Worth It

Part 2 - Life is kind of a wild ride for me

Naomi POV:

"Watch it, nerds." I rolled my eyes at the black haired girl who shoved me out of her way as I made my way down the hall. Her friends, who had been walking beside her, all glared at me as they continued in the opposite direction.

I tried to hold back a scoff as I reach my locker and see Raymond eating the face off of Leslie Miller. Or at least that's what it looked like from how hard they were making out. Of course fate would have it that his locker was only four lockers away from mine.

Yep. That's right. Every day I get front row seats to seeing which girl he chose to get with that day. You know... because God hates me. I hold back my look of disgust at him as I opened my locker, hoping he wouldn't notice me. Life is kind of funny for me because I switch between being a superstar with a paid bid to worlds and a spot on a team that everybody wants to be on to being a nobody who has to hide just to avoid getting picked on or beat up. Yeah, life is kind of a wild ride for me.

"Ew, what is that thing and why is it near us?" I roll my eyes at Leslie's comment, but paid her no mind as I put my math textbook in my locker. I had just barely gotten my hand out before it was slammed shut, causing me to yelp in surprise and jump backwards.

"What are you doing here, nerds?" Raymond leaned against my locker, looking at me with a malicious smirk. He had an arm around Leslie who was at least four inches taller than me. Yes, I'm short. No, you can not rest your elbow on my head(unless you are Tyler, in which case I will make an exception only because he has saved me from serious injury on multiple occasions(i.e. Every time we try a new stunt.))

Leslie Miller, like many of the popular girls, was the epitome of eurocentric beauty standards. She had light blonde hair, a skinny waist, and perfectly manicured nails. Of course she wore a lot of makeup, just like all the popular girls. Her clothing always matched with whatever was the recent fashion trend, and usually went against almost the entire school dress code. But that's not why I dislike her. I don't care how someone dresses or how much makeup they wear, and the school dress code is stupid. They can do whatever they want with their bodies, and if you have a problem with it, that makes you the shallow one, not them. I do, however, dislike her because she's a jerk to anyone who she deems unpopular.

"I'm not in the mood for this, Raymond. Just leave me alone," I said. His eyes narrowed at my sullen attitude, and before I could react, he had grabbed my collar and slammed me against the lockers.

"Watch yourself, nerds. Or do I need to put you in your place again?" he mused. I noticed a few other kids stop what they're doing to watch. Leslie stood behind Raymond with a condescending smirk.

"No you don't, Raymond," I said, looking away from him. He waved his hand in front of my face, and I brought my gaze back up to meet his.

"My face is up here," he said, pointing towards his face. "You look at me when you're talking to me, got it?" he asked.

"Yes," I huffed. I hated this. I hated feeling weak. I hated having no choice but to follow his orders, agree with him, and do what he says. He kept his glare for a few more moments before it twisted into a nasty smirk.

"As long as you stay where you are, we won't have a problem," he said. He leaned down close to my ear, his hand still gripping my collar tightly, and whispered, "at the bottom." With that, he dropped me, and I landed painfully on the ground. He and Leslie walked away, a few of their friends joining them, while the other kids just laughed at me.

I was happy that he let me go so easily. Usually he did a lot more damage. I slowly got back to me feet, hoping that nothing else would happen between now and worlds. I couldn't afford to get injured this week.