Enchanted

Chapter 1: Filthy Rumours

*Key boards clacking. One filthiest smile. Two mysterious eyes and one send button can ruin someone's reputation. Throwing the head back, someone cackled*.

Lavender Haze by Taylor Swift.

Sohini:

I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say. Yes. This week was so hectic because of all the stress. I went back to India few weeks ago and now I'm finally here to London. I'm now ready to go again to Westminster.

This is the new year and we went to India during the winter break. I get ready as soon as possible cause I'm already late. I missed the bus and now missing the bus is my daily routine.

I enter the school with fast footsteps although I have a reserved seat. The seat beside a window. I love that seat of this class cause cool breeze and light comes from this window helping me to concentrate on the studies. I bring my usual blue headphones to class so that I can listen to Taylor Swift and The Weekend's song and do maths in the free period. I really crave for academic validation. I want to be successful and be on my own.

But this morning seems unusual than the other days. Everyone keeps staring at me as if I've done a great crime. I clutch my bag hard as I stare at the ground. It's like thousands of big eyes are watching me, judging me for being me. I wanna go and ask them why they're looking at me like that. But I feel afraid. I stutter while talking to new people so it's better to ignore them and sit on my seat.

I'm not kind of concentrated on my surroundings so I collide with a group of boys. No. I collide with one of the boys.

I look up. I stare. My heart beats fast. So fast so fast that I can't even breathe. This is the boy I was talking about. J.. jaz..JAS-

"Get out of my way, you slut", he speaks with a calm tone as he walks past me. The other boys laugh at me calling me whore and all.

What? Why? What I've done?

I keep watching as I meet unknown eyes. They're staring at me, gossiping about me. I hear them saying, "How can she come to school after all that?". "I didn't know she's that type of girl". "Omg, did you see it?". "What a great slut". "We'll never talk to her, what a shame!".

I enter my classroom. Usually, the other mornings everyone used to smile at me. But today there's something different in their behaviour. They look at me like I've done a great sin and I'm the most rudest girl in the whole world. How are they calling me a slut?

Shayla breaks into the room and asks me, "Did you see it?".

I shake my head. She hands me her phone and opens the school group chat where everyone's added. Me too. But I don't open it and I haven't touched my phone since I went to India.

My hands, my legs, my lips are shaking seeing the school group chat. THE CHATS!
The chats about me. Dirty edits of mine and fake chats. An unknown person sent these things in the group last night.

I cover my mouth with my hand. I hear the other students saying, "Omg she's so good at acting". "I love how she's pretending not to know these things. What a shame!". "Look how she's acting now, omg! I can't stand it".