*ORIGINAL FICTION* Jenny Hall can't wait to go to the drama camp that her parents have agreed to send her to for the summer. The endlessly optimistic and preppy Londoner, who lives for her secondary school studies and all of the creative after-schoo...
Eliza really wanted to help her older friend Jenny, but she was afraid that if she spoke up against everyone's fun, she would be cast as their victim instead: not so much in the play, but in real life. Therefore she felt there was little she could apart from sit at her desk, watch everything unfold and hope that the whole thing wasn't too bad for Jenny.
But frankly, even though she was only 12, Eliza could never imagine herself being as much of a victim as Jenny seemed to be. Jenny seemed to draw bullies to her like a flame draws moths (maybe it was her naturally sad face), and although Jenny wasn't a totally timid individual, it seemed that once they got hold of her, she was destroyed every time.
And with even the teacher watching all this without flinching, Eliza had to admit that the whole thing was a pretty interesting spectacle. She just couldn't believe that a girl of almost 15 could end up in that position with her own socks in her mouth. How was that possible? It was so humiliating and made her look so weak!
Shouldn't a girl her age be able to do something about that kind of thing, Eliza wondered to herself. She hoped that no one could bully her like this once she was 14. But maybe Eliza was being too mean. She did want to support her new friend. But as this went on longer and longer, some of her more primal instincts were taking hold in her mind.
At one point, when she hoped Jenny was unable to see anything going on, Eliza had even got out of her seat and had started kicking the victim's shoes around the floor along with the two boys who had started doing so. It looked like such fun that she wanted to be part of it.
And she didn't know where the feeling came from, but Eliza had suddenly felt an urge to throw Jenny's shoes out the window. What fired her up most about the idea was that, in this situation, she could just do it and there would be nothing that Jenny could do about it. Jenny probably wouldn't even be sure who did it. Eliza would also hope that by throwing Jenny's flats out the window, they'd land somewhere that the victim would never be able to find them or ever retrieve them from.
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Mostly kind: Eliza
But then, their teacher might actually get annoyed about something like that, as it was effectively stealing, Eliza reasoned. The year eight girl had promptly pushed the idea out of her mind, got back into her seat and put that rush of mad thoughts down to hormones or whatever. She was going to turn 13 in September, after all.
However, back in the present moment, Eliza found herself feeling just a bit less annoyed about the bullying she was witnessing as it progressed further and further. After all, as Jenny wasn't even trying to escape. In fact, Eliza was starting to feel quite comfortable with the whole situation. Maybe, the younger girl reflected, this was just how Jenny's life was meant to be. Now was she being too mean? If Jenny would try to fight back even a little bit, she might feel differently.
And a little while later, when their teacher David had to leave the room for a while, and some of the boys started calling for the victim to be pantsed, it made perfect sense to Eliza. She couldn't see any point in getting annoyed with the boys about it. Besides, she'd never seen such a thing happen in real life and she was curious.
Eliza was transfixed as Suzi yanked down Jenny's slim-fit, perfectly-ironed black trousers, revealing Jenny's skinny "little boy" legs that she so carefully hid under those trousers each day. Even little Eliza, a full two years younger, had more meat on her legs than Jenny (and already had the confidence to wear skirts)!
Cheered on by the boys to take it a step further, Suzi pulled Jenny's trousers clean off her legs before holding them up like a trophy. The only clothing Jenny had left on her was a cute green tank-top, that only covered her down to her midriff, along with her matching green knickers.
But it was when Suzi began literally whipping the victim's bare legs with her own trousers that Eliza finally gave up trying to resist her own worst instincts.
Grabbing one of those McDonald's straws from the back of the room, Eliza rolled up at least five spitballs, took up position behind Jenny and began firing them at the back of the victim's head. Not like Jenny could ever prove she had done it.
Then, she picked up one of Jenny's shoes that had been discarded in a corner and flung it out the first open window that she could find. Maybe Jenny would never get it back. Maybe she would. But in all the madness of that Wednesday afternoon, who could ever prove what she did or didn't do?
Eliza found that she got an incredible feeling of satisfaction from what she'd done, plus it was a good confidence boost. Maybe she would see if Jacob, one of the two boys who she had kicked Jenny's shoes around with, wanted to go along to her 13th birthday cinema outing that was coming up in September.
If she stopped being bad now, then Eliza could always claim it was someone else who did those things and keep up her friendship with Jenny. And she could invite Jenny to her birthday outing as well. But could Eliza stop herself from taking any further part in the bullying? It was a dilemma.
Jenny's ordeal wasn't over yet, and with no sign of their teacher to return to the rehearsal room, it seemed that they could all do whatever they wanted to her for a good while longer.
