The Wallflower

The Warning

Warning: chapter contains some bullying, nothing graphic but if that bothers you then this is your warning.

Sang

The second the assembly was done, Karen and I made a beeline for the exit and practically shoved ourselves into the growing crowd. I don't even think Mr. Hendricks closing speech was finished yet but nobody really cared. Jade's silence made me uneasy, really uneasy. Marie's warning rang in my ears and I wanted to avoid any and all contact with Jade until I graduated. I was sure she was up to something but of course I couldn't outright accuse her of it without getting my face smashed in by her cronies. Today had gone a little too smoothly for me but if I could just avoid her until I got to the school gates then I was fine until Monday.

Sometime in the chaos, Karen and I must've gotten separated because she was nowhere to be found. I searched desperately for her tall frame but with the crowd pushing me forward and too many people shoving me around, it was impossible to find her. I pushed my way to the side just as the school building loomed ahead and just managed to break free from the crowd.

I breathed deeply, watching the ongoing chaos before me. Just then, a pair of hands grabbed me from behind and jerked me back. A hand clamped over my mouth, muffling the scream that tore through me. My glasses skewed and clattered to the ground as they dragged me back into the nearby girls bathroom kicking and screaming. The hands had a firm grip on me that I couldn't break free and they tore my backpack from me, throwing it on the ground and I had no time to register what was going on before I was slammed against the wall.

Tiffany and Danielle surrounded me, still in their cheerleader uniforms before Jade came into view. My hands shook and I was vaguely aware of the pain radiating from the back of my head as Jade crossed her arms and stepped closer to me. She sneered, her face a mask of disgust as she looked at me.

"This is a warning, Sang. You got your claws into my brother and now he's gone. Stay away from North, because he's mine or I'll make you regret the day you ever met me." She spat at me, before Tiffany and Danielle shoved me back against the wall again for good measure.

I stared at her in a mixture of shock and confusion. What in the world was she talking about? Jay didn't even know I existed and we were barely friends when he had been going here.

"I-I..." I stammered, not quite being able to find my voice. Suddenly, I felt small and insignificant. I was scared and terrified.

"This will teach you not to be a slut!" Tiffany shouted just as she grabbed my backpack and emptied the contents into the nearby toilet stall.

I watched helplessly. It was almost as if I was having an out of body experience and I was the on-looker watching the events unfold.

I felt completely and utterly numb. Danielle laughed behind her and it was then I saw her true colors. With Marie, she was a different person. But now I saw her for who she truly was. And it made me feel hollow inside.

On their way out, I vaguely spied my glasses laying near the door. Danielle smirked, her shoes crunching over the frames.

"Oops, better luck next time, Sang." She laughed, with Tiffany giggling next to her.

The hallway was full of chatter and laughter as the door swung shut. Then, silence. Nobody could hear the quiet sobs that wracked my body or see what a giant mess I was curled up on a dirty bathroom floor. The floor swayed under me and all I could see was the fluorescent light fixtures above me with that one light above the first stall blinking on and off.

I couldn't say a thing, I felt numb and lost. Part of me couldn't believe this was happening again, after finally going under the radar and being invisible. I always knew Jade hated me but this -- this was beyond anything I'd faced before and I was clueless on how to deal with it.