(✔) 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙗𝙤𝙮 ↳ (𝔃.𝓭.𝓱)

twenty-nine !

When Everly walked down the hallway that morning, she was greeted with stares, pointing fingers, muffled giggling and hushed whispers that surrounded her. She ignored them, holding her head high with her headphones clamped tightly over her ears. She just assumed that they were looking because of the tweet from yesterday. However, when she reached her locker, she realised that it was also something entirely different.

Spray painted on the red metal was the word whore in large black lettering. She wasn't even remotely surprised. Maybe it kind of stung her a little bit but she knew something like that was bound to happen sooner or later, especially in a school with all these immature, gullible idiots around her. She rolled her eyes at her locker and threw it open. Without even taking her headphones off, she knew there was laughter and sniggers behind her.

Everly rummaged around in her locker and pulled out her math textbook. She scooped them up in her arms and slammed the locker door shut. Appearing suddenly behind the locker door was Zach. Her eyebrows shot up in pleasant surprise. She pulled her headphones down around her neck. "Oh hi."

"Oh hi? That's all you're gonna say?" Zach stared at her.

She nodded, tilting her head in a confused manner. "Uh yeah? What do you expect me to say?"

Zach's eyes bulged out of his head. "Your locker just got vandalised, dude! You don't care?" He exclaimed, waving his arms around.

Everly looked simply bored. "No." She sniffed, hugging her textbook to her chest.

"You're insane. This is bullying Everly! You have got to tell someone!" Zach protested.

"What, and let them all think I'm weak? No. I appreciate it Zach, but that's what they want out of me. A reaction. And I'm not gonna give them the satisfaction of knowing that this—" Everly waved a casual hand at her vandalised locker. "—bothered me at all. And besides, it really doesn't matter to me. I honestly don't care."

Zach stared at her, open-mouthed. "Wh—How? You have to care, at least a little bit!"

Everly shrugged. "Eh. It sucks for sure, but I don't really care much. It was just because of some dumbass rumour that wasn't even true. And honestly, if they believe it, they're the ones that are gonna look like fools. Just as long as I know I didn't do it, I'll be fine. That's all that matters. Who cares what people at this school think? Their thoughts don't really matter to me at all, sorry not sorry."

Zach ran his fingers through his hair and let out a low whistle. "Damn. You're really handling this well." Everly grinned and shrugged. "Thanks."

Zach glanced down at his watch. "Uh hey, I have to go. I think Mr. Michaels is looking for me now," He told Everly, and the latter nodded understandingly, allowing him to go see his English teacher. He disappeared down the hallway and just as Everly was about to leave as well, she suddenly felt a force slam her into the locker.

A gasp escaped her lips and her vision spun momentarily. She found herself staring up into a boy's face. He had smouldering dark eyes that were staring into her own and his thin lips were twisted into a menacing smirk. His blonde, Dole-Whip-hair was falling onto his forehead as he pressed Everly against the locker, his hands gripping her own tightly.

It was Aaron Whitby, one of the popular lacrosse guys. Everly never really paid much attention to him and she never cared much for the lacrosse guys either. He always seemed like an asshole in general, in Everly's opinion. She never liked him, not at all. So with his face inches from hers and his eyes piercing into her and his breath against her skin, you would've thought Everly would be terrified. Plot twist; she wasn't. Her blood was boiling and she saw red. All she wanted to do was throw a punch right at Aaron's Dole-Whip head and knock him out cold.

"Everly right? I saw that tweet of you yesterday," He said lowly into her ear.

Everly glared at him with as much ferocity as she could muster. "Get the hell off of me you asshole," She growled, digging her nails sharply into Aaron's hand.

Aaron only grinned evilly, leaning in closer to her and holding her tighter. "We can do it tonight. You've slept with all the guys, you can do it with me. I know you want to," He said softly and dangerously, touching the side of her face and tracing her lips with a finger.

"I said. Get. The. Fuck. Off. Of. Me," Everly hissed, and she did something she never thought she would do. Her head snapped forward and she bit down hard on Aaron's hand that was touching her face. He yelled in pain and leaped backward, Everly making sure to dig in her teeth as hard as she could into his skin.

Aaron howled, holding his hand in pain. "You bitch!" He bellowed. Everly grabbed him by the shoulders and rammed him hard into the locker before he could even do anything more to her. She didn't know she had that much strength to do that. "I told you not to fucking touch me, so don't fucking touch me ever again!" She screamed, and before she left, she slapped Aaron hard against the face, the sound echoing throughout the hallway.

She then turned to look at Aaron, smiling widely at him, the action dripping with sickly sweet sarcasm. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to class."