People say one should treasure the days they spend in Highschool because those are the days that are never gonna come back. Those are the days you are at the peak of your youth, you get to make important choices in your life which will change your life forever, you get to make life-long friends, you get to fall in love and fall out of it. And you should treasure those days. Because they are never coming back.
As Sam lied in a small poodle of mudwater staring at the gray sky, squinting against the drizzling rain, all she could think was how she wanted someone to erase the memories of her highschool days by shock therapy or by any other means possible, after she would graduate from highschool.
Her eyes stinged from continuously crying for last half an hour. She had been crying not because of the fact these misfortunes kept happening to her but because the clothes she wore had been washed and freshly ironed just yesterday.
"Oh my, are you alright?''
Here came a girl she had never seen in her life. But Sam couldn't really answer. She was far past the point of feeling ashamed about letting other people see her pathetic side.
Despite the rain the girl wore no raincoat, nor she carried any umbrella. Her dark hair was wet and plastered to her head. Whenever she blinked, raindrops ran down from her eyelashes to her cheeks like tears. But she didn't seem to mind the rain. On the other hand she seemed to enjoy it.
"Is it fun?'' The girl didn't offer to help Sam stand up, rather she asked a strange question, ''Is it fun to lie down in mud and dirty water?''
Sam sat up, ''No," She lied, "I slipped and fell but you are welcome to try it."
With shoes and socks on, the girl stepped into the mudwater. Instinctively, Sam stood up as the girl started splashing the dirt and mud like a little kid without caring how it made gruesome patterns on her clothes.
People like Sam try to avoid rain and mud but still gets dragged into this mess meanwhile people like this girl just ruining their clothes and getting wet without a care in the world....
Did she not know washing and ironing clothes actually cost money and effort?!
Sam's backpack and umbrella were thrown at one side of the road. Sam checked her backpack first. The fact that Sam had nagged Uncle Ben for a waterproof backpack last Christmas had totally been worth the effort. For someone like Sam, who gets thrown into rain and dirt on a daily basis, the backpack was a must survival item to protect her books, notes and projects. She picked up the umbrella which was also in a decent condition.
She held the umbrella above the strange girl's head, "You will catch cold," that was all she could manage to say in her current condition.
"Do you get bullied?'' The girl asked. Sam frowned.
Is that what it was? For a while now, she had been trying not to think about these 'misfortunes' as bullying. As Sam started walking to the school campus with the strange girl she tried to remember since when everything started to go wrong.
Atfirst it was just some harmless jokes, maybe they were bit mean but they were also something Sam could laugh about. Then the little pranks, like shoving ice cubes down her collars into her shirt or throwing paper balls at her during classes. From those little things how fast had things escalated to putting blades in her gym shoes or pushing her into mud water during rain- Sam had no idea.
The worst part of it was, Sam's tormentors used to be her friends.
The two of them walked into the school building. The classes had already started so the halls were more or less empty. The walls were plastered with posters of some famous celebrity. Apparently sister of some famous actress had enrolled in the first year of Beckham Highschool and this had been the talk of the town for last few weeks. But Sam couldn't care less. She walked in a trance with the umbrella still open and the strange girl following her closely behind.
When Sam reached the class, the assistant teacher, Ms. Hails was passing copies of some study material. Stalin stood by the door, wet and dirty with her umbrella still open.
The kids in the class snickered and giggled. Ms. Hails looked up at her.
"Are, are you alright?'' She looked concerned but could Sam really tell what had actually enfoleded back in the parking slot to anyone in this school? How she had gotten pushed from behind. How before she could even realize what was happening, her bag and umbrella had got thrown away.
Also, it wasn't like nobody had seen the incident. Probably half of the school was aware of what was going on with Sam for past few weeks. It's just, nobody cared....
"Did someone do this to you?''Ms. Hails asked, ignorant and naive as she was. She walked up to her in a haste and reached out. Without even realising Sam flinched. And she hated how Ms. Hails looked at her.
"Is someone bothering you?'' the kind teacher assistant asked and some of the kids bursted out laughing. Stalin felt her face becoming hot with humiliation.
She was mad for one second. And then it was gone. The anger was gone. In it's place was this cold suffocating feeling.
Green eyes and perfect eyebrows. Brown hair that had been carefully straightened. Shoes as white as her dress. Not something anyone would dare to wear during rainy seasons when the entire town of Beckham was a nightmare of mud and dirt. But she could. She was not like the rest of the average town folks. Atleast that's what she liked to think about herself. The prim-perfect I-dont-deserve-to-be-in-this-no-name-town type of girl.
How did Sam know exactly what goes on in that pretty little head of that person? Because they used be friends. Sam used to be friends with that green eyed brunette with princess complex. Up until last year.
And just this morning she had shoved Sam into the mudwater for fun.
She was Annabeth Cruz. A pair of girls, both blondes, sat behind her, also dressed in expensive white dresses but still looking like Annabeth's poor wallmart versions. They are Agatha and Coby. As Ms. Hails stared at Sam's face with her back turned at the class, another kid stood up. He was tall guy with long arms and thick neck. The boy threw Sam a middle finger, "Tell her and you are," He mouthed and then moved his thumb from right to left crossing his throat, "Dead."
He was Nicholas Cruz, Annabeth's twin brother. Even though the whole class saw it, they took it as a joke. Nobody takes the 'Class Clown slash Last Year Prom King slash Campus Crush' Nick seriously. To them, he wasn't really a bad guy. Maybe a show-off. Maybe a bit annoying because of the way he always wears basketball jerseys as if that was his whole personality, but not really a bad guy.... afterall Sam was the only one who had ever got taunted by him and his twin sister, besides Sam nobody had any reason to hate Nick.
Therefore, in everyone's eyes, Sam was probably the one at fault. Everyone must think Sam deserves whatever the Cruz siblings were dragging her through.
Another guy pulled Nick back on his seat grinning. He had dark curly hair. He was so tall he could be regarded as one of those people who looks like they are standing even when they are sitting down. Sam didn't remember his name or anything else about him except the fact that he was Nick's lackey and the guy Annabeth kept dating and breaking up with and dating again.
Sam knew she should be more wary of Nick and his ... tall friend.... but they didn't really make her nervous. Sure they were tall and mascular. Sure they had thrown her against walls once or twice or honk their cars really loudly or mockingly tried to run her over a couple of times, but for some reason, they were least of her concerns.
"Do you want to me to take you to the nurse's office?'' Ms. Hails was asking, "Then we can go to the Principal's Office. You can give the names of the people bothering you."
But Sam couldn't answer. How could she talk when she could barely breath. Annabeth's green eyes shone like jewels. They were hard and cold.
Annabeth was shorter than Sam. Last year, one time she had sprained her ankle during prom night and Sam had to give her a piggy back ride half way to the Cruz residence till Nick had brought his car. Sam could still remember how shockingly light Annabeth Cruz had felt because of all the rigorous diets she had made herself to go through, how thin she had felt under her glamorous dress.
In a One oh One fight, Sam would definately knock Annabeth Cruz off with just one punch. But something about her eyes scared Sam. And it was not because how oneday Annabeth had suddenly decided it was fun to put blade in Sam's shoes, it was fun to see Nick pulling Sam's arms or even kicking her until she was black and blue. But it was because how Annabeth had transformed from someone who used to worry whether Sam was rehydrating herself well enough everyday, into someone who now didn't mind seeing Sam bleed and weep everyday. Sam was scared of how unfamiliar her old friend looked now. How cruel and ruthless her eyes looked now. The worst part of it? Sam was pretty sure neither the blondes nor Nick and his Lackey cared much about Sam's existence. And it was probably for Annabeth they were doing those horrible things to Sam.
Sam swallowed hard trying to form words. She couldn't really focus on Ms. Hails. She was frozen by Annabeth Cruz's glares.
Somebody help. Anywhere but here. Anywhere but here where Annabeth sat there looking prim and perfect watching Sam acting like a fragile pitiful scaredy cat with no courage and dignity.
A hand wrapped around Sam's shoulder.
"Nobody bothered her," it was that strange girl, Sam had almost forgotten her presence when she had entered the class, "We were playing in the rain so we got a bit wet," She cheerfully lied, "Isn't that right?'' She gave Sam a forced smile, "Errr... bestie?''
Why was she bothering? Sam didn't understand why the girl bothered to save Sam's face even when they didn't even know eachothers' names.
"And who are you?'' Ms. Hails narrowed her eyes, "Which year?"
"I just got transferred to Beckham from Bellevue, so I doubt you will know me,'' She handed Ms. Hails a routine and an attendence sheet, " I am pretty sure this is my class since the map and the routine the office lady gave me says so."
Ms. Hails frowned, her jaw hardened. Something felt off. But then, Sam had other things to be worried about.
Ms. Hails asked suspiciously, "So you got transferred and this is your first day in Beckham and you two are bestfriends already?''
"Time is but a relative concept," The girl sighed dramatically, "Isn't that right my dearest bestfriend?'' She elbowed Sam. Sam could finally breath. She could finally look away from Annabeth. She decided to play along. "Yeah! B-best buddies!" She also wrapped the strange girl with one of her arms, "Friends for life! Maid of Honor in my Wedding and Godmother to my child!''
The girl pinched her forearm and hissed in her ears through gritted teeth, "Tone it down, you're overreacting!''
"Right," Sam gulped.
"Both of you are seeing me in the teachers' room after the class," Ms. Hails said, "For now Sam take your seat and you new girl just introduce yourself."
Sam ran to her seat while the strange girl stood before the blackboard with her legs planted far apart from eachother, and her hands resting on her waist. She looked like she was posing for some superhero movie.
"Greetings," said the girl, "I'm Hailey Cooper. Also, that crybaby dirty raccoon-" She fingered at Sam, "Yes that one, I've chosen her to be my bestfriend hence you all shall never bother her. For I think murder is okay sometimes."
A murmur broke through class. Some people said Nick had finally got his rival who could snatch away the position of the class clown. Some said the new girl probably did drugs or weeds. All Sam knew was this girl did bring some changes in her highschool days. But it was yet to be seen whether these changes would hopefully lead to something good or just worse.