The students stopped laughing the instant principal Mallory walked in and everywhere fell silent. The old man adjusted his tiny spectacles and his eyes road the classroom like a hawk for its prey
"What was the reason for the noise?", He asked squinting and twitching his nose in irritation, "nothing sir" Maya Atwood answered with a shaky smile, "there is nothing wrong sir"
"Well is that so?"
The principal turned to Mrs Reinsdale and she heaved a deep sigh, "it’s a brawl between Maya Atwood and Aria Luther"
"It’s actually sothing very minor Sir", Maya said again, forcing quirky smiles out of the corners of her lips, "we were just talking about the coming dance"
"No sir", I said slowly, lowering my gaze, "Maya Atwood was bullying verbally. She called nas and made everyone laugh at "
"Is that true?", The principal asked with widened eyes, heturned to Maya, "did you call a fellow classmate nas?"
"No I didn’t" she stood up from her seat at the back of the square shaped class and sat beside and started caressing my caressing my hair "see we’re really good friends, we just had a minor misunderstanding"
"That’s not true sir"
The whole class gasp in shock and as fear crawled onto Maya’s face I hardened my face and turned to the principal
"Maya has been calling nas sir", I began, "she made insulting references to my family background and my absent stepbrother. She humiliated publicly"
The white haired man turned to Maya with an exasperated look, "report to my office now!"
Maya stood up from the chair gingerly and headed towards the door, after the principal had closed the door behind him.
"Okay, back to class everyone", Mrs Reinsdale announced and the chattering stopped, "let’s continue from where we stopped"
"Yes Ma’am"
The class went on smoothly and I struggled to pay attention for the remainder of it even though my eyes kept fluttering shut on their own.
At last the class ended and soon it was closing ti. I dragged my heavy legs to my locker and shoved my books into it, leaning on it and taking deep breath and placing my hand on my head. The left head was throbbing with headache and there was this weakness I was feeling on the inside. I kept my eyes closed to subdue the pain but the weak feeling in the depths of my stomach didn’t recede.
"Will you be fine on your own"
I forced my eyes open at the sound of those words and saw Tim standing in front of , dressed in his football training gear. "I can quit practice and co ho with you"
"That won’t be necessary Tim", I waved my hand dismissively and hoisted my back off the locker, "just give your keys I’ll be fine"
"I’m really concerned for you Aria "he said but I only stretched my hand forth, "please let have the keys, I’ll be fine"
"Will you wait for the school bus then?"
"No it’s not necessary" I stopped to pick a drop of that had welled in the corner of my eyes , "I’ll be fine on my own"
"It’s okay Aria" he wrapped his arms around and ran his hand through my hair, "it’ll be alright"
I nodded slowly in response and turned away from him, ignoring the piercing looks that followed as I trudged out of the hallway.
When I got outside,my eyes travelled to the parking lot again but when I didn’t see Jaxon’s car, I fished my phone out my pocket and typed to him. *today makes it four days since I’ve set my eyes on you Jaxon. I’m starting to think sothing has gone wrong with you, please reply to this ssage. Please co ho, I’ve been by myself*
I closed my eyes to grant the fresh tears in my eyes freedom after I’d sent the text ssage and then I strapped my school bag onto my back and began the long walk to Timothy’s house. As I walked along, my mind kept conjuring up scenes of the argunt I had with Jaxon before he walked away angrily and I began to wonder what I said wrong and what exactly made deserving this maddening silent treatnt. I was about to cross to the other side of the road when a pair of strong hands grabbed from behind and spun around. The action ca as shock, sending shivers down my spine as I let out a sharp gasp
"Well if it isn’t the innocent sad girl"
I held onto the bench by the sidewalk to keep myself from falling as I ca face to face with Cecilia Vance and the other two girls who made up Maya Atwood’s gang of bullies.
"What do you guys want?" I asked through clenched teeth, anger welling from my belly up to my dry throat as I made to walk past them but they stepped in my path and pushed back. The three of them stood in front of like giants, with arms folded beneath their breasts, glaring at with hate and irritation.
"Why did you tell Principal Mallory that Maya insulted you" Cecilia growled, "why did you put her in trouble? How dare you?"
"What sort of question is that", I fired back hotly, adjusting my stance and the look on my face to match with my rebellious defiance, "what right did your friend have to call my father and my stepbrother nas. How would you feel if soone did that to you? Why am I even asking you?" Ihissed angrily and made to walk past them again but they blocked my path again and pushed back.
The force the pushed with was so much that I lost my balance and fell flat on my back. I struggled to rise to my feet but a sharp pain shot through my wait and travelled to the middle of my back
"You have no right to put Maya in trouble" Cecilia said coldly, hovering above like a demon, "Have you forgotten who Maya Atwood is or have you gone mad or have you..."
"I am not mad" my voice ca out louder and sharper and louder than I intended but the kick that landed in the centre of my stomach as soon as I said those words sent spasms of choking cough to my and a deep wave of vertigo to my brain. My stomach twisted and I squeezed my face to absorb the pain
"How dare you" I scread, struggling to stifle the itchy cough that had clogged my throat, "what is the aning of this?" I attempted to stand up but another kick landed on my stomach and my eyes nearly rolled out of their socket.
"The answer is quite simple", Cecilia said with a devilish grin, flinging her backpack onto the grass as she flexed her arms in preparation to pounce on "we’re taking revenge on you for putting our supre leader in trouble with the principal when you could have just kept your mouth shut to save your face and your miserable life"
I mustered the remaining strength in my veins and jumped to my feet but the heavy punch that landed my nose imdiately sent a destabilising pain through my head and I was back on the grass before I could take another breath. Hot blood gushed out of my nose and it felt like I was going to stop breathing but the girl’s weren’t finished with .
They kept sending leg shots of my body, ignoring my cries of agony as my left shoulder dislocated from its joint with a loud snap sound. They kicked and punched harder instead, my back, my face, my stomach, my hips, every part of my body!
When the girls paused for a second, I thought they had grown tired and I prepared to open my mouth to ask for rcy when I suddenly saw a flicker of fire from the lighter Cecelia was holding
"Hold her still girls", she said to the girl’s as she straddled and grabbed a fistful of my hair, "this is for the ultimate punishnt Aria Luther, let’s see how you would look without your long, brown and shiny hair"
And then she did it, she set fire to my hair. The foul sll of my own burning hair suffocated and so did the weakening pain in the middle of my chest.
"I insisted on taking you ho but you refused. Now look at what has happened to you"
Timothy’s words bounced off my ears but the pain in his sincere voice resoJaxond with the undiluted one my whole body had beco engulfed in. I was neither alive nor dead, I didn’t know where I was or how I managed to breathe through my blood congested nose. I opened my mouth to cry but the sound wouldn’t proceed out of my throat, I was feeling nurous pains and they made my fragile brain a collision course.
"I can’t believe Maya instructed her gang to do this to you", Timothy continued and I heard him sobbing, "just what is this"
"It’s nothing Timmy," I muttered underneath my breath as I felt my limp body being lifted onto the ambulance’s stretcher, "I shouldn’t have passed this secluded route. I should have boarded a public transport"
I closed my eyes as blood trickled from the cut on my forehead into my eyes, "it’s okay"
The minutes afterwards we were at the back of the white vehicle, heading to the hospital, with Timothy standing beside as the journey progressed.
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