The Rookie Highschool

Chapter 3

It's been 2 weeks since Lucy and Talia got into a fight and the video went through the entire school. It's September 5. Many people have came up to her asking to be friends. They confided in her. They told her all about how they were too being bullied by her, but never had the courage to stand up for themselves.  Lucy helped them recover from the bullying they had been put through as she wasn't really affected by it. Talia was suspended from school from an anonymous report saying that she has been bullying a bunch of girls. Lucy was curious as to her reported her, but in the end she chose to stay out of it. Lucy was always complemented on how beautiful she was. She was known as the nicest girl in school. Majority of the people loved her. Including her teachers. It was now Friday and Talia would return to school on Monday. It was first period. She was in Spanish class along with Angela, Nyla, Tim, Celina, and all the other students. She was having a great first period until she got a phone call. She froze. She recognised this number. It was a number that wanted to never see again. As the phone continued to ring her teacher had told her to silence her phone, but she just stared ahead. She felt like she was frozen in time. She couldn't move, couldn't speak. Her world was crashing. What felt like an eternity was really only 5 rings. The call was going to stop soon. Once it stopped. She unfroze. She apologised to the teacher and they went on with class. 5 minutes later. the phone rang and the same number called. Celina knowing that Lucy was in distress, grabbed Lucy by the arm and dragged her into the hall way.

Celina-"Lu I know you're not okay.  I know you better than I know myself. You are in distress. You look cold. Frozen. The same way you did when you got that call telling you that your uncle had passed. Please answer the phone."

Lucy ignores Celina and stops the call. she walked back into the classroom with a stone cold face on. Celina follows behind her.

Lily- "Is everything okay. We've been disrupted twice."

Lucy- "I'm fine ma'am" she sounded cold.

They got through first period and Lucy left before Celina. She didn't answer her phone because then she'd have to face reality. A few moments later Celina finds her in the bathroom. Celina knows that anything she says won't help right now. Lucy just needed a hug. Not from anyone, but from Celina. Celina got closer to Lucy and pulled her into her embrace. Lucy started to slide down the bathroom wall. Celina went down with her and pulled her into her chest to calm her. For the first time in 2 years. Since her uncle had passed. Her eyes began to water and she tried to keep them back.

Celina- "Lu. You don't have to hide your emotions from me. Let them out. I'm here. I'm holding you. We can skip class and just sit here. We can explain later."

With just those simple words Lucy started to let her tears fall as she burrowed her head farther into Celina. They sat there for 10 minutes before she realised Lucy had fallen asleep. Lucy only really felt safe with Celina, other than her brother. Celina realised they weren't alone as she heard a bathroom stall open.  Nyla  and Angela walked out.

Angela- "Is she okay?" she said with a concerned look on her face.

Celina- "Look we know that you are friends with Talia and the last thing Lucy wants is pity or sympathy. She doesn't need that right now."

Nyla- "Look we aren't here to judge. We have real concern. We do care about her even if it's from a distance. You guys don't want to be our friends. I get that,  but we were just asking if she is okay."

Celina- "Sorry for getting defensive. Today is just not a good day. She is sleeping right now. Why do you guys care?"

Lucy tossed and turned for a second revealing her smudged mascara and tear stains.

Angela- "We really do like Lucy. She's smart, beautiful, and most of all she is kind to everyone around her. We are the ones who reported Talia. We didn't like seeing her bullying all these girls constantly."

It was nearing 3rd period and all the girls remained in the bathroom.

Celina- "I should probably wake her up. We missed 2nd period."

Celina slowly wakes Lucy up.

Celina- "Hey Lu Lu. Wake up it's Celina. Lu Lu."

Lucy started to wake up and she noticed Angela dn Nyla.

Lucy- "What are they doing here?"

Celina- "Look Lu. Just let them explain."

Lucy- "Okay" she said as she got up and headed towards the mirror.

Celina turned her around and wiped the mascara off her face with a wet paper towel. Angela and Nyla began to explain themselves.

Angela- "We really do care about you. We were caring from a distance as you didn't want to be friends with us. We didn't like how Talia treated you or any other girl for that matter. We were already in the stall when you walked in."

Lucy- "Okay. I believe you."

Nyla- "Friends?"

Lucy- "Friends." she said smiling

Lucy had forgot about the phone calls. As lunch approached Lucy motioned Angela and  Nyla to sit at the table with Bailey, Celina, John, and herself. Tamara had to move school as her mom needed to travel for a job. Bailey and John started dating a week ago. Angela and Nyla decided to sit with Lucy. They talked for awhile. Halfway through lunch she heard her phone ding. She couldn't believe that she had forget. As she started at the text message before reading. She took a deep breath and started reading. Not letting anyone else see her phone.

texts
____
The commandant of the Marine Corps has entrusted me to express his deep regret that your brother, Noah, was killed in action in Jacksonville, North Carolina on September 4th. The commandant extends his deepest sympathy to you and your family in your loss.
____

Lucy started ahead. She went minutes without blinking. She felt again how she felt in the classroom earlier that morning. That same feeling when she got a similar call about her uncle 2 years prior. Her eyes started to become shiny and everything was blurry from the tears that her eyes. She couldn't let them out. Not right now anyway. Not in front of people.

<What will she do next? will she run away from her friends or pretend like nothing happened?>