Challenge #02: Cue Evil Laugh
Everyone is staring. As I walk down the hall, their eyes follow me as I quickly pass them. Even Becky, my best friend, stares. She hurries over and urgently whispers close to my ear, “Why are you here? Haven’t you heard?”
“Heard what?” I ask, perplexed.
“Sarah…she tried to kill herself last night.”
“She mentions you in her note,” she mumbles looking at the ground.
“Me? Why me?”
“You do, you know, kind of bully her,” she
“No, I don’t!” I protest. “We tease each other, sure, but we all do it, Becky, even you.”
“I know, but, with you and her, it was different. It was mean,” she insists.
“If she couldn’t handle it, then she shouldn’t have started it. She said some pretty awful things to me, too, you know,” I reply defensively.
“Maybe-” Our conversation is cut short as a door slams at the end of the hallway and Sarah’s mother rushes inside.
“There you are, you little bitch!” Sarah’s mother wails as she slaps me across the face.
“But I didn’t do anything! I didn’t do anything that any other teenage girl wouldn’t do!” I cry as tears sting my face.
“That’s the problem. Because all of you act this way, no one says anything until someone gets hurt.”
“It’s not like I put the pills in her hand! I didn’t make her swallow them!”
“You didn’t have to,” hisses her mother as she dismisses me.
“Heard what?” I ask, perplexed.
“Sarah…she tried to kill herself last night.”
“She mentions you in her note,” she mumbles looking at the ground.
“Me? Why me?”
“You do, you know, kind of bully her,” she
“No, I don’t!” I protest. “We tease each other, sure, but we all do it, Becky, even you.”
“I know, but, with you and her, it was different. It was mean,” she insists.
“If she couldn’t handle it, then she shouldn’t have started it. She said some pretty awful things to me, too, you know,” I reply defensively.
“Maybe-” Our conversation is cut short as a door slams at the end of the hallway and Sarah’s mother rushes inside.
“There you are, you little bitch!” Sarah’s mother wails as she slaps me across the face.
“But I didn’t do anything! I didn’t do anything that any other teenage girl wouldn’t do!” I cry as tears sting my face.
“That’s the problem. Because all of you act this way, no one says anything until someone gets hurt.”
“It’s not like I put the pills in her hand! I didn’t make her swallow them!”
“You didn’t have to,” hisses her mother as she dismisses me.