"C’mon, Bree. Come with us!" Lydia pleads at the other end of the line. "It's going to be fun." She adds.

"I don't think I'll be able to go, Lyd." I reply dryly. "You know my dad."

"Oh, c'mon, Bree. Just this once." Lydia insists.

Sighing, I finally gave in to her pleads. "Ok. I'll try." I barely whispered.

Lydia's screeching went passed my eardrums as she heard my words. "Ouch, Lyd!" I tug my phone away from my ear.

"Sorry! I just can't contain my excitement. You've never really come with us."

"I won't make any promises though." I reminded her.

"Yeah. Well, ask him ASAP, okay?"

"Ok. Bye, Lyd."

As soon as I hung up the phone, I heard the familiar soft roar of the engine from the front . I peeked through my window curtains and he was there. My dad had arrived.

I was filled with anxiousness and fear. No. I had to shake it off. After all, in the 17 years of my life, I've never experienced the freedom of a regular teenager. Being a police officer, my dad always makes sure I was safe. At home. He'd never allow me to go to places where he thought was "unsafe." Yes, my dad is overly protective. Since I was accustomed to being treated like this by my dad, I couldn't really argue or go against his decisions and fear was overwhelming my senses during those times. But today I felt like I needed to step up and tell my dad about the party I was invited to.

I took a deep breath as I went downstairs.

"D-dad?" I said.

Hearing him smash his car keys on the kitchen table made me think that he wasn't in a good mood. Oh boy. Should I still carry on? No, no. I should. I will. I've been building up all this confidence, I couldn't afford to chicken out now.

"What?" Dad responded, his brow cocked and arms crossed. Yep. He was definitely not in a good mood.

I fiddled with my fingers and chewed my cheeks as I struggled to find the appropriate words.

"What is it, Bree? Don't waste my time." His tone now harsh.

Taking another deep breath, I finally said:

"Dad, Lydia invited me to this party this Saturday.." I paused as I tried to read his facial expression although it was unreadable. He had his poker face on. Jesus Christ. He was quiet, so I continued.

"We'll be with a bunch of friends and I was wondering if you'd allow me." I choked on my words as I felt the nervousness run through my body.

Dad's muscles tensed as he heard my words.

"No." He said firmly. All the confidence that I had built up crumbled as I heard him say that one word.

"B-but dad, it's safe. I'm with my friends.." I said weakly. "And I'm going to be 18 in 2 weeks, at least let me g--"

"Bree. Don't try me." He growls.

"But dad--"

"A no is a no."

"I promise I'll keep safe.."

Dad then slams his fist on the table. "Up. Now!" He shouts. "And I don't want to see you getting out of this house, you hear me?"

My eyes started to become blurry. I knew what was coming so I quickly ran upstairs to my room and locked myself inside. "Ahhhhhhhhh!" I screamed under my pillow.

17 years. I've been living like this for 17 years. Fuck my life.

I didn't know what came to me, but I had the sudden urge to escape. Escape from this life of mine. I wanted to forget everything for a while. I grabbed a sharp razor from my drawer. 17 years. And my dad hasn't even asked about the scars on my wrists. It made me think that he didn't care.

That's it. I'm getting out of here. I don't care anymore.

I waited for 2 hours until dad was asleep. This signaled my escape. It was my first time. I've always thought of escaping but I didn't have the courage up until now. Maybe it was because I finally realized that I wasn't his little girl anymore. I needed to be free.

As soon as I left the house, I ran. And ran. And ran. Until I was tired. I had no idea where I was going. I thought of going to Lydia's, but then, no. I needed to sulk. Then and there, I knew where I should go.

I hesitated for a while as it was my first time to go inside a club. But I did go in anyway.

Loud music filled my ears as I pushed myself thorough the scattered crowed and warm bodies. I was uncomfortable.

I wasn't here to dance. I was here to sulk and forget all the inhibitions present around me.

"What will it be?" The bar tender asked, smirking as I sat on the high chair.

Being new to this, I didn't really know what to order. Tea? What the hell, Bree.. He might think I'm an under aged loser.

"Vodka, please." I tried to make my voice sound firm. As if I was used to drinking vodka.

"Alright." He winked.

I faced through the moving crowd as they grind onto each others' bodies. It was an unfamiliar and strange sight for me. I observed the people around me as my eyes were virgin to everything I was seeing now. Although, I've seen these things happening in movies but it was way different now. I couldn't help but tap my fingers on the table together with the beat of the pumping music. It was pretty interesting. My eyes continued to scan around. I stopped as I saw a man bobbing his head with the music as he had his headphones on. It was the DJ. He'd caught my eye. His curls were slightly pushed back into a quiff and he was well focused on his music. He skillfully moved his fingers on the disc.

His eyes unexpectedly met mine. His lips slowly curved into a smirk. Biting my lip, I froze, and there, I realized that i had been ogling at him for too long. What just happened?