A/N: I apologize for the updates taking so long. Things have been crazy between looking for a job and planning for my wedding… I had hoped to have this story done by May 21… I'm not sure if that will happen, but I'll give it my best shot.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.
Spoilers: None.
Summary: An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.
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Reddington High School
Annabelle walked into school the following morning with her head held high and a slight feeling of hope in her heart. Olivia had promised to come to Reddington High today in order to investigate her claim, and she knew that the detective would make everything better. She had to make things better, because Annabelle didn't know how much longer she would be able to take the harassment from her peers.
Stopping at her locker to grab her books for first and second periods, Annabelle chose to ignore the new Facebook flyers that were now hanging on her locker door and throughout the hallway. "No point in taking them down," she muttered to herself. "They're just going to re-appear next period."
"What was that?" Sammy asked, approaching her friend's locker.
"The flyers," Annabelle sighed, slamming the door shut. "I said there's no point in taking them down, because someone is just going to put them right back up again."
"I guess so," Sammy shrugged. "Honestly, Belle, I don't know why this is bothering you so much," she added. "It's just a poster."
"You're joking, right?" Annabelle clutched her political science textbook more tightly to her chest.
"Uh, no, I'm not joking. It's just a poster, and it won't hurt you."
Annabelle stared at her friend in disbelief, trying to understand her train of thought. "Yeah, the poster won't hurt me, but do you think it's acceptable to receive thirty phone calls a night from people asking for drugs or sex? Do you know how upset my parents were with me last night? They treated me like I did something wrong, and I didn't!"
"But still," Sammy lamely continued. "It isn't like anyone is physically hurting you or anything. Don't you think that you should just loosen up a bit? Just a teensy-tiny bit?"
"I'll see you after class," Annabelle instead tersely replied, briskly walking away from her friend so that she couldn't see just how much her words had actually hurt her.
Walking into class moments later, Annabelle slumped into her chair. She barely reacted as Brett dropped a note on her desk, nor did she bother reading the notes that Jesse and Steven threw at her; she knew what the notes would say, and she didn't want to deal with their messages.
No, the better solution was just to ignore everyone. If she ignored them, they would all go away in time.
But they didn't.
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"Good morning, we're here to see Principal Reid Bannon," Olivia flashed her badge at the secretary in the main office of Annabelle's school.
"Do you have an appointment?" the secretary asked, giving the detective a fake smile.
"Our badges are our appointments," Elliot interjected, pulling out his own. "Now is the principal in the building today? Or do we need to go track him down somewhere else?"
"He always takes a morning stroll around the school at this time, but he should be back soon," she primly replied. "Why don't you take a seat?"
"Thank you," Olivia politely sat, glancing over at Elliot. "Did you see the flyers when we walked through the door?"
"I did," he nodded. "If the principal is walking the hallways, he should also see them."
Olivia clasped her hands in her lap, reading the various posters hanging in the office. There was one for respect, one for team work, and one for anti-bullying. "Huh," she held back a short chuckle. "Lot of good those are doing. Hey, Ma'am?" she returned her attention to the secretary. "Do you have much of a bullying problem here?"
"Of course not," the secretary set her pen down. "We have a great group of students, all of whom are well-behaved and smart. We've never had a major problem with any of them."
"I see," Olivia pursed her lips.
Before she could say anything else, however, the principal, a balding and heavy-set man of around fifty-five, walked into the room. "All looks well, Gwen," he smiled at the secretary. "The students are in their classrooms, and learning is taking place."
"Mr. Bannon?" Olivia got to her feet. "Sir, my name is Detective Benson, and this is my partner, Detective Stabler. Can we have a few minutes of your time, please?" she asked, showing him her badge.
"Sure," Bannon smiled, gesturing to his office, "Anything for members of the law. What can I do for you two fine people?" he asked, taking a seat behind his desk a few seconds later.
"We received a complaint from one of your students, and needed to follow-up on it," Elliot began.
"Oh?" the principal looked both confused and concerned. "Has something happened to one of our kids?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes," Olivia murmured, pulling a copy of the Facebook flyer out of her pocket. "Sir, these flyers are currently posted all around your school, and they target one of your students."
"I've never seen this before in my life," his face crinkled in concern as he read over the flyer.
Olivia and Elliot exchanged glances. How was that even possible? Did he not just come back from a walk around the school? Did he not walk around the school every single morning? "I see," she cleared her throat. "Well in any event, Annabelle Lewis, one of your students, has been the target of harassment for a couple of days now. Someone distributed these flyers around school, and she has dozens of recorded phone calls from students who have been repeatedly calling her at night."
"And so you would like the flyers taken down?" he asked.
Olivia frowned.
"Of course you would, of course you would," he quickly answered his own question, picking up the phone and dialing the custodian's office. Getting someone on the line, he requested that the entire custodial staff go around and remove the flyers from the wall, priority one. "Is there anything else that I can do for you today?" he then asked.
Olivia's frown only deepened as her frustration mounted. "Sir, do you realize that you're looking at a pretty serious bullying problem here?"
"From some posters and a few phone calls? Come on, Detectives," he grinned. "Kids will be kids, right? They're just goofing around. They'll stop as soon as the posters are removed, I guarantee it."
"I don't think you're quite grasping the severity of this, Sir," Elliot finally spoke up. "You've got a 9th grade girl being targeted by someone or possibly someones, and your students are violating a couple of laws in doing so. At the very least, I would strongly suggest that you run an anti-bullying assembly."
"Sure, we can do that," the principal flashed the two detectives an insincere smile, "Sure, no problem at all. Thank you for stopping by, Detective Benson and Detective Stabler."
Olivia and Elliot again exchanged annoyed glances. "Before we go, I'd like to speak with Annabelle. Can you please tell me where I can find her?" Olivia asked.
Bannon pulled up Annabelle's schedule, relaying the information to Olivia. "Have a nice day, now!" he called out as they left his office.
"You're upset," Elliot needlessly pointed out once they were in the hallway.
"Hell yeah, I'm upset, Elliot. He couldn't care any less about what we had to say," she told him, her long legs quickly carrying her through the empty hallways. "Annabelle was absolutely correct in coming to us; her principal is a joke of a principal who won't do anything."
"I agree," Elliot calmly replied, "Although the flyers will be taken down immediately."
Olivia snorted. "That won't do any good, and you know it," she slowed down as they approached Annabelle's political science classroom. "Those kids will just have the flyers back up next period." Knocking on the closed door, she beckoned the teacher over.
"Yes, can I help you two?" the teacher quizzically asked.
"Hello," Olivia warmly smiled, discretely flashing her badge. "We need to speak with Annabelle Lewis for a moment, please. We promise to have her back in class shortly."
"Of course, hold on a second," the teacher re-closed the door, calling out Annabelle's name.
Lost in thought, Annabelle didn't hear her name being called until it was called for the third time. Jumping out of her chair, she darted to the front of the room.
"There's someone in the hallway for you," the teacher briefly smiled.
Annabelle walked out of the classroom, a sigh of relief escaping her lips when she saw Olivia and Elliot standing there. "I'm so glad to see you," she told Olivia. "Really, this day has been a nightmare… and it really just began."
"I bet," Olivia replied, leaning against the wall. "By the way, this is my partner, Elliot Stabler. We just wanted to stop by to see how you're doing."
"I'm okay," Annabelle shrugged. "Just more notes, more flyers, the usual requests for activities under the bleachers. And it's only first period."
"Well we spoke with your principal, and he's going to have the flyers removed," Olivia cautiously continued.
"Well that's a start," Annabelle smiled. "Is he going to do anything else?"
"Not exactly, no," Elliot replied. "Not yet, anyhow."
Annabelle's face fell, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I knew he wouldn't care; he never does. He only cares about his precious sports teams."
"We're still going to run an investigation," Olivia continued, "So hold tight. I'll need the names of the students who've been bothering you, and we'll work on getting to the bottom of this. I just need you to hang in there for a bit."
"Okay," Annabelle mumbled.
"Here's my card," Olivia handed it to her, studying Annabelle's face. "And I've put my cell phone number on it. You call me if you need anything at all, okay? I mean it: anything at all."
"Yeah, okay," Annabelle tried not to cry; she felt so overwhelmed and upset, and she just wanted things to go back to normal.
"I promise, honey, things will be okay," Olivia tried again.
"Okay," Annabelle repeated, desperately wanting to believe Olivia. Mustering up the tiniest of smiles for the two detectives, she nodded toward the door. "We're going over the Fifth Amendment. I should probably get back in there."
Olivia simply patted Annabelle's shoulder in comfort, watching as the student retreated back into her classroom. "What the hell is going on here?" she sighed.
"I don't know, but we'll figure it out," Elliot led his partner back to the front of the school. "We have to."
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TO BE CONTINUED