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Prologue

A soft sound woke Lauren, and she slowly opened her eyes Her rooht at the ceiling Maybe she’d been drea onto her side, she started to feel herself drift back to sleep when she heard tapping on her

Her heart started pounding hard in her chest, and she opened her eyes, notat herThe curtains that covered the glass were sheer, and she saw a big dark figure through theh to make out the shape

“Poppy, it’s me” The voice on the other side of the as soft but very deep, and she recognized it right away, recognized Ace calling her by the nicknao He was the only one that called her Poppy, after her favorite flower

Pushing the blankets off her legs, she stood and walked over to theGrabbing the edge of the curtains she pulled the there, his eye swollen almost all the way shut, on his cheek smeared blood, which had clearly come from his nose, and a split bottom lip

She gasped, quickly opened the , and helped hih they thought of Ace as part of the family for the last couple of years, and knew he had a bad faht would still piss them off

“God, Ace” She pulled hih he was only thirteen he was already over six feet tall He was a big guy for his age, and thatan outcast not only because he kept to hier than anyone else Right now he seemed so weak and vulnerable, so breakable They both slid to the ground, with her ar in her room from the still opened

“I didn’t knohere else to go,” he said in an almost detached voice

She grabbed the side of his face that looked unharmed, turned his head toward her, and looked at his wounds “You know you’re alelcome here This is a safe place, Ace”

“Even fighting back doesn’t help when he’s drunker than piss,” Ace said, his eye not swollen shut still red-rimmed from his emotions His dark hair was athe strands that fell over his forehead

“So needs to be done,” she said softly “Let me call the police, Ace He can’t do this to you—”

He shook his head while she still spoke, placed his hand over hers that was on her face and stared into her eyes “That won’t help, Lauren” He said her real na serious, determined for her to understand He applied pressure to her hand “You know et him out of this shit, and besides, the last time the cops were called it was a lot worse”

Yeah, she knew that his father, despite being a drunken asshole, had friends in the police departal buddies that had apparently helped him out of all kinds of situations How anyone could live with themselves and help a child abuser infuriated Lauren But Ace had told her that his father couldon the whole ‘his as gone, he had to do everything alone, and that he was dealing with an unruly teenager’

“I hate seeing you like this” She felt tears well in her eyes There had been several times she’d been tempted to call the police, had even picked up the phone to do it so ht about what Ace had told her about the last time the police had come to his house, or even when child services had been called It had been pure hell for Ace after it was all said and done, and she was at ith herself on what to do

But what Ace hadn’t knoas she’d gone to the police once, asked them anonymously what “her friend” should do, and unless there was a record or physical signs of abuse, not much could be done Especially when Ace had a record at school of fighting, which ce unruly

“What can I do, Ace?” She was crying now

He lifted a finger and wiped her tears away

“I don’t want you crying fora little “I never want you crying for me I’m not worth it”