E V A N N A
I woke up at 6, feeling refreshed and happy. This rarely happened, but for some reason, I felt okay. Well, I thought I did. As soon as I got off my bed, my right leg gave out and I fell onto the floor.
I stared at my right leg and saw a huge, nasty bruise forming. It was from when Jayden had kicked me yesterday. My right leg felt like it was on fire. It hurt that badly. Wincing, I got up and limped to my closet. I grabbed clothes and went to the bathroom.
I turned on the shower and went in after stripping. The water was hot and it felt nice to be in the hot water in cold weather. I hopped out of the shower after 10 minutes, wrapping towel around my hair and body. I put on my clothes and blow dried my hair.
I went out of the bathroom and made my bed. I grabbed my backpack and phone, and walked out of my room. As I was about to go down the stairs, I felt a push. I slipped on the first step and my ankle twisted at the third step. Luckily, I held onto the railing, so I just merely slipped. My head shot up and saw Jayden, glaring at me with resentment.
"Watch where you're going, bitch," he growled, going down past me.
I continued making my way down. Ethan gave me an awkward smile while placing a bowl of cereal. "You should, um, eat."
Ethan, Andrew, and Alex became nicer. It was really weird though. Most of the time, I would flinch or get scared whenever they talked to me. I didn't know what they expected. They've been abusing me for a while now, and all of the sudden they changed.
I didn't believe them at first. But, after I saw Alex punching Brandon, I started to believe that they would change. I still blamed myself for splitting the house apart, because technically, it was my fault...
I stared at the bowl in front of me. This was the first time he has done something like this. Was this a prank? A joke? Did he put something in it to humiliate me?
"It's not poisoned or anything," Ethan said, a tint of annoyance hinting at his voice. "Just eat it."
I didn't want to eat, to be honest. I wasn't hungry. I never ate breakfast. It was normal for me to skip it, and eat only lunch. It became part of my daily routine—eating either one, or no meal a day.
"Eat, or I'll force you," Ethan mumbled, sitting across from me. "I have to go to school soon. Hurry up."
"Sorry," I muttered, taking a spoonful of cereal.
It tasted like normal cereal. It was decent. As I went to take another spoonful, someone knocked the bowl sideways. Brandon watched in amusement as he smiled at me. "My bad."
The milk spilled all over my shirt and leggings, and Ethan stood up. "Dude."
"What? Oh, protecting her, I see? Why are you even doing that? She's not even our family. She's just a piece of shit that can-"
"Can you shut up?" Ethan asked.
"Nope," Brandon answered, plopping the p.
"It's fine, Ethan," I told him.
Obviously, it wasn't. If it was, would my heart feel like shattering into millions of pieces? If everything was fine, would I constantly feel like crying?
I checked the time. 6:32. I got up and went upstairs to change. I put on a different hoodie and a different pair of leggings. I rushed downstairs to find Ethan cleaning up the mess. My eyes widened as I ran over.
"I'll do it," I said, taking the paper towels from him.
He stared at me in shock. "What are you, Cinderella?"
I didn't reply. It's not like I haven't been treated like her. Being told to do everything. Being despised by my family. I was used to it, I guess.
I started cleaning up the mess until Ethan took the paper towels away from me, shaking his head. "Seriously. I'll do it."
"It's my fault, I can clean it myself," I argued. I didn't want him to clean. It happened because of me. It'll only make me feel bad if Ethan cleaned it.
"You're such an attention seeker," Jayden told me as he walked out of the door.
"Don't listen to him," Ethan said.
"Thanks," I replied, slinging my bag over my shoulders. "Bye."
I dreaded going to school. After Dad's news about them getting married, I knew Jayden wouldn't hesitate to torment me in any way. It was freezing outside. I was shivering the whole way there. I walked to my locker and put my bag away. I grabbed my binder, locked my locker, and went to History.
I sat next to Jayden, fear taking over me. Pulling out my homework and classwork, I waited for the teacher.
"Claire used to be your friend?" Jayden asked, smirking.
I stared at him. "H-how did you..."
"Owen told me. He also told me... other things," Jayden replied, a cruel smile on his lips.
Jayden cocked his head to the side. "I'm pretty sure Claire will be very upset when she hears that you spreader a rumor about her dead brother."
My eyes widened. "Jayden..."
His smile faded, his face turning cold and hard. "Today is going to be an unlucky day for you. You'll barely survive."
"Jayden, can you please not tell people?" I begged, panicking.
He rolled his eyes. "Shut up."
As the bell rang, students filled up the class. I sank in my seat, anxiety filling me. I tried focusing on my work, but I thought of Claire. It would hurt her so much if anyone mentioned her dead brother. As much as she hates me, I don't hate her.
"Jayden, I'll do anything you want. Just please-"
"You're gonna do whatever I want whether I tell Claire or not. I thought you knew that from the beginning?"
I felt close to tears. I was stressed and frustrated. I wanted to have Claire as my friend again. I missed her so much. She probably didn't miss me. She probably doesn't care. She hates me. This'll just make her hate me more. Why is Jayden so mean?
I hope she knows I would never spread a rumor like that. I liked Collin a lot. I was so upset when he took his life. I shared my deepest secrets with her. What if she tells them all to everyone?
I still treasured every single memory Claire and I had together. She just threw it away.
"You're crying," Jayden scoffed. "Stop being a baby."
Lowering my head, I wiped my tears and focused on my work. As soon as the bell rang I got up, only to be stopped by Jayden. "Carry my binder."
He dropped his heavy binder on top of mine, making me almost fall from the force. Owen came up and did the same thing, smiling. "So, you two are going to officially be siblings now?"
Before I knew it, Jayden shoved Owen. "Shut up! She's never going to be part of my family, you know that, right?"
Owen laughed. "Chill, dude. I know, I know."
That made me feel worse. I struggled to carry the three heavy binders, but I made it to the front of their lockers. They took their binders, making me sigh from relief. My arms were aching as I walked to the girls locker room. I quickly changed and put on a light jacket. We were running 1200 today, and it was pretty cold. I hated running. I am very bad at running. I walked outside and onto the field. The gym teachers said that the girls were running first and so I sighed.
Honestly, I'd say my time is okay for a middle schooler. I usually get around 3-4 minutes. I need to be better though. We gathered around the line and waited for the whistle to go off. As soon as it did, everyone started running.
I'd say I was probably in the Top 15 right now. I like to go slow at first and use all my energy at the end. By half way, people started walking and giving up. I reached the Top 10.
"Keep running, fatass!" Cathryn shouted from behind me.
"Yeah! Lose some weight!" Claire added, as they both exploded into fits of giggles.
Suddenly, Claire was running by my side. "You're honestly really fat. Have you been losing weight?"
"Did you try starving yourself?" Cathryn asked, coming to my other side. "Or exercising?"
Before I knew it, I tripped over Cathryn's leg that was extended in front of me. I rolled on the ground, my shoulders exploding in pain. I got up, wincing. I brushed the dirt off of me and sighed. I went back to running.
I came in at 3:46 and gasped for air. I wanted to go home and sleep, but I knew that was never going to happen. The boys started running nexts and Jayden was first. I wasn't surprised, really. As soon as the teacher said we could go back in, I rushed inside and changed.
I went to reading, but something seemed off. Everyone was staring at me. It was strange. Ignoring the burning stares, I walked into my class and sat down.
Jayden entered, not taking his eyes off of me. A smirk made its way onto his lips as he sat down. He put on his headphones and started doing whatever he was doing.
After reading, it was science. Cathryn, Claire, and Owen were in the class. Before I entered the class, I felt someone grab my hair and sharply yank it, the force making me drop my books.
They covered my mouth, muffling my whispers and screams. They dragged me to the girls bathroom and threw me on the floor.
"Bitch!" Claire yelled, grabbing my shirt. "I hate you!"
I was breathing heavily, confused and scared. When I looked closely at her, her face was tear streaked. Her eyes were red and she looked like she just stopped crying.
"Would you like it if I told every secret about you to the whole school?" She exploded in my face. "How could you?"
I flinched at her loud voice. "W-what?"
"I'm not stupid! You told everyone about my brother!" She yelled.
I froze. Jayden told everyone. He blamed it on me. Oh no oh no oh no...
"Did you really think I was your friend?"
She asked, her eyes flaming with anger. "I was only like that because I felt bad for you! You were getting bullied so I decided to pity you!"
"Do you know how annoying you were? Always asking if I was okay. Always acting like you were so kind and the best person ever! Honestly, I can't describe how much I hate you!"
"Stop!" I yelled, close to tears. "Please, Claire. Why are you doing this to me?"
"Because you are the problem! Why can't you just disappear from my life?" She stormed out of the bathroom, without saying anything else.
I felt a tear escape my eyes. My heart clenched, but I wiped the tears away, standing up.
You're such a baby. Stop crying.
I sighed as I walked back to my science class. Claire and Cathryn weren't in class, so I assumed they were skipping. My life is honestly so messed up, I want to die.
Math was the usual, and today, I sat with Summer, Natalie, and Matthew for lunch.
"Why'd you spread a rumor about Claire's brother?" Natalie asked, frowning.
My mouth hung open. "Did you actually think I would do something like that?"
"No— I— Well..." Natalie stammered, "I didn't believe that you would do such thing..."
"Well, I didn't," I said.
"So Claire's brother killed himself? That sucks. I heard her family moved after burying him," Matthew said.
"Oh, really? That seems a little messed up, don't ya think?" Natalie muttered.
Just like mom... You're messed up, Evanna.
"They probably had a reason," I replied, defending Claire and her family. "Do you think they wanted to leave him?"
Summer pouted. "Evanna, calm down. It's nothing."
I sighed. "Sorry."
"Claire's pissed," Summer said. "She was threatening to kill you, Evanna."
I rubbed my temples. "Fun."
"Be careful, okay?" Summer smiled.
"Yeah..."
***
I walked out of the school and continued down the sidewalk. I felt a hand grab my arm and dragged me to the back of the school. The whole time, I was resisting, but it was no use. I was thrown onto the ground and when I looked up, I was surrounded by a group of girls, Claire and Cathryn standing in the middle.
"Claire," I said, "Owen's the one who-"
She slapped me. "Stop lying, bitch!"
My cheek stung and I heard laughter above me. I looked up and Claire was glaring at me. "You're gonna pay."
***
Hello~
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know I haven't updated in a few days so I'm sorry! Thank you for all the support and love you give me :)
Q: Do you think Ethan/Andrew/Alex will actually change?
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