***AUTHORESS NOTES***

Yes, I'm finally updating! Sorry for the delay!

If you haven't already, you might want to read chapters 1-3 of this
story again, as I've redone all of them.

Thanks for reading!

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Chapter 4: Silent


     Jenn was quiet that night at home, thinking about how her life had
suddenly spun out of control. Bobby asked her several times what was
wrong but she denied that anything was wrong, and finally went to bed.

     She awoke at around 4:30 to use the bathroom and as she walked back
to bed, she heard a rustling from outside her window. Her heart was
pounding as she looked outside. 

There was nothing out there.

     "I am so stupid..." she mumbled out loud. How could she be so
paranoid? Just because her brother thought she had a stalker, gotten a
death threat and had been beaten by her boyfriend, there was no reason
to panic.

     She glanced out the window one last time and she raced up as soon
as she saw it. Stupid bladder. Why did it have to wake her up?

     A figure in black was darting out of her bushes and across her
lawn. She almost had a stroke once she realized what it was. A person. A
human. They had been hiding in HER bushes. For what? To see her?

     She decided immediately that she would not tell her parents. They
would just worry and cause a big fuss. But suppose her brother or sister
saw it? She tip-toed around her house and peeked into her sibling's
rooms. Both were sound asleep. Lucky for her.

     She awoke in the morning to chirping birds and sunshine, and she
wondered if someone was looking at her as she sat up in bed.

     She walked downstairs. "Good morning, Jenifer," chirped her mother
as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed an apple. 

     "Good morning," she greeted her. Her father looked up from his
newspaper.

     "Good morning, Jenn. Sleep well?" he asked her.

     "Yeah, actually I did," she lied. She would've slept well if it
hadn't been for her pained stomach and stalker.

     "Do you have any plans after school?" her mother questioned as she
handed her a cup of coffee.

     "Yes. I'm going to the basketball game with Alexis and Sierra."

     "Who's playing?" her father questioned.

     "The boys from the Academy and some boys from a school on a
continent called Hoenn. I thought that Earl said the city was Rustboro."

     "I think it's so disrespectful that he lets you guy call him Earl,"
her mother said distastefully.

     "I think it's cool," Jenn replied and she drank the last drink of
coffee.

     "What time will you be home?" asked Norman.

     "Around 5:30," she replied. "That's usually the time that the games
end."

     "We'll be home around 5:00. Dinner will probably be at 6:00 so be
home no later than then. Are you walking home with Alexis or Sierra?"

     She shook her head. "After the game, they have to do something
witht the photos they take for the yearbook. I'm walking home alone."

     "Taylor's not going to be there?" her father asked with a bit of
happiness in his voice. Norman didn't think too highly of the boy,
despite the motherly affection that Valerie had for him.

     "Nope. He has to go to honor society," she grinned. Her mother
grinned as well.

     "Good for him," she said genuinely. "He spends his afternoons well.
Speaking of spending afternoons, don't you have drama club tomorrow?"

     "Yes. Taylor's going to go with me, not to mention that Brittani,
Alexis, Katrina, Cole and Amanda are going to be there."

     She finished off her apple. "I've got to go meet Alexis now. Bye!"
She ran out of the door to go meet her friend.

                                *****

     The ball was heading towards our basket. Ryan Nickels jumped up and
he scored! Jenn cheered along with Alexis and Sierra. The Academy had
won. 

     Jenn ran right over to Ryan, a good friend of her's. "That was
great!" she exclaimed. 

     He wiped sweat from his forehead. "Thanks," he grinned. 

     "You rocked, Ryan!" cheered Sierra, running up to the group. He
grinned at her, and again at Jenn. 
   
     "Hey, Jenn," someone said behind her. Ryan, Sierra and Jenn spun
around. There stood Caleb Sanders, a cute blonde boy that she had gone
out with the previous year. 
     
     "Hey, you guys did awesome!" she said happily. Caleb, like Ryan,
was a star player on the team, and had made a large fraction of the
shots. 

     This was the happiest I had felt in awhile. Taylor was always
pulling her down, always ruining her good moods. Jenn still liked him,
but she was sick of it. That, and the bruises, the bumps and the blood.
She was done. Within the next week, Jenn had decided, she was going to
break up with him. 

      Alexis came over to join them and they all just hung out for
another fifteen minutes, mostly just flirting. She was about to leave
the gym but Caleb pulled Jenn to the side, wanting to talk to her. 

     "Why did we break up?" he asked her and she blinked. It was an
unexpected question and she thought that maybe she was happy. Jenn had
enjoyed going out with him a lot. He was probably among her favorite
ex-boyfriends. 

     "I don't know," she answered honestly. Jenn couldn't remember. 

      "Well, I think it was stupid," Caleb said 
decidedly. 

      "I do, too." Jenn was smiling now, and she decided that after
Taylor and herself were through, she would go back out with Caleb. 

      "I know that you're going out with Taylor, but if you ever broke
up, would you go back out with me?" 

      Ah. The last thing she needed to make future plans. "Well, you
see, Taylor- well, he's not exactly the greatest boyfriend in the world
and I was thinking of ending it with him. But, sure, I'd love to!" 

     "That's great!" he said with a genuine smile. 

     "Oh crap, I should really get going. My brother will be worrying." 

     "Right. Well, I guess I'll let you go then. Call me later?" 

     "Yeah, of course!" she started walking out, but she turned around
and smiled at him. She had no clue what was going to be happening next.
She had no clue that we weren't alone. 

     Jenn skipped outside, happy for the first time in awhile. The walk
was short and it was merely about fifteen minutes until she walked back
into Sunnydale. 

     She was grabbed and thrown against the wall of the closest
building. "You tramp!" someone yelled. Taylor was holding her by her
throat. Jenn could feel her asthma flaring up. 

     "Let me go!" Jenn cried but I knew it was no use. 

     "I heard you in there talking with Caleb. And I saw you flirting
with him and Ryan." 

      "Let me go!" Jenn cried again. "I can't breathe!" He released his
grip on her and she reached in her purse for my inhaler. "This has gone
far enough. We're over! We're done!" Jenn screamed wheezily. 

      He grabbed her inhaler and threw it on the ground. With one swift
stomp, it was in pieces. 

      "You listen to me, Jenny. We're not done and if you ever try to
break up with me again, I'll kill you. You understand? You are not going
to go out with Caleb Sanders or anyone else. You're my girl, and you'll
stay my girl." 

      By then, she ran home. She needed help, and she needed to get away
from Taylor. 

     She walked into my house, purely out of breath. Jenn thought she
was going to die. She just wanted to die. She was seeing stars. 

     "Jenn?" called Bobby and he gasped but by that time, the sound was
faint. She felt myself fading away. 

She never heard the ambulance. 

*~Jennee~*

Only YOU can prevent forest fires.