nick sat comfortably sprawled upon his bed, staring at the ceiling. Brian and AJ had both gone to sleep, leaving Nick with nothing to do but turn in as well. He had tried to sleep, but he couldn�t. He had too much on his mind to sleep.
His every thought was of Jessica. It was driving him crazy. He kept telling himself to forget about her. Telling himself that there could never be anything between the two of them. Despite his conscience�s reasoning though, he wanted to be with her. He wanted to be with her so badly that it hurt. Nick wanted to know what it felt like to kiss her lips at night, to hold her in his arms and to just lie next to her as she slept. He wanted all of this so badly that he felt like he was going to explode.
Suddenly, he couldn�t take it anymore. �I need some fresh air,� he muttered to himself. Jumping out of his bed, he made his way slowly to the door and down the stairs. He walked carefully, making sure that he didn�t disturb Brian or AJ. The last thing he needed was to have to explain where he was going at this insane hour by himself.
He walked out the front door quietly, making sure that it didn�t make a sound. He took a few deep breaths of air before he set off down the beach. Nick walked, kicking the sand roughly. Why I can�t I stop thinking about her? he asked himself. As soon as the questions formulated in his mind, Nick knew the answer. He was in love with her.
Sighing inwardly, he began jogging lightly. He had to forget about her. He was just setting himself up for a big fall. She didn�t love him back. He jogged down the beach, his pace increasing slightly. He kept his eyes straight ahead concentrating on the stretch of beach ahead of him.
Abruptly, he stopped in mid step. In the distance, he saw a lone figure. His mouth open in awe, he traced her outline carefully with his eyes. It can�t be her, he chided himself. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and opened them a second later. She was still there.
Nick�s heart began beating at an incredulous pace. His palms began sweating slightly. He watched her as she walked with her head down and shoulders hunched. She looked so lonely, so pained. He could almost feel her pain as he walked towards her. He wanted to help her so badly. He just wished that there was some way he could.
Nick�s mind raced as he contemplated his options. He couldn�t just walk away. He had to go over to her. It�s fate. Fate that we are supposed to be here alone together. I have to do something.
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