JONATHAN

     "Look, this isn't what it looks like! I swear!" I rose my hands above my head in surrender.

    "Really? It looks like you're a hooker. I mean, I'm not saying it's a bad look on you, but really, what are you doing wearing that?" Her eyebrows quirked up as she gestured to my outfit.

    "Let me explain! Like, I'm not walking around begging to get raped or something! I usually never do this, but tonight was an emergency," I bit down on my lip nervously.

     "Emergency? Do you get paid to give bjs or something? Or like, are you into the whole koo-koo dominant lady thing? OH MY GOD! Are you a masochist? Do woman pay you so they can beat you up and ride your d*ck?" Amanda gasped.

    "No! None of those options! I work at Marty's Exotic Playland, but I usually just serve people drinks and stuff! I've like, only twice danced on the poles and stuff!" I defended.

    "What?! Isn't that, like, a gay strip club? But like, it has a straight part too or something?" Amanda questioned.

"No! It's just- well, um... ARGH! Okay, yes, a few guys go in to see other guys pole dancing. But lots of girls too! Yeah, um... this- uh, this one time a girl tried to jump me," Of course the gods of embarrassment had chosen me to be the subject of their laughter today.

    "So now, my once manly best friend, is being jumped by women? Did she use a whip on you? Were you quivering at her feet?" Amanda crossed her arms.

    "Okay, for one, I'm not into that sh*t, two, I'm still manly, and three, you stopped being my best friend a long time ago, Amanda," I closed my eyes for a second, trying to push away the memories of us drifting apart, me sitting in the cafeteria all alone, watching while she sat with all her new friends. It stuck a pin through my heart.

     Amanda's face turned sour. Her glare hardened, and she took a step back from me. She balled her hands into fists.

"I wasn't the one who stopped being you best friend. It was you, you became all distant and sh*t. You practically forced me to make new friends," As Amanda spoke, I shook my head at her ridiculousness.

"I was distant? You were the one who became distant. You left me, Amanda! You left me all by myself! Do you know how hard it is to support yourself and your family? And the hospital bills? You were the only one I could confide in about having to have three jobs, having my alcoholic father just get up and leave, taking care of my little autistic sister, and, and, on top of that, MY MOTHER IS F*CKING DYING!" By the end I was screaming at her, tears streaming down my face.

Amanda still scowled at me like I was in the wrong. Like it was my fault that my life was crumbling to pieces. Like I was the one to blame.

"I left you? I had to! Did you want me to stay with my father who not only neglected me, but abused me?! My mom made the right choice when we moved away from here! After all, if we hadn't moved, I would still be on a f*ckwads arm, cough cough, you!" Amanda laughed sarcastically.

"Of course, now you're not on my arm, you're on every other a$$holes arm in the school. I don't see the appeal of you though. Averaged sized boobs, kinda tiny a$$, but your pu$$y? I bet you it's looser than Donald Trump's side chick! I mean, f*cky you, you sl#tty a$$ b*tch, I'd rather bang a guy than you!" I spat, venom practically dripping from my words.

     "Yeah, I'm sure you would, you fäggot. Go to h*ll!" Amanda flipped me off as she stomped away. So much for us maybe being friends again.

    I sighed heavily, rubbing at my forehead as I felt a migraine coming on. I was just so exhausted and done with everyone and everything. I slowly dragged my feet to my house which was only a few blocks away from the club.

As I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door, I slumped against the wall. I was just too tired. I pulled myself up and climbed up the stairs. I quietly sneaked into my bedroom, slipping off the hooker outfit and crawling into a nice fluffy pair of pants.

Just as I was about to collapse, I saw a little figure standing in my doorway. I could barely make out her little pigtails and noticed she was still in what she was wearing earlier when I picked her up.

"Lucy, sweet pea, you should be asleep. Do you need my help to get to bed?" I asked softly as I walked over slowly to her.

Unlike me, she had big chocolatey eyes that stared up at me. Her finger was stuck in between her lips as she sucked on it. She made a soft noise and lifted her one arm up. I smiled and picked her up, resting her on my hip.

I bounced her up and down as we made our way to her room. Unlike most little girls' rooms, Lucy's wasn't pink. She actually hated the color and would throw a fit if anyone got her anything that pink. But she loved the color yellow. Her walls were painted yellow and the old blanket covering her mattress was yellow too. She didn't have much furniture, just a little stand by her bed and a dresser. The little 5-year-old struggled in my arms and I set her down. She ran over to her nightstand and pulled a tiny object off. She padded over to me, showing it to me. She showed it to me, as she did every night. It was a yellow rubber duck.

"It's a little ducky! Just like you, Lucy! Now, go sit Mr. Ducky down and let's get you in some pjs, okay?" I cooed.

She grunted and ran back to her nightstand to set it down. I grinned and went to her dresser. I pulled out a purple nightgown covered in yellow daisies. I turned back to Lucy. I helped her get her clothes off and pull on the gown. When she was down, she twirled in a circle, her pigtails swinging.

"Time for sleep! Let's go, I'll read you a story. Is The Princess And The Pea good for tonight?" I questioned, but I knew I wouldn't get an answer. Setting Lucy on her tiny bed, I sat in the edge with the old bed time story.

"Okay, Once upon a time there was this Prince. The prince was sad because he wanted to marry a real princess, but there weren't many of those where he lived. So he travelled around, searching for a befitted princess to be his wife. He looked high and low, but there were simply no real princesses! By the time he came back home to his castle, the prince was very sad. He desperately wished for a beautiful princess to wed," I paused to look over at Lucy who was staring at the ceiling before continuing, "One evening there was this terrible storm. It was raining and thundering, and it was certainly a frightful event. In the middle of this terrible storm there was a knock at the door of the castle. The old king himself lifted himself off his throne to answer it.

"It was a princess who stood their, but she was in terrible shape. The awful storm had thrown her around quite a bit. Rain had soaked her clothes and water streamed down her body, but she insisted she was a real princess. So the king and queen reluctantly let the princess in, even though the queen highly doubted that the girl was really a princess. So the queen decided to test her. She ordered one of her servants to place a tiny little pea under twenty mattresses on it and then piled twenty feather beds in top of the mattresses for the princess to sleep on.

"The next morning the princess joined the royal family for breakfast. Upon the queen asking how she slept she answered that she had barely slept at all, because she was sure there was something under her and it was too uncomfortable to rest upon. Immediately, the queen jumped up and exclaimed that the princess was In fact a princess. After hearing this, the prince proposed to the princess. They fell deeply in love and lived happily ever after..."

I glanced down to see Lucy sound asleep. I chuckled, turning the lights out and my head falling against the pillow to pull her in my embrace, soon following her into realm of sleep.

$$Yay! Long chapter! Wheeeee! Haha, I actually updated! Yeah, I actually need to start making ah*t happen, because Jonathan hasn't been with Alistair in like three chapters... Anyways, thanks for all the love and support peeps! See ya!$$