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High School Reunion: Judgement

Some people never grew up after high school. Some people did.

Surprisingly, Jade William was one of those people.

After graduation, she'd taken on a low paying job working the night shift at a 24-hour gas station. To say that the job was interesting was like saying that tar smelled good, and Jade often found her mind wandering early in the morning. When she thought back to her high school days, she thought she would feel good, maybe even happy. She'd been popular. She could've had any guy she'd wanted.

But instead, all she felt was guilt. Now that she was removed from the scene, all she could think about was how terrible her actions had been. She'd tormented her classmates for petty, terrible reasons. After a while of these thoughts torturing her every night, she knew she had to do something. She tried to find the people she'd bullied and apologize, but not all of them wanted to hear it, and honestly, she couldn't remember all of her victims.

So she wrote a short op-ed for the local newspaper about bullying. She gave her perspective in high school—how her nasty words had been a mask for the crippling insecurity eating her up inside—and how she now knew it was wrong. She didn't expect people to forgive her or excuse her actions. But she wanted people to know that it was possible to change, and more specifically, she wanted to tell all the current bullies, right from the mouth of a former bully, that there were other ways to seek attention and get help.

About a month after that, Jade received a call from a local middle school, asking her to talk about her experiences at an anti-bullying assembly. That turned out to be the first talk out of many, and over the next few years, Jade traveled the country sharing her story. She wrote a book about it that quickly became a bestseller. She kept her night job, and all her profits were donated to various charities supporting the victims of bullying and promoting anti-bullying campaigns in schools.

And so, eight years after graduating high school, it was safe to say that Jade had changed. Her high school days were far behind her. She was a model citizen.

Then, one day her roommate walked into their living room after a long day of work and found Jade stabbed to death on their couch. The letters "AW" were carved into her cheek.

Sitting on her bloody torso was a pristine piece of cardstock that had a message written on it beautiful, handwritten calligraphy.

Once a bully, always a bully.

***

Of course, it would be unreasonable to expect the entire Ashely Waters crew to experience Jade's turnaround, and Rocky was a prime example of someone who peaked in high school. After he graduated, he took to selling drugs, and after a few years, he'd made a good amount of money for himself keeping the youth of Charleston stocked with their drug of choice. Unfortunately for Rocky, he'd never been the brightest, and after he sold to an undercover cop, he ended up in jail.

The day after he was released, his body was found in the alley behind a strip club. Cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the heart, but he also had "AW" carved into cheek. Like with Jade, there was a note on his chest.

Rocky only loves himself.

***

After graduating college with a degree in international relations, Karen spent two years working in the Peace Corps before moving back to Charleston and joining a task force charged with reducing the rates of human trafficking in the city. She'd been quite successful, and had been nominated for a national award.

Karen was walking back to her apartment when rough hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her behind a grocery store. The tip of a knife pressing into her back and a muttered threat kept her from yelling out, but in hindsight, she should have screamed anyway.