never too late ✎ adopted by phan

22*everywhere

*trigger warning,, severe bullying*

💚Emerald💚

I walked to school again, which I hadn't done for months. I still had the condition, but it was slightly easing off.

It was the same school, the same road, the same route, nothing had changed. Nothing.

I walked into school with Brook by my side. But unlike the first few days of school, she stayed with me. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Hey Brook!" Someone shouted, "isn't that the new school nerd? What are you doing with her?!" They laughed.

"Shut the hell up Ashley, she's my sister." Brook snapped, the girl, Ashley, just laughed.

"Ha! Good luck getting any sort of popularity now!" She laughed.

"Can it, slut." Brooklyn shouted, this time the girl looked like she was going to punch Brook, but instead she just whispered something to her friends.

"I'm sorry." I said quickly and quietly, but loud enough for her to hear me, she just smiled.

"You know well enough that I'm the one who should be sorry." She replied.
"But I really am sorry." She continued, "I was horrible to you, I was jealous of you. And I have no idea why, you're my sister, and I love you." She explained, I smiled back at her.

I said goodbye as I made my way to my tutor and sat down, my hair covering my face, so that I could only see with one eye. I looked down at my desk and tapped lightly with my fingernails, but only so I could barely hear it.

"Katy." The teacher spoke.
"Yes miss."

"Grace."
"Here miss."

"Tom."
"Yeah miss."

"Emerald."
"..Emerald Lester?"

I quickly looked up.
"Uh.. Y-yes m-miss." I said, a few people snickered and imitated my stuttering as I looked down and fiddled with my fingers. The girl behind me flicked me on the back, which hurt more than it should, because of my condition still being there, but not burning hard, like how it was acting before.

"How come you weren't at school for ages, Lester?" Grace asked behind me.

"It's... It's none of y-your business." I replied, not looking back at her. She mimicked and over-exaggerated my stuttering.

"I-I-it's i-i-it's n-n-n-none o-of y-y-your b-b-business!" She laughed, shoving me hard, I tried not to curse and let tears well up in my eyes because of the sharp pain.

"I don't sound like t-that." I said, trying hard not to stutter but ended up doing it anyway at the last word.

-

The day continued slowly and painfully as I finally got to the end of the day. Glad that I had ran to the library through break and lunch, I had a great time in the library, in fact. I stuffed my PE kit inside my locker and closed it shut, as I leaned on it and breathed out, trying to control my breathing.

"Look what the freak is doing now!" I heard a voice behind me shout, I closed my eyes tight and bit my lip hard, I opened my eyes and turned around to see the group of my tutor group and a couple of other people that I didn't know with them.

"P-please, j-just l-leave me a-alone." I said, not being aware that my stuttering problem was going to make them laugh at me more. And they did, they laughed and they mimicked and they insulted, but the pain was yet to come, some boy in my class, the strongest boy in school, he was tall, he was intimidating and damn did he look angry.