Chapter 2
"Alexander Campbell?" I narrowed my eyes, "I get it how you changed your first name, but how'd you manage to change Campbell to Martin?" I knew about him. He was Elayn's favorite actor for Pete's sake. I first familiarized with him when I saw Elayn watching once of his movies. I couldn't believe that he was standing right in front of my very own eyes. I wondered how my little sister would react if ever she was the one standing in my position.
"I used my mother's last name so no one can recognize who I am," he explained. "The principal managed to convince the teachers that my name is Xander Martin. The principal is a very good friend of my father so he asked him a favor which he complied without hesitations," The principal, huh? I couldn't believe that he was also behind this. Did he know the consequences of letting a celebrity study here? If ever the secret got out, news would spread like wildfire. Who knew what would happen after that. I was right when I told him that he could be the most popular guy in school.
"You want to be normal, huh?" I asked him. It was an obvious answer, but I asked anyway. I wanted to hear him mutter the words himself.
"Yes," he answered. I realized that I was still seeing Alexander Campbell so I searched for his glasses and placed it back on.
"Buy another one that cannot be easily broken," I suggested. I admired him for the fact that he wanted to be normal, but we all knew that I couldn't make friends with a celebrity. It was too risky for me and for...him. "Good luck with that Xander" I said. "Don't worry, I will not tell anyone. Just stay away from me and you won't be bullied anymore, understand?"
"What do you mean by that?" he asked. That was right. I couldn't be friends with this person even if he was a nerd or a superstar. I would just make his life a living hell. And I didn't want that to happen to someone who took the risk of trying to be normal.
"You'll get it sooner or later," I acted all calm and confident, like I was saying these words every day. I was about to walk away until I felt a hand wrapped over mine. I looked at Xander who grabbed my hand. Staring right into his eyes, I felt electricity flowing through my veins.
"Does that mean we can't be friends?" he asked. I saw sadness hidden beneath his eyes. I didn't know what he was being sad about, but all I knew was that it didn't concern me.
"Yes, and that includes talking to me, looking at me or making any eye contact. Understand?" I brushed the celebrity's hand away and started to walk again. This time, no hand grabbed mine to stop me. Emptiness filled my body. I tried to ignore it, and hopefully, I did.
***
Roxanne was glaring at me. She was in my class and she was glaring at me like I was the most delicious meal in the world. Not to mention that Brad and Tim were staring at me too. Their eyes showed that they already knew that I helped the new transfer student and ruined their 'perfect' plan.
Finally, the bell signaled us that school was already over. I packed my things and muttered a friendly 'goodbye' to my teacher. I walked outside the room and saw Roxanne and Xander talking. I continued to walk like noticing them was the hardest thing to do.
"If you don't want to get bullied, stay away from Alayn and join us," that's what I heard. I was getting tired of hearing the sentence over and over again. I was pretty sure that Xander would just agree because he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I walked the crowded hallway filled with students who were also excited to go back home.
***
I opened the door and was immediately greeted by Elayn. I noticed that she was watching another Alexander Campbell movie again. My, my, if she only knew what was going on with my life right now, "You really like him, huh?" I patted her head, "Alexander Campbell, I mean," she grabbed my hand and dragged me to the couch. I sat beside her as I tried to familiarize with Alexander Campbell's features.
"I don't like him," she pouted, "I love him!" I chuckled because of what she said. "Why are you laughing?"
"Nothing," I told her, "Continue watching,"
"Okay!" she said cheerfully.
I greeted my mother who was cooking something at the kitchen. She served dinner as I thanked the heavens' for giving us the money to eat an amazing meal. After eating, I went upstairs and changed my clothes. I went to my bed as my eyes quickly drifted close.
***
Words were written on my chair and table. So many words that I didn't want to hear about me, all of it was just a lie. 'Slut' was one of them. Two sentences struck my nerve, 'Why don't you transfer to another school?' and 'No one likes you!' They didn't know a single thing about me, and it pained me to know that they were dictating things that I was not.
Trust me, if I could transfer to another school, I already did. But I couldn't. It was because my mother didn't know about my bullied life inside the campus. She thought that I lived my life as a normal high school teenager who had friends and hang out with them. I didn't want to add up to her worries so I kept this a secret from her. I didn't want to be a burden to her or anyone.
I didn't look at my classmates' faces, but I noticed a certain blonde entered a room. Xander walked over to his seat which was in front of mine and came in an abrupt halt to study my situation. Before he could say something, the teacher arrived. I was very thankful to the teacher's arrival. The last thing that I wanted to do was talk to him.
***
I took my seat at my usual place inside the cafeteria. No one dared to sit at the same table as me so I had the whole table for my own. I was about to take a bite of my pasta until I saw a familiar presence standing in front of the table.
"What do you want?" I hissed through gritted teeth.
"Like what we did to your table?" Roxanne grinned. I knew she was behind this but I still couldn't hide the fact that I was pissed off by her actions. "I'm here because I want to see how you can handle this kind of situation. I pity you, really. Why don't you just transfer to another school?"
"Now you're giving me suggestions," I rolled my eyes at her, "Who are you to tell me what to do? And why would I transfer?"
"Because it's irritating to see some trash talking," she answered. It got through me, I was really pissed off. I couldn't seem to control my bottled-up feelings any longer. I had enough of this bullshit, why couldn't I have a normal life like the others? Did I mention that all the people inside the cafeteria were looking at our direction? I guessed sometimes people needed to get revenge. And I only thought of one way to have mine. I stood up and grabbed the pasta from the table. I slammed my plate on her face and regretted not a single second of it. The pasta was now running down her face. I placed the plate back to the table and started walking away.
She cursed behind me, "What did you do?! You bitch!" she screamed. "You'll pay for this!"
"I know," I turned around and gave her a smile. Even though what I did was wrong, I couldn't help but feel happy for finally standing up on my own for the first time.
***
I was in the girls' changing room to change to my gym clothes. I was the last one to get ready, which meant that I was the only one here in this room. The teacher was going to be angry at me for being late again. I sighed. When I was about to slam my locker shut, guys entered the room. "This is the girls' changing room," I told the three guys, "What are you doing here?" I suddenly noticed that they were Brad and Tim's friends.
Instead of answering me, two of the guys walked over to me and held both of my arms. They slammed me against the lockers while I tried to kick my captors. I screamed but I doubted that someone could even hear me. Since the activity was going to be held outside, it meant that I was here all alone with these three guys. I knew Roxanne was behind this, but how could she get this far?
The guy who wasn't busy holding me started to rip my shirt off. I struggled as much as I could but I was against three guys. I had no chance of winning. The guy managed to rip my shirt down to my back and shoulders. I could feel my skin being exposed. The guy suddenly held my head into place as he brought his lips to my neck. He started sucking my skin until I finally stopped struggling.
I couldn't do anything to save myself. I closed my eyes as tears escaped from both sides when I tried to think of what was going to happen now. I suddenly felt that no one was ripping my shirt and sucking my neck anymore. I slowly opened my eyes and gasped when I saw Xander beating up the guy. The two who were holding my arms released me as they launched themselves into Xander.
My legs felt weak and I fell down on my knees, my back resting on the lockers. Punches and kicks flashed before my eyes. I tried to keep it open to see whose side was winning. I couldn't seem to make up my mind on who was in the side of winning because of the tears that blurred my eyes.
***
"It's okay now," someone kneeled beside me and I saw Xander. His eyes were filled with concern while mine were filled with tears. I threw myself at him and cried on his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and did not say a thing. Why was he here? Didn't he accept Roxanne's conditions? I needed not to think about that now. All I knew was that I was comfortable being in his arms, like being in his arms was the right place for me.
A sudden thought came to me.
I showed a sign of weakness in front of a celebrity.