Presley

I take a seat at our usual cafeteria table with Maddy and Tyler. Today it's not as crowded and noisy as other days.

"Where's Deon?" Tyler asks me, pointing at Deon's regular spot next to me.

"Mrs. Stevens wanted him to stay back for five minutes after math class. She said she had some good news for him." I shrug.

"Guess what!" Deon's familiar deep voice startles me. He plops down next to me and slaps a paper on the table. "I got an A+ for the surprise math test we did the day before yesterday. Mrs. Stevens wanted me to give a few of her younger students some tips on how to score well in math."

"Fuck, man. That's crazy," Tyler says, flabbergasted.

"What?" Amazed, I turn to Deon and grab the paper to see for myself. "This is amazing. And you weren't even prepared for it."

"Hey," an annoyingly familiar voice speaks from behind us.

"What do you want, dickhead?" Maddy questions, her voice sour.

"None of your business, dumb blondie," the intruder insults.

"Watch it, asshole," Tyler warns before I do.

The person I've come to hate ignores Ty before focusing on Deon. "Dude, would mind scooting over a little. I would like to talk to my ex for a minute."

I look at Ryan then Deon, trying to gauge his reaction. "Of course," Deon smiles. Someone who didn't know him that well would think it's a genuine smile, but I won't be fooled. He scoots away from me, leaving enough space for my ex to sit.

Ryan lowers himself onto the bench. He has to know that Deon and I are dating, right? I mean, we haven't been the most discreet about it.

He's wearing a bright yellow polo shirt with black knee-length shorts. His straight brown hair is neatly combed to one side. His light grey eyes scrutinize me, his thin lips pressed into a straight line. "Presley, I'm really sorry I dumped you. I wasn't thinking straight. I love you, darling, and I always have." Lies spurting out of his mouth makes me want to gag. He also knows that I hate it when he calls me darling, but he does it anyway. "Also, I um...I broke up with Jessica. So I just came here to ask you for a second chance..."

Deon stands up from the bench and comes around to my side. He tells me to stand up and I do without question. Vacating my spot, he pulls me down on his lap. "Great speech, dude." He claps mockingly.

I turn to Ryan's stupefied face. When I try to answer him, Deon gets to it first. "Firstly, I'm not buying any of that bullshit. Secondly, did you not know she's dating someone now? She has moved on."

"You are?" Ryan asks me, sounding shocked.

"Yes, she is," Deon answers for me. "Me."

"You'd choose this..." Ryan searches for a word. "...douchebag over me?" Ryan scrunches up his button nose, looking from me to Deon and back again.

"Yes, I'd choose Deon over you," I confirm.

"Are you sure you don't wanna give me another chance, Presley?"

"Yeah." I sigh wishing he would just up and go right now. "I am."

Looking defeated and...disgusted, I think, Ryan stands up from the table and walks away. I try to get off Deon's lap to sit in the now vacant spot on the bench, but Deon tightly wraps his arms around my waist. "What's the rush?" He purrs, kissing my neck and I feel the vibration in my groin. I instantly feel hot and bothered.

I glance around to see if anyone's looking. Maddy and Tyler are having a heated conversation, and there's no one looking our way, so I relax into Deon's touch. His mouth travels up to my ear and he bites down on it gently, causing the butterflies in my stomach to go crazy. Suddenly I feel his tongue poke into my ear and I welp, causing our friends to look our way. "Sorry," I mouth to them before turning my head sideways.

"Stop it!" I whisper-scold Deon.

A low chuckle is his only response.

* * *

"Oh, hey," Jessica says when I enter the girls' bathroom after lunch break. "I've been waiting to get you alone for a while now."

"What do you mean?" I ask, walking over to the sink.

"Girls, look who's here," Jess calls.

I hear the sound of a toilet flush before a cubicle opens and Alina steps out of it. Seconds later, another girl from our grade who's name I can't recall comes out.

"Well well...if it isn't slutty Presley," Alina says as I open the tap trying to drown out her grating voice from the gushing water.

"First, you steal Deon, and now Ryan. How many other guys are you playing around with, Presley?" Jessica hisses.

"I didn't steal anyone, Jess," I say, turning the tap off.

"Oh, stop it, Presley. You really need to stop playing innocent," Jessica hisses coming up behind me.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" I ask her, turning around to face her, which seems to anger her more.

"Girls! Get me my sharpies," she yells in my face.

One second I'm at the sink and the other I'm being hauled onto the floor by two girls. I scream, trying to fight their hold on me, but unfortunately I'm not strong enough, and no one outside would hear because the stupid bathroom is sound proof.

"Jessica, stop! What the hell?!" I yell.

Jessica sits on top of me holding five or six different colored marker pens. I try to free my hand and legs to push her off of me. "Oh, enough with the screaming already. It's giving me a fucking headache. Lina, gag her."

Alina lets me go and I take the opportunity to shove the other girl away and push Jessica off of me. She falls backwards. But, before I can get my hand on the bathroom door handle, someone pulls me back hard by my hair and I scream in pain when I feel a few strings of hair being ripped out.

Within seconds I'm back down on the floor, my head hitting the cold tile. Jessica climbs on top of me again. Alina stuffs a huge piece of cloth in my mouth and I breathe through my nose. Suddenly my right cheek begins to sting. It takes me a moment to realize that Jessica had slapped me. She repeats the action again, and again, and again until I almost blackout. The hard kick to my stomach makes me double over in pain. My head throbs from when it hit the floor.

I finally give up fighting and just lie limply on the floor, tired and helpless. I will myself not to cry, but tears start pooling in my eyes. Jessica opens the markers and starts writing on me. She writes and draws on my face, my dress, my arms and my legs before finally standing up to admire her work. "Someone pass me the scissors," she says.

I start struggling again, my mind going wild with what she might do with them. Alina pulls out the gag and I try to scream, but my voice comes out hoarse... probably from screaming the whole time. Jessica grabs my hair and pulls me up into a standing position so that I can see myself in the mirror before lifting my hair above my head and chopping off a huge chunk. I stare at myself in the mirror, shocked.

My hair which was long seconds ago now falls down to my neck in different lengths. One side of my face is all blue and purple. The other side has a penis drawn on it with the words cock-sucker written on top. My favorite white dress is completely ruined. The words slut, whore, bitch, cunt, stinky pussy, gold digger, thot, tramp, hussy, shit stain, trollop and many others are written all over my dress, arms and legs in different colors.

"Think twice before messing with me again, bitch. Next time you do, you might even end up dead," Jessica warns me. "Come, girls." She grabs her bag off the granite counter before sashaying out of the bathroom with Alina and the other girl right behind her.

I stare at the closed door crying uncontrollably. Limping into the last cubicle, I close the toilet lid, sit on it, hug my knees, and weep into my hands until I have no more tears left in me.

And all this was for dating Deon.

* * *

I've been crying for so long that when it subsides I have no idea what time it is. My bag and phone are still in class, and I have no way of contacting anyone or calling for help.

A few more minutes pass before I hear a door squeak open and the sound of footsteps filling the bathroom.

"Elvie?"

Hallelujah!

The sound of Maddy's voice makes me laugh hoarsely and cry at the same time. "Mads, I'm in here," I croak out.

"Where were you? We've been looking all over for you," my best friend says.

I slowly attempt to stand up, but wince when my legs give out and I fall backwards onto the closed toilet lid.

"What was that?" Maddy asks, voice laced with worry.

I reach for the door handle and unlock it then slowly pull the door inwards. Maddy's face turns from confused to shocked to pissed as hell. "Oh my god! What happened?!" In less than a second she's kneeling down in front of me, inspecting my face, my arms then my legs. She then pulls me into a hug and I flinch, causing Maddy to pull back quickly with unshed tears in her eyes.

"Um...Jessica happened—"

"I'm gonna kill that bitch," she grits out with so much emotion in her voice. "Let's get you out of here. Can you walk?"

"I'm not sure. Where's Deon? I don't want him to see me like this."

"Out in the parking lot with Ty. I can call and tell him to leave," Maddy suggests.

"Yes, please," I say, grateful.

Maddy takes her phone out and taps a few times before holding the device to her ear. I listen carefully.

He picks up on the first ring itself and bombards her with questions. "Hey, Maddy. Where is she? Did you find her?"

"Yeah. She's in the girls' washroom. She...um...she had an accident."

I scowl at Maddy.

"Huh?" Deon says, sounding confused.

"You know...girl stuff," Maddy replies.

"Ohh okay." He clears his throat, clearly embarrassed.

"I'll take her home. You two go ahead."

"Are you sure? Is she okay?" He asks.

"Oh, yeah. She's fine. It was just a bit of blood." Maddy holds back a smile.

"O-okay." Deon sounds very uncomfortable before Maddy ends the call. She loves making guys uneasy. Regardless of how inappropriate the situation is.

She helps me into her car and drives me home. Grabbing my keys, she unlocks the front door of my house and comes back to the car to help me walk inside. I told her everything that happened in the bathroom on the ride to my house and she was furious. She said she's going to complain to the principal and get Jessica expelled. When I had asked her not to do that, she told me not to bother trying to stop her.

"You never told me why your throat is sore," Maddy says as she switches on my room lights and helps me onto the bed.

My room seems a little less messy than other days. I tidied up my things a little before I went to Maddy's last night. "I was screaming my guts out in there, Mads. No one heard me though." I frown. "Why do the stupid bathrooms at school have to be sound proofed? I mean, what if someone's being murdered in there and nobody hears?"

"Oh." Maddy frowns too. "Yeah, I agree. We should put that in the suggestion box."

The suggestion box is where students get to write a suggestion for something new or suggest any changes for the school. No one's made any suggestions this year so far.

"Elle, are you sure you don't wanna see a doctor?" She eyes my cheek, wincing. "It looks pretty bad."

"I'm fine, Mads," I assure her.

That's when I remember something.

"Oh god! How can I sing at the Winter Musical like this?" I rasp, flailing my hands.

"Sing?" Maddy asks, confused.

"Yeah," I state. "Deon and I added some lyrics to the music."

"Oh, wow. Hopefully your voice will get better in two weeks, and your hair...we could go and get a haircut?" She counters.

"Yeah, let's see..." I sigh.

"I'm gonna teach Jessica-fucking-Wilson a lesson. She should know what would happen to her if she messes with my best friend."

"Don't, Mads. She's not worth you getting suspended from school. You're already going to complain to Mr. Randolf. Just...let it go."

"How could you even say that?" Maddy demands, angrily. "After everything she's done to you?"

"I just don't wanna think about it." I slowly get up from my bed and walk to the bathroom to clean myself and have a warm shower.

"Can you manage on your own? Do you need any help?" Maddy asks me, concerned.

"I'm good for now, Mads." As soon as I get into the shower the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it!" Maddy calls right before I hear her retreating footsteps.

I sigh, leaning against the tiled wall.

What a day...

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Love,
     Chiara🌸