In Her Eyes - A Criminal Minds Fiction

Chapter 26: Bullying Sucks

At the dining room, Emily and Hilary sat when the kids went upstairs.
"Chloe told me what happened at school today" Hilary said. She looked very sorry. "It's not the first time those girls pick on kids. They've been doing this to Chloe since she started there. I've talked to Carl but the only thing that changed was that it doesn't happen inside the classroom anymore. One of the girls is almost 11. She's an old teacher's daughter"
"Did Chloe tell you what they said?" Emily asked.
"Bella didn't tell you?" Hilary asked surprised and Emily nodded no.
"Well she said that they talked to Bella before the first class and then later they asked how she got in the school and started making fun of her about that." Hilary said and Emily nodded yes concern.
"Emily, Chloe told me about Isabella's father. I am really sorry" she said sad.
"She told Chloe?" Emily asked surprised.
"Look. I'm going to be very honest, alright? Chloe told me the girls said you had sex with the principal in order for Bella to get in the school and they threatened to tell Isabella's dad. And then Bella just ran away crying" Hilary said.
"Oh my God." Emily said, she looked pissed but also sad. She couldn't believe how kids could be so mean.
"I know that's absolutely not what happened and I know Bella knows that too. But those kids can be brutal" Hilary said. "Chloe said Bella cried a lot and then told her that her dad passed away."
"He died last week. He had been sick for a while but she didn't know about it. It was a shock for her. It has just been hard you know. And I just thought going to school and having some sort of routine would help" Emily told Hilary.
"Yeah. Chloe was so upset about just moving here and staying away from her father. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for Bella" Hilary said. "Well for both of you"
"She's a tough kid" Emily smiled sadly.
"I can see she is." Hilary said. "Look. If you need help with anything just call me, alright? I know being a single mom can be very hard and specially managing work and a child. So anything really I'm here"
"Thank you" Emily said. She could see Hilary wanted to help, and she couldn't be more thankful.
"Whenever you need" Hilary said and Emily smiled. There was a bit of silence and then Hilary spoke.
"Is Bella going to change schools because of this?" She asked concerned.
"I have to say I don't want her to but I don't know how she's going to react to all of this now" Emily said. "If she says she wants to change she probably will."
Hilary just smiled and didn't say anything. Hilary didn't want Bella to leave the school because Chloe never had friends there and the school was the best in the city, she didn't want to take Chloe out, it was a good opportunity to be in there.
"I'll talk to her later tonight about it. Thank you so much for letting me know" Emily said.
"No problem. I'm just happy my Chloe finally has a friend you know. She's just so shy" Hilary let out a laugh.
"Well, Bella is too so.." Emily laughed.
"Yeah" Hilary smiled. "Well I should go. Millie's passed her bed time"
"Alright" Emily smiled standing up. Hilary followed Emily to the bottom of the stairs.
"Bell come down" Emily called and the three girls appeared at the top of the stairs.
"We gotta go kids. It's a school night" Hilary said and the girls went downstairs. They said their goodbyes and left.
"I'm gonna take another shower okay mom?" Bella said heading to the stairs.
"Alright" Emily said. Bella went up and Emily went to clean where they had dinner. She thought about everything Hilary told her and she couldn't believe how mean those girls where. She knew Isabella had been bullied several times at the boarding school but she had Cameron there who tried hard to shield her from all of it but in this new school all Bella had was Chloe, who was even more scared about the whole thing than Bella was. Emily decided to sit down and talk to Bella once she finished the shower so she went and put on pajamas and sat on her bed waiting for Bella.
It wasn't long till Isabella went to her mother's bedroom.
"Hey" Emily said greeting the girl who gave her a sweet smile. "Come here" Emily said and Isabella walked to the bed and sat next to her mother. "We need to talk" Emily said serious and Isabella took a deep breath. Bella assumed Chloe told everything to Hilary and that's what Hilary and Emily talked about.
"So Hilary told me what happened at school today. Chloe told her" Emily started and Bella just stared at the floor. "I don't know how kids can be so mean." Emily paused taking a deep breath. Isabella could feel Emily was angry about it. "Hilary said they have been doing things like this for a long time. Look. I know it's awful to get bullied and it shouldn't happen to anyone." She said taking some hair off Isabella's face, tucking it behind her ear. Bella's eyes had tears in it.
"I understand if you don't want to go back. We can look for a new school if you want, okay?" Emily said.
"I don't want to change schools mom" Isabella said letting a tear fall. She looked so hurt.
"You don't?" Emily asked surprised. She was sure Bella wouldn't want to go back there ever again.
"I can't. I can't leave Chloe there alone" Isabella said as more tears fell.
"Oh honey" Emily said hugging Bella. "You're too good, you know?" Emily said.
"I'm her only friend. It's just not fair" Bella said.
"Alright... And look, if this happens again you tell me. It doesn't matter what they say you just tell me. I want to hear it from you and not from Hilary, okay?" Emily said.
"Okay" Bella said nodding yes. Emily hugged her again.
"If it happens again you tell me and I'll go talk to the principal everyday if I have to. I even talk to these girls if I need to, alright?" Emily said smiling at the thought of her talking to those girls.
"Alright" Bella smiled.
"Chloe is very lucky to have you as a friend, baby" Emily smiled.
"She's really nice mom" Bella said.
"She's a good kid" Emily said. "Just like you are" she smiled and hugged Bella.
"So you're going tomorrow?" Emily asked smiling at the braveness of her child.
"Yes" Bella nodded yes and wiped her face.
"Alright so bed time. It's a school night" Emily smiled and stood up. Bella followed Emily into her bedroom. Emily tucked her in and headed back. Isabella stayed up for about 20 minutes after that just thinking about stuff. Emily's head was also full. She couldn't help but be proud of Isabella for being so strong and sticking there for her friend. She just hoped the bullying would stop soon. The kid had been through enough already and she didn't want that to turn into the horrible experience Isabella had in the beginning of boarding school in which she would call John everyday crying begging him to take her home. It was horrible. Emily just hoped this time Isabella could figure things out by herself.