The Wicked Ones

Chapter One

Holly's POV

I was sitting at my desk at the front of the class, waiting for the bell to ring to single the start of school. All around me, my classmates were talking earnestly, while I sat alone miserably. I had almost no friends, and that was probably because I was quite shy. I barely spoke in class, and I was often picked on between classes. Nobody wanted to be my friend, and the fact that I was always crying because somebody teased me didn't help at all. The only person that would talk to me in school was a boy named Jim. He was the only one that talked to me, and sometimes tried to cheer me up. That was probably because we had a lot in common, and we lived right beside each other. But he was also quite shy, so he would normally never stand up for me while I was being picked on. I didn't blame him; some people were pretty intimidating. The bell rang, snapping me out of my thoughts. I straightened myself up, and looked at the doorway as our teacher came in. I felt someone poke my shoulder, and I turned around to see Isabelle, one of the meanest girls in the whole school, looking at me like I was a rat or something.

"Tell me Holly, when did you get that backpack?" Isabelle hissed, and I felt my cheeks burn. What made it even worse was that Isabelle used to be my best friend when we were in grade 2. But then she changed herself to be part of the popular crowd, and I was left alone. She had known me for quite a long time, and she knew that I had the same backpack ever since grade 4.

"And when did you get those shoes?" One of Isabelle's "friends" added.

I bit my lip, not daring to reply. Isabelle and her friends laughed in a mean way. I knew that if those "friends" of Isabelle's weren't too scared to stand up to her, Isabelle would be as lonely as I was. She wasn't nice, she changed into a mean monster. She didn't have true friends; the other girls followed her out of fear. But I didn't dare say any of that to Isabelle. It didn't help that she was also the teacher's pet.

"Holly, can I get your dolls to play with?" Isabelle asked me sweetly. Only she knew that I still had my dolls that I played with when I was young.

"Ms. Zeph, Ms. Hetius, what is going on?" The voice of our teacher, Mr. Cerudoid asked behind me.

"Nothing, Mr. Cerudoid. I was just complimenting Holly on her..erm...awesome clothes! Wasn't I, Holly?" Isabelle chirped, a picture of pure innocence. Mr. Cerudoid looked at me, and I nodded miserably. If I shook my head, Isabelle would never let me forget that for the rest of my life.

"Well, kindly save that for after school, Ms. Hetuis." Mr. Cerudoid said, walking away.

Isabelle nodded, and shot me a triumph look. I saw Jim, who was sitting two rows behind me, give me a sympathetic glance. I turned back to the front, ignoring Isabelle and her friend's snickers. After period 1 had ended, I walked out of the classroom with my head bowed.

"Hey Holly, sorry about Isabelle." Jim said quietly beside me, as we made our way to the next classroom.

"It's okay." I muttered in reply.

"Holly, don't you think that we should take a stand against people like Isabelle one day?" Jim asked, grabbing me by the shoulder. I turned to look at him.

"But how?" I asked, rather helplessly.

Jim shrugged, and we sat down in our seats in the next classroom.

"We'll find out a way, won't we?" Jim asked.

I nodded silently, and the next class began. It was like this all the way until lunch, where everything

turned even worse.

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I was sitting down at my lunch table, waiting for Jim to arrive, when Zach, the meanest boy in the school, and his "friends" walked towards me. I looked down at my shoes, waiting for them to say something.

"Holly, I feel so bad for you about what happened in period 1." Zach started, standing right behind me.

I didn't say anything in reply.

"So I wanted to make it up for you." Zach continued.

I silently sighed, fearing for the worst.

"So I got you.....dolls!" Zach finished.

The lunch room roared with laughter, and I looked up to see Zach holding two Barbie dolls up in the air like a trophy. I turned bright red.

"Holly likes dolls!"

"What is she-a baby?"

"Grow up already!"

"You're always going to be a loser."

"What a freak."

The words swirled around me, as I started shaking, on the verge of tears.

"Holly likes dolls, and she likes teddy bears too!" Isabelle suddenly yelled, and everyone started laughing even harder.

That was when I snapped, and burst into tears.

"Aw...Holly baby is crying. Want a doll to make you happier?" Isabelle simpered mockingly. I rushed out of the room, covering my face with my hands, and collapsed in the library. I started crying loudly, and didn't notice that Jim was beside me until he spoke to me.

"Holly, come on. You can't let Zach and Isabelle get to you like this." He said softly.

I lifted my tear-stained face to look at him. "They're making my life m-miserable! If it wasn't f-for them, my l-life would be m-much better!" I sobbed.

"Holly, everything's going to be okay. After lunch, we only have one more period and then schools over! Come on, you can do it." Jim encouraged me.

I nodded shakily, and took his hand. We both walked out of the library and into our next classroom silently. I kept my head down the whole class, and when the bell finally rung to signal the end of school, I practically charged outside.

"Hey Holly, wait up!" Jim called out, running over to me. I turned around to wait for him. When he finally caught up to me, we started walking home together. Our houses weren't that far from the school, so it wasn't a long walk.

"Holly, we have to do something one day about Isabelle and Zach and all those mean people." Jim commented firmly.

"But what can we do? They'll make us pay for it after." I replied miserably.

"Maybe we can do something without them knowing that it was us." Jim suggested.

"But all of them have a lot of friends." I pointed out.

Jim sighed, frustrated.

"Look, whatever we're going to do, I want to do it soon. We can't let this keep on happening over and over again." He stated, and I nodded in agreement.

When we reached our houses, Jim bade me farewell, and I got into my house, unlocking the front door with my keys. When I stepped inside the house, I automatically felt like something was wrong, that something bad was going to happen soon. But that feeling quickly passed, and I shrugged it off and continued to walk inside the house. What were the chances that something bad would happen in the house?