Nothing's Changed
Kim's pov
I woke up to my alarm clock playing Stronger by Kelly Clarkson. Today was Monday and I had school. I immediately sat up and climbed out of bed. Within minutes i had hopped in the shower and was now putting on my outfit for the day: a light pink long sleeve with faded light blue jeans, a white beanie, and some black flats. I curled my hair and brushed my teeth then walked downstairs. My mom was up and getting ready for her job at Seaford Hospital, my dad had already left for work in Los Angeles. I grabbed and apple as my mom walked out of her room and down the stairs.
"Kim, honey, are you ready for school?" she asked
"Yeah mom, I was waiting for you actually." I said
My mom stopped walking and looked at me.
"Sure you were..."
"Mooooommmmmm!" I whined
"Okay, okay whatever you wanna believe." she said as she winked at me and walked out the front door. I loved my mom so much.
"Okay mom i'm gonna go now. Love you!" I called as i swooped up my book bag and gave my mom a good bye kiss on the cheek. She nodded, got in her car, and sped off around the corner. I sighed and kept walking.
On the way to school, I felt great! I felt strong and brave and so many other things too that I guess you could say I was on cloud nine! I hummed the chorus to Stronger as i walked down the sidewalk with a little spring in my step. The song ended and I looked up. I was at school, the worst place on Earth, the worst place in the Universe, and more importantly, my personal living HELL! I sighed as these thoughts flooded my mind, polluting the positive train of thought i had woken up with. No, i wasn't gonna let this bring me down, I wasn't gonna give in yet. I gripped the door handles in front of me and told myself "Today's gonna be different, Today's gonna be different" and pushed the doors open.
I stepped into the hall and my heart sunk. The Jocks were waiting for me inside smirking viciously. The Captain was front and center cracking his knuckles. His name was Jack Brewer. He was the school's heartthrob with his golden skin, long brown hair, and sparkling chocolate eyes. Every girl in the school drooled over his presence me included. He slowly stalked towards me and sneered
"Look what the cat dragged in! No other than little Kimberly Crawford!"
I desperately tried to move away to turn around and flee but it was as if my body locked me in place. I desperately tried to move, I begged my body to do something but nothing happened.
"Something wrong Kimberly?" Jack asked. Now he was in front of me. I could feel his cold breath on the top of my head.
"Well then if nothings wrong then I suppose you wouldn't mind me continuing." He said raising his fist.
I closed my eyes tightly and whimpered. Jack chuckled and then a wave of pain engulfed my right cheek followed by multiple kicks and hits. I just lay on the floor, bathed in my own blood.
"We're done for today, Crawford. Good thing your mom works at the hospital!" Jack sneered. His cold, heartless joke was followed by the laughter of the whole Seaford High student body. Then the sound of several adult shouting and students fleeing from the seen of the crime.
"Kimberly, Kimberly, Kim-Oh My God! Kim are you ok?" Nurse Betty asked
I didn't respond.
"Mr. Henley! She's over here! Call the ambulance! Call her mom!" She yelled
Next thing I knew i was at the hospital. My mom held my hand and was softly weeping. I slowly sat up and my mom raised her head.
"Doctor! Doctor she's up!" my mom yelled
Soon a doctor walked in and slowly made his way to the side of my hospital bed.
"Kimberly, how do you feel?" he asked
"Umm...sore?" I said but it sounded more like a question.
"Where?"
"Well...everywhere."
"Well let me look over some of these x-rays we took of you while you were unconscious." the doctor said as he picked up a manila folder from the side of my bed
"Well it looks like you have several broken bones Kimberly."
"I go by Kim." I said flatly
"My bad. Well Kim I believe you have multiple broken bones and it will take quite a while for you to heal."
My mom suddenly burst into tears, wetting my thin hospital bedsheets. She shook her head and looked at my doctor with red eyes.
"Will she be able to go to school?" She asked
"Yes, i believe so after a month." the doctor said
School. I hated that place. Suddenly all the bad memories that i had worked so hard to lock in the back of my mind flooded my thoughts giving me a massive headache. I groaned in pain as a sharp pain pierced my heart and then the monitors around me started beeping and over the hospital PA system a lady announced "Code Blue room 174, Code Blue room 174. We have a heart attack"
One Month Later
Kim's pov
I had gotten out of the hospital and half of my body was covered in casts rendering me useless. Both of my arms, my legs, several of my ribs, my tibia, half of my jaw were broken, and I had stitches down my arms and my legs and my check. I looked like a zombie. The doctor would check on me every week telling me of my bones' status. I was partially healed up and good enough to go to school. I really didn't wanna go back to that hellhole. I didn't want to go but it was Monday again and an exact month from the ...incident. I got up to my alarm blaring another song, Welcome To My Life by Simple Plan. I groaned and tried to sit up but it only caused me immense pain. In a matter of seconds, my mom was at my side.
"Kim what in the world are you doing!" she screamed at me
After i got over the shock of my mom yelling at me and removed the confused look on my face, I said
"Going to school, it's Monday mom"
"Oh no you don't! I'm not letting you go back to place!" She said
"Well where am I going to school?" I asked
"Well your Auntie and Uncle live in Hollywood and.."
"WHAT?!" I screamed
"Honey, it's for the best. You'll be able to make friends, to start over new."
" What about you mom? Who will take care of you?"
"Your dad will. He'll bring you every other weekend to visit me." I wanted to scream at her but she pleaded with her eyes. I knew it would hurt her if I fought it so I nodded and asked when to leave. Mom's eye's lit up and deep down in the pit of my stomach a little joy arose.
"Well today hun" she said
"I'll go and pack then.'' I sighed then released i couldn't even sit up.
"Don't worry I did that already. Here's your phone, I'm getting groceries and while I'm out I'll turn in your books for you call me if you need anything. The Johnson's next door will be checking on you too." she said happily as she grabbed her keys and left.
no one's pov
At school, people started to notice Kim wasn't showing up especially Jack. Rumors surrounded her disappearance filled the school's halls. According to the Jocks and Cheerleaders Kelsey, Jerry, and Donna(Jack's Girlfriend) , Jack beat Kim up so badly that her face was permanently scarred and looked so ugly she was scared to show her face. Eddie, a family friend of the Brewers' said Kim probably got home schooled now and Jack's personal nerd Milton believed Jack beat the living grits out of Kim and she died of blood loss in the hall. Jack didn't know what to believe. He didn't think he killed her and he didn't she how Kim's face could get any uglier. He wanted to know why she wasn't coming and he was going to find out.
jack's pov
I asked everyone in school if they knew Kim's address. All day I had no luck until Mrs. Crawford came to school. She walked down the hallway and into the office carrying a duffle bag. I waited until she was around the corner and followed her. She entered the office and i hid behind the door eavesdropping on her conversation. I can't remember exactly what she said but I heard her say she was going to return Kim's books and that Kim wasn't coming to school anymore. After hearing the people in the office cry, I stopped listening and stood there. Then I heard Nurse Betty ask if she could speak to Kim and then a dial tone. A muffled voice and Nurse Betty were talking and then the voice and Mr. Henley. Then Mrs. Crawford walked out of the office and out of the school. I decided the only way I was going to get to Kim's House was by following her mom. So I followed her mom to a two-story mansion. "What the heck is an ugly girl like Kim doing in a mansion?" I thought.
I climbed a tree on the side of the house and climbed through a window. I ended up in a lavender colored room with a queen sized bed, a big wardrobe and a desk. I walked over to the desk and read a piece of paper hanging on the wall behind it. The paper was a bunch on random doodles and Kim's name in purple marker. This was definitely Kim's room. I opened the wardrobe and it was empty except for a pair of pajamas. Why did Kim's dresser have nothing in it? I was deep in my thought when i heard someone walking up the stairs, Mrs. Crawford! I jumped out the window and ran to school not looking back.
"Soooo?" Grace asked
"Soooo what?" I said
"What happened to the little freak?" Donna asked as she sat on my lap.
"Oh yeah well Crawford wasn't there. It's like she left for good...let's celebrate!"I shouted
Everyone got up until the PA blared.
"Dear Students," Mr. Henley announced "Earlier today Mrs. Crawford came to the office as you all know. She came to drop of Kim's books and pull her out of school."
Everyone high-fived and screamed things like "Yeah! We're saved!" and " Yes, the freak/loser/loner/idiot is gone!".
"AHEM!" Mr. Henley shouted.
The kids quieted down
"The teachers and I have concluded this is the fault of the students of this school and have arranged a punishment for you all."
Everyone looked around shocked. What was the punishment?
" You will all do 100 hours of community service in Seaford each month until school ends and that makes 400 hours in total! You will be given a service in Homeroom. Have fun"
We all stood there, our mouths open from shock. No one would except the fact that it kinda was our fault since we bullied her so much but being the jerks we are we blamed on the only person we could think of, Kim Crawford.
And for the last year and a half we blamed Kim for anything and everything that happened to us.
A year and a Half Later
Kim's pov
I was enrolled in a school in Hollywood. I was popular and pretty. I was rich and well I was happy. It was Friday and I was headed to the mall with my friend Sonia. We took Karate at the Bobby Wasabi Dojo here and were hanging out after practice. We were eating some sushi from this new Japanese Restaurant, Samurai Sam's Sushi, when Sonia's mom called.
"Aww shoot Kim! I gotta go, my brother scared away the maids...again." she said sounding slightly annoyed
"It's ok, hun. You go right ahead i'm just gonna finish my sushi and head home myself. So call you later?" I said.
I have a slight southern accent and I don't let it slip a lot but Sonia is one of my best friends making her an exception.
"Sure. Bye, Kim."
5 minutes after Sonia left I had finished my sushi. I had 20 minutes until I had to be home to get ready for a dinner with my Aunt's friends so I decided to shop around for a new outfit. I found a purple dress that stopped half way to my thigh(Ricky Weaver Dress) and some purple sparkly pumps. On my way home, a man can up to me.
"Hello, I'm with a famous talent agency looking for beautiful young girls to act and sing. Would you like to attend auditions?"
"Umm..I would love to. Do you have a card I can take to show my Aunt and Uncle?"I asked I still enforced the "stranger danger" rule and wanted to get out of there A.S.A.P but I still felt like my head was going to explode with excitement! He handed me a card and told me auditions were tomorrow afternoon then walked off. I called for my chauffeur to pick me up in a limo and drove off to my Aunt and Uncle's house in the Hollywood Hills.
"AUNTIE! UNCLE! I have to speak to you!" I called through the house.
My Aunt appeared in a gold dress and matching gold heels.
"Darling whatever it is that you must tell us will wait for later. You must get dressed for dinner! Now shoo, shoo!" she said ushering me into my room.
I got dressed in my new outfit and curled my hair then applied mascara, light pink blush, sparkly purple eyeshadow and light strawberry lip gloss. Then my Aunt and Uncle rushed me into the limo and off to dinner.
"Now what is it you must tell me?" she asked once we were inside the limo.
"At the mall a man from a talent agency gave me a card for auditions tomorrow afternoon and I wanted to know if I could go." I said pulling out the card.
My Aunt examined it and nodded smiling at me. " Bethany's daughter got a card just like this and look how big she is now!" I was so happy that I hugged her and said thank you until we got to the restaurant.
After dinner we went home and I went to bed early so I wasn't tired at the audition.
One Month Later
no one's pov
Kim was chosen by the agency to become a singer. Her new hit song Fearless was topping the charts all around the world. She was famous and she loved it. Her fans were her fuel as long as she had them she would keep singing. Her agency had scheduled her to perform at a high school in a small town not to far from Hollywood. Kim was excited for this concert and had written new songs to perform there.
Now she was at the studio with her manager Cassidy Jones.
" Hey Cass when are you gonna tell me where this concert is?" Kim asked while spinning in a chair
"Well the town's name has 7 letters, you have family that lives there and you've lived there before." Cassidy said
Kim thought about it. She had lived only one place before Hollywood...Seaford. The name of her childhood home made bad memories flood her brain and then within seconds Kim was out cold on the floor.
In Seaford, 1 week later
Kim's pov
"I'm coming home, I'm coming home, tell the world that i'm coming home, let the rain wash away all the pain left from yesterday!" I sang as I showered in my childhood home getting ready for the performance. I passed out when Cass told me I was coming home. I just wanted to get it over with so I could go back to Hollywood. I put on a white top with a black upside down cross on it and some black ripped skinny jeans and some peach heels. I straightened my hair and put some light blush, mascara, peach eyeshadow, and peach flavored lip gloss. Then my limo picked me up and I drove off to school. I got out followed by 4 bodyguards and Cass. Then I opened the doors to Searford High.
Everyone stared at me as I walked through the hallways. A kid purposed to me too. Classic freshman material right there! I made it to the office and Mr. Henley and all the teachers and staff welcomed me back.
"Kimberly Crawford! How have you been?" Mr. Henley asked me
"I've been well thanks!" I replied
"KIM! Do you remember me?! I'm nurse Betty!" a skinny woman replied screamed as she pushed through the crowd. The nurse Betty I knew was short and fat not skinny.
"Wow Nurse betty you look great! I couldn't have forgotten you If I tried!" I said as I hugged her.
"Kim sorry to break up the reunion but we gotta go set up the stage so why don't you visit different classes until it's time?" Cassidy said
"Sure! Well first period's about to start so let's go Mrs... Sanderson?' I said as I followed my old History teacher to her class.
"Kids, quiet down please!" Mrs. S shouted over the talking students
"Kids, PLEASE!" She shouted again.
Then I walked in and said.
"Your teacher said SIT DOWN!"
The class stopped talking and stared at me. Then sat down quietly in shock. I nodded to Mrs. S who smiled gratefully at me and started teaching. Then a boy from the back of the room got up and walked over to me.
"Hey there." he breathed on the top of my head.
" Why is a girl like you in a dump like this?" He said as he lifted my chin to look at him. He was no other then Jack Brewer. I pushed his hand off of me and my body guards who were outside the door came in and escorted him back to his seat. They asked if i was ok and i said i was fine just grossed out.
The performance
I was in the bathroom getting dressed while humming the lines to some of my songs. I put on a sparkly gold tank top with black skinny jeans, a pair of black pumps with gold spikes on them and a long, black necklace with a big heart charm on it. I had my hair curled, I had mascara, shimmery black smokey eye style eyeshadow, blood red lipstick, and was applying hairspray like a maniac when Cass poked her head in my room.
"Heyy Kim! You look great!" she said
"Thanks, Cass!" I said while throwing away the now empty hairspray bottle and picking up a new one.
"Geez Kim let's go before your hair is eternally stuck like that!" She said as she dramatically gagged at the smell. I laughed and followed her into the hall. I got to the auditorium and heard Mr. Henley announcing my performance. I grabbed the mic from a member of the stage crew and walked out on stage. The students were screaming so loud i thought that the windows would break.
"Helllloooo, Seaford!" I said over the crowd. They all quieted down just enough for me to make out some kids screaming "I LOVE YOU KIM!" and "MARRY ME!". I laughed and continued talking.
"How you guys feeling today?" I shouted.
"GOOD!" they all screamed back.
"We ready to get this party started?" I yelled making the kids scream louder. I sang a couple songs and then my eyes locked on Jack and some jocks staring at me. I froze and then whimpered forgetting the mic was amplifying my every sound. Everyone stopped and stared at me i could feel hundreds of sets of eyes looking at me as I stood there. Cassidy was calling my named and eventually she ran on stage as the stage crew closed the curtains. Boo's came from the other side of the now closed curtains. Cassidy, Mr. Henley, and Nurse Betty ran to my side.
"Kim! Kim! Are you ok? KIMMM!" Cassidy yelled as she shook me.
"Kimberly, are you ok? Can you hear us?" Mr. Henley asked while waving a hand in front of my face. I just fell to my knees and stared into space as a flash back of my last day here at Seaford High flooded my mind.