Molly's school misery

Chapter 1: Fake friends?

Molly Thompson had a good group of friends in high school - until they started getting tired with her moany, quite self-entitled attitude and decided that they would prefer to make her into a victim of their bullying. With Molly being so much smaller and skinnier all round than the rest of her friend group, it made perfect sense to make the strikingly pretty brunette's life quite difficult. 

Becky, Tamika and Xuan really wondered how Molly expected so much from them. "I need my friends to be there for me"; "when I need my friends, where are you?", Molly would complain, at length. It was getting really annoying and they were all so fed up with hearing it, including Nicole (Nick) who was living with the Thompson family and sharing a room with the over-entitled but super cute Molly who was picture-perfect from head to toe.

While she pretended to be "best friends" with Molly, Nick was secretly furious with Molly for having helped to sabotage her Dad's restaurant business so that her own mother's nearby restaurant could beat off the competition. Molly didn't yet know that Nick knew this. But, because of that, Nick felt that Molly deserved to be taught a lesson - starting with social isolation. 

WEAKER: Molly wouldn't stand a chance in any kind of physical tussle with any one of her friends (left to right), Becky, Xuan or even Tamika who's two years younger

Nick also couldn't help noticing that Molly, at 5'3 and just 45kg, was physically much weaker than her and all the other girls in their class. Being very thin, untoned and unmuscled, and no good at sports made her vulnerable. Molly rarely wore shorts or skirts as she was embarrassed to show her thin legs. Even if she turned up to school in a skirt, she'd have her legs covered with thick leggings. 

Nick hadn't yet decided how (or if) she might use the power she knew that she had over Molly, but knowing that she had it gave her butterflies in her stomach and a lovely feeling of giddiness.

It was a Monday morning at Duniway High School in Portland, Oregon when Nick teamed up with Becky, Tamika and Xuan to implement part one of their plan: social isolation. They all told Molly to go away and leave them alone. Forever. They knew she had no other friends to turn to because anyone considered popular in ninth grade didn't want to be seen hanging out with her. 

Molly's social justice warrior routine was the reason Becky, Tamika and Xuan made friends with her at the start of high school - but the 14-year-old's various obsessions (saving whales, promoting sustainable clothing and other worthy pursuits) were just an irritation to anyone her age with an ounce of social credibility.

Even though Molly ran away crying, making Becky, Tamika, Xuan and Nick feel bad, they still felt that Molly needed to grow up. And they realised that they'd need to teach her quite a harsh lesson in order to make her wise up. All five girls were nearly 15 and a few months away from the end of their freshman year. 

While Molly still looked like a little girl with a face like a 12-year-old, her (now former) friends were already enjoying the power and confidence that came with their newfound early womanhood. They resolved that they would make their point by showing the smaller girl the absolute power they had over her, both physically and mentally. They would show her who was boss!

School life for Becky, Tamika, Xuan and Nick changed a lot after they dumped Molly. It gained them a bit of notoriety with some of the popular girls who were fascinated by this piece of social ruthlessness carried out by nerds. Becky, Tamika and Xuan in particular felt excited to go to school every day and scheme over what they were going to do to petite, smug brunette Molly. 

It made quite a change from their usual volunteer work for an endangered animals charities. They found that they loved just sitting around during lessons, and over lunch, just talking about Molly, making fun of her appearance (little face, skinny) and her clothes and voice. 

Until now they'd all have considered themselves anti-bullying - but this was different. They felt like Molly deserved it.

For Nick, the whole situation was a bit more tricky as she was living with Molly at the Thompson house on LeGuin Avenue in Portland. In fact, the two girls shared a room. It was one thing to dump Molly in school, but having to face her at home was uncomfortable. 

That night, the pair of them went to sleep in an awkward silence. Molly's barely contained anger really annoyed Nick; she couldn't help feeling that Molly had no right to be angry. 

How were they going to teach this girl a lesson, Nick thought to herself as she went to sleep. Although she could easily tackle Molly on her own, in every way, Nick was looking forward to being back in school the next day where she had the other girls to back her up. 

Just because that was easier. And, the sense of camaraderie that comes from bullying as part of a group makes it sooooo much more fun than being mean one-on-one.

Back at school on Tuesday, Becky, Tamika, Xuan and Nick were having fun seeing the look on Molly's little face when she'd be nearby and realise they were talking about her and taking turns to do impressions of her high voice. 

It was even more of a rush to tease Molly by dropping hints within her earshot that they were planning something big.

After lunch, Molly walked back into class to hear Becky saying, "she won't be able to do anything back anyway, she's too weak!". When Molly rolled her eyes, the whole four of them giggled. 

"Do you think she'll cry?", Nick teased.

Like a chorus, the others all replied: "Yeahhhhh. She will!"

Their excitement was building by the day; they'd always been curious to know what it'd be like to be a bully. Of course, they could just wind Molly up and then do nothing, as that would be quite a lot of fun in itself. 

Molly was hoping upon hope that would be the case. But little did the poor girl know how set they were on turning their talk into action. With all the zeal of converts (to bullying) they intended to make Molly's life really difficult from now on...