The teasing had been worse than the rejection.

Kelly remembered asking her friend on a date. She remembered having to work up the courage to take that shot, knowing there was a chance that everything she knew could be changed for the worst. She had done so privately, asking her friend out at her locker. She had brought her a simple rose and, very nervously, asked her out to dinner that night. At first her friend had been confused by the rose and the nervousness in Kelly's voice. They had been out to dinner in the past without it being awkward. When Kelly clarified that she was trying to ask her on a date, the girl laughed at her.

Names were called, and Kelly remembered her friend teasing her for having asked in the first place. Then, her friend became horrified as the news sunk in. They had sleep overs together, they changed together in the gym locker room. Her friend started accusing her of being a pervert, and spread Kelly's sexuality around the school as a "warning to all girls".

It wasn't long before everyone had joined in on the teasing. Girls would whisper behind her back, and call her names to her face. The boys would either look at her with disgust, or make comments about how she needed to try and be with a real man before she made up her mind. Anytime she walked into the girl's washroom, the other girls would let out screams and eventually they started to ban her from using certain washrooms in the school so they could feel safe.

It went on for months before Kelly's family moved out of town, and Kelly changed schools. She had been relieved by the timing of it all and felt like it was fate stepping in and letting her know things would get better. She had never told her parents about what was going on at school, and if teachers ever noticed anything, Kelly would play it off like she and the class were just having fun.

Too many people had hurt her. All she wanted was to fit in again. She just wanted to feel normal.

At Summer Cove High School, Kelly was quick to make friends with Sarah. She would admit, part of why she had approached Sarah to start had to do with finding her attractive, but Kelly had already made the choice not to date in Summer Cove. She would just be friends with Sarah and with any girl, nothing more. If they ever asked her what she thought about the boys in the school, she would fake attraction to them.

If she felt like it was necessary, she would date to keep everyone's suspicions low. She would find a guy in school she felt like she could hang out with and she could do whatever everyone expected from her.

She had been so determined to hide her sexuality and to keep herself safe, that she was thrown completely off guard when Sarah asked her out. Vicious flashbacks from her own history passed before her eyes, and her only thought was about keeping herself safe. So she teased Sarah first, before anyone else could make any assumptions or ask questions. She called Sarah out, and tried to embarrass her so she could keep control.

Very quickly, Kelly learned that Summer Cove was not like her old school. No one here cared who dated who. They were all busy with their school work or their friends or their hobbies. When Kelly had called Sarah out, no one in the school reacted. Even Victor, the boy with the loudest mouth who would cause the most drama should he get the opportunity, brushed off her announcement like it was nothing. Kelly realized her mistake as soon as Sarah raced out of the cafeteria.

She had done to Sarah, her friend, what everyone else had done to her. Now, she had to pay the price.

Notes were left in her locker. People were back to calling her names, but this time, she felt she had earned it. Her classmates would glare at her anytime she walked into class. If she asked them for a pencil or if they could repeat what the homework was, they would ignore her.

So not only did the school not care about Sarah, but they were disgusted by Kelly's actions.

Kelly didn't bother telling a teacher or the principal about the notes left her in locker daily. Nor did she tell her parents anything either. However, they were starting to get meaner and meaner, and Kelly was beginning to think that what happened at her old school would happen again.

Only this time, she wouldn't get the pity of being a victim. This time, she felt it was self inflicted.

A note dropped from her locker and floated down the hallway, carried by the draft of students walking by. Kelly tried to grab it so she could gather up the evidence and trash it herself, but before she could, another hand picked it up.

"Homophobes like you should do the world a favour and kill yourselves?" Sarah asked, reading the note in disbelief. Kelly took it from her hand.

"Its nothing," she said. Sarah hadn't spoken to or looked at her since her mistake. She was angry with Kelly, and rightfully so. Kelly would never forgive her former friend for what she had done, so she didn't expect forgiveness from Sarah either.

"That's… mean," Sarah said. "Do you know who wrote it?"

"Someone defending you."

"I don't need defending," Sarah shook her head and then looked around the hallway as if she could spot the person who wrote the note just by looking at them. "This isn't their business."

"I kind of made it their business," Kelly said. "Honestly, Sarah, it's fine. After what I did…"

"You should tell Principal Hastings," Sarah suggested. "I mean, she might not have the best approach to stopping this but she might know what to do."

"It's what I get for outing you," Kelly insisted. "And I am sorry about that."

With her note in hand, Kelly walked back to her locker. On her way, one of the jocks walked past her and bumped shoulders with her. It happened regularly in high school with people wandering every which way, but Sarah watched as the jock added a little more force to the bump and ended up pushing Kelly into the lockers.

Of course, Sarah remembered being outed. She remembered feeling her face flush red with embarrassment as Kelly announced to the whole school that she was a lesbian. She had been so worried with how her schoolmates would react and assumed the worst, so she ran off.

Her friends had been supportive. Jenny had been supportive, and when Sarah returned to school the next day, people approached her and apologized to her about what happened. It seemed no one cared. While Sarah didn't appreciate that her choice of coming out had been taken from her, it seemed that this had given her the freedom she wanted. It wasn't just family and friends who knew and supported her. Her whole school was behind her.

So, in the end, Sarah could say it all worked out for the best. She was still angry with Kelly, but things could have been a lot worse. Sarah was grateful.

However, since that day, Sarah had heard some whispers around the school about Kelly. She knew what people were saying behind her back. Until now, she thought it was just whispers, though. Just regular teenagers doing what it was they always did when big news broke in the school. Whenever they would try to get Sarah to join in, she would refuse, but that still didn't stop her from hearing it all.

But the note Sarah read, and watching the jock shove Kelly into a locker showed Sarah that this was more than just whispers. While Kelly had done it to herself, the whole school seemed to be against her.

"I'm gay," Sarah remembered Kelly saying as a way to explain her behaviour. "I asked a girl out at my old school and she did… well, exactly what I did to you. By the end of the day, everyone knew and I was called… a lot of names. When you asked me out, I kind of freaked out. I didn't want to be teased again by everyone."

It wasn't out of malice – not entirely at least. Kelly had been guarding herself. She had just chosen the wrong way to do it. Sarah was a firm believer in second chances. Sometimes, good people did bad things.

"Sometimes, people don't need punishment," Sarah remembered hearing her father say after he found out that she had lied to him. It had been just after she had moved in with him. She had been jumped too high on her bed, lost control and knocked off the lamp, breaking it. Her father had rushed upstairs and Sarah knew right away that she would be in trouble.

Drex used to hit her – hard if she broke the rules.

So she lied. She told her father she hadn't been jumping on the bed and that the lamp just fell.

He didn't believe her. Not for a second. When he started to scold her about breaking his rules, he saw Sarah flinch. She was terrified.

He knelt down, "What are you scared of?"

"I don't want to get hurt," Sarah whispered, very softly.

"Do you think I'm going to hurt you?"

"I broke the rules," Sarah nodded. "Sometimes, old daddy hits me with a belt."

She remembered her father's face turn bright red. He clenched his fists and Sarah thought, for sure, he was going to hit her. She braced herself, closed her eyes and then she felt his arms wrap around her and he muttered the words she would always remember.

"Sometimes, people don't need punishment; they need help." He looked to her with a smile. "Next time, you just tell me the truth, okay. And I'll never hit you."

Breaking a lamp was not as bad as outing someone to the whole school, but the idea was the same. Kelly had made a mistake. She had done something she knew she wasn't supposed to do.

She didn't deserve to be threatened and bullied for it.

"Hey!" Sarah shouted to the jock after he shoved Kelly. "You just shoved her!"

"What? No I didn't," the jock argued, then winked at Sarah as though she was part of this teasing. Sarah shook her head.

"I just saw you do it. She fell into the lockers. You could have hurt her."

"So?" the jock asked as he pointed at Kelly, "It's her."

"And you owe her an apology," Sarah said.

"Seriously, you're defending her?" the jock asked.

"Yeah. And now that we're on this subject, I don't need anyone fighting my battles for me."

"Yeah, but she…"

"Leave her alone," Sarah growled. The jock put his hands up in surrender and hurried off down the hall.

"Thanks," Kelly whispered to Sarah, who turned back to her locker to grab her bags.

"You'll tell me if they keep doing this," Sarah said. She closed her locker. "Just, don't let them do this stuff, alright. You screwed up, that doesn't mean you need to be bullied for it."

Kelly nodded her head and called out to Sarah as she left, "I'm really sorry!"