The same week when Kristen had gotten a black mark, she had been punished by her parents. Now, she was not allowed to go out and was allowed to use neither her laptop nor her tablet except on the weekends. Kristen sighed. How was she going to complete her assignments? She supposed she would have to use the library's computers.
Ever since she had been grounded, she had had no other choice but to focus on playing instruments more than usual. That pleased her father, who adored listening to his daughter playing the violin. Kristen despised it. She could not wait to grow up and go to university. She was already planning what colour to dye her hair or how to have it cut. Perhaps she could get a piercing or a tattoo?
At school, things were seemingly going better for Kristen, until she started to hear rumours about herself again. Marley, a junior, apparently was planning to beat up Kristen after school next week. People had heard and now they thought that Kristen deserved it. They had labelled her as "a pipsqueak" and "an idiot".
The sad part was that no one would help her stand up for herself. She would be left to the wolves and no one would care enough. Not even her parents, or so she assumed.
One day, after dance class, Kristen came home, only to be pulled into the living room with her mother. Her manager had come over for a surprise visit.
"I'm afraid I have terrible news," said he, when Jules and her daughter sat and asked what was going on.
Kristen felt her chest tightening. She tried to focus on the photos of her younger self on the fireplace and to control her breathing. She felt like she was losing control, like all of the times she had had a panic attack so far. She knew she had to tell someone, but who would listen to her? Her parents were too busy, her brothers were too indifferent. No one would bother to care.
"Kristen! Look into people's eyes when they're talking to you! You're being impolite!"
With that, the young girl came back to reality, where her manager and her mother were. She did not realize how much time had passed. To her, it had felt like an eternity.
The manager tried to calm down Jules, who was still being frantic, "It's okay. Kristen is visibly upset and I understand her."
"And who has gotten the part?!", Jules had not meant to shout. She had to have known better than to release all of the built-up anger for the past couple of weeks.
Kristen had just managed to calm herself down when her phone made a weird sound. She took it out of her bag and checked the notification she had just received. Yet another photo posted online by a rival! Couldn't they quite stop already?
What Kristen saw online stunned her. She could feel a giant limp forming in her throat. The tears were going to fall if she did not do anything. At that distinct moment, she could not take her eyes off the screen and the horrifying announcement she was looking at.
mackenziefoy:
So happy to announce that I will be playing Clara in a new movie adaptation of the ballet "The Nutcracker"!
"And that girl has not even auditioned! I can't believe that! It's so messed up!", added her manager.
Kristen's heart sank. She felt like she had been set up. Why would one do that to a young girl, like her? Was this what life was like? Would she have to face more of that as an adult?
Unable to hide her tears, she ran to the safety of her bedroom, where she could barely stand on her feet. She was supporting herself on the wrought iron of her bed, feeling she would fall apart if she didn't do so. The tears of jealousy and favouritism were running down her face freely. She knew no one would come after her. Her brothers were busy and so was her father. Her mother was still discussing manners downstairs. No one would care if she snapped rubber bands against her wrists and made a scratch on her arm. Or if she wrote words she found soothing on her other one.
Kristen had no idea what Mackenzie's side of the story was. She did not know that the younger girl had been forced to be hostile in that situation. That she had actually wanted to defend Kristen. Mackenzie had never been bullied herself, having been homeschooled through her whole life. But that did not mean she didn't hate mistreatment.
"Never defend your rivals!", Mackenzie had been told. And so she had agreed with a mean post, making one of the biggest mistakes in her life.
That night had been difficult for Kristen. She had forced herself to sleep very little so that she could catch up with homework, as usual. But she also wanted to sit down and write. She needed it more than everything. She had caught herself writing about a certain someone with a cherubic face and angelic curls.
What was wrong with her? Was the pressure built over the years finally catching up with her?
But what was wrong with people too? Why were they threatening to beat her up? What had Kristen done wrong? Had she hurt anyone unintentionally?
When she walked into the English classroom on the next day, Kristen saw that most of her classmates were already in their places, discussing loudly the prom that a few weeks away. She tried to find an empty seat. Realization hit her when she noticed that the only unoccupied one was next to Anton. She gulped and slowly slid herself on the seat next to him. He did not even acknowledge her presence. Typical for him. She thought he was an idiot for doing so.
Anton looked at her only once during the class - to ask if she was okay. With all the rumours about her, he had grown concerned. It was true he did not speak much with Kristen anymore, school and his friends were stopping him from doing so. But that did not mean he did not care about her wellbeing.
After class, he tried to catch up with her, but she rushed into the bathrooms instead. He knew what it was about. She was miserable. She was going to let it out in a private place. How private? All the girls would pile up in the bathrooms to gossip. He felt sorry for Kristen. Had he talked to her more, maybe she would have told him how she really felt.
He vowed to change everything.