But as she was on her way to her next class, she heard footsteps behind her. She knew it was people following her. The corridors were already almost empty.
"Hey, goblin!"
Ignore them, just ignore them. They'll go away eventually.
"Hey dumbass! She's talking to you!"
Don't turn around, just keep walking, they'll go away ev-
But then the feeling of someone pulling on her backpack, and throwing it, made her turn around. She looked at her books, now scattered across the floor, and whimpered softly, paralyzed.
Four girls and one guy. They weren't from her class, they were in another group. She didn't know them very well, but this wasn't the first time they did this to her.
She had to hurry up and grab her things, else she'd be late for-
"Are you deaf now?? When someone talk to you, you have to answer!" One of the girls said. The others snickered. Another girl leaned in, and grabbed Maria's sketchbook, flipping through it rapidly, as Maria could only look, too scared to move or say anything.
Please stop. The words simply didn't want to come out. They rested there at the back of her throat, tears swelling up in her eyes as if her body was trying to find another way to express itself.
The girl laughed, and grimaced mockingly.
"Oh wow. That's really ugly."
She threw it back on the ground, and the group left, laughing. As soon as they were out of her sight, Maria quickly leaned down, and, hands trembling and tears in her eyes, shoved all her books in her bag.
And then the bell rang, and she froze. Then she grabbed her face with her hands, sliding her glasses off her face so she could wipe her eyes, and sobbed.
This was the first time she'd ever been late to class in her entire life. All this, just because she wasn't strong enough to tell them to stop. Because she was scared. What a moron she was. She shouldn't even be there, she should just die, disappear, run away.
Catching her breath, and breathing in and out slowly in shaky huffs, she looked at her watch, and sighed. Well, maybe she wouldn't be punished too harshly if she went back now.
Quickly she stood up, and ran to her class.
But as soon as she opened up the door, she realized she might've been better off not coming at all.
"Maria, you're late. You know that doesn't go well in my class."
Maria stood in the door frame, knees quacking.
"B-but ma'am, I-"
"There's no buts. You stay outside for the rest of the period, think about what you've done."
And then the lid broke, and everything just got out. The tears were dropping down her nose and cheeks, she was shaking and sniffling, and of course she could hear a few people whisper and silently laugh.
She left quickly.
She didn't want any of this anymore. She wanted to stop feeling so bad all the time. She wished she didn't look so ugly, had weird hobbies and acted weirdly. She wished she were normal.
As she stopped in front of her locker, she had an idea.
If this kept going after a whole month. If she didn't feel any better. She'd run away.
Somehow, that made her feel at ease. At least now she had something to do.
When the school ended, Maria was relieved. Of course things probably wouldn't get better tomorrow, but at least she'd have some peace and quiet.
She quickly packed her things, and left.
But as she sat down in her usual seat on the bus, she felt someone sit next to her. The leather creaked as the weight shifted, and Maria couldn't help but to feel surprised, and confused.
"Are you okay?" A low voice asked.
She turned her head just a bit, looking at the ground, sliding an ear off her headphones, and saw two dirty, untied red sneakers. Then, as she looked up, old washed out jeans, then a striped hoodie, a freckled, muscular forearm, and then a freckled face, oddly resembling that of a lost puppy.
Oh, it was that guy again. What was his name?
"Mhm.."
Maria was about to start up her music again, assuming the guy would go away, what even did he want from her anyway, but he stayed put, still looking at her.
"Did something happen, during lunch? Because, uhm…"
Oh yeah, he was in her class. He definitely saw her cry, right?
"I don't wanna talk about it."
The guy's face dropped, and he sighed softly. "Oh. Sorry."
Silence.
"W-well,if you ever do need to talk, uhm… m-my name's Timothy."
Then she slid her headphones off her ears, and looked up at him. He smiled, very faintly, and a bit awkwardly.
"M-Maria. My name's Maria."
Timothy chuckled. "Heh, thanks, well I'll leave you to your music then. Bye, Maria!"
Then he stood up, and went to sit in the back, leaving Maria alone, confused and dumbstruck.
What exactly just happened???
Maybe he was planning something… nobody in this school was just gonna be nice to her, genuinely. It'd be naive of her to think otherwise.
When she got back home, she was greeted by her parents hugging her. They seemed a bit agitated.
"So, Maria, we've decided to talk to your principal and vice-principal tomorrow night about your bullying situation." Said her dad, very seriously.
Maria was a bit apprehensive. "But-"
"Yeah, we know last year they didn't listen, but we thought that maybe this year it'd be different!" Then said her mom, a hopeful glint in her eyes.
Skeptical, and anxious, Maria looked down, and sighed.
If anyone cared, they'd already be doing something about it.
Her mom caressed her cheek and smiled, making Maria look back up. "It'll be okay honey. I'm sure they'll understand, okay?" She said softly, before hugging her. Maria hugged back and breathed in.
Let's hope so.
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