The maids pull me off Jake the next morning. Mr. Easton stands there, a glare on his face. Jake stands up, trying to explain.

"Dad, it was an accident! She was going to go to her own bedroom. We just fell asleep while watching the movie, I promise!" Mr. Easton stares at Jake before turning to me.

"Girl!"

"Yes, sir?"

"What's your name?"

"Monica."

"Your full name?"

"Oh. Monica Leslie Abbey, at your service!" Jake looks at me, apology all over his face.

"Dad, she's a good girl from a good family. She's got good morales and is known to really care about people. You don't need to interrogate her! She's only staying here because her parents are out of town for a week."

"Fine, Jake, but if your grades go down, you two are history!"

"I can handle a girlfriend, Dad." I look back and forth between father and son, pitious of the life Jake must be living. Without another word, Mr. Easton leaves the room.

Jake slumps onto his bed. I sit down beside him,

"Don't let the world get you down." He smiles an exhausted smile at me,

"Thanks, Babe." He falls back onto the mound of pillows (like I said, he's rich) and throws his arms out. I fall back next to him, my neck resting on his arm. He turns his head towards mine and brushes his nose against mine. I giggle and put my hand on his cheek, rubbing the rough skin. He puts his hand behind my neck and pulls me to his lips, except instead of kissing my lips, he hits my nose. I dissolve into laughter, and he chuckles as well.

"So, Babe, what do you want to do today?" he asks.

"Put on sweatpants."

"You do that." He picks me up and carries me to my bedroom. Then he walks out and closes the door with a wink.

I pull on some gray sweatpants and my black "I'm a beauty in the halls and a beast when I play basketball" t-shirt on. Then, I step out of my room to where Jake is waiting for me. He's changed into a white t-shirt and some jeans. We link arms and walk down the staircase together. As we walk, I check my text messages. There's one from Mallie.

Mallie: How was the party?

I text back,

Monica: He's my bf now. I'm staying at his house while my parents visit my grandmother, and his dad hates me.

Then I stick my phone in my back pocket again and lean my head on Jake's shoulder. We walk into the dining room and the first thing I smell is bacon. I close my eyes and breath in the wonderful scent before hearing Jake snicker.

"What?" I whine. "I like bacon!" Jake raises his eyebrows but doesn't make any more comments. There are two places set right next to each other at the table. Jake wraps an arm around my waist and picks me up, causing a squeal to erupt from my mouth. He uses his other hand to pull out one of the chairs. Plopping down in it, he puts me on his lap and feeds me a piece of bacon. Then he feeds me a bite of eggs, and so forth. Five minutes later, though, Jake's dad walks in.

"There are two places set for a reason, Son," he says.

"Dad, she's the first girlfriend I've had since freshman year. Let me treat her like a princess."

"Feeding her bacon does not count as treating her like a princess!" At this, Jake's arm tightens around my waist.

"Dad, just leave us alone."

"I'm not leaving till you put your little girl toy in her own chair and she feeds herself!" Mr. Easton glares at me, and when Jake tries to protest, I say, "It's fine, Jake," and move to the empty setting. I give Jake a piece of my bacon and then start eating my own food. Jake sighs and starts to eat his bacon, a forlorn look on his face. I try not to blush when I feel his dad staring at me, and soon enough, Mr. Easton leaves the room. The minute he is out of the room, Jake says,

"I'm so sorry, Monica." I shake my head,

"Don't apologize, Jake." He smiles gratefully as I reach over and squeeze his shoulder. We finish our food in silence.

After our subdued breakfast, Jake asks,

"Do you want to go shopping?"

"I don't have any money," I say. Jake cuts me off,

"We'll use my dad's credit card. He doesn't care as long as I don't get him into debt." I raise my eyebrows, and Jake reassures me that it's fine. I shrug and say, "Okay, then. Let's go!"
…..
We ride to the mall in the Easton Incorporated limousine. When the driver opens the door, Jake jumps out and then takes my hand. He helps me out of the car and onto the sidewalk.

"We don't need to be accompanied," he tells the driver. Then, he intertwines his fingers with mine and we walk into the mall.

"So where to?" I ask.

"Why don't we get you your Homecoming dress?"

"Ok." We walk along until Jake comes to a stop in front of a dress shop.

"This is where my mom gets a lot of her dresses," he says. "I barely ever see her because she's always traveling."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He leads me into the shop, and immediately one of the ladies working there rushes over.

"Jake! How are you? What do you need?"

"Hello, Elena." She smiles and calls,

"Emma! Jake is here!" A lady who must be her identical twin rushes over.

"Oh, Jake! You have blessed us with your presence once again!" She swoons and turns to Elena excitedly. Elena immediately asks,

"So, Jake, what do you need today?" He pulls me in front of him and says,

"My girlfriend needs a dress for Homecoming." In unison, Elena and Emma say,

"Girlfriend?"

"Yes, girlfriend. This is Monica; I don't think you've met?" Elena is now staring daggers at me, while an actual tear rolls down Emma's face. I roll my eyes,

"Babe, maybe we should go somewhere else."

"No, no. I picked this place for a reason. We can find someone else in the shop to help us." Immediately, a huge smile is back on Emma's face.

"That won't be necessary, Jake. We'll help Monica."

"Okay, but if there is one thing wrong on the dress, I will make sure that you are both fired." They swallow hard and nod.

"Is that necessary, Jake?" I ask. He nods and then points me towards the dressing room.

"I'll be waiting right here." I smile and then go into the dressing room with Elena and Emma. They have me try on dozens of dresses, and none of them are right. I want to give up, but then they bring me a short, orange dress with the flowers at the right hip. Jake loves it when I show him. We buy the dress and walk out of the shop, the dress in a fancy bag swinging from my arm. I feel slightly awkward in my sweatpants, but Jake assures me that I look beautiful. One of his arms is around my waist as we walk, and I see kids from school turn and stare. I even see Eben and Veronica sitting on one of the benches with dumbfounded looks on their faces. As we walk by, I wave to them. Veronica scowls, turns to Eben, and forces him into a kiss.

"Don't look, Babe. It'll poison your mind," Jake says in a simpering tone, putting his hand over my eyes. We laugh and walk on.

We walk around for hours until Jake's dad calls him. I can hear him yelling even though I'm not the one with my ear up to the phone.

"Where are you, Son?"

"I'm at the mall with Monica, Dad."

"Why?"

"We were just hanging out!"

"Did she use any of my money?"

"I bought a gift for her!"

"What was it?"

"... her Homecoming dress."

"WHAT?"

"Her family doesn't have the money to get her a dress for the dance!"

"I thought I told you that you weren't going to the dance!"

"And I'm pretty sure I told you that I am!" I watch as Jake's face turns red in frustration. I'm sure his dad's face is positively purple. I whisper,

"Let's just return the dress." Jake answers,

"No. This is one fight he won't win." With that, he hangs up with his dad and grabs my arm.

"Let's go back to my house, Monica." We walk out into the parking lot and find the limo waiting. Jake opens the door, and I slip in. Then he slides in after me. The driver turns around.

"Where to, Jake?"

"Back home, Ernest. I need to talk to my dad. Thanks." Ernest nods and the screen goes up, separating us from the front of the car. Jake pulls me in to him, my body fitting perfectly into the space under his arm. His right hand clasps my right hand. I ask Jake,

"Are you going to be okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"Talking to your dad."

"Oh, Monica, I'll be fine. His words are harsh, but he's never hit me before." I stare at him, making sure that he isn't lying. His eyes show no sign of dishonesty. We arrive at the mansion, and his dad comes out to meet us.

"Jake. Come with me." I wince and say,

"I'll just be in my bedroom."

"No, go hang in mine. Cocoa needs company." So I go to Jake's room and play with his kitten. All the while, I feel guilty. Jake's enduring a harsh verbal beating, and I'm over here cuddling with a kitten and eating the oreos that were on his desk. What kind of a girlfriend am I? I finally decide to go find Jake. I know Mr. Easton's suite is on the other side of the house. Putting on my slippers, I pick Cocoa up and hurry towards where Jake is. As I near the other end of the house, I hear Jake and his dad shouting.

"You're throwing away your life, Son! She's making you soft."

"She makes me feel loved, something I've never felt from you! What's wrong with wanting to matter to someone?"

"I don't want my only child to be a softie! I don't care what it takes, I'm going to toughen you up whether you like it or not!"

"Oh, so you're going to start abusing me now." Mr. Easton doesn't answer. Instead, all I hear is a thud. Then, Jake groans. It's the most heartrending thing I've ever heard. Mr. Easton starts talking again, and with every word, there is an accompanying thud and groan from Jake.

"I need a son who's strong! Who's smart! Who's rock hard! If you aren't like that, then I'll just need to toughen you UP!" Jake cries out in pain. I put a hand over my mouth to stop myself from gasping and tears prick my eyes. Cocoa squirms in my arms and I bury my face in her side. Soon, the door opens and Jake comes out, followed by his father's voice,

"You better put on a happy face for your girlfriend." Jake nods and walks away towards his room. As soon as his dad shuts the door, I follow him. He gets to his room and walks in.

"Monica?" I walk in and close the door.

"Jake." He gasps,

"You heard all that? If he finds out you know, he'll hurt you, too. Then, he'll easily blame it on someone else. It'll just make the whole situation worse. You can't tell anyone, Monica!" I look at him with tears in my eyes,

"I don't want anyone to hurt you, Jake."

"And I can't take the risk of you getting hurt. Promise you won't tell." I start to cry.

"Jake!" He wipes away one of the tears meandering down my cheek.

"Don't cry for me, Babe. It's not that bad." I search his eyes and see deep pain in them.

"You're lying." He shrugs helplessly, stroking Cocoa's back.

"Monica. Nobody needs to know."

"At least let me care for you! Do you know where I could find ice? And a first aid kit?"

"I-in the kitchen, but Monica!" I interrupt him,

"Shush. Wait here."

I run down to the kitchen and sneak in. Nobody notices me as I grab a few bags of ice from the freezer. Then, I grab the first aid kit from the pantry. With these things on hand, I go back up to Jake's bedroom. The first thing he asks is,

"Did anyone see you?"

"No," is my answer, followed immediately by, "now lay down. Now!" Jake does what I say, but when I tell him to take his shirt off, he blanches. I'm not having it, so I get in his face and say,

"Now!" He gives in and pulls it off. If I hadn't braced myself I might have gasped. Though he only has two bruises forming, they are ugly and big. Jake closes his eyes and lays back on the bed, biting his lip in pain.

"Okay, I'm putting ice on the bruises to try to make the swelling and inflammation go down." I place the ice on the bruises and ask,

"A little better?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Babe." I just shake my head and start to clean the cut on his face.

"What did he do, claw you?"

"Something like that." He hisses as I rub the cut with a disinfectant wipe. I quickly slap a band-aid on it. I decide to pretend that I think he ran into a doorway if Mr. Easton asks. I tell Jake my plan and he agrees that it will work. Soon, I've finished fixing Jake up and we're both hungry.

"Let's go get a snack," Jake suggests when he hears my stomach rumble. We walk to the kitchen, and the whole time I'm contemplating the new secret I'm carrying.