Some Random High School Love Story

Chapter 11: The End...

Friday, September 29

They just don't stop, do they?

It's been a full week, yet people are still laughing and/or talking at the victim in the viral video. It's like Starla said, she doesn't need to do anything when all these people are doing the work for her and Selina.

It's been a draining two-three days for Marcie. Not only because she had to study for a science test that was today, but because of all these people talking. On top of that, the magic of her makeover/disguise was working outside of the classroom, but it was wearing off inside. Classmates recognized the new Marcie by now and would unknowingly acknowledge her a little too loudly, not making a classroom a safe space to dodge the gossip anymore.

Speaking of gossip, what people are saying is spiraling out of control. As Marcie passes by the hallways, she hears these abnormal rumors, mostly pertaining to why Starla did this and where it all stemmed from. People are really out here saying that Marcie...

"...Caused Starla to break up with her boyfriend because of jealousy towards her."
"...Took advantage of CJ and had an affair with him, so Selina was the real mastermind behind this prank."
"...Has a better body than Starla so there was jealousy stemmed from dweebs looking at Marcie more."
"...Humiliated Starla in an online game."
"...Almost got pregnant by Starla's ex."
"...Was blamed for failing to help Starla prepare for some math test."
"...Had a crush on either Starla or Selina, but none of those ladies rolled that way."

Whoever made up all those lies might never be found, but for Marcie to hear all those false twists of the origin story be easily shared out is becoming too overwhelming. It was already overwhelming from the first day, but this is a whole new level of ridiculousness.

Going through the motions of this very school day... Marcie has never felt this down in her life. As mentioned before, her science test was today, but she couldn't focus on that test properly because all the things she heard kept echoing in her head over and over throughout the allotted time. That could've easily been her worst test performance... for her standards at least. Still spending lunchtime in Mr. Johnson's classroom, Mr. Johnson himself noticed something wrong with Marcie's mood as she was eating, and when he asked what was wrong, Marcie lied about what was bringing her down. Possibly flunking the science test was in a way the truth, but how that happened is a much different truth altogether.

The bullying, the public humiliation, the toxic aftermath of it, today was the day it all came crashing down on Marcie's head. Marcie was not herself by the end of the school day, at all. The heavy rumors were too much too soon and there's no way Marcie could think of stopping it, she thinks that not even an explanation on social media could work. The way this whole situation transpired within two weeks and the overwhelming toll that took on Marcie ultimately lead her to something unthinkable...

Marcie would take her walk home after that dreadful school day finally ended. But instead of going inside her house, she stood still and just took a good look at it from the outside. Marcie's home is the final safe spot for her, she simply did not want to jeopardize that place being tampered with. She ultimately decided to skip going home, and keep walking ahead to somewhere else. A few blocks away from Marcie's house leads to a trail, a trail that enters through the middle of the woods. And that very trail eventually leads to a bridge.

*4:00; The Bridge*

The bridge was pretty high up above the river, and the river's stream is pretty rough at the moment. The edge of the bridge was pretty shielded because the constructors of this bridge must've known that a fall at this height could seriously hurt. Marcie was smart enough to know that, so when she approached the bridge, she climbed up and sat on top of the barricade. Hearing the rough course of the river underneath her, she was hesitating. So instead, she began to look back on how this whole story unfolded since the first day of school.

It all started with that first math quiz, and her being the bright student she is, she aced the hell out of that, which ultimately attracted the wrong kind of attention. After being tricked into doing homework for other classmates to copy, she'd be forced into this loop of being almost a slave until outside interference stopped that. But that wasn't enough to stop her bullies from leaving her alone for good as their revenge will ultimately leave physical and emotional scars.

Marcie reflected that whole summary through, just by being herself... it ultimately led to becoming the talk in the town in the most demoralizing way possible. How cruel this world can be when someone realizes how much rubbish is being talked about them behind their backs, without a glimmer of hope that someone else would back them up. In Marcie's case that someone else could've been her parents, but at this point, all she wants for them, in doing what she's thinking of doing, is to stop wasting their energy worrying for her. So when you subtract those two from her life, Marcie has always felt so alone. She felt alone back when she was a kid, back when she steps foot on the school grounds, and right now on that bridge. She thinks that if no one knows who she is, then no one else is gonna miss her if she falls off this very bridge. 

She eventually stood on the barricade, with no more tears falling out of her eyes. She didn't want to jump immediately, she had multiple second thoughts cross her mind as she looks down at the raging river. As she's looking down, all the bad things said to her and all the hits she suffered replayed in her head one last time...

Not wanting to hear any other words, or feel any type of torture anymore, Marcie closed her eyes and leaned forward...

Angel emerged from his hiding spot to sprint toward Marcie, hug her from behind, and threw her away from the river and into safety.

Marcie felt some impact, but it definitely wasn't the water. When she opened her eyes, she was right back at the center of the bridge, now feeling a tight squeeze on her torso, and hearing the sound of heavy breathing right behind her. Whilst having mixed feelings about not jumping off the bridge, the hug around Marcie felt tighter, as Angel began to say this one sentence:

"I told you, I'm not going to hurt you. And I'll make sure no one else will again."

When Marcie remembered those words and was able to turn around to figure out who stopped her, she looked at the guy from the crosswalk with new tears in her eyes.