Feather After // Chapter 52 // Stand Up

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END!

Aria's POV

Slut.

The word was written across my locker with bold red. For instance, I didn't know what to do. I looked left and right and then I realized that people around me knew what was going on. They knew, what had happened and yet they didn't do anything about it. Not that I was expecting them to fight for me but yeah it would have been better if they won't have made such a big issue about it.

I was famous and I was rich by birth. It wasn't like when I was with God, I told God, 'oh please give me a rich family.' It was the way it was. If I had known that Meet Gala was such a big issue I wouldn't have ever thought about going there. People were judging me just because I had money and fame. They knew I was going to be married but little did they know that it wasn't my choice.

When I saw slut written on my locker, I wanted to run straight to Rachael and I wanted to ask her to help me but I didn't know what to ask her, what would I have told her? 'People are calling me slut' help me?' Or 'please make everything which is wrong stop.' I was in a situation where I had to deal with this on my own and the problem was I did not know how to deal with it.

I took a deep breath and walked towards the hall for biology, I had no books, no stationary and with bare hands, I made my way to the room. The words were still ringing in my head and the last thing that was in my hand was biology.

When I entered the class, a lot of students turned to look at me but I assumed and somewhere I hoped that it was the opening of the door that attracted them and not my face. I bowed my head down and walked towards the last desk where Xavier was sitting in hope that he wouldn't abandon me just because I was someone he thought I was not.

"Hey," I greeted him and I pulled a stool from the space below the desk and sat down.

"Where did you go?" He didn't look surprised. He pushed his book towards my direction so that the book was now lying at the entire table after; realizing that I had nothing.

"I don't know. I couldn't handle people knowing about it. I mean, I never thought it was a big deal until now," I flipped the pages of the book and pretended as if I had found something so very interesting. The truth was I couldn't meet his eyes. I didn't know what he thought and I was scared that he won't feel what I wanted him to feel.

"Honestly, why do you care what people think? I mean it doesn't matter what they say!" He exclaimed rather angrily. His veins on his neck popped out and his eyes dilated as if he was trying not to sound angry.

"Somebody wrote slut on my locker with paint, now tell me how I'm supposed to react to that? Maybe I should stand next to my locker and shout paint me red," I told him whilst I put my had midway in the air and leaned my head back.

"You could be like the modern Jesus you know? No offense thought," he raised his hands in the air and made the sorry face.

"It's not funny like I don't know what I did to deserve this but it's getting over the top," I shook my head in hope that I'll be able to take the thought of the slut thing out of my mind, but it was nearly impossible.

"Arial, that's a pretty name, anyway, they hate you, until today you have everything that they had but now that they have realized that you have way more than they ever will, they are unhappy about it and let me tell you, hatred in a strange emotion, it brings the worst out of people," he shook his head as if he was disapproving with the way people where behaving.

"It's a little bit crazy, I wish they knew that I never wanted this, that I'm as unhappy about this, as they are," I told him and wished that everyone could hear what I wanted to say.

"You can't, if you explain things they will think that you know, you are trying to reason them out. Gossip is like fire in a forest, the bad thing is that it spreads very fast but the strange thing is that it dies down faster. My simple point is that it's just a phase and this will be over soon," he put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

I wanted to lean in, I felt safe for some strange reason, "What if it doesn't stop? What if there is no end to this?" I asked him. It felt like he was the only one who understood. It felt like I had some connection to him. I never liked it when people addressed me with some other name that Aria but for some reason I let him be. I let the whole situation be.

"Aria," he said and shook my shoulders, then I realized that I had started looking out of the window and I had started having an internal debate with myself; obviously. I shook my head and looked at him.

"What?" I raised my eyebrow at him and he just smiled. The cheeky and crazy Xavier was back.

"I was saying that you don't have to think about what they have to say you know? And I know this won't happen but if this you're famous and your fiancé is more famous talk doesn't get over, you have your family by your side, you know the awesome peeps, okay-ish Rachel and gorgeous Xavier," he said and pretend that he was flipping his nonexistent hair.

"Thank-you, really I don't know what I would have done-"

"Oh please," he cut me off like he usually did and continued, "don't get all emotional on me," he pretended that he was wiping his tears and then he smiled, "you know what I realized?" He asked me but didn't wait for my response, "Xavier and Savoir literally sound like fraternal twins," he looked at me and continued, "you know, now I can say, Xavier, is a savior."

I laughed, he was a nice guy. He was funny and cute and almost so excited that it felt great around him. Only positive vibes.

"You're so cute," I told him and patted his head

.

He moved back and with him, his chair moved back which made a screeching sound when it rubbed against the floor. Few heads turned to us and some just ignored us. I was fine with both.

"Ew, don't touch me, I sometimes think that the Sunday school has actually started to do wonders for me, you know, I have started giving so many biblical references that sometimes I even shook myself," he told me as if he was so proud of himself.

"That's basic Christianity information you know? Everyone knows about it. And if you think Savoir has a biblical reference then you are mistaken because it's part of the vocabulary," I told him. He made yuck face and turned put his head on the table.

"I'm seventeen years old and my mum still sends me to the Sunday school, I have told her so many times that I'm an atheist that I don't believe in God but at this point of time in her life, she'll believe that the world would end but not the fact that I am an atheist," he moved his head to his left and bought it back.

"You know -" before I could complete what I was saying a crumbled paper hit me on my cheek. As soon as the paper hit me, I turned to look who did it but I didn't find anyone. I got off my stool to pick up the paper and in that process, Xavier also stood up, I picked up the paper from the floor and opened it.

It was a pepper torn from a notebook and in weird handwriting, a single sentence was written on the center of the paper, Is your fiancé not enough that you have started whoring around with him too? I turned the paper around and another line was written there, I felt emotional and I wanted to cry. I wanted to bang my head on the wall. What had I done to them? I read what was written on it. What do you look in a guy before hooking up with him?

Too shocked to even reply, I took the paper and sat on the stool. Xavier tried to take the paper from me, I resisted. I was already very humiliated and I wished that Xavier wouldn't have seen it. The whole school thought that I was a slut.

"Trust me," before I could even consider the idea of trusting me, He snatched the paper from me and scribbled something on it.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, and saw what he was writing, he had cut the second line and wrote below it, A good personality and Brainpower, but don't worry, you clearly lack both :)

He crushed the paper into a ball again, and raised it up in the air, "hey mason," he shouted and threw the paper at him. The paper ball hit him on his head and he turned around. He gave me a dirty look and opened the paper. After reading what was written on it, his nose flared and he crushed the paper.

"You are taking her side?" He said and pointed a finger at me. He walked up to us and I wanted to cry. I had not done a thing, yet I was being put through this. My heart started beating fast in my chest, and I felt shivers running down my body. I had heard about bullying and slut-shaming before, but never thought or knew what it would feel like. I realized how important it was for people to realize that anything that hurt people was not alright. Bullying was not alright.

Suddenly, the teacher walked into the room. Everyone stood up, while some stumbled and some kept on sitting. She looked at everyone and eyed the three of us. She glared at the people who had not stood up to welcome her, and then she sat down on her chair.

Before I knew what was happening, Xavier snatched the paper from Mason's hand and walked to the center of the room. He turned to look at our biology teacher and said, "I don't mean any harm ma'am, but I need to do is."

He turned towards the class and the class was full. Every chair was taken and to my surprise, everyone had their attention on Xavier. Out biology teacher didn't say anything and nodded. I shook my head in nope that Xavier would realize that he shouldn't do what he was doing.

He looked at me, smiled and said, "my name is Xavier for people who don't know, and I have a paper in my hand," he raised the hand in which he held the paper and continued, "I apologize for any inappropriate word but my friend Aria, was the part of meet gala and I'm sure everyone knows that. I'm here to tell you that, just because she is rich and has money doesn't mean, we have the right to pull her down, some kid called her a slut because she was talking to me, or maybe because she is engaged, but do we really know her story? I'm not offering you any because it's not your call to judge someone but calling somebody some shitty name is definitely not alright," He looked at everyone around us and continued, "Mason, the man, has slept with a fair amount of women in his life, but he has problems if someone else does the same thing. Stop bullying people and calling them names because you don't know anything and shame on you, your parents are sending you hear to learn stuff not to become rabid dogs, your straight A grades, football scholarships won't matter if you don't have a good personality, learn to be kind to people, Thank-you for your attention and patience."

He walked to the place he was sitting, and nobody said anything. I was shocked too. Xavier looked at me and said, "When I said you had family, I wasn't kidding."

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This chapter deals with bullying and emphasis on How important it is for people to stand up for one another.
Release Ronaldie