☀️She's Extraordinary ☀️

I'm Mad At You...

1 Month Later
"Mom, can I do something different with my hair this time?"
"Like what, sweetheart?" We stopped in the middle of the street.
"Could I dye my hair? I've never done it before...I mean I've done hair wax but that isn't the same."
"I don't know how I feel about that."
"I'm not going to go crazy, I just want to look a bit different."
"First, you want different clothes, then different makeup, and now different hair? What's next? A different boyfriend? No, Bella."
"But Mom-"
"You can either have your hair braided or straightened, choose one."
"I am not the same girl that I was in 6th grade. I'm going to be 14! I'm not just going to slap on lip gloss, a glittery tee with a stupid phrase on it, and have braids with beads anymore! I'm not ten years old! I'm a different person now! Why do you and Elliot have such a hard time accepting the fact that I'm growing up?! It's because I'm a girl, right?  Noah can drink and smoke and dye his hair every color of the rainbow and that's just fine because he's a boy!"
"Don't you dare try the gender thing on me, Bella Danielle. You and Noah are not the same, and we've discussed why you guys are treated differently. Now get in the salon before your hair isn't done at all."
************
Tuesday, October 19th (Bella's Perspective)
"I don't feel like going to school today." I said while wiping my face. My school life is fine: I've made friends, I'm getting good grades, and the clubs are awesome. I'm just so angry over the argument Mom and I had on Sunday. I hate going to school in a bad mood because it always ends horribly.
"I'm leaving." I told my Mother.
"Hold on, what are you wearing?"
"A top and a skirt."
"That skirt is way too short for school, Bella! Go back upstairs and change." She said while giving the dogs their food.
"It isn't, everyone wears skirts like this and nothing happens."
"Well you're not everyone and that skirt is too much for a 13-year-old. Take it off, put on something else, and give it to me. I'm not going to tell you again."
"You know what, no! You won't even let me do my hair the way I like, you can at least let me dress the way I want! The skirt isn't even that short, and would it matter if it was? Honestly, you're so fucking annoying, I can't deal. I'm not changing."
"Who do you think you're talking to?!? I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. And since you think it's okay to cuss me out, give me your phone. You are grounded until I say otherwise."
"I do not fucking care. You don't give me freedom anyway." I stormed out of the house and ran as fast as I could to the subway. I hate today already.
^^^^^^^^^
School
I walked over to my locker to grab some stuff for class. I could see Hannah and her new "friends" walking down the hallway. One of them pointed at me and laughed. I didn't see what Hannah did but I sure as hell know that she didn't stick up for me. We all stopped talking to her after she started ghosting us and talking about us with other people.
"Why do you look so pissed?!" Clara asked. She and I have gotten super close these last couple of weeks, she's been such a great friend. We just...get each other.
"Because today sucks. Let me ask you a question: is this inappropriate?" She studied my outfit.
"No, people show up here wearing worse. You're fine, girl."
"Tell that to my Mom. She acts like it's a crime to express yourself."
"She's such a hater, you look cute. I know just what'll make you feel better."
"What is that?" I asked while slowly making my way to class.
"Let's skip. Besides, it's just HIP and HIP is pretty useless."
"Have I ever told you that you're the best?"
"No, but we already knew that."
"Shut up! Let's go before someone sees us."
**************
Staircase C (Jake's Perspective)
"Hey, why'd you ask me to come here?" Bella smiled and kissed me.
"We're skipping and I want you to join." I'd never think that Bella would want to skip again after the amount of trouble we got into last time. I raised my eyebrows.
"Babe, isn't your Mom already angry at you over the hair thing?"
"Well to be fair I did cuss her out this morning so I'm going to be grounded and have my phone taken until Christmas anyway. Might as well have fun."
"Yeah, and she needs to blow off some steam." Clara added. Bella's one to do some crazy shit when she's upset...
"Are you sure that this is a good idea?"
"Yep." I sat next to Bella and held her hand.
"I don't want you to get into more trouble than you have to. Like I get that you're angry and stuff but this isn't cool."
"When did you become so against skipping?"
"When you're doing it for the wrong reason. This is only going to make things worse between you and your Mom." She sighed. She knew I was right but didn't want to accept it.
"I don't need to be babysat." She said.
"Alright, but remember this when you're stuck at home for Halloween and you and your Mom are butting heads again."
"It isn't my fault." She said.
"I know, but you're adding on to it and that isn't any better." I left the stairwell and made my way to HIP.
***************
West 14th Street & 7th Ave (Olivia's Perspective)
"Liv...are you okay?" Amanda asked.
"I just need a minute before we go in there." I said while wiping my tears.
"Hey..what happened?"
"They say raising children gets easier...I wanna know who came up with that lie." She laughed.
"It doesn't get easier, it just gets more complicated. Why are you saying that?"
"We've already established from the moment that I pursued adopting Bella that it wouldn't be easy, but it's starting to become too much for me to handle. I'm convinced that she hates me now." I explained what happened this morning and Amanda's jaw dropped.
"I love that girl to death, but right now I'm near my wits' end. Leia cried uncontrollably after that because she was scared that something would happen to her or that Bella would try to run away again."
"Come here, it'll get better." She gave me a tissue.
"Things will get better with time."
******************
The Girl's Bathroom (11:59 PM) (Bella's Perspective)
"Great. Now my boyfriend's mad at me too. Fantastic." I started to cry.
"I know that we've only been friends for a month, but you're like my best friend and I hate to see you upset. What's wrong?" Clara asked.
"My mother. She's not a bad Mom, she really isn't. I'm really happy that she adopted me and gave me this wonderful life that I couldn't possibly have otherwise but I feel...like she's suffocating me, Clara. I can't take it anymore."
"Suffocating how?" Another tear dropped.
"I'm not trying to make her seem bad or anything."
"I won't think anything, you can tell me."
"Just never mind." The lunch bell rang and I made my way out of the bathroom.
"Damn you're right Hannah, she is a mess." Vicki said while snickering.
"Okay, you know what, I can't take it anymore. You don't have a right to talk shit about anybody. Worry about the fact that your boyfriend is fucking cheating on you with your best friend in front of your damn face. How stupid could you be to miss that?"
"Now you're just making shit up."
"Oh really? Ask her where she went yesterday after school. Why the both of them declined your phone call. I'll wait. Snapchat never lies. She was at his house last night."
"Well don't just stand there Gabby, fucking say something. You can't just let this psycho bitch lie on you." She was mute.
"YOU BITCH!" I walked away quietly as they fought. I could feel Hannah's eyes on me but I ignored them.
"Woah..." Clara, Paisley, and the twins said.
"Tell me how you did that." I sighed.
"I was just tired of them talking about me." Paisley realized how upset I was.
"Wait Bell, your eyes are so swollen. Do you wanna talk?"
"No, let's just go. I need to drown my sorrows in a Chick-Fil-A meal. I hate my life." I muttered.
"Bella Benson?!" Can today get any worse?
^^^^^^^^
The Dean's Office
"Good afternoon, Mr.Chapelle."
"Good afternoon, Ms.Benson. Do you know why you're here?" He asked.
"The fight that took place in the hallway during lunch hour."
"Yes, Ms.Beaufort and Ms.Patel tell me that you instigated the fight. Is that true?"
"I wouldn't say instigate."
"What would you call it?" My eyes started to tear up again.
"I can see that you're distressed." I nodded.
"I've had a really horrible day today. I've been crying all morning, I even missed class because I was in the bathroom bawling my eyes out. So I went to my locker to try and get some wipes for my face and Vicki started talking about me and calling me a mess, which she's been doing for the past month. I was so fed up that I snapped."
"What did you say?"
"I said that she didn't have a right to talk about anybody! That she should worry about her own life because her boyfriend's been rather unfaithful. I know that I was wrong, but I didn't mean to cause a fight. I just wanted her to leave me alone." I cried.
"I hear that you're a great student, I've seen your work and impact on this community. I can tell that you meant no ill intent. Everyone snaps. It looks like you've had a lot bottled up for a long time and that isn't healthy. You should talk to someone about it." Thanks for stating the obvious.
"But you did play a part in this. So I'm giving you two days of detention and that's me being nice. I'll be notifying your parents."
"Understood." I said quietly. So this on top of me skipping class, lovely.
"And...I'd like you to speak with our school psychologist."
*****************
Our Living Room (6:45 PM) (Olivia's Perspective)
"Mama, this is the best dinner ever. Thank you!" Leia hugged me and ran upstairs to take a quick shower.
"Aww, you're welcome baby." I cleaned up the remnants of our steak tacos and smiled to myself for the first time today. I needed to savor this. I was loathing the thought of Bella coming home. I can't believe she instigated a fight at school today. Something is going on, no wonder her behavior's been all over the place. The front door opened.
"Good evening." She started making her way upstairs.
"Bella, can you pause for a second?"
"I already know you're gonna yell at me so I'm just gonna go upstairs-"
"I'm not going to yell, sweet pea. We need to talk about what happened today. Bottling up all of your feelings and then lashing out at others isn't okay."
"I wonder why they're so bottled up."
"Excuse me?" Bella instantly switched from calm to angry.
"You're the reason why my emotions are so bottled up. I don't feel like I can talk to you about certain things. If you don't like something I say, you dismiss it and get angry at me. Instead of lecturing me, why don't you tell your shrink what you've been hiding? Why don't you let everyone know what's upsetting you? Because you're taking it out on me and it isn't fair, Mom!"

To be continued~