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killerkatelyn

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Chapter One

Dan's POV;;

"Daniel Edward Gates, I won't stand for this!" Denise yelled to her eighteen year old son as they walked through the door of their tiny, crowded apartment.

"You can hardly stand at all," Dan shot back as he kicked his wearing sneakers off and headed for the kitchen to get something to eat. Being arrested really worked up his appetite.

"Don't you smart-mouth me, Daniel," Dan's mother warned, slurring on her words as she struggled to balence herself against the bar, in the kitchen. "You don't know how lucky you are to be here right now!"

"No," Dan replied, taking a big bite out of his pathetic excuse for a sandwich, "I really don't. Tell me, O Wonderful Mother, how I was so fortunate to end up in a dump like this with an alcoholic mother like you?"

"Daniel..." Denise started. "Listen, you are eighteen now. I could have very well left you in jail for the night without a second thought, but no. Tony thought I should be there for my son!" Denise yelled, referring to her boyfriend of the week.

Dan scoffed. "Tony is as much of a drunk as you are, who's using you. The sooner you realize that, the better," He muttered, then began making his way down the narrow hall, to his room.

"Oh, and you're not using me?" Denise yelled, tripping over her feet as she tried to catch up with her son. "I'm so tired of your attitude, Daniel! This is the last straw! I'm going out to think about what I'm going to do with you!"

"Have a good time," Dan replied sarcastically, trying his best to hide the growing fear and sadness in his stomach. Once he heard the front door slam shut and the car pull out of their parking space, he walked back down the hall to the extra room, where they kept all their 'worthless junk', as Dan's mother called it. After a few minutes of rummaging through random boxes, Dan found what he was looking for: a picture of him and his father, when Dan was just eight years old; this was taken right before his parents divorced and his dad moved to California.

Dan studied the picture. His now shorter, honey brown curls were long in the picture, and hung in his face, covering his hazel eyes. Dan's child-like smile was stretching from ear to ear, and his shirt was on backwards. It didn't matter, though, because he was sitting on the lap of his hero: his dad. Dan's father was looking straight at the camera with an equally big smile, revealing his gorgeous pearly-white teeth. The two looked so happy together.

"Dad," Dan sighed. "Why'd you have to go?"

[[The Next Morning]]

"Daniel! Daniel, get out here! Now!" Denise's shrill, hysteric voice yelled, echoing through the whole apartment.

Dan immediately jumped up from his bed, gruggily rubbing his tired eyes. "God, what now?" He muttered quietly as he slipped on a shirt and headed for the living room, where he could hear two sets of laughter. "What?" He asked, when he saw his mother with Tony, her boyfriend.

"Tony, here, he- he had the b-best idea," Denise stuttered, unable to contain her laughter.

"Oh, goody. I can't wait to hear it," Dan replied as he took a seat on the raggedy, bright green couch.

"Well," Tony said in his deep voice, "a buddy of mine heared about this, uh, well, it's kinda like...like camp."

"Camp?" Dan asked in disbelief, wondering where Tony was going.

"Yeah. Camp for...troubled teens. Teens that have anger management issues," Tony continued, a smile growing.

"Hey! I don't have any anger management issues!" Dan yelled, standing up, then instantly regretting his outburst. Sighing again, He asked, "What does this have to do with me?"

"I think you should go there, for three months," Denise giggled. "It's perfect since Summer's just starting!"

"What? Why?" Dan asked, a million questions running through his head.

"Because, if we're going to be a family, you're going to have to straighten yourself up," Tony said dryly.

"A family?!" Dan asked once again, narrowing his eyes.

"Yup," Denise let out a proud smile. "Tony proposed!"

"What?!" Dan exclaimed again.

"So, it's decided, then. You're going to The San Diego Teenage Correctional Facility, in California, for three months," Tony interrupted.

Arielle's POV;;

"No, I won't do it!" Seventeen year old Arielle yelled, storming around the house.

"Baby, just listen to me," Arielle's mother coaxed. "This is a great oppertunity for you! Matthew O' Vera is the heir to his father's fortune, Arielle! We could be filthy rich if you just marry him!"

"I'm not marrying that man! I hate him!" Arielle yelled, walking away from her mother.

"Honey, I promise, you won't regret it! He's good-looking, he can provide, he's everything a girl could ask for!" Arielle's mom, Maggy, replied, running out of patience.

"Forget it, Mom! There's nothing that you or Dad or anyone can say to change my mind! I will never get married, to anyone!" Arielle cried.

"Ok, listen!" Maggy yelled back, grabbing her daughter by the shoulders. "We are on the verge of bancrupsy! You will do as I say! You know, you're lucky that Matthew even agreed to marry a woman like you! You're hysterical, you're rude, and honestly, Honey, you're just not all that pretty."

Arielle scoffed, letting out a tiny, angry grin. "Well, I was pretty enough for your lover! You know, I think Daddy would understand why I don't want to get married if I told him about your many little affairs!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Maggy warned.

"Watch me!" Arielle shot back.

[[The Next Day]]

"I'm homeeee!" Arielle's father, David's voice rang throughout the mansion. Arielle instantly lept from her bed in her room and ran down the stairs to greet her father.

"Daddy! Thank God you're back from your trip!" Arielle smiled, wrapping her tiny arms around her dad.

"Oh, Princess. I've missed you," David smiled back, kissing Arielle's forehead.

"I missed you too. Now, what's the deal with an arranged marriage?!" Arielle asked, her hand slipping down to her hip.

David sighed. "We just thought it would be what's best for you..."

"In what century?" Arielle asked in a prissy tone.

"Honey, I knew that you would be angry with our descision. I understand that. I understand that you would yell and cry, and say things out of anger. But threatening your mother's life is unacceptable," Arielle's father sighed.

"What? I didn't threaten Mom!" Arielle yelled.

"Well, she says that you did. Because you were so angry. And I'm sorry, Sweet Heart, but given the circumstances, and the way you've delt with anger before, I'm afraid that I believe your mother. She's very distressed. She thinks you need help," Arielle's dad said quietly.

"And, what is that supposed to mean?" Arielle asked, getting nervous.

"Honey, me and your mother feel that you could be a danger to yourself and others. We've tried talking to you, the school counciler as well as your theripyst has tried talking to you, and no one's been able to get through. We feel that the only way you can get the help that you need is if we admit you to the San Diego Teenage Correctional Facility, in California. It's a three month program, and if you make enough progress before it's over, me and your mother will pull you out and bring you right back home, I promise," David said.

"I can't believe this," Arielle muttered. "I can't believe that woman!"