Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
After all, I am the nexus of all trouble caused by the bullying, and regardless of whether it is my fault or not, it’s easy to blame me, the one who is always there when trouble happens. Especially when the majority of students are pushing the narrative that I am actually the one who is causing the problems.
So, at some point, I stopped reporting the bullies.
I stopped fighting back.
When I started my junior year four months ago, I became a social pariah at Berkshire Academy. But I was also a reject in my own home, with my own family.
An outcast, through and through.
“Did you clean your vagina properly this time?” Rita sneers, disdain apparent on her face.
“This is getting old now. Do yourself a favor and find a new rumor to spread,” I snap, glaring at Jenny and her “new” friends.
A few weeks ago, Jasper told his fellow football friends that the only reason he couldn’t bear to have sex with me again is because I have terrible vaginal odor.
Hence the nickname: Smelly, slimy Riley.
I cried the first time I heard the rumor, and then I laughed. Because the rumors were becoming more and more detailed, yet so inaccurate that I had to applaud their imaginations.
I try to move past them, but they block my path to the door. I roll my eyes, faking nonchalance, but icy fear spreads through my veins. Last time they ganged up on me like this, I went home with a black eye and a fractured pinky. It took a lot of makeup to cover the marks they left on my face.
“This is getting quite predictable now.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I stare them down. I don’t cower, because a Johnson never cowers. “Get out of my way.”
Jenny lets out a throaty, taunting laugh. “Or what? What can you possibly do, Riley?”
“Ganging up on me like this? Five against one? Who is the coward now, Jenny?”
My muscles tense because I know I’m making this worse for myself, fueling their hatred and their need to force me to my knees. It’s a game of authority — the ultimate power trip. To make me bend, to have me quaking and cowering at their feet.
To humiliate me.
“All of this for what?” I plaster my fake pageant smile on, knowing it will just piss them off even more. I refuse to beg for mercy.
They won’t break me.
They can’t break me.
“A tiny two-inch dick?” I continue, with a humorless laugh. “Please, Jasper is not that good of a lover for you to go that hard for him.”
Jenny growls and lashes forward, backhanding me in the face. The copper taste of blood instantly fills my mouth and I lick my bruised lips. Bethany, Jenny’s younger sister, kicks the back of my legs and I fall on my knees. Her two other friends circle around me, grabbing my arms and tugging them roughly behind me. Forcing me to curve my shoulders low to avoid them pulling my arms out of their sockets.
Jenny bends low, putting her face close to mine. “You’ve always fancied yourself a mighty princess, invincible and on the top of the ladder. But you’re easily disposable, Riley.” Her long, perfectly manicured nails dig into my cheeks, and I know she’s cut me when my skin starts to sting. Pain throbs through my face. “Where did your beauty get you? Being called the school’s whore. Where did being rich get you? Being the school’s clown. Where did your so-called popularity get you? Friendless and a sad reject. Even Elaine and Blythe want nothing to do with you anymore. You’re nobody.”
The bullying doesn’t hurt. The rumors and all the embarrassing shit they’ve forced me to endure. None of that caused me more pain than Elaine and Blythe turning their back on me when I needed them the most.
Once I became an outsider within Berkshire Academy, they refused to be associated with me anymore. To save their own reputation.
While they didn’t actively participate in the bullying, they watched as I was pushed into the lockers. They watched as I was tripped and made fun of, and sometimes, they joined in on the laughing and mocking.
I guess we were friends only because it benefited them, not because they cared about me.
My eyes flash toward Jenny. “I’m nobody and you are just a jealous skank.”
Outraged, she backhands me again.
I laugh. “A dirty traitor,” I spit through the bloodied lips. “You are jealous because I caught Jasper’s attention first. You’re jealous that even though it was for a bet, I was his girlfriend first. You’re just jealous because you’re second best.”
This time, her slap has my head snapping back and I hit the wall. My ears ring and there’s a dull pain in the back of my skull. The ground underneath my knees spins until my stomach revolts as they drag me across the bathroom floor on my knees. Jenny is screeching something, but her words fall on deaf ears.