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"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'I'm possible'." - Audrey Hepburn.

Dedication: FallenLight for the amazing cover on the side. :)

Recap:

Smirking, I returned to the house where the boys just stood there, staring at each other helplessly. I know I can't leave it off for very long, with the fridge and all that, but I needed to teach him a lesson. Xavier turned, his eyes narrowed into slits.

"You've started something now." he said in a slow, threatening voice.

"Yeah. Two can play this game." I replied back starkly, arms folded across my chest. "Bring it on."

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"Aren't you a Goth?"

"No."

"So you're a Gothic... cowgirl?"

"What did I just say?"

"Why are you dressed like that then?"

"I have to go to work."

"What are you, a jillaroo? Who dresses like that?"

I sighed impatiently as I wrapped the hair band around my pony tail. Xavier was the most persistent and annoying human being I've ever met. He has made it his ambition in life to follow and harass me as much as possible, ever since we declared war on each other. It was scary, nothing had happened since the electricity stunt pulled on my behalf. I lock my door when I sleep and have been keeping one eye open constantly. I wasn't going to fall into his trap.

"I'm going to get dirty, I'm not going to wear my nice clothes there."

His eyes lit up. "Dirty?"

I rolled my eyes and ignored him. Of course that is the only word he picked up. I glanced down at my attire and frowned. What is wrong with this? It's what I wear to work all the time. I had a light pair of denim shorts, my dusty old riding boots, a black singlet and a big, blue, flannelette shirt draped over the top. My hair was piled up in a high pony tail, cascading down my shoulder blades.

If it wasn't obvious, I worked with horses. The job opportunities in River were very limited. The two biggest businesses were the local supermarket and the bakery, which every second kid you talk to is already employed at. Thankfully for me, I forced dad to make me having riding lessons when I was young and wanted to grow up to be a famous equestrian. Turns out, they needed a young worker and I needed employment at the same time. They remembered me being a customer and knew I had experience around horses. It was not as glamorous as you would think, but it was a job and that's all that mattered.

Mostly, I cleaned the stables, rugged the horses, made sure they were moved to the right areas, etc. Sometimes on weekends and holidays I got to actually go riding and take people out on trails which was pretty fun. Mostly, I just make sure they were fed and do all the basic jobs around the place, which could include cleaning the equipment (which was not all that fun). Hence, why I was dressed like a 'cowgirl' as Xavier nicely described me.

Rolling the sleeves up to my elbows, I tucked my socks in and was ready to go. I felt his gaze on me as I grabbed my bag and chucked a bottle of water in it. Seeing as my car was out of action (which still made me angry and want to stab Xavier with a fork when I thought about it), I had to get to work on foot. Fortunately it wasn't too far away and I actually did like walking.

He trailed wordlessly behind me and I tried really hard not to respond. I was a little suspicious leaving him alone in the house while I went out but there wasn't much I could do. I came to a sudden halt and he smashed into me from behind. Again. I am so glad I am paranoid and get my way with dad. After Nancy had broken into my room and scrubbed it clean once, I made him cut me a key for my room. Best decision ever.

I shoulder barged my way around him and quickly went into my room, rummaging through my desk. I found my little blue key and shut the door behind me, locking it. His mouth fell open slightly and I smirked proudly.

Definitely glad I got a key. I knew he would try something. I slipped it into my pocket and gave him a big toothy grin. Reaching up, I lightly slapped him on the cheek.

"See you later!"

I skipped down the stairs and made my way out. Inhaling a lungful of air, I sighed in pure bliss. It was a really nice day. The last few had been pretty overcast and yuck, so it was nice to see the sun out again.

Shrugging my bag onto my shoulder, I began my short trek to the stables, actually happy to go for a walk. River was a beautiful town. It was on the coast, so the air was salty and the sound of the tumbling waves at the beach was constant. Mornings here were amazing, not that I was ever awake to see them much. The air was crisp and the sky illuminant. It really was a gorgeous place. Therefore, the walk was welcomed. It didn't take long to get there and soon enough, I was walking through the familiar, overarching fence of the barn.

"Morning Faith," my manager smiled at me.

He was one of the most attractive men I have ever met. He had the body of a machine and the olive skin of perfection. Unfortunately, he co-owned the stables with his boyfriend much to every female worker's dismay.

"Morning!" I chirped back.

After dumping my stuff in the office, I checked my list of jobs for today. As there were a few worker's here, we had to share out the hours. I was more than fine with that, working only a couple times a week was great, with school and everything. I scanned over the list. It was as long as I imagined. Sighing, I exited the office.

It was going to be a long day.

***

It had been a tiring day at the stables, as I expected. My skin had become a darker shade as the dirt and dust clung to me. I smelt like a horse. For those of you who have not been blessed with this smell, it can often be described as a mixture of hair and sweat. Lovely, isn't it? You either love the smell or hate it, there is no in between.

Although the walk was short, it felt long and tiresome on the way back. I was too weary to take notice of the afternoon glow that was cast over me. My feet were dragging, my head hanging and my eyes stinging. My body was aching to have hot water run over it and be swallowed up in my huge blankets. I sighed, unable to wait much longer. The house came into view and a relieved smile stretched onto my face.

I wrenched the door open and took one step inside, before a water bomb exploded onto my face. Not just one, about four at the same time. I was hit on my shoulder, face, hip and thigh. I staggered back in complete shock, my back hitting the door frame. The icy water began soaking through my clothes and onto my bare skin. Laughter erupted around me.

I hastily wiped the water from my eyes to see Xavier smirking playfully at me, holding several water bombs in his hands. He was flanked by two footballers from my school (very popular, very attractive footballers, might I add). So the fact that I looked like this right now was completely mortifying. Didn't help that they were good friends with my ex...

Rolling my tongue across my teeth, I stared daggers at the Devil himself. Tantalisingly slow, I raised my hand and sliced my finger across my neck.

"Sorry, what was that?"

Smack.

Don't react Faith. Breathe. Don't react.

Smack.

The balloon popped perfectly on the top of my head, the icy water running down my back. A shiver rolled across my spine involuntarily. I exhaled through my nose, squeezing my eyes shut. I just had to focus on keeping my pulse slow, I would be fine.

Smack.

"Hey Faith, I think you have something on your face," he called out, humour embedded in his voice.

Dumb and dumber beside him laughed, which only egged him on.

"Come on boys, don't be shy. Let em' at her!"

They needed no further encouragement. More and more water bombs were sling-shot my direction. I stood there pathetically and took them like the proud (wannabe) solider I was. I knew my hand-eye coordination was pretty dismal, therefore standing here and not reacting was my best option for minimising the amount of embarrassment I could endure.

"Why the long face Faith?" one of the boys snickered.

"Never seen you so quiet Faith."

They were taunting me, and it was working. My nails were biting into my flesh as I clenched my fists so hard.

"Dude, she's going to blow," Oscar muttered.

"Faith-"

An enraged growl tore from my throat, effectively cutting off whatever one-liner Xavier had prepared. I launched at him, surprising myself with my own agility. His eyes almost popped out of his skull. He was fast at reacting, but not quite fast enough. My arms constricted around his waist as I literally body slammed him to the ground. I landed on top of him, my legs straddled over his abdomen. I swung my hand down and backhanded him across the face. The satisfaction I felt as I made contact rolled through my body. I reached up to the bench where two water bombs lay, obviously aimed to hit me.

He has another thing coming.

I clutched one, smashing it down on his forehead. He let out a strangled cry, squirming frantically underneath me. As I went to grab the next one, Joel (the other minion) went to grab it and I slapped his hand roughly.

"Down boy." I snapped. "Or this one will personally jammed down your oesophagus."

Safe to say, he retreated. I grabbed the pale green balloon and this time, smashed it into his mouth. His teeth clamped down automatically and it exploded. He began choking hysterically, sounding like he was going to hack up a lung. I smirked smugly down at him as he struggled to catch his breath.

"That's what I like to call- oomph!" Faster than I could blink, he threw me off of him and had me pinned. My head was still spinning as he leaned down. The excess water on his face dripped, padding onto my own cheeks.

"What was that?" he asked in a deadly low voice. "What were you about to say?"

"Er- that your hair looks really nice today?" I lied lamely.

I did not like the position I was in. My arms were pinned above my head and I was lying here defenselessly. Three against one. My odds weren't looking the greatest, I had to admit.

"Sounded like that."

I licked my lips, feeling my sweat trickling into the corner of his mouth. He paused for a second, his gaze dropping to my lips. That was the lapse of judgement I needed. Swinging my leg up I connected in a place that I knew would hurt. He groaned loudly, rolling off of me.

I clambered to my feet and took off at a sprint up my stairs. I could hear the others coming after me, although it more sounded like a stampede of elephants. I moved as fast as I could towards my room. I fumbled to unlock it. I did it quicker than I thought possible and fell into my room. I slammed it shut, locking it firmly behind me.

My heart was racing what felt like a million kilometres per minute. My hands were trembling with adrenaline. I felt even worse now, the cold water feeling grimy against my skin. Shaking my head, I gritted my teeth.

That boy was going down.

I could hear the predators aka boys from school out my door, waiting for me to come out. Hope they weren't holding their breath. I peeled the dirty clothes from my body and dumped them on the bathroom floor. Dragging myself into the shower, I let the warm water run over me. It was as blissful as I imagined it would be. I sighed, leaning back against the glass. The shower was my thinking time. Here, I was safe from Xavier and his two dimwits. I could focus and come up with a bigger and better plan to even out the playing field.

I already had a plan in mind...

***

When I woke the next morning, I came from my room with my baseball bat in hand, ready to fight my way to the kitchen if necessary. Yes, this is what my life had come to. My dad had abandoned me and left me with a nut-job of a roommate who felt it necessary to harass me until I really do go insane. Okay, okay, I may have started the prank war and it may have been my fault we got off on a bad start to begin with but hey, I'm only human.

What scared me more than the thought of him being here was the fact he wasn't here. Feeling like I was in a course at the police academy, I scoped the area thoroughly, as if a killer was on the loose. The coast was eerily clear and I did not like it one bit. Did he leave something for me to mistakenly walk into? Did he have something at the front door? Where could he be?

It was at that moment I realised I knew nothing about him. I was so angry the first time we met, I didn't ask any questions. So far, all we've done is bicker and pull pranks on each other. I honestly could not list one thing about him, except his name and what car he drives. Which is also totalled, so he would have to walk to wherever he was as well. Sucker.

I underwent my morning routine which included having a shower, making some breakfast, brushing my teeth, putting on a minimal amount of make-up, getting dressed, preparing my books and then heading to school. There you go, my exciting morning laid out for you in a nutshell. Your life has now been changed for the better. You're welcome.

Running my fingers through my hair, I rolled my lips into my mouth. I had applied some light pink gloss over them and was impressed I managed to just keep it on my lips, seeing as I always manage to get it under my nose and across my teeth. Somehow I managed to get it in my eyebrow one time. Don't ask me how that happened. Same goes with that time the spaghetti ended up behind my ear...

I stared down at our uniform. It was a plain white polo shirt with creative title of 'River Town High' written in black cursive across the left breast. We had annoyingly short, red, checked skirts that frilled out. I had ankle white socks and my black leather boots, just the give my overall appearance a bit of 'Faith Funk'. Glancing once more at my appearance and being somewhat happy with the outcome, I slipped my bag over my shoulder. I was just exiting the house when I saw a familiar car pull to a steady stop at the end of my driveway.

"My hero!" I called out dramatically, sliding into the passenger side. "I love and cherish you, Your Highness."

"Why thank you Ma'dam," she responded in a fake British accent.

This was my best friend, Brooklyn Anderson. She was practically my twin. We were so alike it was scary. It was to the point we ended up wearing the same outfits to parties and finishing each other's sentences. Twins, I tell you. But when you first look at us, we probably couldn't be more different.

She had short, brunette hair which was striped with goldish blonde streaks. It was shoulder length but suited her well. She had flawless, white skin and permanent flushed cheeks. She was quite tall but had a slim build, making her an equally ideal model in my mother's eyes. (Get real). She had bright, green eyes that were so livid, you had to do a double take sometimes.

"Faith," she scorned me. "Why aren't you wearing your wrist brace?"

"It's fine," I waved her off, rolling my eyes. "It's not hurting much anymore. Besides, like I want to wear that thing any more than I have to. People are going to start thinking I'm a hypochondriac."

She leaned in close, scrutinising my forehead. "Your stitches look good. They're clean."

"Don't know how they haven't managed to get infected yet, with yesterday's episode."

"What has he done now?" she sighed, stamping on the accelerator, sending her Jeep lurching forward and me clutching dramatically at the dashboard.

I loved Brooklyn to death, but her driving completely terrified me. She didn't check her blind spots and despite having her license two years, still hasn't managed to work out how to use a clutch. She never looks at the road signs, so nine times out of ten, is always doing the wrong speed. How she hasn't managed to lose her license is beyond me.

Oh and of course, as soon as that attractive dare-Devil rocked up with all his sass at my door, she was the first to hear me vent. Therefore, she knows all about him and how he has made my life a living hell. (Yes, I'm dramatic and I exaggerate every tiny detail of my life. You'll get used to it). I had given her a brief run down via text last night of what shenanigans went down yesterday, but I needed to describe to her in person, so I could add sound effects and hand movements.

She laughed the entire time (more at my demonstration and colourful word choice, than the story itself) and actually slapped the steering wheel at one stage. That's the thing about Brooklyn, when she laughs, it hurts. She hits anything in her vicinity (most often me) and one time she actually knocked me off my seat. (Never sitting next to her in Shrek again).

"So what did you do the rest of the night?" she asked, sobering up as we pulled up to school.

"Well, I had to wait until the two morons with him left. I cooked myself dinner, watched a few episodes of Prison Break and then went to bed. He stayed in his part of the house, I stayed in mine. He is brewing something for sure."

"Oh for sure." she agreed, falling in step with me. "So, the question is: What are we going to do about it?"

An excited grin stretched across my face as I stared at her. Yep, this is why this crazy hooligan is labelled my best friend. No matter what stupid situations I get myself in, she was always there beside me.

I glanced up at the large, brick building of our school. It looked more like a nunnery. The grass was clipped short, the walls were all the same colour and frankly, it smelled like old cheese. I don't know why but it just does. When we had lunch outside it was nice and easy to forget how hideous it really was, but in class, we had to deal with the dreariness. But hey, I actually like school (yeah, I know, I'm a freak) so it didn't really bother me all the much, smell and all.

"Okay, see you later." I said waving her off.

We parted ways most mornings as I had a zero period of extension English. Therefore, I was isolated away from most others in my year, but it was worth it. I loved English. It was the best part of my day if I'm perfectly honest. Two others joined me in this class, one boy and one girl. The rest of the one hundred and three people in our year enjoyed their last moments of freedom before school called them, including Brooklyn and her on and off again (but times that by about one hundred) boyfriend Derek, who I personally think is a douche. But, as the best friend, I put up with him. He knows I don't like him. I don't really like many people, if you haven't guessed. But the people I do like are awesome, hence why I like them in the first place.

Class cruised by quickly as it always did for English. We were watching clips about crime, so that was a pretty good start to the day. It was odd, as I was walking through the school, it was alive with activity. Whispers and gossip were on everyone's lips as I passed. I tried to catch snippets of conversations but they were all pretty hushed. What has everyone so excited? If Damien got himself caught on the barbwired fence again, I was definitely sending a snapchat to dad.

Picking up the pace, I quickly located my group of friends. They were all talking and had excited grins on their face too. It must be good if they were engaging with it. Brooklyn spun on her heel and her face said it all. I frowned at her. She pleaded at me with her eyes and I knew I wasn't going to like it.

"Don't get mad..." she trailed off, holding her hands up. "Breathe, okay?"

"What?" I asked in a low voice.

"He is so attractive," Olivia gushed, fanning herself. Yes, actually fanning herself. I stared at her with my mouth open.

"Who has got you so worked up?"

"Er- yeah, about that..." Brooklyn started but one of the other girls cut her off.

"I didn't think boys that attractive actually existed."

"Who?" I demanded, getting impatient.

"Faith..."

"Hello, Sweetcheeks."

My blood turned cold. No... The girls all swivelled their wide eyes to me, curious. I could feel the collective intake of breath around me. Damn, all the girls were going to kill me when they found out I was actually living with him. Of course he would be at my school, he was young after all. If I had bothered to actually get to know him, I would have discovered we were probably the same age.

"You know I hate the silent treatment."

Exhaling slowly, I turned, my eyes narrowed as I stared at him. He looked positively amazing in the school uniform, I had to say. The white and red theme suited him well, contrasting perfectly with his eyes and hair. Of course.

I glanced over his shoulder to where he had come from. The popular boys. Of course he would be instantly welcomed. I moved my gaze over to a perky cheerleader. Remember how I punched a girl and tore the ligaments in my hand? Well... that was her. Megan Ramirez, in the flesh. There is not one other female human being that I want to punch any more than her. (Punch again, I mean).

She is the most absolute cliché girl you could imagine. She was tall, elegant, thin, perky and blonde. She had bright, blue eyes and was the head of the cheer leading squad. Yes, she was definitely a cop-out of some lame, American romance movie, except unfortunately, stuck in my reality. There are a few reasons as to why I hate this girl with fiery passion, but we will get to that later. I had to lay down, holding a squeezing ball and count to ten whenever I reminisced our joyous memories together.

What Xavier did next astonished me. He lent forward. His hand found mine and tugged me close to him. I was too shocked to pull away. He gently pressed his lips to my cheek. I knew every single person had their eyes glued to us. I could practically feel the seething stare Megan was throwing at me. I couldn't help feel a little smug, actually. She would have had her eyes on him the second he stepped foot into the school grounds.

My eyes connected with dark brown eyes which I used to love. Jacob Perez, my ex and the boy I was convinced I loved for about a year. (What a waste of time that was). Also, another story. His eyes turned cold and his lips spread into a line at Xavier and I's proximity. I let my eyes drift close, not wanting to lock gazes with Jacob anymore. Xavier's lips tenderly brushed my cheek, sending waves of electricity (much to my annoyance) down my spine. That was effective enough to make any thoughts of Jacob disappear from my mind. His lips pressed against my ear and my heart began thudding in my chest.

"Game on, biatch."

He then stepped back, the cool air replacing his warm contact. My cheeks were flushed at our closeness and I wanted to bury my head in the sand. He had just caused me so much unwanted attention from the female body and had caught me off-guard.

Yep. He was going down.

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