red side of the moon- trixya

nine.

tw: bullying, homophobic slurs

Someday is a story and it's the one I'm sticking to

Trixie's last class of the day that day was AP English literature. There was a rather nasty group of girls in that class with her and they gave her hell whenever they saw her. They did all of the usual high-school bully things; they passed notes, spat spit balls, generally teased and made fun of her. It made Trixie miserable in a class she would otherwise adore. One of Katya's friends, Jodi, was in the class with her. Trixie wondered if she had ever been part of the group of mean kids.

"Hey, Beatrice," one of them said. Trixie turned around and got a spitball right in her face. She turned back to the front right away, wiping away the nasty substance from her face. On top of all of the anxiety about seeing Katya today, this had to happen. She felt her eyes well with tears. She was a sensitive girl.

"Hey, fuck off, Vi," she heard a voice say, and then she heard a loud sigh. Trixie tried to steal a look at who the voice belonged to, but she was just met with Violet sitting behind her with crossed arms.

"What're you looking at, you ugly dyke?" Violet spat.

"I said fuck off, Violet." The voice said again, louder and stronger than the last time. It made Trixie smile.

"What, just because she hangs out with Katerina now you're her savior, Jodi? Get a life," Vi said.

It was Jodi who was sticking up for her from the back of her class. The thought comforted Trixie. Violet was in the same grade as Trixie- a junior- and Jodi was a senior, like Katya.

Katya got a text that period from Jodi. Damn, why are kids so mean to your girlfriend? The question worried her. Made her palms sweat. She didn't want Trixie to cry again, it was such a sad sight. Not my girlfriend- not yet- but what do you mean? She typed quickly like a bomb was going to go off if she didn't. A pink, sparkly bomb called Trixie. Jodi didn't respond to her, and Katya felt her anxiety peak.

Violet and a few of her friends continued to pick on Trixie, saying petty things about her appearance. But there were only ten minutes left in the period, and Trixie had faith in herself to ignore them and focus on her reading. That was until Violet connected two dots together.

"Wait just a minute, Beatrice. You're hanging around with Katerina- are you her new little toy?" Trixie tried to ignore Vi, but her heart was soft for Katya and just because of the day. "You're a dyke, too, aren't you? Couldn't get any boys to like you so you went for girls instead?" Violet was harshly whispering enough for Jodi to not be able to hear her.

Trixie felt tears prick at her eyes, begging to fall. No, Trixie, you have to look pretty for Katya. You have to not cry, there's only ten minutes left. Her self-assuring messages weren't working as well as she'd hoped. And then, with three minutes left and class ended early, Vi shot her final bullet.

"This is because your Dad left you, isn't it, Beatrice? You don't think any man could love you because the one man who was supposed to couldn't. How sad. Poor little Beatrice, can't get anyone to love her without being a dyke. Your dad is lucky he left," Violet said at a regular speaking volume. Jodi heard, and Trixie heard her started yelling at Violet, but it didn't matter. Trixie was crying and trying not to let sobs take over her body.

The bell rang and Trixie didn't move. Violet and her friends got up to leave, the teacher left to make some copies, everyone left. Except for Trixie, who was glued to her seat, and Jodi, who sat beside her and rubbed her back.

"Do you want me to get Katya for you?" Jodi's voice was soft, but Trixie was filled with anxiety and guilt and she couldn't answer. "I'm gonna text her, okay? You're okay, Trixie." Trixie didn't know how Jodi had come to calling her by her nickname, but she was pretty sure Katya was the one who told her. Katya talks about me to her friends, she thought. It made her happy for a moment, but her anxiety was an anchor to a depressive floor, and before she could stop herself, she was back to sobbing.