nobody |n.h|

\\ chapter one //

"Have a nice day at school, Alice! Be home by dinner tonight; don't worry your brother like that," the father of the petite girl bid goodbye as his daughter slid out of his beautiful silver BMW.

"Alrighty, Dad. I'll see you later. Have a nice day at work!" she said, her sleepy Irish accent - the origin of which still is not known - causing her to talk slightly slower than normal. That car was always her favorite because it usually smelled of cherries and worn leather, her favorite smell. Alice reluctantly began her walk to the old, blue locker that the school provided her as a courtesy gift to all incoming Sophomores. Twisting the rusting combination dial, the locker opened and fractures of already-peeling paint flew to the ground. Her locker had to be one of the oldest and most used throughout the whole school, paint peeling off, hinges squeaking horribly when someone opened it, hooks missing inside of it. There was even a dent in the locker door. She quickly pushed her things onto the makeshift, temporary shelving she had installed in there before starting her walk to her homeroom class: English Language Arts. She observed the lives of many as she ventured through the halls, taking her time to take in the details of many, both male and female. Alice's shoe lace got caught under something - or more that something was placed over it - and she stumbled, almost throwing her backpack forward, clinging to it with one arm. Suddenly she was spun around to face her infamous personal tormenters: Zayn Malik and Liam Payne.

"Hey, Water Girl. You got a lunch today?" Zayn asked, holding his hand out as if this was routine, which it was. Alice dropped a crumpled brown paper bag into his awaiting hands.

"Wasn't gonna eat today anyways," she said softly, her lips pulled into a tight line, staring him dead in the eyes as she handed him the bag. Her family had been worried about her eating habits within the past year or so but she couldn't care less if it lessened the beatings she received from the pair. Her fathers were constantly taking her to the doctor's. And yes, you read correctly; fathers. Another reason on the long list of why she can't be happy, because her parents fell in love. As happy as she was for them, she wished Ronny, one of her fathers, was a girl.

"I really wonder when this is all gonna fall out. How about you, Zayn? How long do you think it'll take?" Liam asked his stepbrother, grabbing a clump of Alice's bright red hair and tugging it lightly. The gathering crowd of sadistic teenagers erupted in laughter as they watched the petite, almost defenseless girl being tortured. The sound of others coming into the situation caused her chest to start pounding. She wished she could stop breathing or that a hole would open up in the ground beneath her and swallow her.

"I say about a month or so," Zayn says, folding his arms.

"How long would it take you to fancy a long walk off a short pier?" Alice mumbled under her breath as the boys were laughing at her.

"What was that?" Liam asked, taking a step towards her so far that her nose was almost against his chest.

"Nothing," she answered, letting her hair fall into her face as she took a step back.

"I heard it," Zayn announced, taking a step towards the girl that continuously shrunk back. "Say it louder."

"No," she refused, surprised by the words that came out of her mouth.

"What did you say to me?" Zayn countered, crossing his arms over his muscular chest and towering over her. Not trusting her voice, Alice simply shook her head violently in refusal to repeat herself.

"Do I have to make you talk?" Liam suggested, an excited grin spreading across his face. Alice once again shook her head no.

"It'll only get worse, bitch," Zayn informed her, leaning close to her ear. "So you better 'fess up before we make you." He harshly took ahold of her arm, shoving her backwards into the cold metal of the lockers. Alice felt two  hard metal handles dig into her spine as Zayn pressed her harder against the wall of rusty, metal boxes. Her green eyes scanned the crowd of horrible teenagers, desperately searching for someone to aid her in escape. In her search, her green eyes met a pair of deep blue ones belonging to the captain of the football team. They were staring at her in a way she had never seen before, like as if he cared and he was thinking hard about what he should do to better the situation for her but was too scared to interfere. Although she was angry for his lack of help, she could not bring herself to hold it against him, for that was the way he was brought up: only to do what was expected of him - nothing more, nothing less. Suddenly his eyebrows furrowed and he pushed his way out of the crowd of amused high school students, walking off to his homeroom. A sharp pain in her stomach causes her to collapse, falling to her knees. Getting kicked to the ground, the beating continued, Zayn consistently kicking her wherever he knew it would hurt her the most. Liam joined in just before the bell rang, landing a good kick right where her kidney would be. "Catch you later, Water Girl!" Zayn snickered, snatching some kid's iced coffee out of their hand, pulling the lid off, and dumping it on her before walking to his class with his stepbrother.