Chapter Fifteen; Threats
Ria's POV
I ordered a burger with some sweet potato fries and a mango smoothie. Julian was right, this place really serve great food. I stared at my food longer than expected before eating it. I felt like holding back until the guys asked me if I was okay.
I pigged out on my food and finished it with a tiny burp. "Excuse me. And now I have to use the restroom, again." I smile before getting up.
I finished my business and washed my hands. I stared at the mirror then the girls beside me then at the mirror again, at my reflection. I shook my head and headed out and back to the table.
"You almost kissed her?" I hear my brother growl.
"It was the heat of the moment, I'm sorry!" Julian defended.
"But still, you'd kiss her?" Cole asks in disbelief, a scowl plastered on his face.
"It wasn't my fault that she made me feel like that!" Julian replies.
"There's a lot of girls out there, why her?" Brian snorts. I felt the glare my brother was sending him. "Chill! It was a joke."
Why her?
The words repeated in my headed in a never-ending train of thoughts until the group of girls shoved past me, snapping me back to reality. I composed myself and pretended like I didn't hear anything and sat back down on the table.
It was a deadly silence until I cleared my throat. "Why so awkwardly silent?"
They all looked at me then back at their food. "No secrets, remember?" I pointed out, raising my eyebrows.
"No secrets, we just don't see anything important to talk about, unless you can think of any," my brother lies, clearly pissed.
It was an awkward ride home after that.
-•-*-•-
"I heard what you guys were talking about yesterday and Julian was right, it was in the heat of the moment and I think I sent mixed signals anyways so blame it on me okay? It's my fault, not anyone else's," I spoke up, breaking the silence between the boys.
"Let's just forget it okay? It's immature to act like this over a simple mishap." I grumble as I crossed my arms, looking out the window as I crossed my legs on the passenger's seat.
Cole parks the car and sighs. "Right, sorry," he says sincerely before looking back and smiling at Julian. "Sorry for blowing up on you like that"
Randy apologizes too but Brian stays silent.
We went on to our classes, plain Literature and boring Geometry. I had Chemistry with Brian again and it was almost lunch when a group of kids near me started being noisier than usual. They passed a scrap paper around and the paper was passed onto me.
'Ria gets paid by the guys she hangs out with for money and pleasure '
The kids behind me whispered amongst themselves and I see Brian look at me in concern, oblivious of what's happening. I closed my eyes and crumpled the paper, causing the kids to murmur louder some other going;
'Ugh, she's disgusting'
'She doesn't even look that hot'
'I guess it's true that the innocent ones are the wildest.'
'Maybe she uses witchcraft, I mean look at her. She looks like a witch'
"What's with the commotion?" The teacher snaps then looks at me, then at my hand. She comes closer and asks for it. I hesitate for a moment then give it to her with a heavy sigh. She opens it up and reads, with a look of disbelief. "Who started this? I do not tolerate bullying in this classroom" her voice boomed. She kept asking for the culprit, but obviously no one turned up. The bell rings and we were dismissed, I quickly left the classroom with Brian in tow.
"Are you okay? What was written in it?" He asks.
"Nothing, let's just forget it," before he could reply I added, "Please."
-•-*-•-
I was silent while stabbing my salad with my fork, not really eating it. I felt conscious of my figure all of a sudden. It's coming back..
"Ria, are you okay? You're acting different" Julian points out.
"Tell us what's wrong," Cole adds.
"She was handed this note in Chemistry class, I don't know what was written in it but I know it's bullying her." Brian tries to explain.
"What was in it, Ria?" My brother asks me and I drop my fork.
"Can we just drop it please?" I accidentally snapped. They were quiet.
"Look girls it's the bitch, Ria!" Ivy walks to us with the little brats in tow.
"Hi fat-ass. You're lucky they're even hanging out with you. I guess I enjoy giving away to charity after all," Clare continues slamming her hand on the table in front of me.
"Are you done robbing these boys of their money or are you still being the whore you are?" Abby says in a sing-song tone with a smirk. And with that, everyone's attention was on us.
I clenched my fist and looked down, fighting back tears I never knew were there until now.
"What makes you girls think that you can talk to her like that?" Cole shouts at them.
"I don't think you can call them 'girls' much less, call them human" Julian hisses.
Randy enveloped me in a hug hushing my tears and rubs my back comfortingly as the situation unfold.
"Oh, is she paying you to do this? How many rounds to you get every night?" Abby asks oh-so-innocently. Then there was a loud slam, alerting everyone's attention if it wasn't on us already.
"What makes you think you can judge her? She doesn't pay us and it was our choice to let her stay with us because we'd rather hang out with her than fakes like you. I bet one of you is actually the prostitute, how else would you get this rich?" Brian points accusingly, the anger radiating off him as if he could kill.
The girls were speechless. But my mind wasn't.
Fat? Whore? Witch? Disgusting?
Those words repeated in my head and drove me crazy as I sobbed onto my brother. No matter how much I tried to stop it, I couldn't.
I hate myself