Time Heals

Chapter 1

"Don't judge me on my success. Judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again." ~ Nelson Mandela

Zara

The rain was pattering softly on the window as I looked out across the school fields absentmindedly, not concentrating on the teachers voice. Why should I be concentrating? It's not like I've got high hopes for my exams.

My mind wondered to the newly popular bitch who was the sole reason for my sudden change in status at this wretched school.

Madison. The black haired, heavy eyelined freak. Everyone knew she was bad news, yet they still followed her. Why? When I was popular, I wasn't going around spreading rumours and turning everyone against people. I didn't ruin people's reputations.

Once I'd had many friends, including a loving boyfriend who was a well-respected member of the football team. Perfect life. He was sweet, good looking and cared about me. Or so I thought.

Madison must have been planning her attack on me for months, it was so perfectly put together.

It all started with small rumours; I'd been telling people I hated my friends, that I didn't love my boyfriend and I just used them to keep me popular. Madison whispered these lies around school and to start with no one really took any notice. Slowly, however, kids started to believe her toxic words.

These rumours didn't do all that much, because I shot them down in flames and my friends believed they were fake and made up. They didn't cause my downfall, but they sure aided it.

On Alex's birthday he'd hosted a house party, which I was invited to seeing as I was his girlfriend at the time. As I was waiting for Alex to give him his birthday present, a guy I didn't even recognise came towards me, grabbed my arse and started snogging me. Obviously I pushed him away and I was preparing to slap him across his stupidly smug face but before I got the chance my eyes had caught sight of Alex. My boyfriend. He'd clearly witnessed another guys tongue down my throat.

To start with his face was covered in shock but as he strode towards me his expression morphed into anger. Pure anger. The random guy who for some reason had felt the need to ruin my relationship had conveniently run off, leaving me with my fuming boyfriend.

"So Madison was right all along." Alex spat, hatred aimed at me was burning in his eyes, breaking my heart. "You really are a dirty slut. On my birthday as well!"

"No! Alex, I didn't kiss him he just..." I tried to explain what he'd just seen, but he didn't give me a chance and honestly I was a bit dazed trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Oh, fuck off!" He laughed at me, voice bitter and full of loathing which seemed so alien coming from my normally loving boyfriend. "You've been lying about everything, haven't you? I bet you've been saying shit about us for months now, and we were stupid enough to believe you when you denied it."

All I could do was stare at my now ex-boyfriend, fighting back tears and just wanted to punch Madison in her smart little face.

"Don't bother phoning me, or any of your friends. You're nothing to us." Alex gave me a disgusted look, and that's the last look he ever gave me. Since that night he'd barely acknowledged my existence other than the odd mean comment now and then. My so called friends had left me and now I was nobody. A ghost of previous student.