Chapter 3
Anya was excited as school began and her teacher handed out math tests. "Alright, class, let's begin," she said.
As the little girl worked on her test, she felt something hit her arm and she looked to see it was a piece of paper crumbled up into a ball. Curious, she glanced around, but didn't see anyone look up. "Anya, is everything alright?" The teacher asked, making the little girl jump and face forward in her seat.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry," she said apologetically.
Nodding, the teacher went back to her work and Anya looked back at her test, but she felt something hit the side of her head now. "Ow!" She exclaimed in surprise.
The teacher looked up and saw Anya lean down and pick up the two balls of paper. "Anya, are those yours?" The teacher asked.
"No, ma'am. These both hit me," the little girl said.
"Bring them up here, please."
Anya did as she was told and the teacher opened up the papers to see if anything was written on them. Her mouth pressed into a thin line and her eyes narrowed before she glanced up, seeing one student had the same lined paper that she now held in her hands. "James," she said, making him look up at her. "Come up here, please."
"What for, ma'am?" He asked. "I didn't write anything on lined paper."
The teacher cocked an eyebrow at him. "I didn't say there was any writing on these, young man," she said. "Your statement tells me that you did indeed write these. I recognize your handwriting anywhere."
James went red in the face and the rest of the class watched with interest and curiosity. "Now," the teacher said. "James, come up here at once, please. I'm not going to ask again."
"No," he said defiantly.
A knock came at the door and the principal walked in. "I'm sorry to disturb your class, ma'am, but I need to speak with James, Stacy, and Mason," he said. "Our security cameras caught them tagging the school wall and they even put these up."
She handed the lady a paper, which showed a picture of Anya.
And the horrible words written over and around the picture.
Anya looked and tears filled her eyes. The paper was filled with the words 'orphan', 'ugly', 'unwanted pest', and other mean words. The teacher compared the words to the words on the crumbled papers and found them to be the same, to which she stood up.
"James, Stacy, and Mason, you three are dismissed from class to go to the principal's office," she said firmly.
"We didn't do anything!" Mason retorted.
Stacy sneered at Anya. "Gonna cry, orphan?" She taunted.
A sharp 'pop' scared everyone and they turned to see two security guards were there, one of them holding a party popper, which he had used to get their attention. He then looked at the principal. "The parents of the three students who tagged the school wall are here, Sir," he said.
"They at first tried to deny that their children were the culprits, but when they saw the evidence, they were quite embarrassed," the second guard said. "The police are outside right now too."
"The police?" One other girl asked.
The first guard nodded. "Not only is tagging the school wall a crime, but the three are also in trouble for the words they wrote about the young girl there," he said, gesturing to Anya.
Stacy paled at that. "It was James' idea!" She said quickly.
Mason looked down in shame. "Yeah, but we still had part in it," he said.
"Come on, guys! They can't prove anything! I bet they are bluffing about calling our parents," James said, looking very smug.
"James!"
The new voice made him jump and he turned to find both his mother and father standing next to the security guards and they both did not look happy. Stacy's father came in next and he looked very upset, to which Stacy tried to sink into her chair to appear small. Mason's mother gave him a stern look, to which he hung his head in shame.
The teacher sighed. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to suspend you three," she said. "If these actions happen again, I will not hesitate to ask the principal to expel you three."
"Mason, collect your things and you apologize to the young girl you were bullying before we leave," Mason's mother said firmly.
The boy did as he was told and Stacy was told to do the same, but she refused, which resulted in her losing all of her privileges. James kept denying he did anything, so his mother grabbed him by the ear and dragged him out of the classroom with him yelping in pain as he tried to keep up with her.
The teacher looked back at her students after the security guards, principal, and the parents with the misbehaving children had left. "Alright, class, back to your tests," she said gently and no one dared to even make a squeak as they all sat down and went back to their test papers. The teacher looked at Anya. "Anya, you may continue with your test as well."
"Thank you, ma'am," the little girl said before going back over to her desk, but as she worked on the test, tears filled her eyes.
She knew she had been an orphan prior to being adopted and she knew her father and mother were only supposed to be pretending, but she truly felt that they did care about her. She had even picked up on the happiness her parents had when she did a good job and she knew it was genuine.
Still, the bully's words hurt and she kept her head down for the rest of the day. By the time school was out, Anya was still upset and waited patiently for her mother to come pick her up. Yor soon arrived and smiled, but she saw her daughter looked unhappy. "Sweetie, is everything alright?" She asked.
"Yes, Mommy," the child said, but her voice was sad.
Yor didn't push it. "Alright, let's head home. Your father will be home from work soon and I'll make macaroni and cheese for you."
"Okay."
Hearing her daughter's quiet voice worried her. "Mrs. Forger?" Came a voice and she turned to see the principal was coming her way.
"Yes?" She inquired.
"I apologize for bothering you, but your daughter was the target of three bullies today," he said. "They left some very rude messages and called her an orphan and other nasty names."
Yor was shocked. "Where are the children that hurt my daughter with such words?" She asked, anger building up.
"They were suspended and their parents came and picked them up," the principal soothed. "I assure you, if they do bully your daughter again, they will be expelled."
The dark-haired woman took a deep breath to calm down. "Thank you," she said. "Please also inform me right away if anyone else bullies my little girl."
"Understood," he said with a nod. "I wish you and your husband and daughter a pleasant evening."
"Same to you, sir."
With that, Yor got into the driver's side and started up the car, glancing in the rearview mirror to see her little girl had her head down and tears were running down her face. "Sweetie, do you want to talk about it?" She asked.
The child shook her head and Yor decided to let the matter drop until they got home.
She knew her husband would be furious once he found out about what happened.
Okay, so a bit of angst, but don't worry, there is a lot of fluff in the next chapter. :)
Please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418
