(a couple of days later 8:53am - maddie's pov)
my mom had just dropped me off at school- i was kinda late. the halls were quiet, but that was good for me. i liked quiet.
the past few days at school had been decent, being back wasn't too difficult, and i was coping pretty well without macy. obviously i still called her literally every night, that wasn't gonna change. but i'm pretty sure she was struggling. BIG time. nebraska wasn't doing her any favours.
i unlocked my locker door as i got my folders that i needed for the day out. as i closed my locker, i began to walk the opposite way when i crashed into someone.
shit, my bad
i had dropped all my folders on the floor, but for some reason the girl was picking them all up for me, apologising.
"oh my gosh, i'm so sorry, here let me help you" she quickly muttered, picking them all up and then handing them back to me.
"no no, don't worry, that was my f-"
i made eye contact with her, and immediately remembered her.
hannah?
the new jersey popular cheerleader girl who ditched me when we were in the middle of a conversation like five months ago?
"oh, hi maddie!" she smiled, as i slowly took back the folders.
"hi, hannah? right?" i replied. she nodded.
"yeah, that's it. i remember you!" she chuckled, as i laughed a bit too.
didn't she have some cheerleading and shit talking to do?
"um.. listen, i heard about everything that happened with sophie, and i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry about everything, i had no idea sophie was such a horrible person. i cant imagine what you are going through"
oh.. she's actually kind of nice?
i shook my head, smiling.
"don't worry about it. it's not your fault. it's hers."
"i know, but it's so horrible." she said. "just know, if you ever need anything, you can talk to me. like i know we aren't really friends, but it's the least i can do. remember that"
i nodded, and began to slowly smile.
"thank you, hannah. i will."
we made our way to our separate homerooms, but that conversation stayed in my head.
hannah is actually very nice. surprising.
(lunch)
it was lunch.
finally. i was starving.
i made my way to the cafeteria, as i had done everyday this week, and you're probably wondering who the fuck i even sat with at lunch, considering i had no friends at the moment.
well, no one. i got my lunch and took it to the bathroom. normally i only got something small because i didn't trust school food, but usually i only got a sandwich or whatever dessert was there. or maybe a salad if i was lucky. i would eat it alone in a cubicle within the comfort of my own phone. friends were overrated anyways.
i took my lunch; a smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich, and i also grabbed a carton of chocolate milk and made my way to the exit, however, there was someone blocking my way. a teacher.
as i approached her, she shook her head.
"nuh uh uh." she began, pointing back to the tables. "you're not allowed to leave until you're finished eating. food stays in the cafeteria."
what????? since when?!???
"i know, i have to g-"
"sit."
i stared at her in disbelief. who the fuck even was she? who did she think she is??? i've never even seen her before, but her eyes were cold, and i knew if i tried arguing with her i would easily get in a lot of trouble, so reluctantly i turned around and sat down on an empty table in the corner of the room.
fucking teachers.
i slowly ate my food, i just wanted to get out of here but i hated eating infront of so many people. sure, no one was on my table, and no one even cared about what i was eating, but it still felt terrifying as fuck.
as i stabbed my straw into the chocolate milk carton, i felt people coming over to the table, and when i looked up i was surprised to see the cheerleaders, sophie's old 'besties'.
oh god.
just look down and pretend they're not here. don't make eye contact.
"hey maddie!" annabelle screeched, sitting opposite me, as chloe plonked right next to me, invading all my personal space, and anna sat next to annabelle. there was also two other girls i remember, claire and ava, who sat on the other side of me. i felt trapped. i forced a smile, but in reality i was scared as fuck.
"h-hi.."
i continued to eat my sandwich, but my hands were shaking. i was shaking, and i think they could tell, because i could see they were laughing at me.
"so how have you been? where were you all this time?" ava asked, getting real close to me.
"um.. i- i-"
"oh my god, shut up ava. sophie literally almost killed her!! what do you mean where were you??" chloe laughed as they all burst into fits of laughter, as if my trauma was a funny old joke to them. i didn't laugh. i was pretty much frozen.
"oh yeah, my bad, my bad. soz, mads." ava replied, eating her lunch.
"wait so like, what happened? like, did she make you drink a poisonous potion? did she like spike a drink of yours? give us the deets" anna begged, edging closer to me on her seat.
what the fuck was happening
"um... it's- it's not really- it's not really my job to tell you-"
"oh come on!! we're just curious, we were WORRIED about you-" claire interrupted.
all of them seemed to be talking all at once to me. it was too much. i jumped out of the seat, leaving all my food on the table, and sped to the bathroom.
what fucking nerds.
(in the bathroom)
the bathroom was empty luckily. i think i had exceeded the amount of people i could deal with talking to for the week.
i paced up and down the bathroom, biting my nails, hyperventilating.
you got this, maddie. it's gonna be okay. you can't leave school now, you've made so much progress. come on, you only have a few more classes left then you can go home and do whatever you want. just take deep breaths.
those girls are stupid. they're just like sophie. you just need to ignore them.
and i must've been in that toilet for a long time, because before i knew it the bell for next period rang.
biology time.
i had to snap out of this. i quickly grabbed my rucksack and left the bathroom, enroute to biology.