Prologue

It was just another day in my world. The miserable little world I have. Like any other day I normally suffer through I ignore the world around me from the very beginning with blaring headphones and a hoodie. Faces blur past me in the hall allowing me to blend into the background. Hopefully away from my daily tormentors.

I see them coming my way from below the brim of my hood and duck into the girl's bathroom. It's lunch time so the halls are empty. I close the stall door behind me. I hear their laughter follow me into the restroom. The door to my stall creaks as it swings open to the malicious smile of the varsity cheer captain and her cronies. "Well, if it isn't the little weasel," Destiny sneers.

Anger bubbles inside me making me stand up straighter. Kathleen notices and back hands me. I stumble under the blow seeing spots burst across my vision. In that moment I curse their coach for making them work out three afternoons of every week. I feel a warm liquid slip down my chin. I reach up to wipe it away as the bell rings. Kathleen chuckles, "Saved by the bell, weasel." The three cheerleaders saunter out of sight. I wait several minutes until the tardy bell rings. Once I finally feel safe I emerge from the girl's bathroom and hurry to Anthropology.

I sneak in and quietly take my seat in the back of the room. Mr. Peterman must have just begun his lecture because he's still looking down at his computer. My best friend, and secret crush, turns back to speak, "Hey, what held you up?"

Before I can answer him the Peterman looks up and nods to me. I slide the hood off the back of my head. Pity flickers across his face before fading away. "God, Violet, what happened," Damien asks.

I scoff, "You know exactly who happened to me." His expression darkens as the fact that his girlfriend did this to me. He turns around in his seat and begins taking notes. I just turn up my music and allow my thoughts to drift some place far away.

Fifty minutes later I barely register my classmates getting up to leave until Damien waves a hand in front of my face. I look up at him blinking away my surprise. I get up and gather my things. In the hall I take a deep breath glad that the terror of the school day is over. The calming breath freezes in my chest. At the end of the hallway is Kathleen. I move away from Damien a little. He looks up mid-sentence to see why. A look of pain crosses his face as he looks over at me. "I'll talk to you later, Violet."

I nod and duck off into the crowd not bothering to look back. Once I'm a good distance away from the school I begin running for my house. It's about half a mile away in a cute neighborhood where everybody knows everybody and there's no sense of privacy. I unlock my door and step inside. My mother is absent, like normal, leaving the empty house all to myself.

The first thing I do is grab an apple and bottle of water from the kitchen. Upstairs I deposit my backpack on my bed and tear off my hoodie. Beneath the sleeves are dozens of scars. Seeing them now makes me think of what happened to me during lunch today. A darkness descends on my mind. I reach for the top drawer of my nightstand withdrawing a small kit that Damien made for me a couple years ago. I transport my bounty to the bathroom where I turn on the hot water in the shower. As the steam fills the room I place three parallel cuts on my left forearm. One for each of my three tormentors. After I finish packing everything away I climb in the shower allowing the bliss of the hot water cascade down my back.

Back in my room I sit at my desk to start my homework. I do the Calculus first while it's still fresh in my mind then continue with Economics, Government, Chemistry, and ending with the most lengthy assignment from AP Literature. I switch to my bed where I can relax and begin reading the Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien…