Warning: slight mentions of self harm, and violence. Please read at your own discretion.
If these topics are triggering to you, please skip ahead.
You have been warned.
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About three weeks after the trial and my mother's conviction, Nadia found out about what happened. I don't know how she did, but she was pissed when she found out. I was heading towards my locker with Tori when Nadia shoved me to the ground and began stomping on me.
"HOW COULD YOU BE SUCH A BITCH?!" Nadia yelled as she then started to kick me.
I just laid on the floor and took it, it was all I could do. Fighting back would just make her reverse the roles, she was crazy manipulative.
"YOU RUINED YOUR MOTHER'S LIFE!" Nadia shouted.
"She ruined mine!" I coughed.
Nadia growled and grabbed the collar of my shirt, picking me up off the floor and getting in my face.
"We all know that you ruined your mom's life the minute you were born." Nadia sneered.
"No, Nadia." I began to feel confident, "She ruined her life the second she started doing drugs, she ruined her life the minute she turned that camera on."
Nadia let go of me, "Stop lying."
"Nadia, you know me." I defended, "I don't lie, I never lie."
She got upset, balled up her fist, and swung at my stomach. I grunted and collapsed to my knees, holding my arms over my stomach. Nadia smirked down at me.
"Go on, try to fight back." her hazel eyes glared, "It won't do a thing for your reputation."
"Is that all you care about?" Tori blurted out.
Nadia's smirk faltered as she turned to look at Tori, "What?"
"Reputation, is that all you care about?" Tori repeated.
"It's what matters in the industry." Nadia replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
"No it doesn't," Tori fought, "What matters is the content you produce, what matters is your image to those you influence. Your image right now Nadia? You look like a massive bitch to everyone."
"Back down, Vega." Nadia spat, "You don't want to mess with me."
"I don't care if you do, everyone here can see that you attack Skyla with no remorse. You attack her for no reason."
"SHE STOLE MY SPOTLIGHT!" Nadia screamed.
"YOU WERE SICK!" Tori screamed back.
"Tori? Skyla? Dia?" Andre's voice suddenly called out, "What's going on?"
I kept my head pointed towards the floor as I slowly stood up and grabbed Tori's arm, "Nothing, everything's fine."
I pulled on Tori's arm, "Come on, Tori."
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Later that day, at lunch, Nadia and Andre were sitting together. I was sitting with Tori, Beck and Jade, Robbie and Cat were with their other friends. Tori just learned about my crush on Andre, she seemed surprised until Jade told her off.
"Don't act like you didn't know."
"What do you mean?"
"Vega, you knew that Andre liked Skyla the second he met her."
Tori shook her head, "No, I didn't."
"Again, don't act like you don't know."
Tori whined, "Fiiiiine, I knew. But Nadia would've killed me if I told her."
"Why? You're not friends with her." Jade scoffed.
"I'm not, but Trina is."
Suddenly this off key, off everything singing voice scraped our eardrums. Then a giggle followed by a "Man, I'm talented!"
"Speak of the Devil." Beck commented.
"Hey Tori!" an older girl greeted.
"Hey Trina." Tori sighed.
"So, who's your new friend?" Trina asked, pointing to me.
"This is Skyla."
"Oh, Nadia's sidekick!" Trina exclaimed.
I don't know what happened, but the comment punched me harder than Nadia did.
"I'm...I'm sorry what?" I asked, nervously giggling, "I think I misheard you."
"Nadia's sidekick! She always talks about how you help her out while she makes her big break." Trina explained.
"She said I'm her what?" I asked again, closing my eyes with a smile.
"Sidekick." Trina said, confused, "Am I missing something here?"
I clenched my fists in my lap and lowered my head, Jade nudged my shoulder but I didn't budge.
"Uh oh." Jade worriedly said.
"What?" Tori and Trina asked.
"She's gonna snap."
"What do you mean?" Trina asked.
"Oh." Tori muttered nervously.
As soon as the words left her mouth, I slammed my fists onto the table, everything flying up for a couple seconds before falling back down, a little disoriented from when they were first put down on the table. I stole a glance to see Nadia smirking with Andre looking confused. Trina backed up, a little scared.
"Holy shit." Tori muttered.
"Jade, restroom, now!" I firmly said as I snatched up my bag and my phone and stormed off.
The sound of Jade's boots followed behind me as I stormed my way to the girl's restroom and ripped open the door. Jade was right behind me, so as she shut the door, I threw my bag.
"FUCK! HER!" I yelled, clenching my fists again and looking for something to punch.
I'm not one to get angry easily, but Nadia calling me her sidekick? That was the straw that broke the camel's back. That pissed me off. After everything she's put me through these past two months, she decided to start calling me her sidekick?! It's like she has no care about other's feelings! She cares about herself more than anyone else!
"Sky, I know you're upset-"
"Upset?! I'm more than just upset, I'm fucking FURIOUS!"
"I get it, I do. But you gotta calm down."
"I'll calm down after my fist goes through something!" I shouted, turning around and still glancing around.
The door opened, I whirled back around to see Beck and Andre sneak inside.
"What do you want?" I snapped, surprising them.
"Why did you just storm off like that?" Andre confronted.
"I don't want to talk to you." I defended, crossing my arms.
"Well too bad, you're gonna have to talk to Andre." he retorted.
"Man, I told you not to follow me." Beck said.
Andre gave him a look then turned back to me, "What's been up with you?"
"I'm not gonna tell you anything." I simply answered.
"Oh my god." Jade groaned, "She doesn't want Nadia to find out about your conversations with her. She wants to protect you from Nadia because she can't bare to see you get heartbroken."
Andre's eyes softened, my heart jerked at his voice when he spoke to me, "Why don't you want Dia to know?"
"Because she threatened me. She said that if we conversed again, she would break up with you, for good. And you just seemed really happy with her and I didn't want your happiness to be broken." I confessed, slowly backing up.
"Sky-" Andre softly started.
"No," I interrupted, "I don't need this right now."
I picked up my bag from the floor, "I'm going home early."
I threw my bag over my shoulder and left, walking to the office and signing myself out. I told them I had a small stomach virus and needed to go home. They told me to take care of myself and I nodded, walking out of the building and walking home.
I grabbed my key out of my bag and unlocked the door to my home, I quickly shut the door behind me and locked it, terrified of people showing up. Knowing what to do, I went to my room, grabbed my diary and a few pens, along with some blankets and pillows, some stuffed animals, and changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. I went down to my living room and built my fort to look like I was air drying some blankets on my couch. I shoved some pillows into the fort along with my stuffies, and crawled inside. Using the light of my phone, I started writing poems to help me express my emotions.
I want to be with you
But she doesn't
I want to make you happy
But she doesn't
I want to stand next to you
But she doesn't
I want to have things be the way they were
But she doesn't
Of all things in the world, the girl you're with is too insecure to allow you to talk to your friend.
She knows that I feel for you
She knows that I want you
She knows that I love you
She knows this
But she doesn't want me to get between you.
After a couple hours, a knock echoed throughout the quiet room, I called out to it.
"What?"
"It's Beck and Jade." Beck's voice called out.
Internally groaning, I crawled out of my fort and trudged over to the door. I opened the door to see my two best friends, Beck and Jade. Jade was eyeing my arms.
"Is this why you wear long sleeves, even underneath your tee shirts?" she asked as she grabbed my wrists.
"They're old, Jade. I don't even do this to myself anymore."
She gently ran her thumbs over my arms, looking at me with a soft, concerned expression.
"What caused that?" Beck asked, sounding a little furious.
Inviting them inside, then locking the door behind them, I explained, "Nadia's harassment, my mother's abuse, I couldn't just sit around and let it brew in my head, it was physically and mentally exhausting. So I did the only thing I had to do to release the pain."
"But you didn't have to resort to this!" Jade exclaimed, "You have resources, Lane, there's therapy."
"I've tried therapy before, Jade. It didn't work."
"You can't resort to cutting yourself."
"I haven't done it anymore. After being accepted to Hollywood Arts, I haven't felt the need to."
Beck nodded, fury still in his eyes, "That's understandable."
"Why are you upset?" I finally addressed.
"Because when you left early, Nadia was screaming for you in the halls."
I sighed, "Did she want to call me a bitch for being 'disrespectful' towards Andre?"
"No." Beck answered, "Once she realized you weren't at the school, she started gossiping."
I groaned, "What did she say now?"
"She said you-"
"She doesn't need to know." Jade piped up, looking ashamed.
"What?" I asked.
"Jade doesn't want you to know, but honestly, this is really bad."
"Tell me."
"Are you sure?"
"Just spit it out, Beck."
Beck hesitated but then answered.
"She's saying you slept with Jade. That you sleep with your friends."
"WHAT?!"
"Calm down." Jade said, grabbing my hand.
"Are you serious? I haven't slept with anyone! I don't even sleep with people. I've never done that sort of stuff!"
"Nobody really believed her but Andre found out." Jade sighed.
"How did-"
"He broke up with Nadia on the spot." Beck interrupted.
"What?"
"He said her last chance with him was gone, she took it too far. He wants nothing to do with her anymore." Beck explained.
I walked over to my couch, pulling the blanket down and sitting on the couch, "So they're done?"
Beck and Jade sat down with me, "Seems so."
As much as I wanted to be happy, there was this feeling of dread inside of me, like something bad was about to happen. Beck seemed to notice.
"Did Barba ever text you about your mom's sentencing?" he asked.
"Thirty years, no chance of parole, no bail or bond was set. She's not leaving prison for thirty years." I blandly answered.
"That's good! Nadia can't break her out." Jade said, trying to be positive.
I shrugged, pulling one of the pillows up from the fort and hugging it to my chest, "Something feels bad though."
"You think she's gonna hurt you?" Jade asked.
"Probably."
"We won't let her." Beck smiled.
"Why are you smiling?" I asked.
"Because we got better news for you."
"What?" I questioned.
"She got suspended." Jade exclaimed.
"Nadia's suspended?!"
"Yes!" the couple exclaimed.
"But Lane said-"
"I know Lane said he wasn't gonna suspend her for at least another month, but Andre reported her, he also reported her beating you up earlier today, he witnessed it. Lane said enough was enough and took all the evidence to Helen. She suspended her."
Shock went through my mind, she would no longer be at school, she would no longer hurt me, she wouldn't be able to harass me anymore. Tears stung my eyes as I hugged Beck and Jade.
"Finally." I sniffled, "How long is she suspended for?"
"Three weeks, she has a hearing with the superintendent and Helen that will determine if she gets expelled or not." Jade explained.
Sighing happily, I smiled, "This is great! This is absolutely great!"
"You're free, Skyla." Beck congratulated.
I looked out the window to see the sun starting to set, "It's getting late, you guys should head home."
"We'll see you tomorrow then?" Jade asked as she stood up.
"Definitely!" I happily exclaimed.
I walked Beck and Jade out and watched as they drove off, I shut the door behind me and locked it, sighing in relief.
"Nadia holds no power over me anymore." I said aloud.
I made cookies that night, chocolate chip, sugar cookies, and snickerdoodles. I packed the cookies into their own containers to put in my bag for school tomorrow.
I then went to bed, excited to finally go to school without the fear of getting hurt again.