T.J.'s mother never did come back. The only time after that that he saw her was in court, when it was being decided who would keep him after the divorce. His father won, mainly because he had more money. And T.J. never saw his mother again.

The other kids formed a circle and talked. Twelve-year-old Brynn, remembering what her mother had told her about socializing--even if that meant just saying “hi”--approached the group. She swallowed her nervousness (she was rather shy), and said,

“Hi.” Her voice was small, but definitely audible.

The other kids continued talking, not one seeming to notice her. This was nothing new. As she walked toward the now empty church house, her mind involuntarily wandered back to last Sunday. Basically the same thing happened then, too, only that time, the group was the one to walk away.

She quickly grabbed her notebook and pencil from her car, then entered the church. She sat on the back pew, and began scribbling words on her notebook as she cried over her subtle rejection.

“Wow,” came a voice behind her, just as she finished what she was writing “depressing song.” She jumped, and whirled around on the bench. Behind her stood one of the kids of the group. but not just any kid. This kid happened to be her crush. His name was Kai.

“Yeah, well, I'm a depressed kid,” she mumbled in reply as she turned back around. Kai went around to the other side of the bench, and slid in beside Brynn.

“Why?” he asked. Brynn glanced at him, and was surprised to see a genuine look of concern on his face. She almost thought she was imagining it. It was one thing for her crush to talk to her, but to care about her? It was hard to believe. Nobody cared about Brynn Brouwer. Kai took her silence to say she didn't want to tell him why, which she didn't. “Is it something you don't want anybody to know?” he asked. Brynn nodded. “I pinky promise I won't tell anybody. I mean, I'm not trying to force you into telling me, but if you do, maybe I can help.” Brynn thought she was dreaming. Somebody wanted to help her? She almost asked him to repeat that part, just to make sure she'd heard right, but she refrained, for fear it might make her sound stupid. What she said instead was,

“You want to. . .help?”

“Yeah,” Kai said. “If you'll let me.”

Can I trust him? Brynn wondered. Finally, she decided she would. She just hoped she wouldn't regret it later.

“What my depression comes from,” she started. She glanced over at Kai again. She could tell he was listening intently. She continued, “isn't a chemical imbalance like some people might say. It's constant tearing down. Constant rejection. Constant teasing. Day in, day out. It just never quits.” Brynn's voice choked. She couldn't help but to think of all the times she'd been rejected, torn down, teased. “Sometimes it just gets to be too much. I just can't take it. So I--I cut.” Kai had always wondered how Brynn had gotten all those scars on her arms, wrists, and hands. Now he knew. “Sometimes I try to hang on until Sunday, thinking I'll find some acceptance there. But I've learned not to expect anything. I'm rejected here just as bad as everywhere else.” Brynn was crying. She hated crying in front of people--especially her crush, but she couldn't help it.

“I'm so sorry, Brynn,” Kai said. “I don't know about the others, but I always wanted to befriend you. You always look so lonely. But I didn't know how to approach you. I thought that maybe you liked being alone.” He shook his head, then said, “That was a stupid thought. Anyway, today, I forgot all that. When you turned to leave the group, the look in your eyes--it kind of scared me. They were so full of. . .pain. It kind of hurt me, to see you hurting like that.” Brynn couldn't believe her ears. Nobody hurt to see her hurt. In fact, most laughed to see her hurt. She told Kai so. He shook his head again, and said, “Nobody should be laughed at for their pain. And nobody should laugh at another's pain. It's just not right.”

“Well, whether it's right or not, it happens,” Brynn said.

“I'm sorry,” Kai said. “I guess I should have approached you sooner.”

Brynn was still teased after that. She was still torn down, still rejected. But after that, she had friends as well. Kai had made a point of introducing his friends to her. She had never made friends easily. She was so shy, and afraid of rejection, of pain. But Kai's friends were so friendly. They made making friends easier. They also helped her get over her shyness. It made it easier to know that if she was hurt by somebody she tried to make friends with, at least she still had friends.

They were known as the G4Js. There were five of them--Brynn, Kai, Josh, Bri, and Seth. Brynn was the leader. They were often seen roaming the streets of the slums, talking with the drug-addicts, alcoholics, and the like. Nobody really knew for sure what they did. Today, though, they weren't in the slums. They were just hanging out in Brynn's neighborhood, talking and laughing.

And then Brynn spotted him. The boy sitting by himself on a porch of a previously empty house just next to hers.

“He looks kind of lonely,” she said to the others, who agreed. “I bet he's shy,” she continued. “Let's go talk to him and make him feel awkward,” she added with a lopsided smile. And so they headed toward him. “Hey,” Brynn said when the five reached the boy. The boy looked up at them, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

“Hey,” he mumbled.

“What's your name?” asked Brynn.

“T.J.”

“Hi, T.J., I'm Brynn. These are my friends Kai, Seth, Josh, and Bri.”

“Hi,” T.J. said.

“How old are you?” Brynn asked.

“Thirteen.” T.J. replied.

“Really? So am I. Kai is seventeen, Seth is sixteen, Bri is fifteen, and Josh is fourteen.” T.J. couldn't help but to smile slightly at the irony.

“You look lonely,” said Brynn. T.J. shrugged. “Where'd you move here from?” Brynn asked.

“California.”

“Cool. I've always wanted to go to California. What's it like?”

“Different areas are different.”

“You're kinda vague, aren't you?” T.J. shrugged again. “You're shy, huh?” T.J. nodded. “I don't bite.” T.J. gave a weak lopsided smile.

“You mean. . .you don't bite much,” Kai teased. Brynn gave him a playful jab in the ribs, and said,

“Shhh! Don't scare him off!”

“Oops. Sorry.”

“I bet you are.”

Brynn focused back on T.J., and said,

“Bored?” He nodded. “Then come hang out with us. We're not bored.”

“Bored, no. Boring, probably,” Seth said.

“Hmmm,” said Brynn. “That may be right. Only one way to find out!” She grabbed T.J.'s arm and pulled him up. “Come along!” Halfway down the porch steps she stopped. T.J. ran into her.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It's a'ight,” said Brynn. “I was just thinking. . .maybe you'd better tell your parents where you'll be.”

“Oh. Right,” T.J. said, and headed toward the front door. “Dad!” he hollered.

“What?” came his father's reply from somewhere up the stairs.

“I'm going with some. . .friends,” he said, as if unsure what to call the group he'd just met.

“Where?” his father asked.

“I dunno. We'll probably just hang around the neighborhood.”

“If you're going to go anywhere else, tell me!”

“All right!” And with that, T.J. shut the door, and headed back toward the G4Js.

“So, T.J.,” said Josh.

“Yeah?”

“You skate?”

“Not well.”

“We'll teach you,” Josh offered. “Ya got skates?”

“Yeah,” replied T.J., “but they don't fit.”

“No problem,” said Josh. “Brynn here has tons of extras of all sizes. I'm sure we can find you some that'll fit.”

“Okay,” said T.J. He'd always wanted to learn to skate, but never had anybody to teach him.

After going through a few pairs of skates, they finally found a pair that fit perfectly. Then the six teens headed off toward the nearby skate park. T.J. completely spaced out what his father had told him--if he was going anywhere else to tell him.

When T.J. finally arrived home, his father was furious. That was when he remembered what he'd forgotten earlier.

“Where have you been?” his father roared.

“At the skate park,” T.J. replied meekly.

“I told you to tell me if you were going anywhere!”

“I'm sorry, Dad,” T.J. said. “I meant to, but I forgot.”

“Don't give me that!” his father shouted, slapping him across the face--hard. T.J. felt something trickle down the side of his face. He wiped it with the back of his hand, which came back red. Blood. No sooner did he do this than another slap came. And another. Finally, T.J. saw his break, and he took advantage of it. Before his father could stop him, he ran. Out the door, down the porch steps, and up the street, with no particular destination in mind, only to get away. His vision was blurred by tears, and he stumbled several times.

“T.J.?” a voice came from behind him. He stumbled to a stop. Before turning, he tried to gain a little bit of composure. He swiped away the tears, and straightened his glasses. Only then did he turn. It was Brynn, leaning against the chain-link fence surrounding her yard. Brynn frowned slightly, and asked,

“What happened?” Apparently, T.J.'s attempt at composure failed. Either that, or the cuts and bruises gave it away. Not wanting to tell her what really happened, T.J. tried to come up with something.

“Oh. . .um. . .just. . .nothing.” He failed miserably. He immediately chided himself for the horrible lie.

“Right. Nothing.” Brynn clearly didn't believe him. “And that's what those cuts and bruises came from.”

“I'm all right. Really,” T.J. said. “I just. . .uh. . .fell. Down the stairs. It's nothing. I'm just. . .clumsy.” If it weren't for his nervousness and hesitation, the bluff might have been believable. Maybe.

“Something tells me that's not what really happened,” Brynn said. “But that same thing tells me you don't want to talk about what happened. Come on in. We'll get those cuts cleaned up.” She opened the gate, and motioned with her head for T.J. to come. He slowly followed.

It was Saturday. The day of Brynn's game. Kai lived the closest (besides Brynn) to T.J., so he had picked him up (T.J.'s father didn't want to take him).

Brynn, as well as the rest of her team, played well. The other team didn't. But, as Brynn said after the game, that team never did. Even if they did play well, Brynn's team would have still beaten them. They were good. It was obvious they practiced a lot. So, Brynn's team beat them--seventy-nine to one.

“You played well,” T.J. told Brynn, after the game.

“Thanks,” Brynn replied, taking a drink from her water bottle. “You got a ride home?”

“Kai said he'd take me,” T.J. told her.

“A'ight, cool.”

“I'd probably better find him,” T.J. said.

“Um, before you go. . .” Brynn began.

“Yeah?”

“I know it's really none of my business, but what really happened Thursday?” Brynn was referring to the day of T.J.'s last beating. T.J. remained silent. “I guess you don't have to tell me if you don't want, but if you do, maybe I can help.” T.J. wanted to tell her. He really did. But he was afraid to. What would happen if he did? What if his dad found out? Would he beat him again? Would he be taken from his father? Where would he go if he was? So many uncertainties, but yet, there was something about Brynn, despite her usual attire of black baggy jeans and black oversized shirts, that made him think he could trust her.

T.J. looked over both shoulders, to make sure nobody else was listening, and said,

“My dad. . .he. . .he. . .” T.J. wasn't sure how he should say it.

“Beat you?” Brynn finished. T.J. nodded, looking down, trying to hide the tears in his eyes. Brynn was also silent. Finally, she said, “I never have understood how someone could be so cruel.”

“It probably has something to do with my mom,” T.J. said, forgetting that Brynn didn't yet know about his parents' divorce.

“What about your mom?”

“She left when I was six. My dad had abused me before then, mainly because he has a short tempter, but it got worse after that.” Brynn shook her head and said,

“I am so, so sorry, T.J. Nobody should have to go through that.” T.J. just shrugged. “It makes me want to just beat the daylights out of him,” Brynn added, clinching her fists, and her jaw.

“I don't think you'd be much of a match for him,” T.J. told her. Brynn looked at him, and said,

“Never underestimate the power of a girl.”

“Hey, T.J.,” came a voice from behind him. Both T.J. and Brynn looked over to see Kai approaching them.

“Yeah?” T.J. asked.

“Ya 'bout ready to go?”

“Yeah.” T.J. turned to Brynn and said, “See ya.”