Copyright © MonMoncheese
All Rights Reserved
26 Published 03.20.2020
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Warning: There are triggering scenes ahead. If you are sensitive to bullying and abuse, I do not recommend reading it. Please, do not read if you are not okay with it.
James|Roseanne
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ROSEANNE
"Were you hiding from me?" Scott asks.
I feel my heartbeat increase as he holds me against his chest. His hold is so tight that I feel his fingers bruise my skin through my uniform.
"You know, I'm not very happy with you." He continues as he slaps a hand over my mouth. "And if you make so much as a small noise, I'll be sure to make your life more of a living hell than it already is here. And trust me, it won't be that hard."
My hands shake as he leads me somewhere isolated. My eyes dart around in hopes that someone was seeing this, but no one was near us.
And the odds of someone helping me were close to zero.
"Now where was I?" He questions. "Oh, yes, dear Roseanne, I am very upset with you. I took my time of day to write something to you, a scumbag, mere trash, and you just dismissed my efforts! That's not very nice of you." Scott chuckles. "But I will tell you what was written in those two papers. I was asking you to give me the answers. You see, my father is not very pleased with my grades as they seem to be dropping for no apparent reason, at this rate, he might take me out of his will. And that cannot happen. Especially when he thinks so little of me."
I'm going to suffer because of his desire for money?
How far could a person go just to bully someone?
As he pushed me to walk, I realized that he was leading me to the men's restroom at the back of the library. But students rarely frequented those restrooms.
And if he wanted to, he could hurt me as much as he wanted and the possibilities of someone hearing me were slim.
Unless that by some miracle, someone decided to pass through there or go inside.
"Let's go inside," He says as he pushes me inside the restroom. "Roseanne, I was only asking you for a small favor, but you ignored me. Now tell me, why did you?"
Scott removes his hand from my mouth and I gulp. I turn around to answer him.
"I didn't know that you wanted me to give you the answers. I thought you were just throwing paper balls." I say, hoping that he will understand.
Scott simply glares at me and reaches for my jaw. "You would have known if you read the paper. I'm disappointed in you, and now that I think about it, ignoring me wasn't a very smart move from you. But it's too late now, all I can do is suffer the consequences." His grip on my jaw tightens and I close my eyes in pain. "And you, well, you are just going to suffer with me."
Scott slams me into the wall as he uses his other hand to pull my hair which causes me to moan in pain.
"Perhaps you ignored me because you think you're better than me just because you're smart." He says as our faces are only centimeters apart.
In his eyes, I saw the anger he held.
He wanted to hurt me.
He actually wanted to hurt me.
And I feared how far he would go to do so.
"But don't forget, Roseanne. You're nothing but a worthless piece of shit. Nobody wants you, that's why you don't have any friends. After all, who would want to be friends with a piece of garbage. To be honest with you, if your parents weren't rich and if you weren't smart, you would be nothing. Do you hear me? Nothing. You're a nobody. And that's all you will ever be."
I feel my eyes water as he says this.
His words felt like a stab in the heart.
Was I really worthless?
Why did he hate me so much?
Scott lets go of my jaw and hair at the same time. And for a second I think he's going to let me go, but I'm wrong when he pushes me harshly.
He doesn't give me a warning as he pushes me with all his force.
I don't have time to react when I land on my left arm and feel something break.
A sob breaks out of me because of the pain.
But it's not over.
I barely have time to cry because Scott reaches for me and pulls my left arm with a harsh grip as he twists it around. I try to pull it away as an agonizing pain travels through my arm.
"Please, stop," I beg him. "My arm, it hurts." I cry silently, not wanting to anger him even more.
"Too bad, you should have thought about it before you ignored me." He replies as he tries to pull me up, but I fall to my knees. I use my right arm to hold my left arm.
"Scott, there was no way I could help you cheat. We sit far away." I tell him.
"You should have figured it out. But there is no point anymore."
I hold my arm and wince.
Scott sighs and bends down to my level.
"Does it hurt?" He asks.
Through blurry eyes I see him frown and I slowly nod my head.
"Sorry, I guess." He says before pulling my hair backward.
"It really is sad to see you like this, pitiful, actually." Scott chuckles to himself. "And because I take pity on you, I will only do this last thing." As soon as he says that, Scott stands up, and kicks me on my left arm, causing me to cry out.
"Scott, I'm sorry. I didn't know." I croak out as I continue crying.
"I'm sorry, I really am." He says in a sad tone. "Here, let me help you."
Scott kneels down and as he stretches his hand, I flinch.
"Poor thing," Scott murmurs as he caresses my cheek. And I find myself backing away from his touch. Removing his hand, he pulls me up by my right arm.
Once on my feet, I lower my head and I watch as the tears land on the polished restroom floor.
"I hope you learned your lesson." He whispers beside my ear and I look up. "Oh, and don't worry about the last book. I'll put it away for you. You can head to the nurse now." He smiles at me and I sniff.
With that, he leaves me behind.
I look to my left arm and slightly touch it.
It may have lessened the fall, but it caused my arm to break.
Wiping my eyes I walk out of the restroom.
Passing the librarian's desk, I see that she's not there.
In the end, he found me.
Picking up my bag with my right arm, I let my other arm hang as I exit the library.
I continue walking until I'm in front of the nurse's door. Opening the door, I step inside."Ms. Karson?" I call out.
"Yes?" I hear her voice and she comes through another room carrying a few boxes.
"I um, I think I broke my arm when I tripped in the library," I tell her.
"Oh, come sit on the examination bed." She says and puts the boxes down.
As I do this, she prepares to check my arm.
"Okay, take off your blazer, please. Actually, nevermind, if it's broken you probably won't be able to." Ms. Karson takes off my blazer and places it on the side.
"Let's see," She says.
The nurse slowly grabs my arm and I wince.
"Darling, how did you break your arm?" She asks.
"I was at the library and I tripped, but I landed on my arm," I explain to her and she frowns as her eyes focus on my cheeks.
She must be looking at my dried tears.
I give her a bright smile hoping she believes me. And it seems she does when she smiles back.
"Hmm, honey, I think I should call your mom or dad. You need to go to the doctor so that they can do a better examination." She tells me as she keeps touching my arm.
I try not to wince in pain, but it hurts too much.
"Wait here, okay. I'm going to call your mom. Oh, and don't move your left arm." She says before leaving.
I look at my arm in sadness.
This is the first time I have ever broken a bone. But the way it broke makes me sad.
The nurse comes back and I look at her.
"Alright, Roseanne, I just called your mom and she said she will be here. Just stay here and rest. It won't hurt too much once you get some medicine."
"Thank you." I tell her and lay on the bed with a sigh.
"Don't worry, Rose. Just rest." She smiles at me before leaving.
•••
"Rose, honey, I'm here." I open my eyes and I see my mom standing in front of me. Ms. Karson standing to the side.
"Mom," I say, sadly.
I wanted to tell her everything, but I couldn't.
"Hi, baby, your dad is waiting in the car. He decided to come when I told him about your arm. let's go, come on." She places a kiss on my cheek.
I hop down from the bed and my mom holds my side.
"Thank you, nurse Karson," Mom tells the nurse.
"Oh, don't thank me, I couldn't do anything because her arm is broken. Make sure she gets treated, it seems like she suffered a harsh fall." Ms. Karson says.
After a few more words, we leave.
As we walk out of school, I feel my mom rub my back.
"You'll feel better after we get home." She tells me.
•••
"Roseanne?" Our family doctor calls my name.
"What happened?" He asks looking up from the table in his hands.
"I broke my arm while tripping," I say and motion to my arm.
Dad and mom stand to the side as Dr. Lawrence approaches me.
"I'm going to touch your arm, tell me if it hurts, okay?" I nod my hand and he rubs hand sanitizer on his hands before touching my arm.
"Let's see," He mumbles to himself.
Dr. Lawrence grabs my arm and starts pressing on it.
My brows furrowed in pain. "Does it hurt a lot?" He asks while pressing in my arm softly.
"Yeah," I answer.
"Hmm."
After he's done, he types some things on his tablet. "You're going to get an X-ray in a few minutes. Someone will come for you. Once I get the scans, I will be able to see what bone is broken. Don't stress, kid. I'll fix your arm and then you'll be good."
He leaves and I'm left with mom and dad.
"You okay, sweetie?" Dad asks as he comes to my side and gives me a side hug.
"I'll be better, dad," I tell him. "You didn't have to come, you know? I know the both of you are busy, I don't want to disturb the both of you."
"No, honey. You're my daughter, as long as I'm able to, I'll be there for you." He explains to me squeezing my side.
"Thanks, dad." I look up at them.
"Your dad is right, honey. We'll be here for you whenever you need us." Mom walks to my other side.
I smile at both of them and they smile back.
Soon, another doctor comes to take me for an X-ray.
When they are done, they take me back to my room to wait for the results.
As I wait, my mind keeps drifting to what happened.
Scott hurt me, but I'm thankful that he didn't go too far. Because in the end, it could have been worse.
I just didn't understand why they hated me.
I never did anything wrong to them.
They just disliked me.
Mom steps out to call my brother and tell him that we're at the hospital, while dad stays with me.
"Are you hungry, sweetie?" Dad asks coming my way.
No, not again.
I didn't want to do this right now.
"We picked you up before you had your lunch, so I'm guessing you might be."
"Not really, dad. I'm just tired. I want to go home." I tell him.
Dad purses his lips and looks down at me. "We will leave as soon as you get your cast. And then you can sleep." He tells me.
Mom walks inside the room. "Nathan wanted to come, but I told him to take care of his after school activities. Rose, he says he'll see you at home and that he loves you."
"Thanks, mom."
There is a knock on the door and Dr. Lawrence comes in. "So I have your results and it shows that your radius bone is broken, so we're going to put a cast on you, and you will have to wear it for six weeks. After that, it will be removed to check if the bone is healing well."
"Do you have any questions, Roseanne?" He turns to me.
"No, I'm good."
"Alright, it won't hurt so don't be afraid." He tells me.
By the time I get my cast, it's 04:32 and we are ready to leave.
"Remember what I told you, if you feel any more pain, come see me or just call me." Dr. Lawrence tells me. "That's basically it, you guys can leave if you want. And avoid any impact on your cast."
My parents thank Dr. Lawrence and they part ways.
"Alright, sweetie. Let's go home." Dad says as he leads mom and me through the corridors.
Once we're outside, we walk to the car.
Dad opens the door for me and makes sure I get in safely.
After thanking him, he does the same to mom.
As he begins to drive off, I lean back on the seat and close my eyes.
I must have dozed off at some point because when I wake up, mom is shaking me slightly.
"Rose, wake up, honey. We're here." I hear my mom's voice say.
I open my eyes and look around.
We're here.
Looking at the front I see my dad walking inside the house with my bag on his shoulder.
Stepping out of the car, mom shuts the door behind me.
We walk inside the house together. "Honey, go get some sleep, okay? I'll come to check up on you in a few hours. And I will tell your brother to let you rest for a while. Now go rest." Mom says and I nod.
I walk up the stairs quietly and head to my room.
Once I'm inside, I shut the door and walk to my bathroom.
Leaning against the bathroom door, I sigh and slide to the floor.
Scott's words pass through my mind and I'm forced to shut my eyes in response.
Worthless.
That's why nobody wants to be my friend.
But what about Stranger? Was he my friend?
Or did he also find me worthless?
My eyes water at the thought and I pull my phone out.
Clicking on his contact name, I type in a message.
05:37 p.m.
Stranger?
Are you my friend?
Not even two minutes after I text him, I get a reply back.
05:39 p.m.
It seems so.
Where is this coming from?
I read his messages but I don't answer.
Was he lying?
There was no way for me to know whether he was lying or not.
But Scott said I was worthless. And I haven't had a friend in years. So in the end, perhaps he only tolerated me to be nice.
I wanted to believe him, but it wasn't possible.
Not now, at least.
Looking down at my arm, I stare at it.
This hadn't happened before. I've been physically bullied, but Scott had done things differently this time.
I must have really angered him today.
"I'm worthless," I mumble to myself.
Things would have been different if I didn't exist.
I feel tears rolling down my cheeks and I wipe them away. But its no use as more tears keep coming.
"I hate this." I grunt.
My phone startles me as it rings. I take it out of my blazer and check to see him calling me.
I stare at the screen as it rings and after a few more seconds, I find myself answering his phone call
"Princess?" He says once I answer.
The sound of his voice causes a sob to rake through me. And I cover my mouth to muffle my cries.
"Stranger." I croak.
"What's wrong?" He asks.
"I- I just-" I try to speak, but I can't.
"Baby, tell me what's wrong?" Stranger says and it almost sounds like he's worried for me.
But that's impossible.
'You're worthless.' Scott's voice passes through my mind.
"I'm worthless," I repeat to myself.
"What? What the fuck are you talking about? Why did you just say that?" He asks.
For a second I'm confused about his questions until I realize that he heard me.
"I'm sorry." I whisper before hanging up.
Putting my phone away I wipe my tears and try to stand up. While I'm doing this, I have to hold myself from the doorknob to get on my feet.
Getting out of the restroom, I take off my uniform which was harder than I expected.
When I reach my button-up dress shirt, I cry in frustration from not being able to take it off.
But after much effort, it is finally removed.
After putting on a t-shirt and sweatpants, I walk to my bed and get underneath the covers.
I feel guilty from hanging up on him. But he must not find out about me. He would despise me. And I didn't want that.
As I stare at the roof, my eyes close on its own accord until I succumb into a deep sleep.
○○○
Woah, this chapter was scary.
I was actually scared as I was writing it.
AND IT MADE ME SAD. 😭😭😭😭
MY HEART ACTUALLY BROKE AS I WROTE THIS CHAPTER. 😔😔
BUT GUYS, DON'T BE DISCOURAGED, THIS IS ONLY A SAD CHAPTER. BUT THERE WILL BE MANY HAPPY CHAPTERS BETWEEN ROSE AND JAMES.
THIS WAS ALSO A LONG CHAPTER. YOOHOO. GO, GO, ME. 🥳🥳🥳