Unfortunately, Neo's plans for making up with Jade were completely put on delay. As it turned out, she'd left the school even before Neo herself had the previous day, and according to overheard gossip from her friends, wouldn't be back until the start of the next week.
Neo sighed into her hand, catching another wayward glance in her direction that was immediately diverted upon her returning the gaze. Ivy and Kindle had already spread rumors amongst the other students in class that Neo was responsible for Jade's current absence. As the strange new girl, she'd had no chance whatsoever to defend herself before the rumors had spread like wildfire.
Neo noticed Jaune making eyes at her from his place near the front of the class. She raised an eyebrow, then leaned slightly out of her chair to see better as he started to sign in her direction. "What happened?"
Neo could only give him a shrug in return, the motion filled with her heartache and confusion. All she'd wanted was to make some new friends and piece her life back together. Now that Jade wouldn't be there for the entire week, she wouldn't even have the opportunity to resolve the issue between them before the rumors continued to spread among the populace.
Neo shook her head and turned away, sighing while resting her head in her hand. Already, several hours worth of class had passed with none taking the time to get her version of events. Gym was coming up soon though, and she'd already prepared lines in her notebook in an attempt to defend herself.
Only the boys in class remained unmoved by the rumors being spread. Jaune had spoken in her defense, determined to set them straight as soon as possible. However, the girls were an entirely different matter. They weren't willing to accept a boy's opinion, and several, including Jade's two friends, were staring daggers at Neo whenever they had the chance.
Neo silently gripped her scarf tighter, avoiding their gazes while waiting out the time left for class.
Eventually, the bell rang, signaling the start of their gym period. Neo quickly jumped up and snagged her notebook, clutching it close while making her way out of class first. She wanted as much time as possible before gym activities started to set things straight.
Neo hurried downstairs and along the hallway to the gym. She was easily the first into the changing rooms, swiftly snagging her clothes from her locker in order to change. Neo could hear the other girls entering as she was stepping into the bathroom. She immediately made her way to one of the stalls and stepped inside, setting her things down on the closed toilet seat. Her notebook was set on top of the tank, kept close by in order to avoid a repeat of the previous day.
Neo heard the door open again, not long after she'd started to change. Echoing voices in barely contained whispers caught her ears, the unmistakable sound of Ivy and Kindle, along with a few others.
"I know she came in here. She did yesterday, too."
"Why? Who would want to get changed in a bathroom?"
Neo froze with her shirt partially pulled over her head, hearing some further muttering before Ivy loudly called out, "We know you're in here! Come on out and explain yourself! What did you do to Jade!?"
'I didn't do anything!'
Neo's heart pounded in her chest as she finished changing. She piled her old clothes back on to the seat and retrieved her notebook, hands shaking with barely suppressed trepidation. This wasn't how she'd pictured this moment going… Gulping nervously, Neo unlocked the stall door and stepped out, eyes locking onto those that had followed her immediately once they came into view.
Five girls had chosen to confront her, Ivy and Kindle included. They stood in a mismatched line, blocking her way to the door. Several had hands on hips, visibly aggressive as if they'd already made their minds up, no matter how Neo chose to reply.
One of Neo's hands started balling up into an angry fist before she stopped with a jolt of fear. The stone and the tree flickered through her mind, the gory outcome if she turned to violence. Neo had the aura of a fully grown Huntsman running through her veins. They were each only ten years old, at the latest. 'Even a simple punch…'
Neo let her hand loosen, breathing deeply to calm herself. She closed her eyes as she did so, willing herself into a more relaxed state. With some effort, Neo opened her eyes and raised her notebook instead, turning to the page where she'd already written everything out.
Ivy and the others squinted, leaning forward to read.
'I didn't do anything to Jade. I don't know why she was upset at me. I only want to make friends, not hurt anyone. Please believe me.'
Kindle was the first to finish and raised an eyebrow, scoffing before taking on a sarcastic falsetto to mock how she imagined Neo might speak. "Please believe me.' What? Believe you instead of our friend we've known for years? Why on Remnant would we do that!?"
Neo flinched back at the anger in her tone, raising a hand to clutch her scarf more tightly. Her fingers sunk into the material and she gulped, throat aching dully at the action. 'H-How do I get through to them?'
The others mirrored Kindle's attitude almost immediately, further growing frustrated by Neo's supposed deception. They took a unanimous step forward, re-closing the distance after Neo's tentative step backwards. They took another, further approaching while tensions were high.
Neo quickly flipped the page and pulled her pen out of the metal bindings. She scribbled down her response, the best she could come up with despite having no clue how to diffuse the situation. She was too young for this, too inexperienced in the ways of the heart to understand why they were unwilling to listen to reason.
'I didn't do anything!'
Noe didn't even realize she was just repeating herself until after she'd already turned the notebook around. The girls glared collectively, some turning to Ivy and Kindle as if waiting to see their response. Only a few feet now separated them, Neo's back bumping into the cold tiled wall. Her eyes darted around frantically, looking for any way out of the situation. She could only silently plead, hoping by some miracle the girls would come to understand she was telling the truth.
Fortunately, at least one of them seemed to have come to her senses. Neo didn't know her name. As Ivy took the final step forward and raised her hand threateningly, the other girl shot her own out into her path. Her eyes had taken on a mild uncertainty of their own, likely knowing that they couldn't exactly do anything to hurt Neo and get away with it themselves.
Ivy slapped her hand away angrily and rounded on her, "What are you doing!?"
"Stopping you from getting us all in trouble. If Neo really did something then it should be the teachers that handle it. We should report her instead, not do… whatever you were going to do."
"You didn't see how upset Jade was yesterday! And then this little creep was standing nearby, staring at her like she was proud of what she did or something!"
Neo stiffened, shaking her head fiercely when some of them glanced in her direction. 'I wasn't happy about anything! I was worried!' She tried to convey the message through looks alone, doubtful that she'd have the time to write anything down with them so close. Her back was literally and figuratively against the wall, both hands pressed to the tile behind, breathing rapidly. Her throat was starting to ache from the effort, and she raised a hand to loosen her scarf by a hair.
The girl that had momentarily come to her defense took a wary step back instead, eyeing both Kindle and Neo fearfully. "We… we still shouldn't do anything to her…"
Kindle and Ivy both glared, "If you don't like it then leave."
The other two girls were now looking on with more trepidation as well. As the more sensible one tentatively started to take her suggestion, the other two retreated slightly. One raised her hands as Kindle turned to glare at them, giving an uncomfortable laugh. "We really should just tell a teacher or something..."
"Then you can go, too!" Ivy glared, stepping away from Neo as if to threaten them instead. The other girls flinched back, raising their hands to defend themselves from a blow that never came. Slowly but surely they fled, sending uncertain glances back towards Neo and the others as they exited the bathroom.
Once they closed the door, Neo was left well and truly alone with the two girls. They still stood in her path, blocking the way with fragile bodies that she didn't dare try to step past. She shivered, seeing the anger in their eyes.
"Whatever you did, Jade doesn't deserve it," Ivy spoke in a clipped tone, taking one final step closer, a fire in her eyes.
Neo recoiled from her, only to have Kindle step in closer on the other side. Neo raised her notebook, holding it with both hands as if to shield herself from whatever they had planned.
Kindle's eyes snapped to the notebook. Before Neo had a chance to react, the other girl's hand darted forward in an attempt to snatch it from her hands. "Looks like you found another one to fill with your lies. I'd say this one deserves the same treatment!" She spoke in a guttural tone, teeth clenched while trying to pry the notebook from Neo's hands. She wasn't having much luck, mostly due to Neo's firmer hold and her deceptive strength.
"Just let go!" Ivy chipped in while also reaching for the notebook. Neo spun to the side to try and keep it away from her, pulling Kindle off balance in the process and causing Ivy to get a fistful of her scarf instead.
Neo's heart dropped in her chest, feeling the immediate tug on the fabric. She let go of her notebook completely and grasped the scarf instead, tugging on it with wide eyes to keep it from slipping off her neck. Suddenly fighting against nothing, Kindle fell backwards to the floor, notebook clutched in her hands.
Neo's eyes brimmed as she glared at Ivy, much more desperate to keep her scars a secret than anything. Despite gaining the notebook as they'd wished, Ivy continued to pull against the scarf, a triumphant look in her eyes upon seeing the effect it was having on Neo.
"Oh?" Ivy spoke through gritted teeth, "Is this important to you or something? Maybe if we get rid of it, you'll learn your lesson!"
'No!' Neo glared as she stepped forward and shoved her other hand out, trying to force Ivy to let go of her precious scarf. The girl's eyes widened and Neo immediately realized the mistake she'd made. Ivy's breath exploded from her girl's lungs. The scarf tore between them, Ivy being flung away against one of the stalls while still clutching on to a portion of the fabric. She gasped as she slammed against it, body going slack as she fell to the floor.
Neo stared in horror, her entire body frozen in place while a chill ran through her veins and a slight pink shimmer vanished from her hand.
'Oh no… Oh no no no!' Neo's hands started to shake, both returning to clutch her scarf in an adrenaline fueled grip. Kindle remained on the floor where she'd fallen, fingers in a similar white knuckled grip around the sides of the notebook.
Both stared in silence, hardly daring to breathe.
Ivy's body shifted as she started to groan. She groggily pulled herself back up on to her hands and knees, glaring at Neo with tear-filled eyes. Neo subconsciously flinched forward to help as Ivy tried to stand and failed, a glare the only thing that kept her in place. The girl's legs buckled momentarily beneath her own weight. She grit her teeth and tried again, finally managing to stand and support herself once more. Kindle stared in shock, still holding the notebook in her arms while lying on the cold tile floor.
Neo raised a forearm to wipe the tears from her cheeks, then glared at Kindle. The girl shot up in fear, raising Neo's notebook in outstretched hands as if to defend herself with it. She realized her mistake and dropped it, keeping her hands raised in a placating gesture while backing up a few more feet. Her eyes darted over to her friend, both tentatively coming together while refusing to take their eyes off Neo.
Neo continued to glare in response. She knew words weren't going to do anything to help the situation, not after what she'd done, and not after what they'd tried to do. She only waited instead, watching as they slowly began to back up, making their way out of the bathroom without taking their eyes off her.
Once they were gone, Neo allowed herself to deflate. She raised a hand to her chest, breathing heavily while her heart raced and body shook from leftover adrenaline. She grabbed her scarf to take a closer look, letting out a breathless whine of despair to see the threads torn so roughly. Even with the portion that Ivy had ripped off now left on the floor, Neo didn't know if it could be repaired.
With a sigh, Neo tightened it as best she could and stepped forward to pick up her notebook. The pages were bent, the entire notebook itself having been pulled so roughly during the brief struggle. She did the best she could to straighten it out and picked up her pen, sliding it back into the coiled spine.
'I hope they don't report this…' Neo worried, understanding that if they did, she would end up getting the worst of the exchange. Nicholas might change his mind about allowing her to come to school, thinking it would be better to homeschool her instead. She wouldn't have the chance to make any friends then. Even now, with rumors circulating and an injured bully to take into account, Neo was hesitantly hopeful for her chances.
Neo gave herself a few minutes to calm down before gathering up her clothes. She stepped back out and put them in her locker, then made her way out on to the gym floor. The other students were already playing some games, Ivy and Kindle among them. The two weren't participating, but hiding along the fringes while Ivy nursed her unseen wounds.
As sad as she was to have hurt someone, Neo took that as a good sign. The two likely knew they'd go down with her if they reported the incident to any of the teachers. They could just as easily get detentions for instigating the incident, especially if the other girls corroborated Neo's side of the story.
Neo was left with only their glares to accompany her as she climbed the stairs up to the workout loft.
'At least they probably won't try and bother me again…' As inexplicable as it may have seemed, the two would now be well aware that Neo was, in fact, not the average grade schooler. Brief as it was, there would be no doubt in their minds that she could have done much worse if she'd chosen to. Neo never would of course, but they didn't know that.
Left to her own devices for the remainder of the period, Neo allowed herself to take her mind off her troubles and start practicing instead.
There was a cool flip she'd been wanting to get down.
Maybe if she could impress people, she could get back into their good graces…
The rest of the week passed without further incident. The rumors continued to spread, along with new ones from Ivy herself that Neo had attacked her in the bathroom. Despite anything Neo might have said to the contrary, Ivy had the bruises to prove it.
The three that had backed down were the least believing of Ivy and Kindle, but were unwilling to step forward in fear of being ostracized along with Neo. They could only shrug their shoulders upon hearing the rumors repeated, casting a suspicious note into the girl's story without outright denying them.
Aside from Jaune, Neo was well and truly alone. For the remainder of that week, he was her fiercest defender. He asked her about the event in private, but Neo couldn't tell him the truth. Even knowing she wasn't at fault, she couldn't risk Jaune telling the teachers and getting the full story out of the girls. It would definitely get back to Nicholas then, ruining her chances of ever making things better.
Instead, Neo only told him that she would handle it, and not to believe any of the things being said about her. He scoffed at that, long since knowing she would never do such a thing in the first place. Neo thankfully found solace amongst him and his group of friends. While most couldn't outwardly support her, many of the boys trusted Jaune's judgment over the other's, and refused to fall for Ivy and Kindle's lies.
Though it felt like it took longer than usual, the week did eventually end. Neo could only sigh in relief, allowed two days away from being the center of attention, Jade's return now on the horizon.
Hopefully Neo would be able to clear everything up.
And finally start making friends like she'd hoped she would.