1: Fat Girl

BELLA

I held my breath as I stepped into the hallway of Empire High, mentally preparing myself for the snickers, murmurs, taunts, and all that.

I was used to it, scratch that, I should be used to it by now but I wasn't, it still feels fresh every time I step into Empire High, every time someone mocks me, points at me, or laughs at me, it still hurts like hell.

It still made tears pool at the corners of my eyes.

"Hey Fat girl," my first abuser, a slim girl with the perfect body, perfect face, and perfect everything snickered at me and I had to force myself to keep walking, had to force myself not to run into the nearest classroom and hide myself there.

"Were you able to walk through the doors this morning? With the way you're going, they'd have to tear the walls down for you to be able to do that."

The whole hallway snickered at that and the harsh whispers and condemnation grew more venomous.

How can anyone allow themself to look like that?

Is she not embarrassed?

If I were her, I'd lock myself up and starve myself till I get the perfect body.

I'd have killed myself.

No one is supposed to look like that.

She's even doing a disservice to humanity by walking around like that. She's hurting our eyes!!

My heart wouldn't stop breaking over and over again and tears won't stop streaming down my cheeks as they hurled the words that damaged me beyond repair at me.

This is my everyday life, this happens every single time I step into the school so I should be used to it but it doesn't hurt any less. It was still heartbreaking, it still breaks my heart every single time.

I tried to quicken my steps so I'd get away from the hallway faster but their words seemed to be dragging me down, seems to be slowing down my steps.

Finally, I was about to turn to the last corridor when...

Pammmm!!!

I fell face down and pain erupted at every part of my body as the whole hallway burst into a loud and deriding laughter.

I wanted to remain there, I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I wanted to stop existing.

But I knew I had to get up, I had to leave here if I did not want my situation to worsen.

I started to do just that but I had to look up first to see who had orchestrated the fall, the person who stuck out their leg and made me trip on it.

The girl was looking down at me, the wicked glint in her eyes transforming her look into that of a wicked ice queen. I wasn't surprised to see that it was her.

I already knew it was her and the her was Mara, my step-sister who loathed me for reasons I did not understand. She never hesitated to make my life a living hell, both in school and at home.

She was my number one bully; she was the only reason why the whole school had this much effrontery to bully me.

And of course, her two mindless minions were standing beside her, mirroring her expression.

I ignored her and I started to push my body off the floor but her maniacal laughter stopped me before she grabbed my shoulders in a very painful way, forcing me to remain on the floor as she bent to my level.

"Why are you trying to get up?" She mocked, "It's a place where you belong to so why are you trying to get up?"

I tried to shrug off her hand but her hold was too tight and I could feel her fingers digging into my skin and crushing my bones.

"Stop it, Mara,"

"And if I don't?" She mocked again, "What are you going to do about it?"

There was nothing I could do about it, absolutely nothing at all. I was a nobody and she was the president of the cheer club, the darling of many students and the hierarchy of the school won't allow me to be able to do anything to her at all.

"Just stop it, Mara, you have nothing to gain from doing all this."

"Says who?" The wicked glint in her eyes deepened as she dug her fingers more into my shoulder, breaking my bones for real this time around.

"The expression in your eyes is worth it," she leaned closer so I could see the malicious hate evident in her eyes, "when you realize over and over again how worthless you are, how much of a pig you are, it's all worth it."

She dropped me as if I was a worthless piece of trash as she stood to her full height and clapped her hands together.

"I'm doing a service to humanity, ain't I?" The whole hallway snickered, "Putting you in your place and nailing it into your thick skull that you're hurting all of us here by shoving your disgusting body into our faces every day."

She pushed me by my head as the whole hallway erupted into loud, deriding laughter and my tears started falling in torrents. I couldn't control it.

I felt so useless and so so miserable.

Mara stepped over me to walk away, leaving me down there on the floor while others went on with their activities.

As if I didn't exist.

This was my everyday life here; every day, I was reminded of the fact that I was reminded of the fact that I was at the bottom of the food chain, that I was a loner, I was the most bullied person here and it was always going to be like that.

Or maybe not.

The whole hallway quietened down immediately and I could hear feet shuffling towards a particular location as if they wanted to get a closer look at something or someone and from the hushed whispers of murmurs that followed, I knew who exactly it was that they were clamoring to get a good look at.

It was Trevor King, Alpha Prince, and the actual King of the School. Girls would kill to flank him and be associated with him and to spend just a night with him and boys were secretly envious of him, they wanted to be him so bad.

And in all my fucked up life and miserable existence, I just had to have a crush on him, on someone who never knew I existed, someone who has never and will never look my way.

I made to push myself up and run out of the hallway because even though he'd never look at my way and I was sure he'd walk away beside me without even knowing that someone, despite my size, was lying on the floor, I still didn't want to see me like this.

I'd die of embarrassment if he should see me like this. I was okay with the whole school seeing me like this but not him.

My attempt to stand from my position failed because girls were pushing each other just to get a front view of Trevor and in the process, they were mindlessly stepping on me.

I hate my life.

I hate my life.

I hate my life.

I wanted to scream at all of them for treating me so poorly but I couldn't do anything, I could only remain on the floor like the miserable loser that I was.

The commanding footsteps drew nearer and I felt the alpha aura come closer too. I felt like dying, like begging the ground to open up and swallow me. I was sure he wasn't going to notice me but it didn't make my embarrassment less potent.

The footsteps drew more closer and I held my breath just as the murmurs ceased and I smelt something rich, woody, and exquisite at the same time I felt a shadow standing over me.

And even though I was yet to look up, just from the commanding aura alone and the sheer and irresistible pull that was drawing me to him, I already knew who it was.

My palms grew clammy despite myself and I could feel my cheeks turning red.

"Do you need help?"

The most polite and gentle voice pulled me out of my reverie and it forced my head up so my eyes met that of the same boy that always came to me in my dreams.

And as if that wasn't enough, he had his hand out, a gesture for me to put mine on it so he'd help me up.

This has to be a dream, right? I was dreaming and consoling myself in my dreams and from the murmurs of disbelief in the hallway, I knew everyone else thought the same.

Except the pretty boy who was smiling at me.