Before I Forget

Retribution

"Sky, a word?" Ms. Hardinge's soft voice caught Sky when she tried to slip out of the classroom.

She stopped and turned to look. The kind smile on Ms. Hardinge's heart-shaped face didn't reveal what this was about, but Sky had a pretty good guess.

She walked to the teacher's desk and tried her best to sound normal, as if her heart wasn't in her throat, choking her. "Sure, what is it?"

Ms. Harding replied with a smile but waited silently until everyone else had left the room. The crowd of noisy kids poured out of the classroom like a stream that broke the ice dam in the spring. Rickenberger and his fellow Cobras walked out amongst the others, laughing loudly, but to Sky's great relief, none of them made further comments to her - maybe because she was standing right next to Ms. Hardinge, to whom all the students seem to show a healthy respect.

Before walking out of the room, Hawk briefly glanced at Sky but kept his mouth shut. Instead, he went after the Cobras, murder in his eyes - a sight that made Sky's stomach knit into a tight ball of anxiety.

Shit, I hope he's not going to do anything stupid! I told him to let it go–

"Sky, are you being bullied?" Ms. Hardinge's voice interrupted Sky's worried thoughts and she turned her eyes back at the teacher.

"Sorry, what?"

"I asked if you're being bullied, Sky." Ms. Hardinge repeated, her large, brown eyes serious and without a hint of the smile that usually lived in them.

Sky shrugged and turned her eyes down, heat rising to her cheeks. This was the last place on Earth she wanted to be in, the last conversation she wanted to have. The tight ball of anxiety in her gut was growing bigger, taking her breath away.

"What happened at the beginning of the class—" Ms. Hardinge paused to take a breath. "I'm sorry. I... I wanted to do more, but I felt like we should talk before I take any drastic measures."

Sky looked up and met Ms. Hardinge's eyes. They were kind and full of worry and Sky felt like shit. She didn't want Ms. Hardinge to pity her or to feel sorry for her - she wanted the teacher to think that she was bright, that she was a straight-A student, that she knew her Shakespeare back and forth. She didn't want this, this disgusting, sticky feeling of being ashamed of something that wasn't her fault at all.

"Thanks," Sky replied in a lack of better words. "I appreciate it."

"Has this bullying been going on for a long time?" Ms. Hardinge asked, and again Sy had to look away.

"It's... it's not really bullying," she replied. "I mean... It's not a big deal. I can handle it."

"I'm sure you can. But you shouldn't have to. There are things we can do, Sky. We can make it stop."

To make it stop? Ever since her fight with Yasmine and Kyler almost a year ago, she'd been called names in this school. She was so used to finding notes in her locker, calling her crazy slut, that they barely even made her flinch anymore. And yet, what had happened today had felt different - she was still so shocked about Rickenberger's comment, the way he had grabbed her arm, that she felt like she would be sick.

If it would be like this every fucking day from now on....

Sky didn't even want to think about that. It would make her fucking lose her mind.

She couldn't help the bitterness in her voice when she replied to Ms. Hardinge. "Can you? Stop bullying? Cause I'm a bit skeptical."

"Yes, we can. We can go and talk to counselor Blatt, right now. I'll come with you if you want to—"