No one gives me a chance. The only one I have is Elijah. Whenever he isn’t near, they strike, but if he’s by my side, they bat their eyelashes at him and giggle.
He hates them just as much as I do.
Halfway into the school year, they grab my backpack and dump everything onto the ground before stomping on all my things. They tackle me into the ground when we play no-touch football, then proceed to gather around me in a circle when I’m on the floor, only to point and laugh.
No one helps me up.
When Elijah sees the limp in my body, he demands to know what happened. He finally gets it out of me and comforts me before marching over to Mia and Luna and making them cry in return.
The last day of grade nine is the first time I get a black eye.
I brush through my freshly tangled hair, caused by Mia’s hands as she pulled and yanked so hard that I thought I would pass out. I try to appear more together when I walk out of the school for the day.
My ribs ache. Luna called it a “love” kick when I was curled in the fetal position when they had their way with me. Lifting my oversize T-shirt, I wince when I see the black-and-blue bruise, the size of a baseball, forming.
Elijah is going to freak.
The two of them were braver today since Elijah had to stay home from school. When he’d called me that morning with a thick voice, informing me he had to skip today, I reassured him I would be okay.
I’d lied.
But knowing I would see him later on got me through the day.
“Hey, honey. How was school today?” my mom asks when I climb into the passenger seat.
“It was all right, I guess.” I shrug, looking forward as she pulls out of the parking lot.
Getting a weird sense in my gut, I turn to her. Usually, my mom can’t shut up. She asks me a thousand questions and tells me everything about her day, and the radio is always on. Uncomfortable silence engulfs the car.
“Is something wrong, Mom?” I ask, noting the way her throat bobs.
Turning onto our street, she pulls into our driveway, nervously twitching in her seat. “Lily, I love you so much.”
“I know that.”
“What I’m about to tell you is going to hurt my heart, and I hate that I have to be the one to break the news to you.”
Anxiety builds in my throat. “Mom, you’re scaring me. What happened?”
“I was finishing with a meeting, and I noticed a moving truck across the street.”
My eyes bulge open. Jumping in the air, I look through the rearview mirror. The house that’s my second home looks void of any life.
“Mom,” I stress, frantically looking at her.
“I thought it was a big delivery of something they’d purchased, but when I noticed all their things being moved out, I ran outside quickly. I didn’t see any of the kids, but Athena was in tears, babbling about not being able to tell me much.” She grabs my sticky, shaky hands in hers firmly. “I’m sorry, honey, but they left, and they’re not coming back.”
It’s as if someone just shoveled out all my organs and splattered them on the ground. I grab my throat as a panicked gasp escapes my mouth.
This afternoon is the first time I’ve felt like I was going to die from a panic attack.
All because the boy who had promised me infinity left like a ghost.
After that day, the world is dim, all music sounds sad, and my heart’s rhythm aches. I make a promise to never let anyone in. Never will I give anyone the key to my heart so they can just turn around and stab me with it.
And the bullying? It only gets worse.
I am just left alone to survive it.
