The Daughter (Re-writing)

1

August 20

The start of sophomore year, the first day of the school year, and her desire to get up were nonexistent. She could hear the cars zooming through; the lights had kept her awake for the past 30 minutes. Angel sighed, finally getting up and closing the drapes she had left open. Her feet felt heavy as she got ready; like any average teen, she hated school, especially her public school. Gotham public high school wasn't known for its promising students. Considering how many of those kids had ankle bracelets. But it was the only school Angel could afford to attend without being questioned. The lack of parents made it hard to steer clear from CPS, but her best friend's parents were happy to help as much as possible, even though they had too many kids to be able to foster her officially.

Angel waited at the bus stop, Julian Margo, her best friend, stood beside her. The sun was barely rising, with the crowd growing around them. Angel leaned into Julian's side, anxiety peaking as more people bumped into them. Julian sighed. "Eventually, we have to agree to allow Azreal to pick us up instead of having to wait for this stupid bus." Angel looked up at the bleached hair teen. "And waste his gas? No." Azreal is Julian's boyfriend of four years, the longest relationship she had seen in school. Maybe the healthiest other than her parents. Julian rolled his eyes before the bus finally arrived, and they marched inside.

The bus ride had been mellowed, quiet as sleepy teens got into the bus before finally getting to the school. Students liter the front; the bell hadn't rung yet, so it allowed Angel to rush to her locker before Mary Corazon, the head bitch cheerleader. She was the stereotypical mean girl in movies, and I had to deal with her constantly using her locker as a make-out spot. She almost reached the locker when she was slammed into the lockers, a loud groan leaving her mouth. Angel looked up from her place on the floor, seeing Mary smirking with her boyfriend. "Watch where you're going, loser," Mary hissed, glaring down at her. "I would just hate for you to get hurt," Mary mocked as Angel weakly got up. The teachers wouldn't help her, seeing as they were utterly useless regarding Mary's bullying. Instead, Angel grabbed what she needed and rushed to her first class. The growing bruise in her ribs was a constant reminder of how much she hated school and how she wanted time to go faster.

Once lunch came around, Angel's ribs were hurting, and she needed to cry. She quickly wiped her tears as Julian and Azreal walked to her, hands locked together. Angel smiled at them, stepping beside them. Julian looked down at Angel, seeing her eyes were a bit watery. The older teen frowned, stopping and locking their gaze together. "That bitch of Mary didn't bother you, right?" Angel shook her head as fast as possible. But Julian was rushing to Mary and her boyfriend, Taylor, who is Azrael's younger brother. "Wait, Julian-" She was cut off by an icy feeling hitting her face. Angel wiped her face, looking to see another cheerleader with an empty cup. Angel felt the anger, with her eyes watering as said anger caused tears to start to form. She could feel someone behind her, and she quickly ran, her instincts telling her to move away. The anxiety consumed her before her mind realized that she was staring at Julian. However, they were no longer in the cafeteria in the field, near the benches. Her hands were shaking, her breath was still erratic, and she seemed to have forgotten how she had gotten to the area in the first place. Azreal stood nearby, his keys in hand, as Julian softly guided her to stand up and walk to Azreal's car. Julian covered her with his jacket as they arrived at the car.

The car ride was silent, thick with tension. In Angel's eyes, Julian and Azreal were constantly looking at her, Julian silently wiping the ice from her face, hoping it wouldn't stain her tan skin . Once they arrived in Julian and Angel's apartment building, Angel said her quick goodbyes before rushing to her apartment, yearning for some alone time. She showered and got dressed; obviously, something always had to go wrong for her; it always seemed to happen. She sat in her bed, staring at the city before a knock broke the mood she had placed herself in.

"Angel! My mom is asking if you want to come out and eat with us. I asked, and she said you have to go. But it sounds nicer if I say she asked"

Angel let out a small giggle, knowing that Julian's mom would never let her go without food for too long. Angel opened the door, seeing Julian change out the clothes he had gone to school with and a new bruise on his cheek. Probably the bruise Taylor had given him. "Give me a minute, and I'll meet you in the car" Julian hesitated, opening his mouth to protest but deciding otherwise, knowing that Angel would fight him. "5 minutes max, you pass that I'm carrying you to the van" Angel rolled her eyes before closing the door. The 15-year-old grabbed her bag and locked the door to her apartment before rushing to the elevator.

Ding!

Angel looked up from her phone to stare at a gun that was pointing at her. A scream was let out before a gunshot shook the serenity in the building.

Julian heard the gunshot and looked at his home; his stepdad frantically started to look for his phone as people either rushed away from the building or took out their phones to call the police. A bad feeling had grown as he tried to call Angel, knowing she was probably out of her apartment by then. By the third call, he knew she wasn't picking up, and he wanted nothing more than to rush in there, but his boyfriend's hand stopped him. Azreal arm was tight around Julian's waist, fear eating up the older teen. Both boys hoped that Angel was nowhere near whoever had the gun. Police siren rang as a crowd formed.