Not waiting for Mrs. Rodriguez to dismiss us, I leapt to my feet, leaving my destroyed sign on the ground before sprinting away.
The laughter seemed to follow me as I rushed down the hall toward the bathroom, fully crying now.
I had thought for sure that if I worked hard enough, they would finally see the real me, and I would be able to escape the horrible labels they had slapped on me since I first came to this stupid school.
Why did it feel like everyone hated me so much? How was I supposed to keep coming back to this place every day with literallyno onein my corner? My mom always told me that my dark angel was coming to save me, but he never did.
No one ever came to save me from the bullies.
There was no guardian angel.
Only mean children with hurtful words, crushed flowers, and broken dreams.
8 years old
The hallways started to fill with students switching classes as I ran, half-blinded by tears, toward the bathroom.
Keeping my head down to avoid further humiliation, I rushed through the crowds, not bothering to look where I was going.
I slammed smack dab into someone, and I yelped in panic as a pair of hands firmly gripped my shoulders, keeping me steady on my feet.
My heart leapt in excitement.
Was this my dark angel?
Maybe he had come to help me after all.
I looked up, hoping to find the heavenly being that my mother kept promising would come to be standing before me, ready to kick some serious bully butt. My heart sank when I realized it was just Theo.
She frowned down at me, her dark gaze immediately cataloging my reddened eyes and wet cheeks.
“Hey. What’s wrong? Wasn’t your big presentation today? Why are you crying?” she asked, and I sniffed, throwing my arms around her waist and burying my face in her white button-up uniform shirt we were all required to wear.
There was a girl version with a skirt and a more tailored top, but Theo always wore the boy uniform instead, even though it got her in trouble with Father Samwell.
I couldn’t even form words to tell her that my flowers were crushed and that the other kids had laughed me out of the class.
I just shook, completely devastated in her arms, when I heard a familiar mean voice shout down the hall behind me.
“There he is! HA! Look at that! The faggot undertaker and his dyke sister! Look at those freaks!” Kenny jeered, and I froze, suddenly unable to even breathe.
He had followed me out here. Ruining my project hadn’t been enough; these kids still wanted to torture me more.
Before I knew what was happening, Theo was shoving me behind her, her face contorted with rage.
Theo was three years older than me, and from the look on her face, she knew what those words meant, and she was not happy about it.
“The fuck did you just say!?” she snarled. Kenny sneered at her, giving her the finger.
“You heard me, dyke. Why don’t you and your faggot brother drop out? No one wants you here.”
Everyone in the hallway fell silent and seemed to stare at Theo, waiting to see what she would do. She had a bit of areputation as a scrapper, and people typically didn’t try to mess with her. Not nearly as much as they messed with me, and it quickly became apparent why.
Even though Theo was a girl and Kenny was a boy, Theo was still older than Kenny, and she had recently taken up boxing. So, when she shot forward and chucked him against the lockers, he didn’t stand a chance.
The entire hall watched in horrified silence as Theo unleashed on Kenny. She slammed her fist into his face once, twice,three times,before he even realized what was happening.
There was a sickeningcrunch,and everyone gasped as blood shot out of Ken’s nose like a messed up firehose.
