"You do know who started these rumors, don't you?" Chris's music was blaring in the background, making her have to shout into the phone.
"If I had to guess, it would be the same assholes as always, but I don't really care. I don't even know what the rumor is this time. I'm so sick of it all." I looked down at my homework as I packed it up into my backpack so it would be ready for tomorrow. I'm finally done!
"Why wouldn't you want to know? The rumors are spreading fast." I could tell that she was frowning. Her voice wasn't the normal high and happy Chris, and she turned down her music.
"I really don't care anymore. These people who keep starting rumors about me just to make me miserable, don't realize that they aren't hurting me. I just want to do my time and be done with it." I sighed.
For a brief moment the thought actually popped into my head, 'Why does Jessie hate me so much? How can a man be proud of himself by bullying a woman he didn't even know?'
I quickly shook my head to get the thought out. It doesn't matter what he thinks, I don't know him. I only met him a week ago, and he didn't make the best impression. At the same time, I'm sure I didn't either.
I thought back to every encounter I have ever had with him. I yelled at him, poured ice cream on his head, and was just overall mean to him too.
No.
No, it's not my fault, he had a bad attitude from the second we crossed paths. He treats people like crap for no reason!
"Jules?" Chris's voice brought me back to reality, and I slowly unclenched my jaw. My knuckles were locked in a vise grip around my phone as I thought about that asshole. He was nothing but a bully. Jessie, and all his friends, can go to Hell.
"Sorry Chris, I was just lost in thought. What were you saying?" I walked across my bedroom floor and pulled back my duvet, crawling in shivering at the cold fabric.
"I was talking to you about my stupid history teacher, but you seem to have your mind on other things. What's going on? Do you want to talk about it?" Her voice slowed down as she talked and she got really quiet at the end.
"No, I'm good I just think I'm going to go to sleep, I'm really tired. Sorry, Chris, I'll talk to you tomorrow."
* * * * *
"What a slut!" Who was that chick and why did she just call me a slut? I looked around for a minute and saw a girl crying her eyes out and a boy trying to explain. Of course the regular high school drama you see every day.
I didn't miss the group of guys that had dedicated their time to try and make my life hell. A few were smirking my way, the rest were laughing. I watched as Jessie walked up to them, doing a stupid handshake with one, nodding his head with excitement.
His smile made me stumble. It was blinding, and kind of beautiful. At least, it would be if his personality wasn't shit. I had to remind myself how rude he was to shake away the awe.
I walked up to my locker and fiddled with the lock. As I pulled the door open, around a hundred fliers fell to the ground. I bent down and picked one up. At the top of the paper was my yearbook photo from last year. My smile was wide as my excitement for high school hadn't been crushed out of me yet.
"Ladies and Gentlemen,
The quiet ones are always the ones you need to watch out for.
Put your flier in her locker if she fucked you too! Her locker number is 721!
P.S. I'll call you later Julie. ;)"
My jaw dropped to the floor as my eyes lined with tears. The crushing pain that filled my chest was a surprise to me. I had worked hard to make sure none of their bullying and pranks affected me but this was more than that. It wasn't just that stupid group of assholes. It seemed my whole grade put flyers into my locker. It didn't matter that I was still a virgin, or that I had never had a boyfriend before. They just wanted a laugh and didn't care how it affected those around them.
Soon a huge crowd was surrounding me. The girls were yelling at me, the boys were laughing at me, and I was scared.
My feet were glued down to the floor, and my mouth clamped shut to hold back the sob that was threatening to breakthrough. Someone was pushing through the back of the crowd making their way to the front slowly. My savior.
Chrissie grabbed my upper arm and pulled me out of the chaos. I closed my locker door and let her pull me. The crowd was violent as we pushed our way through. My head was down with my chin to my chest. They didn't deserve to see me cry.
A hard shove sent me flying into Chris' back when we reached the edge of the group, only steps away from freedom. I turned to her once we were away from the crowd of angry girls, and hysterically laughing boys.
"Chrissie are you okay?" I looked towards her, hoping I didn't hurt her when I slammed into her back. She looked confused but then laughed after a minute.
"Jules, you were just surrounded by half of the school, most of which looked like they wanted to kill you, and you're asking if I'm okay?" She laughed again. My mouth relaxed, and I wanted to pull it up into a smile, but I still couldn't.
"Yeah, so? I'm allowed to make sure my best friend is okay, you had to throw some serious elbows back there." That was a terrible excuse. My shaky hands reached up and wiped the moisture from my cheeks.
"Sweetie, sometimes I worry about you." My lips finally pulled into a smile and everything felt normal for a minute. She walked me to my first hour and hugged me.
"Text me if anything happens." I nodded to her and we both walked into our first classes of the day but on opposite sides of the hallway. I wish that we had it together, but it wasn't often that things went my way. I was 90% positive a curse was placed on me as a child.
As I walked into my first hour the class got silent, then louder than it was before. I slouched down and pretended not to hear them until the bell rang. I ran out into the hallway and to my next hour. I made it in record time and was the first one there. Sitting down in my seat at the back of the class, I could only pray that everyone left me alone.
When the bell was just about to ring, Jessie walked in with an evil grin. He walked over to a blonde cheerleader and slapped her butt making her jump. He smirked at her then continued to the back of the class.
Gross.
He sat down in his seat smiling.
"You didn't tell me you were like that. I would have never known." I snapped my head in his direction as he began to talk.
"I'm not. It's nothing but a rumor." I wasn't smiling, I wasn't trying to, and I was not happy at all.
"I think you're just holding out on me." He winked and smirked at me. "The boys seem to say that as soon as the lights go out, you're an animal."
What did I do to deserve this? I didn't do anything bad. I've been good my whole life.
"As I said, they're all just lies and rumors." I looked up to the front as the teacher came into the classroom. We passed in our homework, and I saw Jessie move a seat closer to me so we were right next to each other.
He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "If you're holding out on me, you won't be for long. You want me." He winked again before sitting back in his normal seat.
Why can't he understand that I am not interested?Today was my own personal Hell on Earth. No matter where I turned, I saw that horrible flyer mocking me. That, and those five flipping words were haunting me, rolling around in my head."You won't be for long."What the heck was that supposed to mean? I don't like him, I don't want him, and I never will. But, his words were like a threat... or a promise. That infuriating man. Apparently, he doesn't know what "not interested" means.Then again, with the way I hadn't been able to get him out of my head, I didn't either. It wasn't that I wanted to be attracted to him. I just was.I walked upstairs and crawled into bed. Flipping on the television, I went channel surfing. My phone vibrated on my nightstand, and I grabbed it, hoping it would be Chris."Hello?" No answer."Hello?" Why is this person not talking? Wait, what if this is the person who put out those fliers?"Hello, Julie."
I opened my locker and sighed. People were still putting those stupid flipping fliers in my locker. Really?I truly hoped that people would be over this. Apparently, the people at my stuck-up school are just that immature. I took them out along with the English book. Closing my locker, I walked down the hall in search of a trash can. The fliers fluttered down into the first one I found.I made sure all of the fliers were in the bin before I turned and began to walk back to class. A smile stretched across my face, and my bad mood lifted away when I was stopped by Chrissie."Oh my God! Jules, what happened? Did you get the mysterious phone call? Who was it? What did they say? Are you okay?" She must have had a little too much sugar this morning."Yeah, I got the phone call. It was Jessie. He is the one who did the fliers. He said it was a dare and then hung up on me. Jack left my mom last night. I think I'm okay. Wait, did I answer all of your
By the time I found my car keys, I had ended up destroying my room, just to find it in my sister's. Okay, she can take my clothes or my stuff, but NO ONE can touch my baby but me! I walked outside and instantly put my hood up to protect my impending frizzy hair from the rain.After locking the door, I walked out to my car. It was nothing special, but it was mine.As I pulled up to The Shack, I could already see the nervous look on her face through the window from where she sat. I got out and locked my car. Sucking in a deep breath, I walked into The Shack and sat down with Chrissie, not bothering to go to the counter to get some ice cream."So, how was the rest of your day Chrissie?" I forced a painted smile on my face."It was really good. During sixth hour Mrs. Bough partnered me up with Cole, so at least now I know that I don't have to do the project by myself and have some stupid jock take half of the credit. Then, during seventh period,
After a very long and confusing class, I went straight to my locker. Every time I caught Jessie staring at me, he would revert back to his usual glare and then look away. It wasn't unusual for him per se, but I thought we had reached an agreement of sorts that we could be civil to one another."So, how did it go?" I jumped back, and my hand flew up to my chest. Air was forced into my lungs at a rapid pace as I looked up to see my best friend standing behind me. I was still a little touchy about going to my locker after the angry mob incident."Jesus, Chrissie! Are you trying to scare me to death?" She was laughing hysterically at my reaction, resulting in a glare from me."Dude! You should have seen your face!" She gasped for air and laughed out the rest, "It was so priceless!" She caught her breath but looked excited."So now tell me what happened. Did you guys talk? Did he flirt with you again?" I shook my head, and her face dropped. "Well, then what ha
"Mom!" I screamed through the front door, "Mom! I'm home!" I looked into the kitchen, but she wasn't there. The text I received from her was nerve-racking. It said, 'Come home immediately after school'. That was never a good thing. It was like when the significant other says, 'We need to talk.'I heard a noise coming from the living room, so I walked that way. She was sitting on the couch, legs crossed, arms folded, and eyes glaring. What did I do now?"Sit!" I did what she said instantly without thinking about it. "Now, I better get a damn good explanation on why one of your teachers called me and told me that you were sent to the principal's office again!" Of course, that stupid teacher just had to tell my mother as payback for me sitting on his couch.I sucked in a deep breath and began speaking without a break or stop. "I was sitting down. This girl, Jessica, walked up to me and told me to move because she wanted my seat, but this guy Jessie stood up and tol
By third hour, I guess that Mr. Streeter hadn't forgiven me yet because he had ignored me and was extremely mean the entire hour. He even used yellow caution tape to tape off his couch. I sat down in my seat ignoring Jessica who was standing on the other side of it. I guess she was planning on sitting here. Oh, well."Move freak!" I sucked in a deep breath remembering what Jessie had said. 'Next time, grow a dick too and stand up for yourself.' I looked up at Jessica."No, I think I'm good. Go find a different seat. I was here first, and I'm staying." I opened up my math book to the unit we were on while I could feel her hard, cold glare. I looked up at her, "Are you having issues walking, or do you not speak English?" I held my breath. I didn't move, I didn't blink, and I didn't want to see her facial expression so I looked back down to my textbook. I heard a giggle come from Chrissie. I turned, and she was looking at Jessica, trying to hold back laughter.I st
"Hey, so do you want to go to my house and hang out?" I looked over at an excited and jumping Chris."Sure, it sounds fun. We should walk. It's really nice out." I looked up at the sky. There was a slight breeze in the air, but it was still warm enough to get away with short sleeve shirts. There were light, fluffy clouds in the sky that left a shallow covering to block a small portion of the sun."Yeah, it really is something." She sounded like she was looking at the love of her life when she said that. I smiled at her, and she looked down at me.We began our walk slowly enjoying the nice white clouds as they started to thicken and get darker."I know life seems shitty sometimes, but I want you to know that I'll always be here for you if you ever need someone to talk to... or backup." She looked at me, and I smiled at her. The corner of my lips twitched as I held back a laugh at the thought of her fighting someone. She would be like a vicious Chihuahua.
I watched my clock go from 8pm to 5:59 am. When the alarm flashed 6:00 a.m. I sniffled holding back more tears. Have you ever cried all night and ended up crying yourself to sleep? Yeah, well this wasn't those times.My pillow was soaked in tears, and my blankets had random wet spots from me tossing and turning, trying to go to sleep while crying. It didn't really work out too well. I muffled another sob into my pillow. Eyes closed or open, I still saw Chris lying in my arms, covered in blood. The sight was burned into my corneas.I guess yesterday, my mom woke up to an empty bed and was pissed about the one-nightstand. She decided to punish me for some random guy leaving her. My punishment was that I had to go to school today even though my best friend had just died! She said she didn't want anyone in the house.I let out another sob at this thought. It was my fault that Chrissie was gone. If I had looked before I crossed the damn street, she woul