Sorry for the delay in updating. Games and school took up a lot of my time. And an essay. Anyways, this is more of a filler chapter than anything. It leads up to something better, I promise. I will be updating the next chapter sometime tomorrow. Hope ya enjoy!
------------------------------------------------------
You slowly made your way back to the house, not in any rush. Why would you be? One, you were in pain. And two, you had to figure out how to get past any lurking Creepypastas without revealing your injuries.
As you slowly made the trek back to the house, your mind wandered to the main trio involved with your bullying. Well, duo, now. Eric was... You weren't sure yet, exactly. You were sure of Rachel and Matt, though, along with their twisted enjoyment from seeing you suffer.
You thought back to what Matt had said to you.
"Fucking creep." You muttered, making a face of disgust at his implied intentions. Various scenarios where Matt could indulge in his distorted desires entered your brain, tainting your thoughts with a gross poison. You forced yourself to shake those thoughts away, focusing on a new one, instead.
How to get back at your attackers. You were sick of them, and their constant taunting, teasing, and bullying. You were careful before because you were already suspicious enough in everyone's eyes, seeing as you and the 'popular' clique did not get along well, at all. The most you ever did was argue and make snide remarks to their hurtful words. Getting physical would be risky, and would mean getting even more suspicious. It would also mean likely getting suspended from school. Which honestly didn't sound that back to you, anyways. You hated school, and school hated you. What better thing to do than get yourself kicked out of it for a temporary, set amount of time.
As you racked your brain for ideas on how to get back at Rachel and her posse, along with Matt and some of his friends who has harassed you before, you couldn't come up with anything that was, well... Legal.
You puffed out your cheeks and released a long held breath. You had no real intentions of bringing strife to their lives. You would never want to purposely make someone's life the way your antagonists made yours.
You brought your face up to your cheek, gently touching your finger to the sore, throbbing area.
You cursed yourself for being your own personal definition of a vigilante.
Finally, after a long walk through the lively, lush forest, you came upon the old house in which you now resided.
Pulling the door open in a great flourish, and slamming it shut behind you, you rushed towards the stairs, head dropping and facing towards the ground. You let your (h/l), (h/c) locks conceal your pained face as you attempted to avoid any member of the household that could possibly be looming right around the corner.
Luckily, you made it your safe haven- that, being your room- and swiftly locked the door behind you. Your (f/c) bag was dropped carelessly to the floor, (color) hoodie/jacket thrown across the room towards the basket containing dirty clothes, and body heaved onto the bed, accompanied by a fatigued, distressed exhale of air.
Your face was buried in your bed's sheets as you let out a small groan in order to relieve some of the stress from today's events.
Too weary to move, you laid there, motionless on the bed for who knows how long. Even when a curt knock erupted from your thin, wooden door, you couldn't bring yourself to shift from your prolonged position.
"(Y/n), time for dinner." Slender's voice called out from behind the only thing that guaranteed your privacy and desire to be alone.
"Not now. Homework." You lied straight through your teeth. Your voice came out slightly muffled from speaking directly into the sheets.
You could tell Slender stood at the door for several moments, debating on what he should do and how he should handle this.
"I'll be fine for now. I can make myself something later." You added, lazily turning your head to look at the door.
A few seconds later, you heard a doubtful hum followed by the sound of footsteps gradually growing distant.
You returned to your comatose state of doing absolutely nothing but staying as lifeless as a rock.
Later on, when the sun began its descent towards the horizon, casting warm glows of red and orange hues through your window, you finally stirred.
Arising from your previously inactive state, you left your room without a sound. You made your way to the kitchen, only to halt around the corner the moment you saw Jeff and BEN having a heated conversation in the very room you had ventured out of your haven for.
You thought you had acted quickly and his before being noticed, but you were wrong. The moment you peeked out from around the corner, Jeff's eyes met yours and the boy fell silent. He shot you a murderous glare. If looks could kill, you'd have been murdered viciously by a thousand blades.
BEN's voice faded as his curiosity forced him to wonder why Jeff had so suddenly switched expressions and lost interest in what he was saying. Just as BEN turned his head to look at you, he was sharply shoved aside.
Jeff, attempting to scowl at you, barreled past you after pushing BEN aside. He rushed upstairs, his heavy gait causing the stairs to creak and screech with every pounding step he took.
You raised an eyebrow, turning your attention to the elvish boy standing in front of you.
"What was that all about?"
The only thing BEN did in response was grin slyly from ear to ear. He brushed past you, much calmer than the pale male that had stormed away from the scene, not too long ago.
You were left wondering why Jeff was still being unapproachable and distant whenever you were around. Still, ever since the kiss, you had not been able to have an actual conversation with him, much less get him to actually acknowledge you the way he did before the incident at the lake.
You were left to you rampant thoughts as you hurriedly ate a quick snack to keep your crazed hunger at bay. Soon after, you want back to your room and drifted a deep sleep.
*time skip to morning*
Today was a repeat of yesterday morning. You got up, angry at your alarm clock for waking you, and changed into the outfit you decided to wear today.
You ate a quick breakfast, endured Slender's apprehensive look as he questioned you about whether or not you even left your room the previous evening, and sped out the door before Slender could get a better look at the makeup concealing your bruised cheek.
You faced the relentless taunting at the bus stop, and the teasing on the bus. Finally, you arrived at the place you dreaded the most.
Leisurely making your way to your locker, you took in your surroundings. The school you attended had been around for years, and had been well taken care of due to the money donated by some of the wealthier students' parents.
Pictures of the school's sports teams adorned the plain walls, the trophy case was well-kept, dusted and clean, and posters advertising the upcoming school dance littered both the wall and floors of the building.
Teachers roamed the halls just as freely as the students did. Groups of friends formed around lockers, while a small circle of teachers conversed nearby. It was your average high school, for the most part- the social hierarchy based on status and cliques, teachers treating the 'popular' clique with more respect and admiration than any other group.
You finally got to your locker to find someone leaning against the wall next to it. The closer you got, the easier it was to make out the handsome boy's features.
"Hey," Eric greeted, offering you a tiny smile.
You paused, taking a moment to process the fact that Eric, alone, was waiting for you at your locker, with no Rachel or Matt in sight.
"Can I help you?" You offered, opening your locker without casting Eric another glance.
"I just thought that, uh... You needed someone to survive high school with, at the moment." Eric crossed his arms, still smiling down at you.
You glanced at him out of the corner of your eye, mind racing through all the negative possibilities this conversation could lead to. His smile unnerved you- it was clearly fake.
Eric sighed, his smile relaxing a bit, falling into a more natural, genuine grin. However, it contained a bit of distress and a hint of sadness.
"Rachel and I broke up."
You hummed in response, throwing what you needed into your bag, leaving the rest of the books, binders, and assorted supplies in the locker. You slammed it shut, turning to face Eric with a huff.
"What, you want me to feel sorry for you?" You questioned, copying his stance by crossing your own arms. You stared at him expectantly.
Eric shook his head.
"No. I broke up with her, anyways. We got in a fight yesterday, after uh..." Eric's smile turning into an apologetic frown.
You nodded. "Yep. Go on."
"One thing led to another, and I ended up telling her off. Then, I broke things off with her. Turns out, she's a major bitch."
You studied Eric's face, trying to pick out every emotion he bore on his face.
"Look," He began, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly,"I know there's no reason you should like me. I was an ass, and I'm really sorry for that. I should've told Rachel off way sooner, I know. I just... I really want to be friends with you. You saved my life, and my sister's life. I guess it took that to open my eyes and show me what human nature can do when it chooses to do good."
You bit your lip, still staring at Eric's face, inspecting every little detail, searching for the slightest hint of a lie. You found none.
You contemplated it. Being friends with one of your previous enemies. Sure, he didn't do anything directly to you. But he didn't stop it from happening, either. This was why you were bouncing back and forth between accepting and declining his offer of friendship.
Having a comrade sounded pretty nice, to be honest. Since Austin was gone, you were all alone. It'd be nice to have someone else to rely on.
"Okay." You muttered.
"Okay?" Eric responded in disbelief.
"We can be friends. But you're on probation." You pointed your finger at him assertively, the slightest smirk creeping onto your face.
A sincere grin grew on Eric's face as he chuckled at your behavior. "Understood, Captain."
"Don't call me that." You muttered, rolling your eyes and taking off to first period, Eric walking along beside you.
*time skip to end of 6th period*
"No way," Eric, skeptical of what you were telling him.
"Yup. He was the one stealing money from the so-called charities he ran. He also took advantage of several underage girls that were under the influence."
"You're serious?"
"Well, considering that he is now six feet underground because of me, yeah, I'm serious." You giggled at Eric's expression as the two of you walked back to your locker after sixth period let out.
As the day went on, you and Eric had talked and hung out in between classes, at lunch, and in classes that you two had together. You two were not ridiculously close yet, obviously, but you had to admit that he was pretty cool, especially now that he wasn't surrounded by bad company.
You slowed your pace as your locker came into view. Your jaw dropped as you approached, seeing the jarring words drawn in piercing red lipstick across the metal door of your locker.
It read three simple words, all equally spread out from one another.
'Whore.'
'Bitch.'
'Murderer.'
Those were the words written on your locker. You heard obnoxious cackling from across the hall that could only belong to Rachel.
Eric shot a glare at Rachel and her posse before looking back at you. He place a hand gently on your shoulder. "You okay?"
"Fine. It doesn't bother me all that much anymore." You shrugged, wiping the lipstick off with your sleeve. "Used to it."
You opened your locker, gathered what you needed, and quickly closed it, rushing through the hallway towards the main entrance, where the buses were waiting for the students.
Eric followed right behind you, climbing into the bus after you. He sat next to you in your seat.
"Don't pay attention to them."
"Oh, I won't. I don't give two shits about them and what they do." You spat.
Eric was taken aback by the hostility you expressed. However, he didn't speak his thoughts aloud, and decided it would be best to keep to himself when dealing with an angry you.
Soon after, Eric changed the subject and things went back to normal. Overall, the bus ride was not too bad, for once.
When you and Eric finally parted ways after the bus dropped you two off at the bus stop, you made your way into the forest, as usual, wondering how the hell you were gonna sort out the distance that had grown between you and Jeff in recent times. You couldn't keep your mind from wandering to Jeff. All day, you had zoned out in intervals, completely enthralled in your thoughts about other issues.
The minute you arrived at the house was the minute you decided that you needed to come up with some way to get Jeff to talk to you.