The rumors had started maybe a week or two after they started hanging out together. Despite how careful she'd been, how he tried to ignore the people around her, it proved too hard.
They're totally going out...
She paid him to hang around...
He has a weird ugly girl fetish...
Sex must be good, cause with a face like that…
Timothy probably tried to ignore them too.
He acted as if nothing was happening as they walked down the hallway together, or talked together during and between classes. He kept on a bright smile even with all the people around him staring and whispering.
And then, there was that group of girls…
Maria had noticed they'd been oddly clingy with him ever since he transferred, but once the rumors picked up, they started following Maria around, insulting her everytime she was alone.
They felt threatened by her meer presence, that alone was obvious.
But…
That could eventually escalate.
Maria learned how right she was, on that one day, during lunchtime.
She had to go to the bathroom, and of course, that was one of the places where she couldn't rely on Timothy to accompany her.
She hoped it'd be quick. She didn't wanna be alone for too long.
But sadly, it didn't go as planned.
As soon as she got out the stall, those girls were waiting.
"Okay, how much you payin' him?"
"Probably a lot. I'd need at least a million to even look at her for long enough."
Maria stayed silent, and tried to walk away. But one of them grabbed her scarf, and tugged on it. She felt the air leave her throat as the cloth pushed against her neck, and yanked her back, having her lean against the wall, her head hitting the ceramic.
"Listen to me when I'm talking, you bitch." One girl snarled, tugging on her scarf more. It was getting hard to breathe.
That word alone was like vitriol, like pent up rage, boiling up to the surface, ready to explode.
"Don't go thinking you're above us like that, you fucking goblin. Your ignoring might work with the guys but it ain't working with me, got it?"
The girl pushed her head up, the back of it hitting the wall once again.
She couldn't escape at this point. The gang was surrounding her. There were no openings.
Another girl pushed her to the ground, and Maria's glasses fell, the glass cracking. Damnit, seems everything expensive she owned was getting destroyed recently, huh?
"Learn your place!"
Something hard hit her face. A foot, probably.
"It ain't with him at the top!"
Then another hit her stomach, and another to her nose. She could taste blood at this point. It hurt.
"It's at the bottom, on the fucking floor, you freak!!"
Another blow to her head, was then followed by a heel, crushing her hand.
Then, laughter, and the hits stopped.
"You got that?"
Maria could only muster up a faint sob and a cough as an answer, which was probably satisfying enough for the girls, as they scoffed, and left her there.
Maria sighed, her breathing shallow, trembling and paced. She curled up into a ball, and sobbed.
Why.
Why her.
Why did this always happen to her? What did she do to deserve this?
She wiped a trail of saliva and blood that had been dripping off her mouth and on the ground, and, slowly, stood up.
What should she tell Timothy? Maybe she should just avoid him. He shouldn't have to know she was hurt because of him. She shouldn't be bothering him with that.
Maybe she should just go home and hide.
Whatever she'd end up doing, Maria definitely had to get out of the bathroom.
Slowly, she stood up, and motioned out of the bathroom. Her legs were shaking and it was hard to see with a cracked lense, but it could be worse.
As she walked down the stairs, she bumped into none other than Timothy. He had both his and her bags in his arms, and he seemed rather relieved to see her. "O-oh, sorry! I thought you were taking a while, I wanted to see if nothing ha-" he froze, as he actually got to take a look at her, and his eyes widened.
"What happened." He asked, in a tone so serious you'd think he was about to commit murder.
What to say? Should she tell him, or?
"I fell down the stairs…"
He raised an eyebrow, seemingly very skeptical, and concerned. "You sure?"
She nodded, slowly, and his expression went from concerned to panicked. "A-anyways, we should bring you to the infirmary! You don't look pretty okay!"
"N-no, I'm fine, I just fell-"
"No, no way, we are going. I'm not leaving you like that okay?" He grabbed her arm, and pulled her in, and she followed as he walked them both towards the infirmary.
As they got inside - well, as Maria got inside. Timothy had to wait outside, for privacy sake - the nurse seemed very shocked.
"Oh, honey, what happened to you??" She exclaimed, quickly getting some equipment to take care of Maria's wounds.
"I fell off the stairs.."
The nurse was just as skeptical as Timothy was, if not more. "Oh, yeah, alright."
She started patting her face around with cotton, and sighed. "What happened, really? You can trust me, okay honey?"
Maria looked down, and took a shivery breath.
"Please don't tell Timothy about it…"
The nurse shook her head, very serious.
"I got beat up by a few girls in the bathroom…"
The nurse gasped, and her expression turned into that of a worried mother, one almost rivalling Maria's own.
"Oh, you poor thing! Why would they do that??"
Maria sighed. "I don't know… they-they told me I shouldn't hang around Timothy anymore, that I was… out of his league…"
The nurse whimpered. "Oh, honey…"
She stopped, and motioned her finger up.
"I'm sorry to ask sweetie, but you'll have to lift up your shirt."
Maria stared at her, confused.
"I've seen guys come out of fights before. I know how that looks. There could bruises there."
Shyly, Maria complied. She knew the nurse wouldn't judge her body. But it was still a thought that lingered in her mind whenever she had to take her shirt off, even for a second.
If someone saw her… they would laugh.
"Oh, honey…" the nurse's voice started to break as she stared at the brownish-blue of the bruises plastering her stomach.
"I don't have much power in this place, but… I'd like to have a talk with the principal about this." She then added, a bit more serious. "This behaviour is unacceptable, and I'd refuse for it to go unnoticed!"
Maria chuckled sadly. "Yeah… I don't think they'd listen… my parents already tried."
Then again… this was the first time the bullying ever got physical…
The nurse had a somber expression, and bit her lip, brows furrowed. "I'll arrange something with your parents then."
She then smiled, and ruffled her hair. "I'm not gonna stay around and have a pretty girl like you suffer injustice."
Maria was shocked at that compliment, and smiled sadly.
"T-thank you.."
As Maria got out, she realized Timothy was still standing outside the infirmary. She felt her heart tighten a bit at the idea that he'd been waiting this whole time.
He didn't have to do this for her…
As he saw her, he smiled, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
She nodded, motioning for her backpack, which he was holding in his hand. He gave it to her, and then chuckled, a bit awkwardly.
"So there's this guy named Matthew, he's throwing a party at his house tonight, and he asked if I wanted to come."
He then shrugged. "I said no, but he did say you were invited too, also there's free food, so…"
He looked at her and smiled. "You don't have to say yes if you don't want to, of course, I'll follow you nonetheless, but-"
"Yeah. Sure."
Timothy looked a bit surprised, but smiled. "Okay then, as long as you want to."
To be honest, she wasn't too eager about it. At all. She'd never been one for parties, and the fact that classmates were going to be there was terrifying.
But…
Timothy looked like he wanted to go. And, oddly enough, a part of her was curious to see what would happen if she went. She'd never been to a party before, and she wanted to experience that at least once.
Might as well do it now.
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