I hated my bullies for forcing me to change everything only so I could dodge them. I kept brainstorming how to avoid all the potential damage to me or my property.
So many ruined or stolen books, notebooks, my car... On top of everything, Josh had ripped to pieces my most important notebook yesterday, destroying my ideas and sketches. All those hours I spent planning and dreaming about making those plans come true... All of them extinguished.
My rage grew stronger just thinking about it, which was exactly what I needed so I could face Hayden. I was on my way to his locker, when Dan, one of my classmates, and his friend stopped me in the hall.
“Yo, Decker! Your car seriously needs some remodeling. Instead of buying new tires, how about you buy a new car? Something from this century?” Dan said. I gaped at him in distress, wondering how he knew about my car tires.
“And something that isn’t cheap and ugly,” his friend added.
Dan turned the screen of his Samsung to me and showed me the image of my Ford with the slashed tire taken in front of my house. It was on Twitter and retweeted 26 times already.
“I can’t believe this,” I muttered to myself, mortified because Hayden was subjecting me to more public humiliation. Seeing my reaction, Dan and his friend burst into laughter and walked away, calling me names loud enough for everyone around to hear them.
Choking back my resentment and shame, I proceeded to Hayden’s locker. Just like I’d hoped for, he was there and he was alone.
“Why did you have to do that?” I bit out when I halted behind him, feeling the heat in my cheeks.
He turned around, his eyes narrowing at me. “Do what?”
“Don’t act dumb. Now I have to buy new tires, and I was almost late for my first period because of you!”
He sneered at me in sudden anger. “What the fuck are you on? I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
I shook my head at him, doing my best to hold his furious gaze. “You know very well. You keep threatening me and messing with my life. How could you do that? Do you have any idea of what damage you have done?”
In a second, I was pressed against his locker and he was caging me in with his arms. “As I said, I have no clue what you’re talking about. It beats me why you thought you could just come here and bitch about it.”
He was lying. “I don’t trust you.”
He clenched his jaw. “See how much I don’t fucking care.” He gave me the middle finger and then kissed it, staring at me coldly.
Seconds passed as we just glared at each other, completely motionless, my body hyperaware of his nearness. He wasn’t even admitting it, refusing to take responsibility for his appalling deed, and I hated feeling so powerless. It wasn’t fair.
“And if I report you to the police?” It was an empty threat I used only to see his reaction.
He didn’t miss a beat, his nostrils flaring. “Do it. And then let’s see if you can prove it was me who did it.”
The bell rang, giving fuel to his body to finally move, and he stepped back. Without even looking at him, I darted away before he could stop me, wishing I could make him and everyone else pay for everything they had done to me.
Jessica was already in the classroom when I arrived to English, her face pale and tired. The dark circles under her eyes told me she didn’t sleep well last night.
“Hi,” I told her, sitting down at my desk.
“Hi, Sarah. I was worried about you. I texted you last night, but you didn’t answer.”
After my encounter with Hayden at the cemetery, I was too shocked and upset to respond to her message. The only thing I could do was go to bed and try to fall asleep.
“I’m so sorry, Jessica, but I didn’t feel well last night.”
I didn’t want to tell her about the kiss. I wasn’t quite sure myself what that was all about, and it was also a long story, so it would be best if I didn’t mention it at all.
“Why? Is it because of what happened in the yard yesterday?”
“Yes,” I lied without blinking. I sensed Hayden enter the classroom, and my breath caught in my throat. Don’t look his way, Sarah. “How are you feeling?”
“Horrible. I wanted to stay home today, but my parents didn’t let me. I feel so bad, Sarah. How can they be so evil?”
Hayden passed my desk, and I released my breath when he walked over to his seat at the back.
“I’ve been asking that same question for years now,” I replied to her morosely. “Hayden slashed my car tires this morning.”
Jessica gasped. “What?”
“I got out of my house this morning and noticed that my front tires were slashed, and you know that my car insurance doesn’t cover that.”
“Jesus,” she breathed out, paling. “That’s horrible!” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “He’s horrible,” she whispered.
“He denied that he has anything to do with it, but it would be foolish of me to trust him. To make things worse, he took a photo of and put it on Twitter. Now the whole school will know about it!”
“You have to report him to the police.”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t believe they would do anything to punish him. Besides, I have no real proof that he was the one who did it. Hayden wouldn’t be stupid to leave any fingerprints.” I tucked my hair behind my ears. “Also, going to the police for such a thing... It’s humiliating and tiring. It’s never-ending.”
“I get what you mean, Sarah, but it can’t be that bad. I know that maybe they can’t do much, but there must be something we, bullied people, can do? If we stay silent and don’t report them, they’ll keep doing it!”
I looked at her, feeling annoyed by her naivety. “They will always keep doing it, Jessica, no matter what. The police won’t have my back always. Sure, they may solve the case and punish Hayden somehow, but there is always tomorrow, and tomorrow I’ll be alone. There won’t be anyone to protect me, and Hayden can punish me however he wants.”
She was playing nervously with the edges of her French book. I felt sorry for both of us. “Then what can we do?”
I didn’t reply, wishing I could finally break through the mud of fear that was keeping me in the dark and fight back.
I FELT MORE VULNERABLE than usual sitting next to Hayden during computer science. After yesterday’s kiss and the slashed tires, my brain was in overdrive. I needed a way out. This school year had just begun, but too many things had already happened.
Much to my disbelief, nobody mentioned anything about my kiss with Hayden. It was impossible he didn’t tell anyone about it, right? There must be some attack coming my way. It couldn’t be that Hayden chose to keep it a secret, it just couldn’t. Why would he?
“Do you even listen to me, Sarah?”
I flinched and looked at Ms. Clare, who was glaring at me. “Um, yes?”
Hayden snorted.
“I asked you about your project, Sarah. The deadline for the outline ends in two weeks, and I hope Hayden and you figured something out.”
Oh. I completely forgot about working on a website project with Hayden.
I glanced at him, and my stomach sank when I noticed his cold smirk. He didn’t care about the stupid project, and he couldn’t care less about me worrying about it. No, scratch that. He liked me worrying, so he would probably make sure to stall so I would worry more.