"Hello?", a cheery woman answered the phone.

Olivia fought back the urge to cry and shakily asked if Brian was available. His mother informed her that he had gone out of town and that's when Liv remembered that he had told her he was going to be away for a few days. She hung up the phone, her eyes still wide in fright and remembering that Serenity had also gone on vacation, she pressed the glowing digits of the first number that popped into her head.

After the first ring, a low voice answered the phone. "Hello?" It almost sounded like the person on the other line was trying their best to hide the distinguishable tone of voice they had.

"...Is this Justin?", she answered frantically, still fighting tears.

The low voice got even quieter. "Who is this?"

Her voice cracked as she pleaded with the occupant of the other phone. "Please... I need to talk to Justin...it's important... this is -- "

"Olivia...", he cut her off, recognizing her voice. "What's wrong?", he said, the tone he was disguising his voice at immediately accelarating back to his normal tone.

It was now or never. She had to tell someone. Somebody was threatening her, putting her in very possible danger and she didn't have one person to protect her. More frightening, she didn't have anyone to trust. She wanted to tell someone for so long, but she hadn't had the guts to. Telling Justin seemed like the right thing to do, he seemed like the kind of person that would help her, but she still had her doubts. As her voice broke, she whispered, "Can I trust you?".

Justin immediately stopped what he was doing and put his full attention on the telephone. Something was very wrong and he didn't like it at all. He had grown so attached to Olivia lately and he knew there was something looming above her head, pulling her confidence down, but he could never figure it out. He wanted more than anything for her to open up to him; he figured it would at least bring them closer together as friends. The way she was whimpering like a scared puppy was what worried him the most. "Of course you can trust me! That's what friends are for, sweetheart! What happened?"

Her voice was quiet, almost inaudible. "I don't want to talk about it over the phone..."

"Are you okay?"

"No."

He struggled to hear her and quickly brainstormed for a way to get out of rehearsal. "Okay... let me check if I can get out of practice. Hold on for a minute."

"Hurry Justin."

He pressed the 'mute' button on his cellphone and ran over to his manager. "Yo, Johnny...can we call it quits today? I have to take care of something extremely important right now."

"More important than getting these steps down?"

"Yeah. It involves my future... please just let's stop here for today?"

He nodded. "Okay. Be here by seven a.m. tomorrow."

Justin grinned. "Thanks man!" He grabbed his coat and ran out to his car, unmuting the button on his phone. "Liv, you still there?"

"Mmhmm."

"Okay, do you want to go out somewhere or want me to come over?"

"I have to get away from here... just pick me up please?", she murmered, frightened.

"I'll be there... where do you live?"

After giving him directions, she hung up the phone and curled into a tight ball on her bed, letting her tears finally come out. She sobbed distressfully until she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. Grabbing a sweater and taking the phone off its cradle, she jogged down the stairs and scribbled a note to her parents telling them she went out, before opening the door.

Justin smiled warmly at her. "Hi...are you feeling any better?"

She shook her head and began to walk to his car. He followed after her and jumped into the drivers seat.

Olivia buckled her seatbelt and stared out the front window. It was getting dark out, and the stars were just beginning to break through the greyish sky. She wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffed, tightening her jaw. Justin's car smelt like Abercrombie cologne combined with the scent of leather from the upholostered seats. She clutched her sweater tighter when she felt Justin's eyes looking at her. "Can we go to the park?"

He half-smiled. "Yeah..." Starting the ignition, he backed the car out of her driveway and they drove silently to the grassy park. He couldn't help but glance over at her every so often; she had changed from the outfit she wore to the gym and was now in tight jeans that brought out her slender figure along with a purple long sleeved Aeropostale shirt. Her hair remained in the loose ponytail it had been in before, so he figured that something went wrong as soon as she got home from the gym. Make-up streaked her face and it looked like she had been crying for a long time. He was aching to know what was wrong...but would let her tell him when she was ready.

Justin pulled into the parking lot and they both got out of the car, walking along the bicycle path until arriving by the lake. He watched as she walked out onto the dock and sat down at the very end, before cautiously joining her.

Olivia looked out over the water for a few minutes and waited for Justin to question her... but he never did. That fact comforted her, because it let her know that he was here to listen...not to question. She finally looked at him. He was staring at the calming water, dangling his long legs over the edge. She could tell he came straight from rehearsal because he was wearing snap pants and a damp wifebeater underneath a warm jacket. He also had on his baby blue bucket hat that hid his bleached curls. "I...I haven't told anyone about this -- from my point of view. Except S-Sidney, but she's not here anymore. I'm trusting you not to let this leave this place."

He nodded, pulling a leg up and looking at her.

She took a deep breath and began her story. "I had the best life anyone could ever have...great parents, great grades, great athletic ability, great friends, and a great boyfriend. I was the most popular girl in school... I was loving life completely. One day, last April, my boyfriend Greg persuaded me to go out for a drive with some of his friends from a different school. I didn't want to go, but he convinced me otherwise so I went, not expecting anything bad to happen. Well, I was wrong. We all got completely drunk and he showed me what he had brought with him... a gun. He had a gun. I was so scared, Justin. You do not even understand... Anyway, Greg was acting crazy, he never acted like this before and I didn't know what was wrong with him. I mean, I knew he was drunk but he was seriously going insane. I told him to put the gun away but he wouldn't listen to me and told me to shut up. Then before I knew it, the trigger was pulled and this loud bang went off. Everyone else in the car was laughing, but I was so afraid. When I looked out the window, I realized he...he shot some poor man who was walking home. Heidi, the girl who was driving, sped off just leaving the guy there. Greg warned me if I ever told anyone what happened that he'd kill me... and when I started to cry, he hit me. It wasn't like him to be like that. He told me that he loved me, Justin. Aren't you supposed to protect the person you love? You're not supposed to hurt them...", she winced as she remembered the night, a much to painful experience to want to discuss, but she pushed it out knowing that it was the right thing to do. "I decided that I wouldn't tell anyone about it, in fear that I would get in trouble with the police and that Greg would come after me to hurt me. Later on though, the police did find out. The man that Greg had shot ended up dying, his name was Bill Murphy. Every single one of us that was in the car got arrested for underage drinking, possession of weapons and for Greg, first-hand murder. The police told us that we were guilty by association. I spent two nights in jail...the worst time I've ever had in my life. My parents bailed me out as soon as they could, but by that time, the whole town had found out. Even worse, the whole school. My popularity raced downhill until I was the lowliest being in the world. I got kicked off the basketball and volleyball teams, and no one even talked to me anymore. I was so depressed. My grades dropped, my friends all left me in the dust, and I wasn't allowed to play my favorite sports anymore. The only person who stuck by me was Sidney and then she was taken away from me.", a tear slid down her cheek as she finished her story. "I just don't understand it. Why me? Why didn't I listen to myself and stay home that night? Life's not fair, Justin. It's not fair..."

His heart broke when she explained her story...never did he think that something like that would have happened to someone like her. His eyes held complete compassion and sympathy for her and he finally could tell why she had been so closed off and shy before. Cautiously, he reached out and took her trembling hand in his and held it tightly. "I had no idea, Olivia...that was extremely brave of you to tell me..."

She nodded slightly and looked down at their entwined hands. His thumb was stroking the skin on the top of her hand soothingly. A tear fell from her clouded eyes onto both of their palms, and Justin reached up his other arm to wipe away the falling tears off her cheeks. "Don't cry, Liv...", he whispered. "Everything will be okay."

She shook her head in argument. "No, Justin... no it won't. The reason I called you wasn't because of that. Something else happened."

His eyes grew in curiousity. "What happened?"

"Well, before I explain, let me tell you this first. I was having the best day at the gym with you. It was so great to finally be playing basketball again and the note you left with the receptionist really made me feel special, so thank you. So I rushed home to give you a call, but I checked my messages first, hoping one would be from you maybe. But it wasn't. I don't know who it was from, but all it said was 'Watch your back, Olivia.' in an extremely harsh and evil growl. I've gotten threatened before by this kid Jeff who went to my school for the longest time, but ever since I told him off a few months ago he's left me alone. Greg is still in jail, so I doubt it could've been him... I don't know who wants to hurt me, but I don't like the idea of someone coming after me. That's when I realized that I had to tell somebody...", she looked up at him with scared and vulnerable eyes. "What am I supposed to do, Justin?"

He swallowed hard and pulled her close to his body in a comforting hug. "I don't know...but I won't let you get hurt, I promise." He rocked her back and forth and closed his eyes, thinking to himself,here's no way I'll let anyone hurt you... I care for you to much..."