Thanks to Damien_Garcia DJKILLER7 on Wattpad for bringing the idea to me. We are currently collaborating on bringing this story.

Check out the story on Wattpad: story/262386026

"Raya?" a gruff voice asked. Raya groaned as she rolled about on her bed tiredly. She didn't want to get up, not yet. In fact, she didn't want to get up at all.

"Raya, it's time to wake up!" the voice said, louder this time. "You have to get to school. You don't want to be late on your first day, do you?" asked the voice. "Urgh… five more minutes Ba…" Raya said, groaning, as she turned around, rolling on her bed tiredly.

"Come on, get up!" the man said as Raya felt someone pulling her cover away. Raya finally mustered her energy and opened her eyes tiredly. She opened her eyes, expecting to see her father, but instead, it was her uncle, Tong. "Urgh… what time is it?" Raya sunk back onto the bed, not even minutes after getting up. "Six," Tong said, sighing. "What? That's so early," Raya groaned. "You know school starts at seven thirty," Tong said smiling.

Raya yawned. "Why does school have to start so freaking early?" Raya asked groaning as she massaged her temples. "Because… you're a student, Raya," Tong said. "You really have to get up now." Raya rolled over to face Tong. "Another 5 minutes… please?" asked Raya. "Alright then," Tong shrugged before turning to leave Raya's room.

"Urgh," Raya groaned as she buried her face in the pillows. Raya plopped back onto her bed, remembering how she was in this predicament in the first place. She, a high school student, who has been transferred from one school to another, not because she was a troublemaker, it was because she was bullied in the previous school she went to in her hometown. And it was so terrible that her father decided to send her to another school, to keep her safe from bullies.

But the bullies didn't just hurt her physically, they hurt her mentally as well. Raya used to be outgoing, now she became a shy and introverted person. She didn't dare to talk to anyone anymore, she didn't dare to express herself anymore, neither did she like to be around people. Thinking that they would turn their backs on her, and she would be shunned and alone again.

A loud yip interrupted Raya's train of thought as an extra weight pounced on her. It was her pet dog, Tuk Tuk, who she was close with, and the only thing keeping her away from total boredom."Tuk Tuk… Get off me," Raya groaned as the dog climbed onto her, pushing the canine off her as she sat up groggily.

It has been a week since she moved into Tong's house. Her father decided that it would be for the best that she moved during the school holidays, to have some time to get used to the environment there before a new school term starts. In the one week she spent in the town, Raya hasn't done much. She mostly just stays in her room, looking at her phone or playing with Tuk Tuk.

"How are you feeling, Raya?" asked Tong as Raya sat at the dining table, eating her breakfast.

"Aren't you at least excited? You get to be in a new school. You get to make new friends," Tong continued on. To be honest, Raya wasn't feeling happy nor glad to start out in a new school, a new environment. Instead, she felt a sense of dread, of uncertainness and unsettledness, of fear, that it would all happen again. She would get shunned, like how she was before.

"Raya? Is something bothering you?" asked Tong curiously as he noticed Raya's plain and emotionless face.

"I'm fine Uncle Tong," Raya said dismissively, in such a tone that was plainly revealed that Raya was lying.

Tong sighed. He knew how much Raya had gone through in the past year. He knew how much effect it had on his niece as he watched the cheerful, outgoing, and active girl turned into a dull, introverted and shy girl. "Look, Raya… It's all in the past now… Don't worry anymore," Tong tried to assure his niece. "You should really make some new friends around here," Tong advised as he watched Raya dug into her food aimlessly.

Raya just scoffed. It wouldn't be the first for her uncle to tell her to go out more and make friends. But the memories of her experience in the past school traumatized her in some way. It wasn't just Uncle Tong, even her father tried urging her to make friends and connect with others, trying to convince her that what happened to her wouldn't happen again. That she shouldn't be scared because she was bullied. That the bullying and backstabbing she experienced was no big deal.

Raya always thought that no one truly understood her situation back then. She was trying to be a good person and help a poor girl, being bullied by a group of misfits. And what she got in return was something that she was sure she didn't deserve. Months of humiliation, verbal attacks, physical attacks from those bullies, and backstabbing from who she thought were her friends. Nothing seemed to stop them, reporting to the teachers only made things worse as the group would find her outside of her school.

And all that because she was just standing up for a girl who was being bullied, she unintentionally started a battle that she would go on and lose terribly.

Raya remembered as she got in between the girl that was being thrown onto the floor by a group of bullies, a group that included both boys and girls. She stood in between them, and she took punches and assaults, as the bullies 'taught' her a lesson.

After that, as she picked herself up. Convinced that it will be all over, despite her friends back then telling her not to mess with that group of bullies. And as it turned out, her friends were right about the group.

At first, Raya kept it to herself, not wanting to tell anyone about her position. She believed that it would all go away soon, that the bullies would soon lose interest in her and leave her alone. And how wrong she was? Very wrong.

It never stopped. Till she came home one day, bruised and crying. It was only then her father realized the seriousness of the situation and told the school. But seemingly, even the school has little control over the bullying. And it went from physical bullying to the most hurtful of all, verbal and mental bullying.

Rumours of Raya being someone she was not was being spread, and people believed in it. And she was truly sidelined. Her 'friends' soon left her one by one, and began mocking her intentionally and even began to play around with her feelings and emotions. Raya never understood how she befriended this group of foul people in the first place after being hurt and backstabbed so many times.

As time went on, it only got worse. It escalated to a point where Raya was pushed down the stairs by her friend she thought she could just, and yet that 'friend' got away with it. And the next day, she saw her hanging out with the group of bullies. And it got even worse from there. And what was even worse was that no matter how much bad stuff the bullies did to her, they always got away with it most of the time, somehow. They were literally untouchable.

And hence, here she was now. Transferred to a new school, a new environment, a supposed new start. But for Raya, she felt like it was going to happen all over again.

As Raya walked out of her room, wearing her plain white school uniform, carrying her school bag, she noticed Tuk Tuk curling up at her feet, as if he was worried about her, yipping dully.

"Oh~ Don't worry Tuk Tuk," Raya cooed as she knelt down and patted her dog's head. "I will be fine… hopefully," Raya muttered the last part softly, before getting up and walking out of her house.

"So… you ready?" asked Tong, as he saw his niece walking into the living room.

"Yeah… yeah… whatever," Raya sighed as her uncle opened the door and she followed him towards his car.

The ride to school was mostly a quiet one. Tong did try talking to the girl, but Raya only grunted in response, ending every conversation her uncle tried to start. It wasn't that she disliked her uncle. It was just because she wasn't in any mood to talk. She just stared outside as the car moved towards her new school. When the car finally halted to a stop in front of her new school, Raya couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"Have a nice day," Tong said before Raya shut the door and turned towards her new school.

The girl took a deep breath before walking into the school. Internally hoping that everything would be fine.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment your thoughts. This will be updated sporadically. So, stay safe and stay tuned :)

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