The Last VonTassel

People are Terrifying

Everyone has a bully. Sometimes it's one and sometimes it's a whole flock of them like disease-carrying pigeons that stalk you because they seem to hear the crumbs stirring around at the bottom of your pockets. It could be someone in your family, at school, or even your boss at work. I've witnessed all types and am the victim of only one; school.

Yet that one type is a mere shadow compared to the numbers that give the treatment. It may be an exaggeration but it felt like half the school was against me. I heard every word that passed back and forth throughout the halls.

Slut.

Whore.

Bitch.

Freak.

Liar.

The list goes on and on and by now I've probably been called everything in the big ugly book of mean words. It didn't stop there either. That would be too easy. I'd see guys and girls alike eyeing me with disgusted sneers and judging eyes. No one wanted me and few could stand being around me.

One would normally be hurt by the taunts, looks, and rumors and I was at first. Until it all died down over time and I became nearly invisible. I became fascinated with the new feeling. I had gotten so used to being at the top of the school charts, party invites left and right. Then the fall from popularity brought a more negative kind of fame until they... what? Got bored with it?

All that stress from being popular and all that torment from it ending...both no longer existed in my world and I was elated. The privacy and quiet were so relaxing and my grades started going up. I hadn't been failing before but now my grades were even higher then they'd been when I was considered somebody.

It also meant I had time to do other things that I enjoyed, like writing. I was currently working on notes for two different books I was working on at the same time and right now I was facing the wretched rival of all authors; writer's block. Whenever I got writer's block I had this habit of leaning back in my seat, which I was doing with an empty little Nerds box balanced on my mouth.

I needed inspiration. Something like that could easily be found in a library, right? Well, it's less likely in a school library. The only interesting thing I found was a book from my romantic mystery series 'Rivka Mentel' stacked against others books of the general genre and that was only amusing for so long.

At first, I had found it hilarious that people in my school, let alone members of the people that hated me for one stupid reason or another, liked my books. As a matter of fact, I remember nearly falling out of my seat in hysterics when I spotted a book from Nerium on Nell Hillsoft's desk.

Nell Hillsoft. The girl that was now with the reason I was so unpopular; Chase Manning. Admittedly, they were both perfect for one another. They were both hot, gossiped incessantly, and neither seemed to be able to stand an hour without spreading or passing on a rumor of one kind or another. They came up with so much shit I often imagine them with tubes circulating from their asses to their brains.

Her very name made me want to gag and I turned to stare out the window of the library in attempts to distract it from thoughts of the ruthless girl.

It appeared I had chosen to do so at the perfect time as an unfamiliar frightened face slid stealthily into the room, closing the door with a soft click. I sat down quietly and watched with curious interest as he nearly crouched and pressed himself up against one of the bookshelves closest to the door. I was intrigued as this person was rather ninja like.

That's when I saw the reason for his terror. The nauseatingly pink choppy scene hair and 'fuck me' pumps tapping against the linoleum tiles could only be the scariest person in the school; the one and only Nell Hillsoft. Now, Nell wasn't what you'd call dumb, but she wasn't exactly a genius either. She was a girl that got back at people she thought deserved it in clever and cruel ways. She was actually pretty normal by societies standards if you threw out how vindictive she was.

It made me wonder how she had won the affection of so many of the zombie-like followers that I used to surround myself with for the sake of my self-esteem.

I threw my gaze back on the unknown boy. Probably new and soon to be popular from the way he looked. He had a complexion girls would kill for with the dark semi-lengthy curls and long eyelashes to boot. They made his hazel eyes more... alluring. Everything about his face made up the naturally pretty boy he was. My eyes shamelessly wandered over his body. He had a swimmers build and was tall enough to look intimidating rather than awkward. If I had to guess from all that I'd just observed he was used to quick getaways. I knew that it seemed like I was undressing him with my eyes but I gave everyone that look. Not because I wanted to launch myself at anything in sight, it was simply habit. I was a people watcher who used what she saw for inspiration and with this new found invisibility I was in heaven.

Realizing how vulnerable I was to being spotted by this new character, I fluidly slipped out from my seat and sat up against a bookcase with my notepad. Just when I was about to get comfortable I heard footsteps heading in my direction, so I skittered towards the edge of the bookcase and turned, watching as he stopped in front of the desk. I glanced down at my hands and realized that I'd forgotten my pencil. Other things swirled in my head as I continued to spy on him.

Like why he'd been running from Hillsoft and what she wanted from him. Mostly though it was why I was playing hide and seek with the newbie.

"Hello." It was just a word of greeting and a sincere sounding one at that, yet I yelped and dropped my notepad as I jumped up and took a step back, grasping a shelf for support.

"Sorry to scare you." He chuckled as he crouched down to pick up my notepad. Shit!

"Um," After getting used to being ignored, conversing with people became a weak point with me. So 'Um' was considered progress. I swallowed and cleared my throat after my school survival instincts kicked into first gear.

"What did you do?" The person whose name I've yet to know gave me a quizzical look.

"What?" He was distracted from my notes, this was good. From what I had read from him, he had a knack for either getting into trouble or giving people trouble...or worse; both.

"It took me a couple of years to end up spending my lunches in the library hiding from Nell Hillsoft. You seem to have accomplished the same in under three hours. What did you do?"

"Who's Nell Hillsoft?" I wanted to sigh. He had just reminded me of my first day after she'd gotten with Chase. That was the first question I'd asked too.

"Girl chasing after you. Revealing clothes, pink scene hair-"

"Ohhhhhh, that girl." This was a typical cue. Hillsoft's trademark was her pink hair.

"Yeah, her. Who are you and what did you do?"

He stuck out a hand and I examined it briefly. They were musician's hands but the palms were calloused. He worked with them, which was kind of a shame because he had such lovely hands.

"I'm Abel Gane and I just had sex with Nell Hillsoft in the boy's locker room. You must be Evelyn VonTassel. I've heard a lot about you." The library around us disappeared and was replaced by an outdoor background as if we'd been teleported outside and then moved to a different dimension.

This person, Abel...was one of those people who made me want to write. He was one who gave me writing material, and there had never been so much detail in anyone I'd been indirectly inspired by before.