Overshadowed (TBP fanfic)

Still the Same

* Lacey's POV *

* a week later *

The tour's finally over and I'm back home. Today's Monday, and the first day that I'm going back to school. To say that I'm nervous would be an understatement.

When I walk into my first class everybody stares. I sit down in the uncomfortably tense classroom and listen to my teacher begin. I wait around after class to talk about making up the work I didn't get to finish online. That's how I was taking my classes for the last leg of the tour.

The same routine follows through the rest of my classes. People stare or ignore me like they always have, I do my work, and then stay around afterwards to collect more work. By the end of the day I'm swimming in it.

I'm leaving my last class with my stacks of work. I gather the rest of my work I collected throughout the day from my locker and start heading out of the school. I turn down a rather secluded and empty hallway to get to the back door so I can avoid other kids. Things sure haven't changed.

I feel as though someone's following me, but there's no one around. At least I thought.

"There's Lacey!" someone to my right screams.

Suddenly wadded up paper, pens, pencils and other stuff are thrown at me. I try to run, but some of the boys in my classes quickly surround my escape routes. They keep me in the direct fire of everything my other classmates are throwing at me.

They yell, curse and laugh at me. Every time I try to push past the boys they shove me back into the lockers, causing the others to laugh more.

Finally I sink down with my back to a locker, letting them hit me. They throw their things at me harder and faster. It seems to last forever. Even after it's stopped and their cruel voices have faded, I sit there with my arms over my face, crying.

*Reid's POV *

"Have you noticed how strange Lacey's been acting lately?" Neil asks.

I look at my little sister sitting on the couch; shoulders slumped, listening to music while doing some of her school work. It's been a few days since she went back to school. For the first time I register the little things that are screaming she's not right.

"Yea, I notice now Neil." I say.

We all look at her worriedly. She looks so unhappy.

"Does someone want to talk to her?" Kimberly asks.

When neither of us speak up, she sighs and walks over to Lacey. They have a brief conversation before Lacey becomes rasher about her answers. That's a telltale sign that something's wrong when she insists so strongly on something.

"She said everything's fine, that she's just stressed out with her school work." Kim says.

"Oh c'mon Kim, you know that can't be true. You know she's usually feeling the opposite of what she's saying when she insists so hard..." I say.

She sighs, knowing I'm right. What could be wrong?

I can't help but remember the conversation we had right before we finished up the tour. She promised me that she'd tell me when she was unhappy or needed help. She promised.

"I think something happened at school that she's not telling us about..." I say.

Neil and Kim look at me in shock.

"Do you think they attacked her today?" Kim asks.

I shrug and look at my lil sis. "I dunno Kim, but she's definitely hiding something," I say. "We can't sit on the back burner this time either. We can't let her suffer alone."

A heavy blanket of dismay falls upon us as we gaze at our sister, wondering what she's keeping to herself.

- - -

Happy December! Ignoring the fact that 2016 has been on a downward spiral since it began, I hope this last month of this terrible year is at least bearable! :)