Chapter 2: Chapter 1

A PAPER BALL HIT THE BACK OF MY HEAD.

I let out a heavy sigh as I turned around, aware of the giggling group of girls, and bent over to pick up the scrunched-up paper. I knew they were all waiting for my reaction, so I unfolded the note, my eyes scanning over the scrawled words.

YOU STUPID SKANKY BITCH, GET OUT OF OUR SCHOOL!

"How original," I muttered. "Not like I haven't been heard that before."

Suddenly, someone crashed into me, knocking me to the floor. I let out a pained groan as my back hit the ground roughly. The sheets and books in my hand crashed to the floor, scattering around me. I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment as soon as I heard the familiar laughs and camera clicks.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Isla, I didn't see you there."

The familiar, mocking voice of my bully came from above me. I turned to glare at the one person I hated the most in this school. Trevor Jenkins. He loomed over me with a cocky smirk playing on his lips. Ever since I had started in this school, it was like I had a sign printed on my back that read PLEASE BULLY ME.

?I didn't think I had ever done anything to Trevor, so how I even got on his radar confused me, even to this day. But for the past few years, he seemed to get a kick out of harassing me.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you didn't," I snapped, "Like how you also didn't see me when you dumped rotten eggs on my head?"

Trevor sniggered, looking back at his sleazy group of friends and shrugged his shoulders innocently, "I guess I'm just a clumsy person, Isla, what can I say?"

"Fucking clumsy my ass," I muttered as I tried to stand up, "Says the Captain of the football and basketball team."

Just as I got on my knees, Trevor kicked his foot out, knocking me back down on the floor. A cheer of laughter rang out from everyone when I fell back down. I gritted my teeth in anger as he stomped on my homework sheets.

"Oops," he smirked, crumpling the crispy pages with his shoe, "You should really watch where you put your belongings. If you dump them on the floor, who knows what will happen to them?"

"Fuck you Trevor," I snapped, "You piece of absolute shit."

The humor from his face dropped as he grabbed the collar of my shirt, bringing me up to his level, "If I were you, I'd watch what you say," Trevor hissed, his warm breath fanning over my face, "You never know what other...accidents could happen today."

I struggled to get out of his iron-clad hold. I choked out a pained scoff. "What, gonna shove my head down the toilet again, huh Trevor? Or maybe this time, you'll actually use your brain for once and come up with something a little more origin –"

Trevor shoved my back up against a locker. I winced as the lock dug into my skin painfully, "You just don't know when to shut your mouth, do you?" he hissed.

I grimaced, "I don't think it would make much of a difference if I did."

Trevor was inches away from my face. He was so close, I could even see the small details in his eyes, the way he had a lighter brown ring around the darker brown. Or the small, almost invisible freckles that dotted across his nose.

"You don't belong here Isla," he growled under his breath, "The sooner you realize that, the better."

He released his grip on me and I felt to the floor in a heap. I crumped to the ground, my body curling up into itself. As soon as he began walking away, the other students seemed to unfreeze. They laughed down at me, stomping over my personal belongings without a care. Their taunts and insults filled the hallway, and like a stuck record, their words played in my brain.

"Freak!"

"Ugly bitch!"

"What's her name again?"

"What a slut. She only wants Trevor's attention."

"She looks like she came from the trash."

"How could Trevor even stand being so close to her ugly face?"

As everyone passed me, one by one, they each left a comment. I tried to block it out as much as I could, but after years of listening to the same insults, they became ingrained inside of you.

I didn't fit into the typical stereotypical categories of nerd, goth or the popular cheerleaders. I was simply in my own group: Isla. I didn't mind that I was one of the people who blended into the background. I was someone who you might take one glance at by accident, and keep moving on. I had an ordinary appearance, but a less than normal life.

Yet in spite of all that, I was okay with that. I was okay with being the girl who sat alone at lunch, the one who never had a partner and the one who had no friends. It was a lonely life, and it was something that took getting used to, but once you did...It almost made you not want to go back.

I sighed as the corridors began to clear out and I crawled over on my knees to where my dirty and torn notes were. I picked them up sadly, some of the pages being torn in half. Mud and dirt stained the once perfectly crisp edges. I clenched my fist, crumpling the sheets.

What had I ever done to deserve this?

I took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.?I needed to get to class, and sitting here in the middle of the hallway wasn't going to get me there any faster. Despite being useless, I stuffed the torn notes inside my bag in hopes that I would be able to Sellotape some of them back together.

I brushed the imaginary dirt off my old jeans as I stood up. My Chemistry class was only two doors down and I slowly trudged over, knocking on the door lightly. I pushed the door open, letting myself in. I hung my head in both shame and embarrassment when Miss Karey shot me her evil glare.

"Miss Leighton!" Miss Karey shouted, slamming her pen down on the table, "You're ten minutes late!"

"I-" I opened my mouth to argue but she held up her hand to silence me.

"Sit down," she snapped, "I'm sick of you being the only one who's late to my classes. If you can't be bothered to turn up on time, don't turn up at all."

A chorus of 'Ooos,' rang out through the classroom as people applauded Miss Karey, but all I felt was anger. She never let me explain myself as to why I was late, yet I had the feeling she knew why, but chose to ignore it.

"Well?" she shot me an incredulous look, "Why on earth are you still standing there? I told you to sit down!"

I bit down on my lip to stop myself from answering back. Instead, I tried to remain as calm as I could and slowly headed over to my seat at the back of the room, being careful to avoid tripping over people's feet. I slowly came to a halt when I saw the seat beside me was filled.

I looked around me in curiosity but everyone was back to paying attention to Miss Karey. My gaze swiveled back to my desk, squinting as I realized a guy was in the seat beside me.

Was this another joke they were playing on me?

I cautiously approached my seat, placing my books on top as I sat down. I shot the guy several curious looks, unable to see his face clearly.

"Do you have something to say to me?"

I blinked in surprise as the guy turned to face me. His entire expression screamed leave-me-alone as he pursed his lips. My eyes trailed from his dark ones up to his pierced eyebrow and I tilted my head curiously as I looked at it. The guy cleared his throat quietly. I snapped my gaze back to his as he raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Oh, right," I whispered, and rolled my eyes tiredly, "If Trevor set you up to do something, can you just leave it until tomorrow?"

The guy's face scrunched up as he shot me a weird look, "What?"

"Look, I'm just not in the mood for whatever bullshit he has planned, so if you could kindly relay my message to him, I would really appreciate it."

Blinking at my harsh tone, his mouth worked soundlessly as he struggled to reply.

"No?" I sighed, "Let me guess, he's paying you right?" I rolled my eyes, "For fucks sake, does he not have anything better to do?"

"What the fuck are you-"

"I mean it's a bit much for him to get you to do something while we're in class," I mumbled, cutting him off, "You could probably get suspended, wait no, detention most likely, but still. That goes on your record, doesn't it?"

The guy's face was a mixture of confusion and annoyance at me cutting him off every few seconds.

"Are you going to let me speak or keep talking?" he snapped, running a hand over his face with a frustrated sigh.

I shut my mouth and gestured for him to talk, "Sorry," I said sarcastically, "I forgot you guys think you're all the Kings around here. Go ahead."

"First of all," he hissed, glowering at me with his thunderous eyes, "I don't even know who the fuck this Trevor guy is."

Now, it was my turn to look at him weirdly, "Is he paying you to say that?"

The guy shot me a blank look before massaging his temples. "Secondly," he continued, ignoring my question, "No one is paying me anything for whatever fucking reason you were babbling about a second ago. And to answer your question, I don't think I'm the King or whatever."

I silently stared at him, and while his eyes seemed honest and open, the more conscious side of me didn't believe him.

I let out a breathless laugh and pointed a finger at him, "You're good."

"Oh Christ," he muttered, looking up at the ceiling pleadingly.

"No, you're good," I whispered, "You almost had me there."

"What kind of fucking school did I come to?" he grumbled, turning his head to give me an exasperated look, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

The bell suddenly rang, cutting my next sentence short. One of the only things I was grateful for, was that Miss Karey wasn't one of those teachers who believed in the-bell-doesn't-dismiss-you-I-do. Everyone immediately jumped out of their seats, shoving past one another to leave as quickly as possible. Miss Karey struggled to shout over everyone before they left.

"Guys! Don't forget, pages fifty to fifty-five for tomorrow!"

The room cleared out in a few short seconds with everybody desperate to get to lunch. I frowned in confusion as I looked around the empty classroom.

Where was the prank? Or rather, what was the prank?

"Hey," I protested, throwing out my hand in front of the guy when he got up to leave, "What's going on? If you're going to do something, stop dragging it out! Do you know how frustrating it is, having to constantly look over my shoulder?!"

He looked down at my hand, blocking his way before trailing his dark eyes back up to mine, "What's going on is, I think you need help. I don't have a fucking clue what you're saying to me."

My mouth opened and closed in confusion, as I struggled to get a word out. I cocked my head to the side as I looked at the guy. So, he wasn't being paid by Trevor?

"So...you're telling me, you're not here to potentially stuff my head down a toilet again?" I slowly questioned, "Or smash my face into rotten meat?"

He scrunched his face up in slight disgust. "What? No!"

I looked down at my hand that was blocking his way and slowly retracted it, an apologetic expression on my face, "Oh," I let out a forced laugh, "Well, this is kind of awkward now, isn't it? I'm guessing you're new then? You don't look very familiar."

He rolled his eyes, "Finally, someone's beginning to understand."

I looked down, playing with the ends of my curly hair in embarrassment, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to accuse you like that..."

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, a careless expression on his face, "Whatever. Don't worry about it. It'll probably be something I can laugh at later."

I nodded my head, giving him a strained smile. It was nice to know he would be laughing at my complete and utter idiocy later on.

"Well then...I'll just get going," I jutted my thumb towards the door, cursing at myself for how awkward I was. The guy's eyes lit up in amusement as I walked began to walk backwards.

"So, I'll see you later – "

My sentence cut off when I banged my back into the door.

"Oh, the door," I let out a forced laugh and rested my elbow on it casually, "Who knew that was there?"

I shut my eyes in embarrassment as I turned around, pulling the door open. I could feel my entire face burning and I guessed that anyone would be able to see my flushed cheeks, even from outside. My heart thudded as I heard a low chuckle from behind me.

Was he laughing at me?

I cursed at myself under my breath for not looking where I was going. I would have never usually considered myself as someone who was clumsy, but after today's embarrassment...

Yet, there was something about his eyes that drew me in. They weren't dark and full of malicious intent like Trevor's were. I almost found myself becoming mesmerized just by staring at him for a few seconds.

As soon as I stepped out, a shriek left my lips when a bucket fell on top of my head. Cold liquid dripped all over me, drenching my clothes.

I pulled the now-empty bucket off of me, a whimper leaving me when I saw the dark red liquid. What I hoped was fake blood, stained my entire body. I attempted to wipe away the sticky liquid from around my eyes, but it only seemed to be getting into my eyes as they began to burn. Loud cries of laughter filled the hallway as I struggled to open my eyes, only to see Trevor standing with his arms crossed, an evil smile on his face.

He stepped forward, his eyes trailing over me, "Oops. I wonder who left that bucket up there?"

"You fucking asshole," I hissed, and as much as I would've liked my voice to come out strong, all that came out was a pained whisper.

Trevor's eyes darkened as he leaned forward, placing his mouth near my ear, "I told you, Isla. Be careful. Accidents happen to the less fortunate."

"I-I hate you."

Something flashed in his eyes, hearing those words, but it was gone as fast as it came.

"No one hates you as much as I do," he sneered.

I gritted my teeth in anger as I whipped around, only to stagger back when I came face to face with the guy from earlier. My eyes were wide in surprise as I stared up at him. Hushed whispers filled the crowded hall, with girls discreetly pointed to him, excited smiles crossing their faces.

He looked down at me, his face giving nothing away as he looked over my sticky form. Unable to bear the embarrassment, I pushed past him, running down the hall to the girls' bathroom. I slammed the door shut behind me, making sure it was locked before I crumpled into a heap onto the floor. My shoulders shook with every sob that racked my body. Hot tears ran down my red stained cheeks, leaving white streak marks as they fell.

I wasn't as strong as I liked to make myself out to be. I broke down, I cried...but it was all behind closed doors.

Because in the harsh world we lived in, if you weren't strong, you didn't survive.

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