"Mary, what happened?" asked Mr. Collins.

"H .... Harvey pulled my hair," I sobbed.

I was a really good actress and I knew Mr. Collins wouldn't be able to see through it. I'd get even with Harvey. I'd make him pay. I always did.

"Set your hair and wash your face. Then come to my office, immediately," ordered Mr. Collins.

I wanted to get it over with very quickly. I rushed to the ladies' room and made myself presentable.

I ran towards the principal's office before anyone could question me and was secretly happy to see Harvey sitting in a chair, in front of Mr. Collins.

He had a very innocent look on his face. As soon as I entered the office, the innocent look changed into a worried one.

He rushed towards me and said, "who pulled you hair, Mary? Tell me. I'll make him pay." He turned around and looked at Mr. Collins, "I am sorry if I sound rude but Mary is constantly being bullied and no one bothers to do anything about it. It's about time I did something."

I was not astonished at his confidence. He obviously didn't know that Mr. Collins already knew that it was him. He was trying to make me say that I was bullied by someone else but I had already told Mr. Collins. Even if I hadn't told him yet, I would have done so.

"He knows, jerk," I whispered.

"Did you just call me a jerk?" he asked loudly.

"No, I only said that he knows," I said trying to sound like an angel.

"You whispered jerk in my ear."

"No, I did not," I said, emphasising on 'not'.

"You did, you liar," he said.

"Look, Mr. Collins, he is calling me a liar," I said.

"Enough of this. Now if you have done fighting like little kids, you can sit down and talk to me instead," said Mr. Collins.

I obeyed him at once. Harvey followed me and sat on the chair beside me.

"Harvey, I have been hearing a lot of complaints about you, recently. What do you say about it?" asked Mr. Collins.

"You heard wrong?" said Harvey as if he was asking a question.

"What do you say about his attitude?" he asked me.

"I should not say anything, sir. He may hurt me again," I said acting like an innocent victim.

"What!" Harvey exclaimed. "When have I ever hurt you before?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know," I said sarcastically, "maybe today, in the cafeteria."

"I was just joking then," he said lamely.

"Joking? You pulled my hair out of their roots," I said. He didn't actually, but it couldn't hurt to say so. I laughed mentally like a villain.

"I didn't ...," Harvey tried to say something.

"He pulled your hair out. And what else did he do?" asked Mr. Collins, interrupting him.

"He punched me and tripped me over a chair. I have bruise on my knee," I said, making my voice quiver.

Mr. Collins eyed Harvey sternly.

"You know Harvey, a decent boy never hits a girl," he said.

"It's not the first time, sir. He has hit me loads of time. He even broke my tooth when he tripped me over, last week," I said pointing to my chipped front tooth. (Harvey hadn't broken it. It had broken when I had tripped down the stairs on my own.)

"You'll pay for these lies," he whispered bringing his mouth close to my ear.

"What are you whispering," asked Mr. Collins.

"Noth ..." he started to say.

I interrupted him, "he is saying that he will make me pay and he also called me a bitch."

"Did he?" asked Mr. Collins.

"He did," I said, nodding innocently, looking hurt.

"I didn't call her a bitch," he tried to say.

"That's enough, Harvey. Apologise to Mary, at once," said Mr. Collins sternly.

"What? I said I didn't call her a bitch," he yelled.

"Shouting won't prove that you're not lying," said Mr. Collins.

"The shouted words may make their way into your brain because other words obviously don't," said Harvey rudely.

I had a desire to laugh, rising inside me. Not because of what Harvey said, but because what was going to follow it.

"How dare you say that to my principal?" I tried to sound angry.

"Like you care. You good for nothing lying bitch."

He said bitch, in real that time.

"Look, that proves my point," I said triumphantly.

"That's it! You have to write 500 lines of 'I am truly sorry'," said Mr. Collins.

"Isn't 'I am sorry' enough?" asked Harvey, "Do I have to write 'truly'?"

"It's 'I am truly sorry' 500 times, or it's detention for a week. Your choice. Is that clear?"

"I'll go with the lines, sir," mumbled Harvey.

"I am sorry that I ever insulted you," he whispered bringing his mouth close to my ear. He realised his mistake at once and drew back.

"What are you whispering?" asked Mr. Collins.

"Will you pull Hilda off of me?" I asked in a whisper.

"Yes," he whispered back.

'Let's settle this outside the office,' his eyes suggested.

I smiled, agreeing to his suggestion.

"He is saying that he is sorry for insulting me." It looked like I was trying to defend Harvey, but in reality I was trying to defend myself. Harvey was going to kill me if I got him more lines to write.

"That's very nice if you accept your mistake and apologise for it," said Mr. Collins.

"It will feel nice if he stops pulling my hair, slapping me, pushing me, taunting me or calling me names," I said.

Harvey glared at me, his eyes warning 'don't push it'.

Maybe I was pushing it. But it was an amazing chance to get him into trouble. How could I not take it?

"Okay," I mouthed.

"I didn't want to complain about him, but I spoke his name without thinking. I am really sorry about this," I turned to Harvey.

He looked surprised at this change in my attitude but I didn't let him get his hopes up.

"Not really," I mouthed again.

Aloud I said, "I mean it's not his fault because some words are permanently on his tongue. He isn't able to control it. He just says such words without realising that he said something wrong."

Harvey glared at me again. If looks could kill, I would have fallen dead at the spot.

"What?" I mouthed again.

"Now you can both leave and Harvey, I should not hear any more complaints about you," said Mr. Collins.

As soon as we were out of the earshot of the office, Harvey clutched at my shoulder. I turned around and saw his eyes burning with anger. I was surprised at this sudden change in his behaviour. One moment his eyes had a mischievous look in them, and lo and behold, the next moment they were on fire.

Yes, I really am the best eye reader in the history of eye readers.

"Maybe I should turn all your fake accusations into real ones," he growled.

"Harvey, I ..." I tried to say something but he grabbed me by my neck and slammed me against the wall. That was surprising for me. I knew Harvey since primary school and he was a jerk, he bullied me and taunted me. I got him into trouble loads of time. He had never reacted like this before.

"What are you doing?" I choked.

I stared at him, trying to say something to stop him. His pressure on my trachea was increasing with every second that passed. I couldn't breathe properly and thought that my trachea was about to snap. I saw his other hand closing into a fist. Tears of helplessness trickled down my cheeks.

I wasn't expecting this. Maybe I had gone too far this time. I was scared. Harvey was a guy and was obviously stronger than me. If he decided to beat me up for all the things I had ever done to him, I wouldn't be able to save myself.

'This is it. My last minute. I never thought that I'd die like this. At school, in the middle of a hallway with a broken trachea and a nose,' I thought.

I waited for the punch, but got none. I opened my eyes slightly wondering who had come to my rescue. I was surprised to see a naughty twinkle in Harvey's eyes.

He laughed at me and I got red with embarrassment. Everyone in the corridor was staring and laughing at me. I felt so silly, about thinking that my trachea was about to snap and that I was going to die. He was just joking. Just trying to frighten me.

The remaining day passed without any more mishaps.

'I am glad this day can't get any worse,' I thought.

Or could it?

Author's note :

Picture of Harvey attached.

What do you think? Just to make it clear, if Harvey bullies Mary, she doesn't let him get away with it. And he was just joking with her. He had no intention of causing physical harm.

I made it shorter than the real one was. The part where Mary thought her trachea was about to snap was better in the previous version.

I'll probably publish this and the next chapter together. In this way you won't have to wait. But I may also publish them separately.

Depends on the author (that's me).

See ya!