Sit down!” Pete yelled now she could tell something was wrong, “Now Leslie I don’t know if your mother ever told you but she really hurt me.” Pete was pacing back in forth in the living room, “She ripped out my heart and stepped on it, and” his face was now turning red, “that dam Samuel March stole her from me and took her away.” Pete now faced her, “When I saw you Leslie, I thought another chance with my Faith.” By this point, he was whimpering like a little baby. He slowly came towards Leslie; she bolted. She ran outside, by this time it was dark, most of the neighbors were asleep, and she had forgotten her cell phone in the house. She ran towards the pool house.


Chapter 12

At one point in time, the pool was a place of meeting, a past time. Now it was more of a hidden place for criminals. The homeless slept in the bathroom, a few summers ago, a girl was beat up and there were usually shady characters around. The pool itself never changed, but the people who went to it did. The parties went from barbeques to outrageous beer fest within a generation.

Chapter 13

Leslie had managed to break the pool house lock and was hiding behind one of the old, musty couches. She did not know if Pete had followed her or if he had given up. She waited what seemed like hours and slowly raised her head up behind the couch. She caught her breath; Pete sat on the other couch smoking a cigarette with a bottle of strong smelling alcohol.

“Faith you weren’t gonna leave me again were ya?” his speech was slurred from the alcohol, “I really wanna go to the prom with yoo.” He had not moved since he had started talking, but now he got up and walked to the window on the other side of the room; giving Leslie her one shot of escape. She got up and ran towards the door. Pete’s reaction time was quicker than most that have a full bottle of alcohol in their system. He grabbed her around the middle and threw her towards the window. Her back hit it hard and shattered the thin glass. She screamed at the sharp glass that cut through her sweatshirt. However, Pete got up and went to lung at her again. Leslie forced her self up off the hard concrete. She limped badly towards the gate, but yet again Pete was too quick. He hit her hard and both flew into the pool. Leslie’s world went cold and the water pierced her skin waking, her up from the pain in her leg. She was running out of breath and swam to the top. As soon her head broke the surface, she took a deep breath. Leslie looked around for Pete, but couldn’t see him any where out side the pool, she swam over to the side. Just as she was about to pull herself she felt someone pull her down into the dark depths of the pool. It was Pete, he had her in head lock and her struggling made her lose her breath quicker. If she had thought about it, the fact that he had been down there longer would have brought her condolence. She felt as if her lungs were going to burst with out oxygen. Luckily, he let go of her to swim up to the surface she followed his lead. Quickly she swam to the edge of the pool and pulled herself out. She sat for a second to catch her breath; she couldn’t see Pete anywhere. Suddenly, he was standing next to her dripping wet. She tried to stand and run but he was too quick. He was quickly on her back, slowly he pulled her up and whispered into her ear, “Faith I told you tonight was gonna be fun.” Then he slammed her against the concrete. Leslie’s world spun quickly then went dark.



Chapter 14

Faith Leigh was eighteen and happy, she had finally met a boy she loved. Samuel March was perfect. He was nineteen and had come out to San Jose to help his grandfather move back to his family’s ranch. Tonight was his last night in San Jose and she had invited him to prom. One problem, she had already invited Peter Yankee. Peter was a nice boy, but he was young and slightly clingy. Faith was on her way to Peter’s house to tell him the bad news. When Faith arrived at Peter’s house, she knocked on the door. Peter answered, “Are we going over all the details again? Because I got the limo and the yellow corsage you wanted.”

“Peter it’s not that,” Faith looked up at Peter, his face had dropped, “I’m not going to the prom with you.” Peter looked up at her his eyes watering considerably.

“That’s a funny joke Faith. Oh, Tonight is going to be so much fun.” Peter smiled at her. Did he really think that she was joking?

“Pete, I’m serious. I’m going with Samuel. I’m Sorry.” Peter slowly closed the door on Faith how could she seriously leave him for that country boy.

Peter couldn’t get the deposit on the limo back, so that night he drove around the town in it. When he told the driver to stop in front of the venue were the prom was being held later that night, he told the driver to get out and come back in an hour. Peter sat in silence for thirty minutes; finally, she arrived. Faith looked gorgeous in her yellow dress. She had her hair pulled up the way Peter liked. She stood there alone for ten minutes, Peter was almost tempted to go up and talk to her. He even got out of the car and hid behind a bush. He just had the courage get out from behind the bush, when Samuel walked up. Samuel pulled Faith into a long kiss. When they broke apart, Faith looked up at Samuel with the most longing look in her face. Oh how Peter wanted her to look at him with that look. He rode home in silence that night. When he got home, he burnt the yellow corsage.