Young Writers Society

It all started with a carton of milk.

During the first month or so of kindergarden, at lunchtime. She had just received her plate of food from the nice lunch lady. A chicken sandwich, canned peaches, a small cookie, and a carton of chocolate milk. She held the plate carefully, shaking her long blonde hair off her shoulders so it wouldn't get into her food, and began to walk towards the table where her class was sitting.

A boy, handsome for his age, started to walk in her direction, having forgotten a spork for his peaches. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going. Their eyes met, and suddenly, her foot slipped.

They say to not cry over spilled milk, but as she lost her footing and went down, she bit her tongue in the process. As tears filled up in her blue eyes, her vision went blurry. She let go of the plate of food, accidentally tossing it at him as she fought to resume her balance. The peaches soaked into his white shirt and splattered into his handsome green eyes, the sandwich flying open, a piece of lettuce dangling from his tousled brown hair.

He snapped, losing control on his anger. He snatched up the nearest plate of food and tossed it at her, despite her shrill apology. It soaked into her tangled hair and stained her jeans, making it look like she wet her pants. Everyone was laughing but the girl and the boy. Their gazes met, infuriated and burning with hate.

The girl dashed forward and tackled him into a trash can. Eventually, they were pulled apart and sent to the principal, but not before she had given him a bloody nose and he had delivered a black bruise to her arm.

And thus the war of Lizzy Redmon and Harvey Amos began.



That was about sixteen years ago. By first grade, everyone, even the teachers, knew to keep these two seperate. Their hate for each other was inevitable. In second grade, Lizzy slid a live spider into his back pack; in third, Harvey locked her in the boys restroom. Fifth year saw them throwing mud at each other, which earned them both a weeks' suspension. Seventh, when she started first started to dye her hair its signature color, he compared her to a Smurf, a lollipop, a freak, so on and so forth. So she shoved three pieces of gum into her mouth and spat them into his chocolate brown hair, making him have to get a buzz cut.

Freshman year, he managed to get three classes with her. Two weeks later had the teachers literally begging Guidance office to change their schedules so they weren't together anymore.

Things seemed to settle down after that; with classes, anyways. They still had a burning hatred for each other, so bad that everytime Lizzy saw him, her lips automatically titled up into a sneer. He would snarl cruel words at her under his breath everytime he passed her in the halls. She would trip him, he would shove into her shoulder. It was pretty mild compared to things they could be doing to each other.



Lizzy had a terrible childhood. Her parents were killed in a car accident when she was three years old, orphaning her and her little sister, Sam. Since they had no other living relative, they were sent to live with their father's aunt, who was a cruel woman. She often lost control of her temper and would beat the girls until they were black and blue, for no reason at all.

When Lizzy was ten, the bitch finally died, so they were sent to live in an orphanage. But their Mother was no different, and was just as cruel, but they endured it, until Sam was raped by Mother's drunkard friend. That act, and their attempt to try and rape Lizzy as well, got them arrested and the attention of a wealthy man who lived on the outskirts of town, in the country. He came, he paid for the girls' doctor bills, and he took them in.

Naturally, they were wary of him, and Lizzy went so far as to threaten him. He chuckled, introduced himself as Simon, and simply stroked Sam's long blonde curls, asking if the angel was okay. She was, but she had just learned that she was unable to have children, so she was sad. Lizzy watched as the man's eyes filled with pain and he simply pressed Sam's head to his chest, holding her close. That was when she knew they had finally found a home.



That was seven years ago. She no longer gets beaten with a belt when she gets expelled for shoving Harvey into a gutter, just a loud chortle and no dessert for the night. Despite Amos' shit, she was finally happy, a soft smile on her face as she parked her truck into the student parking lot.

Senior year, she thought gleefully. One more year and she never had to see him again. One more year and Harvey Amos would be gone from her life for good.

She shook her colored locks off her shoulder, tightened the straps on her black backpack, and started to walk up the steps, pushing open the front doors. They collided with a steel toed boot, and her gaze slowly lifted to meet those cool green hues, a slow smirk forming on his lips as Harvey faced off with her.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." He said, his voice a sneer.

"Get out of my way, shitface." Lizzy hissed, squaring her shoulders and facing him down. Their bodies were only an inch or two apart, their gazes locked, a deep hatred, and something more, evident to everyone watching as they waited for his reaction.

Harvey Amos



“Get of out my way, shitface.”

Harvey smirked and folded his arms across his chest.

“Shitface? Look who's expanding their vocabulary! Proud of you, kiddo.”

He laughed from deep in his check and reached out a hand to flick a lock of her hair, but instead, she slapped the hand out of the air with a growl. Harvey hissed but managed a light chuckle in response.

“So jumpy. Don't you miss me?”

Honestly, Harvey had been looking forward to this confrontation. The one thought running though his head when he's parked Jene's car was that he's finally be able to fuck with his little Redmon. He'd been mostly dedicated to working all throughout the summer because this was his last day of high school and he wanted to have enough money saved up by the end of the year to move out of the apartment. Granted, he was mostly left alone there anyways, his step mom and her many suitors never seemed to visit the old dirty rundown place, but moving out was still something he had to do. He didn't like being under that bitch's roof, no matter how long she was gone. He needed a fight. He needed to argue and, if he was lucky, he could do enough to Redmon to have her little groupies step out of line and start something.

Almost instantly, Harvey could see out the corner of his eye his two best boys Marco and
JJ approach the scene and each take one of his sides. JJ was smiling and Marco had a small frown on his face. They'd been his crew for as long as Harvey could remember. They'd do anything for him, and though Harvey knew that he didn't ever abuse their loyalty. Once before he'd asked them to do something major for him, not entirely sure if they would go through with it or not, but when he saw JJ was looking into buying a gun he called it off. They didn't speak about that much, but Harvey still thinks about it now and again. They're the only ones who actually know about Harvey's step mom and what she does to him when she can. The only ones he could talk to. The only ones that saw him cry when his mother died and again when his father followed not too long afterward.

Really, the only person he'd known as long as them was Lizzy, and it was clear what their relationship was. Harvey raised an eyebrow tauntingly and reached out a hand again towards Lizzy, who was now glaring at him so hard he thought he could physically feel the stare. This time, when she moved to slap his hand again, he grabbed her wrist. She tried to jerk it back, but he held tighter and yanked her closer to him. Their chest bounced briefly off each other and Harvey grinned when he heard Lizzy scoff.

"Hitting is not nice, Lizzy."

The way he gripped her wrist set Lizzy's teeth on edge. It was rough, hard, ungentle, paying no mind to the delicate groove of the bone or how easily her skin bruised. It didn't bug her, because it was Harvey Amos, and Harvey Amos was an asshole.

"Oh, because you're such an expert on nice, aren't you?" she hissed.

Harvey's eyes narrowed and Lizzy felt a calm settle down into her stomach. An angry Harvey was as familiar to her as the cloudless sky. She tensed her body, yanking her arm back from his grip, hands settling into fists.

"Better watch that tongue, Redmon. I haven't gotten into a fight in a while, and your face is looking a little too smug today."

Lizzy felt her face flush, and wound her arm back, aiming to sink her fist into his skin. Harvey's smirk widened, eyes gleaming happily, mouth opening to speak, to close the deal and provoke her into a fight-

and suddenly there were pried apart by Harvey's friend, J.J., who hissed that a teacher was arriving on campus. Lizzy's eyes fixed with Harvey's, and he gave her a snarky grin. "Next time," he purred, then was gone.

**

"He has the hots for you."

"You're disgusting." Lizzy snarled angrily, turning to give Simon a glare.

Her friend chuckled under his breath, coolly tossing her a wink as he drove them to her house after school. "Wonder why he's so hooked on you, then."

"He's not. He's just an ass." she grumbled, quick to hop out of the car when he parked, rushing into her house and trying to lock him out.

**

Thankfully, what little homework they had was done quickly, once they finished, they ate dinner with Pop and left for some party Isabella-what's-her-face was housing that night. Lizzy had wanted to stay home with Sammy, but Pop insisted she went, so she gave in with a reluctant huff.

"Can't believe you even brought it up with him," Lizzy hissed.

Simon rolled his eyes and pushed her into the passenger seat. "Let's go. Who knows, maybe you'll see Harvey there and can properly kick his ass this time."

Harvey Amos

Harvey took a long drag from his cigarette and leaned against the dumpster out back behind Rudy's Diner. He wasn't exactly cleared for a break just yet, but the other waiter, Mike, was terrified of Harvey and Harv could usually get the younger boy to hand over his break times to him. It wasn't that working at the Diner was hard work, but if he had to deal with one more grumpy customer he thought he'd explode.

Just as Harvey was stamping his cigarette out under the heel of his boot, his phone vibrated in his apron pocket. He knew who it was before even checking the screen, the only people who would bother him at work, and answered it with an appropriate sigh of frustration.

"What? I'm-"

"At work, yeah we know, but we're on the way to get you dude there's this sick party-"

"JJ, how did you make it to senior year with an IQ so damn low? Idiot, I'm at work. I'm not going to some stupid party. Some of us have responsibilities."

"Harv, come on. I heard that-"

"No!"

"-Redmon was going to be there."

Harvey swallowed back his protests and aggressively brushed back a few strands of hair that were falling into his face. There were a few moments of silence on the line before the laughs of both JJ and Marco, who was actually driving the car, filled Harvey's ears. He frowned immediately and groaned.

"If I didn't know any better, Harv-"

"Just come and get me, idiots!"

He hung up, shoved the phone into his jean pockets, and took off his apron. It was a Monday night, so the diner was filled with the usual drunks, loners, travelers, and insomniacs. Things weren't too busy, mostly everyone was happy to drink, laugh, and stare at the TV wedged into the corner. Harvey put his apron down on the counter and pocketed a handful of tips from the jar.

"Bye, Rudy," he called as he walked towards the door.

"Be back early tomorrow, you slacker," Rudy called back with a smile.

Harvey laughed and walked out. His boys were already parked out front. Harvey pulled JJ out of the passenger seat before slipping in himself.

"Asshole."

"Prick."

Marco laughed and drove off.

--

Lizzy definitely was at the party, but Harvey was making it his mission to ignore her as much as possible. JJ and Marco were starting to really annoy him with their little jokes and quips about the relationship between the two, and Harvey was getting tired of explaining that he'd rather cut off his own fingers than do anything even remotely sexual with Lizzy Redmon. But, as the drinks kept flowing, JJ's mouth, in particular, kept running, and it was only when Harvey put a fist in it that he shut up. It actually wasn't a strange occurrence, JJ being punched by Harvey, and Marco just sighed and went to grab the ice. But the jokes did stop and Harvey was left to spend the rest of his night in relative piece, nursing a bottle of liquor.

It was always dangerous when Harvey got around alcohol. It wasn't that he had a problem, particularly, as he didn't seek out alcohol usually, but when it was given to him, he had a little trouble stopping. The party had been going on for a while now and was at the stage were people started coupling off and disappearing into bedrooms and the back seats of cars. Marco was passed out the sofa, and JJ had long ago crept off to some room with a strange girl, so Harvey was stuck for the night.

He didn't really mind either because he was at the stage of wasted where he couldn't form coherent sentences anymore, and only narrowly managed to not kill himself on the way to the kitchen to get a bite to eat, bottle still clutched in his hand. He emerged from the fridge, holding a bowl of something that looked edible enough, and caught a glimpse of familiar blue hair out the corner of his eye.

Something tugged inside of him and his feet were suddenly carrying him towards Lizzy, who seemed to be heading out the backdoor and into the dark night. He wasn't sure why, and he was in no condition to question it, but he followed her out the door and into the yard, which was bigger than it should have been, and completely empty save a few scattered drunken bodies passed out on the grass. Harvey took another swig of drink before calling out.

"Redmon," he slurred, a sloppy smile plastered on his face. "Where are you going, party not good enough for ya, princess?"

Too many people. Too. Many. People.

Lizzy's breaths started to hitch, panicked, body tense and stiff as drunks staggered too and from. Her claustrophobia started to kick in and everything looked closer, distance was narrowed, vision blurring. Warning, objects in mirror are closer than they appear ran in her ears.

Simon had abandoned her about an hour ago to tango with some girl who smelt like weed and beer. They disappeared to do god knows what and she had been left alone to bat off drunks and refuse beer and smokes from at least five people, three of which she did not know. She spent a little bit exploring the small house, avoiding the crowds, and Harvey.

She knew he was there when he arrived and they caught each other's gaze. Lizzy made a point to sneer at him and left the room, unwilling to get into a fight, much less here where there was no room to throw a punch.

And now there was no room to breathe. Lizzy's chest felt constricted and she fought to take inhale after exhale. It wasn't enough, with all the pot and fumes in the air. She needed fresh, clean. Lizzy shoved her way through the crowd and out the door, desperately stumbling over bodies until she reached a clearing.

Hands on her knees, she panted and took deep, greedy breathes, paying no mind to anything but the beautiful air until she heard Harvey speak.

Princess?

"What the hell did you just say to me?" Lizzy spoke, voice slightly ragged, spinning around to glare at him.

"All out of breath to see me, Princess?" Harvey's smirk seemed to widen, a glint in his eyes as he took a step closer to her.

Lizzy spotted the bottle in his hand, then smelt his breath after. Her nose crinkled in disgust. "Attractive," she hissed.

"Oh, you flatter me, Elizabeth."

"Don't you dare call me that."

Harvey staggered in his drunken state, a brow slowly rising. "Ooh, someone doesn't like the name she was given by her mommy. Why is this?"

"Fuck off." Lizzy spat.

Another step, and he was much too close. Lizzy lashed out at him, knocking the bottle out of his hands and having it fly across the lawn, where it shattered. Harvey watched it dully for a second, then turned to fix his gaze on her, still smirking.

Lizzy spun on her heel and attempted to leave, but couldn't due to a lanky but powerful hand that grasped her arm.

"Where're you going, Elizabeth?"

Harvey Amos

Harvey only vaguely registered the sudden absence of the alcohol bottle from his hands, and when he realized what had happened, he was suddenly overtook with a strange sort of joy. There was almost nothing Harvey loved more than conflict,and drunken Harvey loved it even more than his sober self. He turned back to Lizzy with a smirk. She gave him a look of pure disgust before turning away and meaning to stalk off away from him, but he wasn't letting her get away so soon. He grasped her by the arm and turned her back around.

"Where are you going, Elizabeth?"

"I said fuck off!"

Harvey hiccuped and laughed.

"I don't remember you being the boss of me, sweetheart," he slurred with a smile. "Plus, you're not in any position to-"

Lizzy made a sudden move to hit him, her balled fist went flying towards his face and he only just barely caught it before it made full contact with his jaw. His reflexes weren't the best, and she still managed to get his jaw, causing him to jerk his head slightly. With a grunt, he pushed her up against the fence behind them, his smile gone.

"You're going to have to stop hitting me, little girl. I might get mad."

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck me?"

He laughed out loud as Lizzy squirmed to get out of his grasp. He had her pinned, hands up against the fence beside her head. Harvey didn't really look like much, but nearly everyone knew he was stronger than what showed. If he could eat more he'd be beefier, but he had to make due with what little he had, and his diet of bread and stale ramen wasn't doing much for his physical physique. But he could hold more than his own, and as long as he didn't want her to, Lizzy wasn't going anywhere.

"Stop pretending you don't want me, it's getting old," he teased.

"S-shut up," Lizzy stuttered back in reply, though it didn't hold as much bite. Harvey didn't notice either way, his head was swimming and his was looking at the world through a fishbowl.

"JJ jokes that I'm obsessed but I bet you-"

"You let me go right now Harvey Amos or I swear-"

Her words were cut off as Harvey smashed his mouth into hers. Somewhere deep inside, he was screaming, beating himself up and pulling his own hair. Sober Harvey was raging, but Drunk Harvey had absolutely no idea what was going on, and he wasn't too keen on stopping to find out.

Lizzy had never felt so disgusted with herself. She was a strong seventeen year old girl who had went through hell, trained her body to kick ass, practiced self defense four times a week, and yet she couldn't fight off a drunk Harvey.

Or was it because she didn't want to? Because when he taunted her about wanting him, her response wasn't as vicious as it should have been.

And suddenly, his mouth was on hers, kissing her aggressively. Surprisingly nice for a drunk, no slobber or anything, Lizzy thought numbly as his strong arms pinned her against the fence, probably leaving dents into her skin.

"Geroff!" Lizzy grunted weakly against Harvey's lips, squirming, unable to breathe with him on her the way he was.

Two more weak attempts to fight, and suddenly, Lizzy caved. She couldn't even explain why. He had her on fire.

Her hands twisted free and rose, not to push him away, but to twist into his hair and press into him. Her lips moved against his, tongues dancing, kissing until she couldn't breathe and needed to break away.

His hands started to dip, stroking her hips, and Lizzy bit back a moan. Dazed, she looked up at him and was about to bring him back down for another shameless kiss before a shout pierced the night and made her blink rapidly, then scream shrilly in her throat and shove him away.

As JJ called out again, searching for Harvey, Lizzy quickly pushed him off and ran. She left Simon at the party and ran until she reached the gas station down the street, then called Pop to come pick her up.

On the way home, she sat in the backseat, refusing to talk to him, except to reassure him that she hasn't been raped. Then she went home and cried, hidden underneath her blankets.

Harvey Amos

The shrill sound of an alarm shrieked in the air and echoed through the entire house. Harvey tried his hardest to just pretend like it wasn't happening, pulled the pillow he was laying on over his head, but it couldn't be ignored. It was morning. He had school. He was helplessly hungover.

"Turn that shit off," he screamed into the mattress.

"I'm working on it," JJ screamed back in reply as he reached over Harvey's body to grab the alarm clock off the bedside table. He fumbled around with it a bit, he was still feeling slightly drunk from last night and had a migraine that could kill, and couldn't seem to find the off button. Frustrated, he resorted in pushing random buttons, which only made the noise grow worse.

"How hard is it to turn off your own damn alarm, JJ?!"

"How about you shut up and suck-"

Suddenly the alarm cut off, leaving the room in a ringing silence. Marco had snatched the device out of JJ's hand and ripped out the batteries. Once that was done he chucked it across the room, causing it to bounce off the wall with a loud crack - it was definitely broken now. Both Harvey and JJ fell silent, each were sat up and staring at Marco, who was glaring back at them. They stayed frozen in that position before Harvey burst out in a fit off loud laughter and both of the boys followed behind him with loud guwaffs.

"You guys are idiots," Marco mumbled once the laughter had died down, and then laid back down in his place against the wall. JJ quickly followed suit, burying his head under the covers. Harvey frowned as the two boys tugged the comforter away from him, but settled back down anyway.

He felt as if there was a tiny man carving graffiti into the walls of his skull. He didn't remember anything from last night. The last clear memory he had was of rolling up his sleeves in preparation for a game of beer pong. It was all black out from there. He didn't want to think about it. The thought of him being black-out drunk - again - just depressed him. He'd promised himself last year that he'd stop drinking, and was doing good with his goal, until someone put a bottle in his hands. It was like he lost all control. He didn't like not remembering, but, right now, there was nothing he could do about it. He just wanted to forget.

Thirty minutes later Marco and JJ were getting up to get dressed. They tried to get Harvey to come along, but after he threatened to tie their pricks together they backed off and left without him. Harvey stayed in JJ's house for about another half hour before deciding to get up and get ready for school. He wasn't too happy with having to borrow his friend's clothes - polo shirts and dress slacks didn't suit him too well - but it was either look like a rich kid or smell like last night.

--

Harvey walked through the school doors around lunch time, tugging relentlessly on the collared polo shirt he was forced to wear - it was most normal thing JJ had in his closet. The halls were filled with kids, as was typical around this time, but Harvey didn't have to do much to part the sea. One mean look and the kids were practically bowing out of his way. He laughed internally at the thought and went off to find his boys.

They weren't at the usual table, which was strange since Marco never passed up a chance to stuff his face. After a few minutes search he found them in the boys' locker room, positioned in front of this kid they had backed into the corner of a wall. Harvey rolled his eyes at them and was just about to call out when Marco suddenly seized the boy by the front of the shirt, hoisted him off the ground, and slammed him into the wall.

"We know you know more than you're telling," JJ hissed through clenched teeth, "and if you don't tell the truth then-"

Marco slammed the boy into the wall and he cried out in pain. Harvey wasn't sure what was going on, but he kept back and watched, not wanting to interfere.

"I-I already t-told you," the boy stammered. "I don't know who I heard it from I j-just-"

Marco slammed him again and the boy's eyes overflowed with tears.

"Abigail! I heard it from Abigail! She started the rumors! She's the one going around saying that Amos and Redmon kissed ok now-"

"I did what," Harvey screamed as he charged in on the scene.

Marco dropped the kid out of surprise and the little freshman wasted no time in scurrying off.

"Harvey," JJ greeted, obviously flustered, "you're looking real dapper today in my clothes."

"JJ," Harvey called, a warning.

"We didn't expect you'd come today."

"Well here I am. What's going on?"

"Look man, there's this rumor going around that someone saw you and Redmon making out last night, but-"

"No way!"

"Wait, hear me out. We're getting to the bottom of it and="

"I don't remember anything from last night! Shit," Harvey cursed. "Where is she?"

"Come on, Harv, take it easy"

"I am not in the mood, J, don't screw around! Is she at school today?"

Anger was bubbling quickly to the surface, clouding his judgement. Harvey didn't like people talking about him. He hated rumors, thought they were petty and stupid, and was not enjoying the idea that most of the school now thought he had a thing for Lizzy. He'd worked hard to build up his image, to get it to the point where people were too afraid of him to try and bully him, only to have all the work crushed by the premise that he might have done something so stupid as make out with Lizzy freaking Redmon.

He could practically hear people planning ways to challenge his authority, that were going to try and get in his face. Something like that could make everyone question his and his boy's established role at the school as those guys to not be fucked with. He didn't want to have to build that all up again.

"Yeah, I saw her earlier," JJ said cautiously, sensing his friend's growing anger. "She's probably in the cafe."

Before JJ even finished Harvey was storming off. The two boys watched him leave and JJ let out a groan of frustration.

"Bet you twenty bucks we're going to have to start fighting a lot again," JJ said to Marco as they tried to follow Harvey's path.

"Like before?"

"Yep."

"Maybe it won't end up like that again."

"I doubt it..."

---

Harvey rounded a corner and his eyes immediately locked on to a shock of blue hair standing in the middle the hallway. Everyone else in the area noticed Harvey as soon as he noticed Lizzy, and everything got quiet. Harvey's hands were shaking, but he tried to calm his breathing as he approached her. She had a look on her face that said she knew exactly what was going on. She straightened her posture and squared her shoulders as he approached her, and his gaze grew increasingly lethal as they grew closer. He hated himself for not remembering what happened last night, but he was willing to bet everything that she did. If he knew one thing about Redmon, it was that she didn't drink.

"Well hell, Redmon, I know you're in love with me, but there's no need to go spreading rumors," he drawled as nonchalantly as possible. "This isn't elementary school, you know."

Lizzy screwed up her face and crossed her arms.

"What makes you think I would ever want the idea of me and you going around. You're disgusting, Harvey Amos."

"I mean, if you wanted a kiss you could have just asked me. I had a dog once so I think I have an idea of what to expect."

"Screw you!"

"They'll be enough of that in your dreams tonight don't you think, princess?"

Her face immediately twisted into a mask of fury. She places her hands on his chest and pushed him back. He didn't resist, just let himself stumble a few feet. A small laugh escaped his lips at her outburst.

"Do not call me princess!"

"What happened last night, Redmon," he demanded, screaming back at her.

His cool was slipping, his hands were shaking and he could barely hear for the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. He was even growing a bit dizzy, his vision blurred. The crowd growing around them didn't help his nerves. He wanted to line everyone up and deal each one of them their own personal beating. JJ and Marco picked up on Harvey's steadily worsening mood and tried to keep the crowd at bay. Lizzy still hadn't answered him, and he grabbed her wrist. She seemed shocked into action by the contact and tried to fling him off.

"Don't touch me, Amos! Get off of me!"

"What happened?"

Lizzy swung out and tried to hit Harvey, but he caught her mid-act and tossed her against the lockers. JJ and Marco were now literally fighting off Redmon's crew, and the sound of people screaming filled the hallway. He pinned her arms to the lockers to stop her from squirming away. His patience was growing thin.

"Lizzy..."

His voice was almost desperate now, pleading.

'I wish I could remember.'

"Just..."

His only hope would be her admitting that she made it all up for whatever reason. Anything other than that and he was over.

"Just fucking tell me you stupid little piece of shit."

In all her years of knowing Harvey, Lizzy had never seen him like this. He was angry, but something was beneath the surface of his hatred. She could feel mixed emotions, a bit of desperation coming from his mouth as he screamed at her. His grip on her arms was crushing, bruising her skin. And his words.

Harvey had never spoken to her like that. Cruel, malicious, degrading. Normally he was a sarcastic prick, calling her princess or Elizabeth and pushing her buttons, poking fun at her hair and her height and her crooked nose. But never such vulgar words.

Lizzy stared up at him in shock, speechless. Someone had seen them kiss. Someone had seen Harvey pin Lizzy against that fence and seen him assault her mouth, seen her melt and make out with him. Someone had seen them that night and whoever that person was, Lizzy was going to murder them, but she couldn't think about that now because Harvey was demanding answers she could not provide honestly.

So she did what she often did and lied.

"What happened that night?! What happened was your drunk ass followed me out of the party like a stalker and forced yourself on me!"

The words spilled out of her mouth and it took her a second before she registered how that sounded.

Harvey's grip went slack and Lizzy could have pulled free if she wanted to. But she was numb, eyes locked on him as he looked at her, speechless. His mouth fluttered a few times before he croaked, "Elaborate."

When she didn't speak, his green eyes darkened and he shook her violently. "Elaborate!"

"You- I mean- We-" Lizzy stammered, unable to find the right words.

She knew exactly what he thought. Harvey thought he had raped her. No matter how much of an asshole he was, Lizzy didn't want him to have that on his conscious. She opened her mouth to tell him, but she couldn't. She just couldn't. If she told him he hadn't raped her, then she would have to tell him that they made out. Then he would ask her why she didn't fight him off and she wouldn't have an answer for that.

Harvey let go of her, his face blank, and Lizzy quickly darted down the hall. She was a master at this. She flew down halls until she reached the nurse's office, locked herself in the bathroom, and broke down in tears. When asked what was wrong, she told the nurse her stomach was torn up and that she wanted to go home.

Pop came to get her, and they drove home silently, with him glancing at her worriedly from the mirror as she curled up in the backseat and didn't speak for the rest of the night.

Harvey Amos

Harvey's heart was beating harder than what he knew was safe. Background noise blended into one continuous blur and the only thing he could hear was his erratic pulse and ragged breathing. He knew he was acting strange. Usually, even when he was angry he could keep his cool, but he now felt his grip on control slipping. He even had half a mind to feel bad about what he said to Lizzy. He didn't normally speak to her so harshly, just teases until she tried something, but never so... mean. He was a sarcastic asshole, that was true, but not like that. Too much was happening. His head hurt. He wanted to go home. Lizzy still hadn't answered. He couldn't pin the expression on her face, but felt his own grow desperate.

'Please.'

"What happened last night?! What happened was your drunk ass followed me out of the party like a stalker and forced yourself on me!"

Harvey's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach and he felt his arms go weak and limp. His brain seemed to stall and her words registered there, leaving his mouth to fumble for words. He caught Lizzy's wide eyed stare and felt sick.

'I was drunk. I don't...'

"Elaborate," he groaned with a cracking voice.

'Forced myself on her? Did that mean... No. I wouldn't... But she said... Oh god. Oh my fucking god.'

"Elaborate," he screamed, his voice shaking.

"You- I mean- We-"

Harvey's hands dropped from Lizzy's arms and she went sprinting away down the hall. He put his back against the lockers to steady himself. He felt dirty and was suddenly uncomfortable in his own skin.

"Fucking christ..."

The thought brought bile to the back of his throat. He was so utterly disgusted with himself and when tears started to prick the corner of his eyes he numbly wiped them away.

'Lizzy, I'm sorry I was drunk I-'

"Dammit!"

He turned around and punched the lockers, instantly ripping the skin of his knuckles. JJ and Marco hurried to his side.

"You okay, bro? What did she say," JJ asked.

"Come on," Marco said. "We're leaving."

Harvey shook them off as they tried to lead him out of the school.

"I'm not a damn child! I can handle myself!"

"Harv-"

"Piss off!"

He pushed Marco out of the way and stormed out of the school.

--

The water had long since gone cold, and was now raising goosebumps all over his skin. He's been in the shower ever since he'd made it home. It was hot at first, too hot, and his skin was still burned red in some spots where the water stayed in contact for too long. He was standing with his back to the shower head, forehead rested against the cool tile - eyes red. He'd been in there for way too long, and still felt dirty.

Lizzy's voice echoed in his head and he gritted his teeth and punched the wall again. Tiny streams of blood washed away in the water and Harvey watched them with a blank expression. Harvey knew he would never acomplish anything spectacular in life, would never grow to be anything great, maybe manager of Rudy's or even a mechanic, but never a...

He screwed up his face and pushed the palms of his hands into his eyes. He didn't even want to think the word. He needed to stop drinking. If she told anyone...

"Shit!"

"Harvey?"

"Leave me alone, Jene."

"Just making sure it wasn't flooding up in here. You wanna come out of there, son?"

Harvey reluctantly turned off the water and shuffled out of the shower, towel wrapped around his waist. Jene was waiting outside of the door and took one look at his kid before realizing something was horribly wrong. He noticed his eyes first, and then his knuckles. Jene let out a sad sigh and led Harvey to the sofa. After finding the first aid kit, he sat in front of the boy and got to work on his wounds.

"You can start from the beginning," he said calmly.

Tears fell out of Harvey's eyes as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Well I was at work when JJ called me about some stupid party..."

Are the rumors true?

Did you really kiss Harvey Amos?

But don't you two hate each other?

Lizzy? You there?

They say Harvey beat the shit out of a locker when you left. Funny thing is, it's your locker.

Lizzy, I'm calling you, pick up.

Lizzy angrily read and exited out of the chats people were sending her on Facebook. In fact, she went ahead and logged off, then shut her computer and shoved it away from her.

She had stayed home from school the next day, claiming to be sick. Which was partially true, she felt like her appetite had shrunken to the size of a walnut. Pop was worried about her but she told him she'd be okay so he took Sammy to school and then went to work, leaving her alone to think about what the hell happened yesterday.

She couldn't believe it. She was disgusted with herself. She panicked and lied and now Harvey Amos believed he raped her. What was she to do? Tell the truth, of course. Something so simple, yet so very hard. She was ashamed of herself for even lying in the first place.

She hated hearing about the girls that cried wolf about being raped just to get attention, then when they really were raped, no one believed them. And while she wasn't doing it for attention, she felt just as disgusting, if not more. She was lying to save her own ass.

What was she to do?

Suddenly, there was a loud banging sound on the front door and Lizzy jumped. Was it Harvey? JJ? Marco? Harvey's parents? The police? Lizzy started to panic and reached for her phone, scared, a little girl ready to call Pop to come home and save her from whatever was now opening the.. locked door?!

"ELIZABETH REDMON, YOU ANSWER THE GODDAMN DOOR WHEN I KNOCK."

Lizzy screamed as Simon burst into her room and stood in the doorway, chest heaving, fists clenched. Her heart racing, Lizzy took a few moments, before standing up and angrily glaring at him. "Shouldn't you be in school?" she hissed.

"I could say the same for you!"

"Touchè," she muttered.

Simon glared at her. "Is what they're saying true? You hooked up with Harvey freaking Amos?"

Lizzy opened her mouth to reply, then realized she didn't know what to say. She couldn't admit she lied. Nor could she admit she willingly kissed him. So then what?

"Can't believe you'd believe such bullshit." Lizzy sneered.

Right. Lie.

Simon blinked a few times, then took a step forward. "You mean, it's not true?"

"Of course it isn't, you idiot! Harvey and I? I can't even touch him without puking, Simon. Do you honestly think I'd kiss him, or god forbid, have sex with him?" Lizzy threw Simon a disgusted look and plopped down on her bed, brushing a loose blue tendril out of her face.

"Of course not. I knew it was a rumor." Simon mumbled, unclenching his fists and sitting down next to her.

"You fucking better. Now massage my feet while you're down there, won't you?"

**

"Lizzy-"

"Piss off." she snapped, shoving past Marley, a friend of hers that she hardly talked to nowadays. Who was looking concerned and called out after her as Lizzy stormed up the stairs and made her way to her locker.

There was a dent in the door, so he truly must have punched it. Harvey made a dent in her locker. Harvey. Dent.

Lizzy couldn't help but giggle to herself and felt a bit better, a feeling which quickly grew sour as people threw her looks and whispered to each other. Lizzy didn't know exactly what all the rumors were, just a guess. Lizzy and Harvey kissed. Lizzy and Harvey made out. Lizzy and Harvey had sex. Do you think she's pregnant? I heard they beat the shit out of each other, then had makeup sex. I heard she offered herself to him and he rejected her. I heard-

"Lizzy."

Lizzy's stomach droped to her feet and she tensed. She knew that voice anywhere. Lizzy turned slowly to see Harvey standing there, handsome as ever. Eyes had bags underneath them, hair was tousled and tangled. His shirt looked like he slept in it, yet his sunken shoulders and tired eyes told her he didn't sleep at all. He looked like shit, and Lizzy's guilt tripled.

Harvey gazed at her for a moment, then spoke, "Meet me by the gym after school."

Then he was gone and Lizzy was left to stare after him, already feeling herself start to panic. And for once in her life, she wished the bell would never ever ring.

Harvey Amos

Harvey laid awake in bed, starring at the rays of sunlight creeping across his ceiling. He stayed home from school yesterday, simply because he was feeling too sick to go in. He felt nauseous and dizzy the whole day, and his hand was killing him. With a grimace he looked down at his bandaged up knuckles, the white of the cloth was stained with little dots of red and he was almost completely sure he either fractured or strained something really badly. Despite all of that though, he knew he had to go in today. He almost broke his phone out of annoyance with all the messages, and didn't even throw a glance at his laptop, but running away from problems was a specialty of his, and he didn't want to do that any more. Even if the thought of Lizzy made his stomach clench and his chest hurt, he had to fix this. Like Jene said...

The alarm screaming broke Harvey's train of thought and he slapped it off before tossing his sheets away and sitting up - fully dressed, shoes and all.

Like Jene said, he had to face problems like these head on. No messing around. He had to apologize first. That was step one.

---

The whispers seemed to stop as soon as Harvey stepped into the school. No doubt he looked like shit, not to mention murderous. He was feeling pretty homicidal too. One wrong look and he knew he'd snap. Tension was high, patience was low, and his stomach still hurt. He'd gladly break a few fingers on some idiots face.

People gathered into groups and he could hear the hisses of their gossip in the air. It made his fist clench and his jaw snap tight.

"Yeah, well I heard that-"

Harvey was on the kid so quick he didn't have time to scream. He grabbed the boy by the collar and lifted him onto his toes.

"What the fuck did you hear, punk?"

"N-nothing."

Harvey glared and tosses the boy aside. He didn't have time for that, he needed to find Lizzy. He needed to..

A flash of blue caught his attention and he picked up his pace. He caught her by the locker and when he caught sight of the dent in the door he couldn't help but to feel a strange swell of pride and a smirk slipped onto his face. He dropped the expression quickly.

"Lizzy."

He watched her tense and felt unbearable guilt wash over him. He felt like a monster. She turned towards him slowly and he ran a hesitant hand through his hair. He couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes. He'd never wanted his mother more than he did now. He allowed himself to gaze at her before turning his stare away.

"Meet me by the gym after school."

He hesitated momentarily before turning to leave. He needed a smoke.

---

The gym was dark and empty. It was the perfect setting for his little meeting. He'd already checked twice to make sure no one was lingering around, and thankfully there wasn't. He'd made it through thirty minutes of first period before he was pounding in the face of some kid that got a bit too brave. His hand was killing him and he didn't want to have to use it again tonight, but wouldn't hesitate if he found a snoop.

He was sat on the bottom bleachers now, elbows rested on his knees. He was just about to accept she wasn't showing when the gym door opened and she came walking in. Harvey stood and met her halfway through the court, hands in his pockets.

"Hey," she greeted, obviously uncomfortable.

He only nodded in response. A heavy, awkward silence fell on them and Harvey mentally kicked himself in the gut. He took a deep breath and let it out in a groan. His hand tangled in his hair.

"Listen," he said, eyes screwed shut. "I don't remember what happened at that party. I don't remember a single fucking thing, I swear. All I know is what everyone's saying and it ain't good and I just..."

The hand in his hair slid down to cover his eyes.

"I'm... I didn't... Lizzy, I..."

A tear slipped from the corner of his eye and he didn't bother to wipe it away.

"I'm fucking sorry, alright! Whatever I did, I'm so sorry."

Lizzy stumbled away from Harvey in shock, a hand numbly gripping the bleachers to keep from falling over.

Harvey was crying. Harvey Amos was crying. Harvey Amos never cried. Ever. For as long as she'd known him, Harvey had never once shed a tear that wasn't from laughing.

This wasn't right.

Lizzy felt like everything was going to fall apart at the seams until there was nothing left but a broken mess.

"Harvey-" Lizzy's voice cracked and it seemed to make him cry harder. She couldn't handle it. She moved forward and was suddenly cradling him against her breasts, his tears damping her shirt.

Her hands cupped his head and she gently held him as he wept, his large hands fisting her shirt. She backed up and sat down on the bleachers, with him kneeling before her, prsctically crushing her with his weight.

Lizzy had never touched Harvey like this before. She softly ran her hands through his hair and numbly registered what a pretty brown it was. She wished her hair was a rich brown too.

"Harvey." Lizzy tried again, her voice wavering.

Harvey's breaths staggered and he hiccuped, something she thought was so cute. But the thought was gone when he looked up at her, eyes swollen.

Tell him..

"I-It's okay." She croaked.

Goddamnit, tell him!

I can't! she wailed internally, feeling her stomach twist with guilt as her conscious scowled at her in disgust.

Harvey wiped away his tears and moved to sit beside her, stoic. He was fruitless; silent tears still streamed down his cheeks.

Lizzy turned to him and repeated her lies, "It's okay. Just.. it's nothing. It's okay," her voice cracked on the last word.

Harvey Amos

He had no idea what had come over him. He hadn't cried like that since his mother died. Lizzy was warm and soft and comforting, and he hated himself for thinking that after what happened. How could she be so accepting when he...

"It's okay. Just- it's nothing. It's okay."

He shook his head and laid back against the bleachers.

"Nothing?"

He laughed and gave Lizzy an incredulous look, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Unbelievable."

"What?"

"Nothing, just-"

Harvey bowed his head and took a deep, calming breath before wiping his face and standing. All of a sudden he was terribly embarrassed and felt his face go red as he looked down at Lizzy. Never before had he really looked at her. She was just blue hair and a smart mouth to him, but now he saw her completely. Her shirt was wet in spots from his tears - the thought made him frown - and her eyes were wide and strange and beautiful. He spent his whole life hating her and for what? He didn't remember. It was just natural to him. But she was so...

"Tell anyone and I'll kill ya," he said with a glare.

"Who am I going to tell?"

Harvey cleared his throat and messed his own hair.

"I, uh, meant what I said though, but this," he gestured between the two of them, "never happened."

"Whatever, Amos."

Lizzy rolled her eyes and stood. He nodded and shuffled awkwardly on his feet.

"Anyway, thanks," he mumbled.

He took one last look at her, scanned her face carefully, and then walked away.

--

"How the hell did you manage to avoid us for two days?!"

Harvey was assaulted as soon as he stepped through the schools doors. JJ and Marco were on him like sharks, both looked pissed off. Around them he could see Lizzy at the end of the hallway, and averted his eyes quickly. He didn't want anything to do with her. Apologizing didn't change what he'd done and he just wanted to forget about it.

"Did you miss me," he teased at JJ, making kissy faces.

"No! We just had to nearly kill ourselves trying to keep this damn school under control."

"Do you want a cookie?"

"Man, fuck you, Harvey!"

Harvey laughed out loud and grabbed JJ's shoulder, stopping him from storming away. He ruffled his friends hair and patted his cheek. JJ slapped the hand away and scowled.

"You can't just disappear like that and expect us not to worry."

"Sorry sweetheart."

The bell rang and the hall started to empty.

"Alright, I'm headed out back."

"No," Marco protested. "We have a test in Anatomy, not that you bother to go to that class anyway. Don't worry," he added quickly as he saw Harvey's face twist into disapproval, "I have all the answers."

"Love ya, bro."

"Yeah yeah."

---

By some stretch of miracle, Marco got Harvey to stay the entire day at school, something that hadn't happened since middle school. For the first time, Harvey was stood outside his last period class. Granted, he was a bit late because of a smoke break holdup out behind the cafeteria, but he'd arrived nonetheless. With an annoyed sigh he opened the door and walked in.

The teacher stopped mid-sentence and turned to greet him with a large smile.

"There's our missing body, and just in time too! You'll be paired up with Ms. Redmon for this project."

"Like hell I am!"

Of all people to walk through that door, it had to be Harvey Amos. Lately, it seemed, everything was, is, or revolved around Harvey Amos. It's like he was everywhere.

His words made her snort loudly and she immediately stiffened as all eyes were on her. Her gaze met his and she smirked, sarcastically patting the empty desk beside her. With a pointed glare from the teacher, Harvey groaned and slowly made his way towards her, reluctant in every step.

All of this felt normal. Lizzy couldn't help but feel relieved at this. Him, his rude mouth, his arrogant attitude, the way he yanked the chair out from underneath the desk and sat down in a huff. This was Harvey Amos, this was Lizzy Redmon, and this was more normal than breathing.

Yet, when his arm brushed hers, Lizzy felt her stomach clench in what she hesitated to call desire. How could she? He was the very personification of her hatred. But here she couldn't help but recall the feel of his lips on hers and she fought back a small sigh.

Harvey flashed her a shadowed look that she pretended to ignore. Please get over it. she thought. It isn't real. It never happened.

"Mr. Amos, I will kindly reiterate for you," the teacher said coolly, moving to stand in front of her desk. "Your project is - find a problem in the world and come up with a solution to solve it, or at least, gravitate towards improving it. Maybe your problem is smoking in the house and giving the kids asthma? Your solution could be to designate an area on the front porch where the smokers do their thing and your sibling can play safetly on the other side."

"Perfect, Ms. B." someone called out.

"You cannot use that example! Anyways, you'll need three visuals to go along with your PowerPoint presentation. You may start discussing now."

"Fuck this shit." Harvey muttered.

Lizzy turned to glare at him. "It's a grade, Amos. So don't expect me to pick up your slack, you do your shit and I'll do mine so we can pass this and move on with our lives."

Harvey opened his mouth to retaliate, but thought against it, and grumbled, "Shut it."

The threat didn't hold much bite, and it made Lizzy frown. She really was hoping things wouldn't be so awkward but it seemed otherwise in the way he acted around her. Cautious, skirting around her, as if he was afraid to touch her skin. Hesitant in his words, less fire in the way he spoke to her.

Lizzy hated it. She looked through the packet the teacher placed down on their table and shuffled through it, aware of his eyes on her, burning a hole into her skin.

"Like what you see?" she hissed, shooting him a glare.

"In your dreams, princess."

Princess.

Lizzy's hand flew to her mouth as she recalled the night, and remembered when he called her that. She felt the ghost of the fence dig into her back, felt a surge of pleasure as his hands roam, his lips tasteing hers, and blinked rapidly, trying to shake it off.

"Don't call me that!" she snarled once more, the echo of the past in her voice.

She couldn't gauge his reaction, not until after she looked up and saw his white face, heard his rushed apology. Harvey thought he had taunted her with the nickname as he supposely did what he did that night. Lizzy felt a rush of guilt, but before she could speak, he spoke.

"Let's get this damn thing done with."

"Do we even know what we're gonna do?" Lizzy asked, right as the teacher declared that they needed to pick a topic by tomorrow.

"I don't give a fuck." Harvey hissed under his breath.

"Well, you better decide because the bell is about t-" Lizzy clenched her jaw as the shrill sound interrupted her and she tried again once it finished. "I guess we'll have to decide sometime tonight. Should we meet up?"

He looked repulsed at the idea.

Lizzy's eyes narrowed, and she snapped, "I don't want to see your ugly face anymore then I should, Amos, but we need to decide on a topic. So, when's a good time? Now?"