Love, Olivia

Prom Queen

*trigger warning ⚠️
discussion and thoughts about suicide*

It had been a week since Ophelia broke down on the side of the road and she faded into the school hallways, adapting to her wallflower lifestyle. She avoided Olivia at all costs, taking different hallways, hiding in the bathroom, rushing past with her head down so her hair would cover her face, sulking in hoodies, and anything else she could think of.

The skeleton of her old self shriveled into dust until eventually, Ophelia stopped coming to school. She had disappeared and nobody could reach her. Ryan said she wasn't picking up. Veila was left on read.
  Poetry class was significantly less interesting and Ms. Heather was emotional in the absence of her most creative writer, not to mention deeply concerned. She'd excused herself from class and called Ophelia's father, checking in to make sure the mental health days she assumed Ophelia was taking were doing her some good.

Voicemail.

In the midst of it all, a girl created by peer pressure and fear strutted her long legged self down the hall, whipping her blonde hair back and smacking her lips in an attempt to look intimidating and secretly hoping it would hide the immense pain she felt on the inside. It was Friday, the day before prom and she did her best to focus on nothing else, to ignore how shitty of a human being she'd been.

 But it wasn't long before the walls came down and she found herself crying at her reflection in a bathroom mirror. Her mascara clumped and settled under her eyes but she ignored it, too distraught to pay attention to anything but her thoughts. How could she have done this to Ophelia? She couldn't decide what was worse; bullying Ophelia after they had become a thing or ignoring her these past few weeks, but silently watching her waste away, knowing it was her fault.

The bathroom door creaked and Olivia sniffed and quickly dabbed away the makeup under her eyes. Ms. Heather stood next to her but stayed looking at her own reflection as she patted her cheeks and applied a lip balm. Olivia smiles politely and turned to leave but Ms. Heather stopped her.

"I know I'm not your teacher, Olivia, and I am not the principal, and I am not your parent, but Ophelia is a good kid. She's sweet and kind and quiet and deserves nothing you have done to her. It is not fair to project your fears and insecurities onto somebody else." 

She looked around, checking that nobody else was in the bathroom and leaned in to Olivia, a slight fire behind her eyes. "Fuck those girls you hang out with. They are evil and in your attempt to protect yourself, you are deeply hurting somebody you care about and that's the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Girls kill themselves over the way you've treated Ophelia and I am terrified to lose a student as bright and talented as her. You need to fix the mess you made."

Olivia's lip quivered but she sniffed and raised an eyebrow while tightening her face. "Excuse me," she said, and rushed out of the bathroom. She was greeted by Emily, who linked arms with her and whispered excitedly, "You didn't hear this from me, but I'm almost 100% certain you're going to be Prom Queen." She giggled and Olivia feigned a smile.

As Emily skipped away she called out, "Make sure you send me a picture of your prom dress though so I know it actually looks good on you because I'd hate for you to embarrass yourself! Love you, queen!"

"Why are you friends with that bitch, Olivia?" Ryan asked from behind her.

"God, can I not have just a shred of peace for two seconds?"

"You were a bitch to me, but never as bad as her. Why did you do this shit to Ophelia?" He pressed.

"Why the fuck do you care Ryan? She doesn't play for your team."