Her world was spiraling out of control again and she felt helpless to stop it.
Ignoring the jocks, she slunk into her first class of the day deciding to, at least, try to make the effort of being present instead of running away like she had the day before.
Sitting in the back of class, she watched as students piled in. Some she recognized, some she didn’t. A high-pitched cat call drew her attention to two boys sitting a few rows down from her. Looking covertly through her hair, they were pointing and laughing at her just as Ashley strolled through the door looking angrier than she’d ever seen her.
Her and Ashley had been in school together almost their entire lives. She’d never understood the other woman’s hatred towards her so she always tried to ignore her.
Cecilia watched in trepidation as she stomped up the steps to where she was sitting with a look of pure malice on her face.
Shocked when the back of her hand connected with her own cheek, she sat in stunned silence as the room grew quiet.
“You stupid bitch!” Ashley screamed at her. “You’re ruining everything!”
Confused, she didn’t know what do, what to say. So she sat there, one hand pressed to her throbbing cheek while the entire class watched in fascination of what would happen next. Some had looks of curiosity, some were confused. Others felt pity towards the freak with the scars. But the majority held laughter in their eyes.
“I didn’t… I don’t know… I’m sorry.” She stuttered out, mortified that she was apologizing after being assaulted. She’d done nothing wrong.
“Stay away from my brother you stupid tramp. He doesn’t want your crazy ass,” she snarled, making her way down to the two boys that had been laughing at her before.
It wasn’t long before rumors started to swirl around the classroom and spill into the halls.
Slut.
Tramp.
Gold-digger.
New names. New school.
Same Cecilia Marks. The girl forever bullied.
The first thing Landon heard when he walked into the building he’d first seen Cecilia in a few days prior was nasty comments and crude words.
“She’s such a whore. She deserves everything she gets.”
“I can’t believe she’s fucking so many men.”
“I heard she was found with a professor in a closet.”
“The football team has been bragging about how her mouth sucked like a hoover vacuum.”
The comments made him sick. He couldn’t believe college kids had nothing better to do than spread rumors about someone. When he was in school, he didn’t have time. Clearly the standards for learning had dropped.
The further he got, the nastier the comments. When he came upon his sister standing outside a classroom with some of her friends, she looked at him and any trace of amusement was gone from her face. She darted a guilty look towards the door she was standing by and he knew. He just knew the words being said, the nasty remarks, all of it was because of her. And it was all directed at Cecilia.
Storming up to her, he crowded her against the wall whispering only loud enough for her to hear, “You did this didn’t you?”
She looked away.
“You hate this girl that much you would choose to ruin her for popularity?”
Still nothing.
“You’ve always been a lot of things Ashley: spoiled, selfish, an airhead, but never, not once did I figure you for cruel. You are or were beyond this. Why?”
Her eyes were glued behind him as he heard a door open. Turning, he watched as a pathetic excuse for a human being walked out of the classroom; her clothes were torn. What he could see of her was bruised. Exhaustion weighed heavily in her face.
“Sweets?” he whispered, his voice cracking. “What happened?” he asked going over to her. She flinched as he put his hand on her back gently. That hurt.