Chapter 7: Regrets of a Weakling

The next day, he'd kept silent to surprise Diane after the blackmail suddenly stopped.

She'd asked about his swollen cheek but he'd lied about getting into a bar fight. The blackmailing bastard had hit him once, but that couldn't compare to what he'd received in return.

Diane who'd not worn a bra to school as ordered only managed to wear a sleeveless cami. She was going to hold on till graduation which she'd planned to ditch after faking a sickness for Josh and her mother.

Even if he posted the false nudes, she'd have already graduated and moved to school somewhere far away. As long as he didn't release it before graduation-

And there was no way she'd have sex with such a person. It would only be making the situation worst.

Luckily, her school was strict and had cameras everywhere but the toilets. It was only on graduation day that students could move freely regardless of their gender.

They had one last morning paper which was - English.

'No matter how disgusting it feels, bear with it'.

But it seemed fate was against her the moment she'd stepped into the classroom. There were strange glances at her who'd always been invisible.

And she didn't have a friend who could give a decent explanation. Another surprising event that day was the fact that her seatmate who'd been blackmailing her had called absent due to a sudden illness.

Diane was so happy she couldn't help but smile till break time when people began to talk.

"She's actually smiling? Is she okay?". A girl not too far away whispered to the other girls surrounding her.

"And she always sits there like a freaking saint. Disgusting".

Their other talks were inaudible to her because a guy walked up to speak with her. He was from a different class and known for being overly nasty with girls. "You're even prettier in person". His eyes narrowed slyly.

"Ohh shit, Jim has gone to talk with her". One of the girls across was too loud.

"Excuse me, but I'm about to have lunch now". She tried hard to chase him away without being too rude. She wasn't usually bullied, just invisible - and life wasn't bad that way. Provoking Jim Foreman would mean hell for the little period before graduation.

"I'm hungry too". He took the seat beside her before leaning closer.

Her body froze when his hand landed on her chest giving it a little squeeze. "Fuck! They were right. You didn't wear a bra to school today!". He literally screamed the words out to the hearing of the whole class drawing even more unwanted attention.

Diane attempt to slap him but he caught her wrist. "Don't be so feisty baby, I heard you'd been trying to seduce someone and promised to come to school braless today". He pulled her closer by the wrist. "Why do you look so surprised?". He whispered. "If you'd sent the nude to me privately, I'd not have done you dirty". He licked her ear.

Diane's mind froze while feeling tears build up in her eyelids. What had she done wrong? Even after obeying him these past few days. Could he have seen through her plans?

Or was it retribution for cheating on Josh? Would he believe her if he saw the fake nudes?

Josh was everything to her so she didn't want to take chances. If he abandoned her - she'd have no one else.

"Shit, she's crying!". Jim mocked. "Don't worry, I can make all your problems go away".

Someone from ahead tossed a textbook at her forehead. "I guess the rumors were true". She walked up to pull Diane's hair. "You literally just let Jim the pervert squeeze your boobies, we all saw that!".

There were mumbles of agreement from around.

The tears had begun to flow freely out of Diane's eyes. She'd never experienced this much embarrassment - even when her father beat her and she'd come to school with a swollen face.

Nothing could compare to this.

She wanted to disappear!

If only Josh was here to comfort her.

"Diane Franchester!". A staff finally stepped in. "Please report to the staff office this instant". That was all she said before leaving.

Diane stood up to leave but Jim wouldn't move. She had to climb over the table since using force might prove futile.

She knew she was weak and Jim hung out with the thugs from school. His build alone was intimidating.

As she placed a foot on the table, the girl who'd dragged her hair roughly pulled her down.

Diane landed on the floor just managing to stop her face from a painful collision with the help of both hands. Her knees hurt and her skirt had gone up before she managed to lower it.

The students around were either laughing or throwing insults at her. Did she deserve such embarrassment?

As she passes the rows of seats, some bastard spanked her ass. She sent him an annoyed gaze.

"What?". His expression was cold while chewing gum carelessly. "You wanna fight me?".

In silence, she left the classroom.

"It was really soft-". She heard him whisper to the rest of the class members who'd begun returning as break time has ended.

On reaching the staff room, she managed a fake smile before her lips parted to speak.

"Is it funny to you?!". The male principal who was in attendance scorned her. "You've destroyed our school image with your immoral behaviors and picture. You're lucky you've already finished your finals! Unless I'd have sent you packing!".

"But sir!".

"Shut up!". He took some seconds to massage his temples while other staff members present shook their heads or sent glares of disdain. "I've called your mother and she's waiting for you downstairs. Don't even come for graduation and I'm going to write a bad review on your testimonial. You can forget about making it into the school you chose".

"That's not fair!". Diane bit her lip. "And it's not me in that photo! You have to believe me!".

"Get out!".

With suppressed rage, Diane left the staff office. Running through the corridors with teary eyes. She'd left her bag due to fear of returning.

At least her phone wasn't in it-

On leaving the school building, she spotted Josh's car first.

"Josh!". She managed to run towards his car while hiding her teary eyes with an arm.

"How was school baby? I came to pick you up early with a surprise".

"Really?". She moved to get in the back seat although she always sat on the passenger's side.

"I went through your phone on Saturday then went to give that blackmailing asshole a beating. I also deleted the pictures so you don't have to be scared. Although I'd have loved it if you told-".

"What did you say?!". Her voice cracked as she lowered her arm.

He only managed to catch a glimpse of her dumbfound face through the mirror. "Were you crying? What happened?".

Before Diane could speak, someone pulled her door open. It was her mother who'd seen her entering a man's car and pulled her out to slap her. "I'm disappointed in you!". She was crying too while pulling Diane to a car parked a stone's throw away.

Josh tried to explain everything but Diane's mother had already begun to speed off.

Her mother didn't even let her explain but kept simultaneously speeding and scolding her.

"The road!". Diane suddenly screamed out the moment a girl appeared out of nowhere. Her mother twisted the steering wheel to dodge but the car ended up somersaulting after hitting the girl.

Diane's last thoughts at that moment were, 'I don't wanna die'.