A/N: My NaNoWriMo fic is FINALLY done, and I couldn't have done it without Iyimgrace's help! She was an awesome beta for this fic! Although I did post a few chapters of this over on Live Journal, I decided to hold off and wait until I finished revsing and proofreading it. I wrote this fic in 30 days, (I was actually done a few days early though) and it was the most fun I've had writing a novel. I'll definitely be doing it again this year. It's the first time I've ever been able to participate.

So without further ado, here's chapter 1. I hope you all enjoy the ride.

Disclaimer: I don't own House or the characters from the show House M.D. I do, however, own everyone else in this fic.

Chapter 1

Angela Sorentis was not having a good day. The high she'd been riding all morning after receiving an A on her last term paper was quickly forgotten when she took a volleyball to the face in gym class. And it was all because she looked at Tim Tucker "the wrong way," according to his girlfriend, Samantha. The truth was, she wasn't even looking at him. She was looking at his friend, Geoff Harris, who happened to be standing behind Tim. Well, she wouldn't be looking at either of them anymore. If anything, they'd be looking at her with her bloody nose and shiner under her left eye. And no doubt they'd be laughing. They always did.

It wasn't because Angela was unattractive. She was actually quite pretty, and obviously Samantha considered her to be a threat, if throwing a volleyball at her face was any indication. At fifteen, Angela was 5'7, taller than most girls her age, athletic, and just beginning to fill out in all the right places. She didn't want to stand out in any way, shape or form, but her body had other ideas. She was already wearing a C cup, and she couldn't imagine getting any bigger as she got older. Boys gawked at her, girls teased her and everyone else just ignored her.

She left the nurse's station with an ice pack for her face and hurried to her next class. She couldn't wait for the day to be over, but until she literally left the school grounds, the torment wouldn't stop. She endured endless taunts about her eye but she refused to let it get to her. At least not until she got home and could collapse into a pile of tears in the safety of her own bedroom.

"Nice jeans, Angela. Didn't I see those on the clearance rack at Calvin Klein?" Samantha called out as she blocked Angela's access to her desk.

"I don't shop at Calvin Klein. Their jeans aren't long enough for me. The better question is, how would you know? What were you doing in the clearance section in the first place?"

There were a couple of giggles but Angela's expression remained neutral as she took her books out of her bag.

"Bitch!"

"In case you haven't noticed, we live in the same neighbourhood and I can afford to shop at the same stores as you. I just choose not to dress like a ten dollar hooker."

Samantha's face distorted with rage, and her friends literally moved away from her. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. Now get out of my face. Unless you want a pair of Irish sunglasses to go with your designer ones."

She looked confused, to which Angela just laughed. "Oh, sorry. What I meant was, if you don't get out of my way, I'll give you two black eyes."

"You wouldn't..."

"I would. Now MOVE," Angela hissed and shoved Samantha aside so she could sit down.

The bell rang at the end of the day and she high-tailed it to her locker to get her jacket, and sprinted down the hall, only to be stopped by Tim Tucker, who stuck his foot out to trip her. Her bag exploded with books and pens, and other items, while the other boys laughed at her.

"Where ya goin', Ang?" he inquired, making no effort to hide the fact that he was looking at her breasts.

With her eyes downcast, she murmured, "home," and continued to pick up her things.

"I saw you checking me out today."

"Don't flatter yourself, Tim. I wasn't checking you out."

"Yeah you were. Even Samantha saw you."

Angela stood up so that she was eye-level with him. "Samantha seems to think everyone is looking at you. Why, I don't even know. I've seen better heads on a mug of beer."

The boys laughed even harder and Tim was outraged. He grabbed her by the lapels of her leather jacket and slammed her up against the locker. Angela remained un-phased. It was nothing that hadn't happened before.

"Nice. Do you treat your girlfriends with such care?"

"Hey, I tried to be nice to you when you first moved here. But you ignored me. I have my pick of any girl at this school. What makes you so special?"

"I have higher standards, I guess. That, and I'd like to remain STD free."

Even Geoff Harris laughed as she pushed past all of them and left the building.

Don't cry. Don't cry, she repeated to herself as she walked down the street towards her house. She waited until she was in the comfort of her own bedroom to let the tears fall.

"Oh my!" Jennifer, Angela's mother, gasped when she caught a glimpse of her daughter's shiner and bruised nose. "Honey, why didn't you come to me for some ice when you got home?"

"I've had ice on it all afternoon, Mom."

"How did it happen?"

"Someone threw a ball at me in gym class."

Jennifer frowned. "Who threw a ball at you?"

"It was an accident. No big deal."

"But…"

"Mom, forget it. It's just a shiner. It'll go away. What's for dinner?"

"I'm cooking a ham. And your Uncle Jim is coming over later."

"With Sam?"

"No. He and your Auntie Sam are getting divorced."

"Good. I never liked her anyway."

"Angela!" Jennifer admonished.

"What? You didn't like her either."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"Just…don't talk to him about her. Jim is a little sensitive about it."

Angela simply laughed. "Sensitive? He should be celebrating. She was a bitch."

"You need to curb that attitude, young lady," Jennifer warned.

"Whatever. Oh, and I got an A on my term paper by the way. Not like you care."

"Of course I care."

"You don't even know what I wrote about."

"Okay, so what did you write about?"

"The methods of capital punishment across the country."

"Oh, you didn't…" Jennifer gasped. "What a horrible topic!"

"It's not horrible. It's interesting. Did you know they still execute by firing squad in three states?"

"Idaho, Oklahoma and Utah last I heard," her dad said as he breezed into the kitchen and kissed his daughter on the cheek. "Whoa, what happened here?" he asked as he tilted her head up to examine her face.

"It's no big deal, Daddy."

"Let me guess, you walked into a door again?"

Angela sighed. She couldn't get anything past her father. He had some kind of radar that told him when she wasn't telling him the whole story. As District Attorney, he had a definite sixth sense about people. It was what made him such a ball buster in the court room.

"Just say the word, and I'll yank you out of that school so fast it'll make their heads spin. I don't get how the teachers can let something like that go on."

"Stop mollycoddling her, David. Maybe if she dressed and acted like the young lady she is, she wouldn't have these problems."

David turned an accusing finger to his wife. "Oh, so she should just conform and become one of them?"

"Well, the way things are going for her now, it can't hurt. The next thing we know she'll be coming to us and telling us she's become a lesbian."

Angela rolled her eyes again. "You don't just become a lesbian, Mom. You either are, or you aren't. And I'm not a lesbian. I happen to like boys. The problem is that all the boys at my school are assholes!"

With that, she stormed out of the kitchen and back up to her room, slamming the door behind her.

"Well that was nice," David groaned. "You could be a little more supportive, Jen."

"You want me to support the fact that she chooses to dress and act like a boy?"

"It's who she is. And for the record, it wouldn't be the end of the world if she was a lesbian. I wouldn't love her any less, and I would hope you'd feel the same."

"She's only fifteen."

"Exactly! She's only fifteen! She hasn't even started dating yet."

"From the sounds of it, she's not going to be dating at all if she acts like one of the boys."

"So? She doesn't have to date at all if she doesn't want to. I don't want her simply doing it because she thinks it's what we want. And I was serious when I said I'd take her out of that school. I have no qualms about either putting her in a different school or hiring a private tutor."

"She needs to be around kids, David. You don't want her to be a recluse."

"Fine. But if this crap at school keeps up, I'm taking her out of there."

"Fine. But did you hear what Angela wrote her term paper about?"

"I heard. Did she get an A?"

"Yes she did, as a matter of fact."

David smiled, proud of his daughter. "That's my girl."

"Rather morbid, don't you think?" Jennifer said dryly.

"Hey, it's what she's into. You know she wants to get into law enforcement. This is a step in that direction."

"I suppose. But law enforcement is so…"

"Masculine?"

"I didn't say that."

"But it's what you were thinking. Just let her do what she wants. She'll do the right thing. She always does."

X X X

The "right thing" was not climbing out her bedroom window and walking to the nearest Carl's Jr. However, much to her chagrin, it seemed half her class had the same idea. Then she remembered there was a game and that was where everyone went to hang out after wards.

Just as she was getting ready to turn and go, she was discovered. "Hey, dyke."

Tim Tucker was suddenly in her face, followed by most of the team and several cheerleaders. "Here all by yourself on a Friday night? Man, talk about a total loser."

"I heard you guys lost tonight. So touché."

Tim took a step forward and placed his hand on Angela's cheek. "For the last time, I will not go out with you. Okay? Quit begging. It's embarrassing."

"Please. I wouldn't go out with you if the world were flooded with piss and you lived in a tree!" She spun around to leave but Tim grabbed her by the shirt and it ripped open, partially exposing her bra.

The boys cheered and the girls laughed as Angela tried to cover herself up. But since she wasn't wearing a jacket, she only had her hands. She was totally humiliated and defeated. Before Angela could even think of her next move, someone came over and stood between her and Tim.

Angela was confused to say the least. She had no idea who the man was, or why he was coming to her rescue, but she was grateful. Staying behind him, she watched the scene unfold. Suddenly, someone wrapped a jacket over her shoulders and she turned to see her Uncle, James Wilson, smiling at her.

"You think that's funny, big guy?" the other man's voice boomed, startling her. "Does picking on girls get you off?"

"Fuck off and mind your own business," Tim spat back.

The man ignored him and kept going. "Do the words statutory and assault mean anything to you?"

"Yeah right. Like they'd take her word over mine. My dad's a cop, ya know."

"Yeah? And her dad is the District Attorney."

Tim literally paled, and Angela held back a giggle.

"See where I'm going with this? I have several witnesses, including the camera right there, who saw you touch her and then practically rip her shirt off."

Samantha was quick to get her two cents in. "We'll just say she came on to him. They won't believe her anyway."

The man turned on Samantha next and she shrank back from him. "From the smell of you I'd say it was the booze talking. No way there's just coke in that cup."

She looked at him as if he was the Amazing Kreskin and stepped back. "Who are you?"

"Me? That's not important. And I've never met her before in my life. But I'm friends with her uncle. So I suggest you back off. Or you'll be meeting her daddy real soon. Now get out of here. All of you."

As they trickled out, it didn't stop them from hissing names at Angela on the way out.

"Slut."

"Whore."

"Bitch."

"Dyke."

"Wow, they covered just about everything," the man muttered under his breath. When everyone had cleared out, Angela looked completely defeated and worn out. However bad she felt, she turned to the man who had stood up for her.

He was tall, with an athletic build, 5 O'clock shadow and steely blue eyes that were so mesmerizing she couldn't stop staring. He was like a knight in shining armor standing there, and she was in awe. After a moment, she finally found her voice.

"Thanks…for that," she said in a quiet voice, so quiet he almost didn't hear her.

Her uncle stepped forward. "Angela, this is Greg House. He's a doctor too. Greg, this is my favorite niece, Angela."

"Your only niece," the man snickered, causing her uncle to shake his head in wonder. The man clearly didn't miss anything.

"Come on, kiddo," her Uncle James said, giving her a nudge. "Let's go home."