FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL

Chapter 1

Alice.

Their words still echoed in my mind. The pounding in my heart had ceased to a dull beating and the pain in my head was now a gentle throb. My breathing had become normal again and my tear stained face had been washed and dried. But that still didn't stop me from feeling hurt and angry.

How could anyone be so cruel? So mean? How could anyone at school not care about how I felt? They did not know, nor care how it felt to be constantly teased and ridiculed by people around you. And all because of a last name and the fact that I wore braces.

I wasn't too fat in my opinion, yet when people teased me about my braces,"fat, ugly Alice!" Just seemed to roll of their tongue.

My name is Alice Bracer. Yes,my last name is Bracer. And I have braces.I've had them since the middle of sixth grade. That is precisely why I got bullied. When you think about it for a minute, the thought of someone teasing a person just because their last name is Bracer and they have braces, doesn't seem quiet important or funny. It is just a cruel coincidence, nothing more.

I walked shakily over to my mirror and looked at myself closely. My strawberry-blonde hair was a tangled mess and it looked like it would take a while to get all the tangles out of it. My brown eyes were red and swollen and sorrow and fear were clearly visible in them. My skin was pale and delicate and my whole figure looked small and frail. If my braces came off, and I put a little lipgloss on, I would look quiet pretty in my opinion. Of-course, if I kept my mouth shut and tried to smile with as little teeth showing as possible, that was also okay and I didn't look half bad.

So why did Michele Peterson find it funny to mock me all the time? I thought walking out of my room to go to the bathroom that was located down the hall. I was trying to be as quite as possible so that my mom would not notice. She hated to see me hurt and stressed. She would go out of her way to make me feel better, but seeing me in pain, she would get stressed too and she worried a lot about me. She had , on countless occasions, wanted to talk to the principle about the kids bullying me but I knew that that would only make it worse, so I always told her not to.

I tiptoed down the hall and I thought that I had successfully made it to the bathroom when I heard a door open behind me.

"Alice, I'm going out to get some milk, okay?" she called, thinking that I was in my room.

"Okay, mom," I replied, with my hand on the doorknob of the bathroom and my back to her.

"Oh, you're here,"she said and then stopped before saying," What did you do to your hair?" She reached a hand out to touch my hair and stroked it.

"N...nothing," I choked as my throat tightened, indicating that another wave of hot tears was approaching.

"Turn around, honey," my mom coaxed.

"But I need to go to the bathroom, mom," I tried to reason and twisted the knob but I was stopped by my mom's hand on my shoulder.

"So you can go and cry some more in there or so you can tangle your hair even further?" I almost smiled at the last part." No, you're coming with me."

I reluctantly complied as my mother steered me back to my room. She sat me down on my bed and handed me s glass of water, which she had conveniently managed to grab from her room on the way. She took my face in her hands and I leaned into her touch. It was amazing how she could make me feel safe and comfortable just by holding me. She was the only one who could make me feel that way. My father had left us when I was six and my little brother, Max was born. I had never found out why he had left us. My mom never talked about it.

"Who was it this time?" asked my mom.

"Michele Peterson and Amy Lee."

"Honey, you know perfectly well that they are not worth your tears," she said gently. I knew that was true, but it still hurt.

"It's just..." I began." The other kids, they just stand there and laugh. No one says anything. It's as if they are little lost puppies who'd follow someone blindly like complete idiots."

"So there you have it then. They are little lost puppies and they don't deserve your time and friendship." and again, I couldn't help but agree with her.

"But it just... ever since we moved to Crescent, I haven't had a single friend! It's hard to cope with all this without a friend. I eat lunch alone. No one wants me on their team in volleyball. No one tells me I missed a class! It makes me sick! I wish you'd homeschool me!" I burst out furiously.

More salty tears began rushing down my cheeks in rivulets and splashed down on my bed softly. I made no attempt to stop them because I knew that it would be of no use. I was just feeling so many emotions at once.my face began heating up and I felt as if I was going to burst under all these feelings. I was angry because my mom had refused to homeschool me. I was sad that I had no friends. I was angry at myself for being sad and I was angry at my dad for leaving us.

After my dad left us, my mom had kept switching jobs. She wanted s job that would pay enough to cover our expenses and something that did not take much of her time either. In the past six years, we had lived in over four different places. Before I came here to Crescent, everything had been fine. My previous schools had been fine. I had managed to make friends in every school but I guess, Crescent was different.

We had now been living here for almost a year and my mom had found a job as a florist. It was not something that great but It payed okay so she was happy. She realised that Crescent was also full of opportunities. She could always take on a higher-paying job here once she had gotten enough experience.

So it looked like we would be staying here permanently now, and that was not exactly a ray of sunshine for me.

My mom was quite for a long time, absentmindedly brushing my hair away from mg face. I did not protest. The gesture was warm and comforting.

"Okay," she said finally." I'll make you a deal."

I leaned forward slightly, a sliver of hope entering my heart.

"You try to get through school for another month and at the end of the month, if you still want me to get you a private tutor for the rest of the year, I'll do it. It'll cost more, but I guess we'll manage."

My heart instantly lifted and my mouth stretched into a huge grin. Finally, something had happened my way. My mom reached out and wiped my tears away and pulled me into her warm embrace and I gladly sank into it.

A/N

This chapter is dedicated to @TheRachelxo... She's an awesome writer and you guys should check out her story. It's called Wanted and it's a Niall Horan fanfiction. You'll totally love it!

So here's the first chapter you guys. Yes, I know there was not anything about a vampire or werewolf here but just wait... it'll come. This was only the first chapter. Please tell me what you thought of this and vote! It would mean a lot to me :) what do you guys want in the next chapter?

COMMENT PLEASE!! :). But be nice.. Thanks!