AN: This'll be the last chapter I post depending on how busy I'll be in the next couple of weeks. I'm gonna put my other fanfiction Total Drama: Redux on hiatus for a little bit so I can think about what I want to do and the details to it. I'll be trying to focus a little bit more on this. I hope that you all enjoy this! Thanks to all those who've enjoyed this story and thanks for all the views and reviews!
Chapter 5: Confrontation
August 23rd & 24th, 2012
I awoke in a cold sweat. This is the third time that I've woken up just this night. I kept having the same dream over and over again. I dreamt that I was back in my old school and being pushed around by all the people who made fun of me. The thing about it, I can't escape it. Every time I try to run away from them, they always find me. I wondered if maybe this had something to do with thinking about confronting those three tomorrow. I grabbed my clock to see what time it was. It read 1:20 A.M. Without thinking about it, I got out of my bed (I didn't bother to change out of my nightgown or put on shoes), took my phone, and walked out the door. I ran to the only safe haven of mine where I could think and relax…the woods in the backyard.
I slowly began to walk in it. The cool air brushed against my body as I kept making my way deeper and deeper into it. I found an old oak tree to lay my back on and I sat there. I began to cry. I didn't know if it had to do with having the same dream over and over again or because of what I was planning to do later today, but crying was the only response I had to it. I wiped my eyes and sat there alone. I only said one thing, but that one thing could summarize what I needed to help me.
"Dad…I wish you were still here…maybe you'd be able to help me if you were."
I looked at my phone and didn't realize that it was already 3:30 in the morning. I hurried back to my house (slowly as not to try to wake my mother up), and went straight to bed.
As I reached my bus stop, Zoey and B rushed up to me. They noticed that I wasn't looking very good at all.
"Dawn, you look horrible today, is something wrong?" asked Zoey.
"It's fine Zoey, I just didn't sleep very well at all." I told her. I heard a buzz coming from my phone.
"Dawn, are you hiding something from us? You know you can tell us anything." B's text read.
"B I'm alright, I just, I need to focus about the school day today, my own problems can wait." I said. Zoey and B shot concerned glances at each other but didn't mention it again. When the bus arrived, I took a seat by myself and insisted that Zoey and B leave me alone for a little bit. They obliged and let me be. My mind was racing…I felt my heart pound faster and faster as we got closer to the school. Was I actually going to do this? Was I going to stop these bullies from bullying anyone ever again? So many questions kept going through my mind that I felt a painful throbbing in my head.
As we arrived to the school, I told Zoey and B to not follow me for I had to do something. As I began to leave, Zoey put a hand on my shoulder.
"Dawn…please don't do anything dangerous…I don't want to see you get hurt." she told me.
"I won't get hurt." I told her. She let go of my shoulder, but not before she gave me a concerned look. I didn't look back and continued on my way.
I began rushing through the halls to find the three bullies. It was rather easy to find them, as they were in front of Cameron's first period to mess with him. I began to step closer and closer but I began to hesitate. "Maybe Zoey was right…maybe I shouldn't be doing this." I thought to myself. I then told myself that no, I needed to do this. This is going to help everyone else in the long run. I continued on my way to them.
"Oh look, it's the girl who helped the other girl." said Scott.
"Sha-what do you want?" said Lightning
"Yeah what do you want? Beat it before you get yourself hurt." said Jo.
"No, I want you to stop this. This isn't right. I can't stand to see people getting harassed by you guys. No one deserves to get bullied. How would you feel if someone decided to bully you about your insecurities?" I told them. Just then, I felt someone grab me and throw me into the wall. It was Jo. She held me against the wall.
"Listen, you say one more thing about all this, and I really show you what happens when you make us mad." she said.
"I'm not afraid, do your worst." I told her. I don't remember much of what happened after that. The only thing I can really remember was feeling a stinging pain to the right side of my face. I felt the ground shaking after a while, but it was only Ella trying to get me up.
"Wake up Dawn…please wake up." she said desperately. I began to open my eyes slowly. My face still stung a bit.
"Ella…what happened?" I asked her.
"Oh Dawn, you tried to confront those mean people didn't you? Jo slapped you and you were in so much pain. You were crying and they just laughed. I wanted to rush up and get you, but Jo threatened to slap me as well. I'm so sorry Dawn, I'm a horrible friend." Ella said beginning to cry. I grabbed her hand.
"Ella, it's alright…part of me guessed that this would happen." I told her. She then picked me up and brushed me off. I heard more footsteps coming down the hall. It was Zoey and Cameron.
"Dawn! What did I tell you about doing something dangerous!? I'm so angry at myself for not stopping you doing this!" said Zoey.
"I didn't think you'd actually do this, Dawn, what we you thinking of accomplishing by doing this!?" said Cameron.
"I wanted to stop this…" I told them. They just shook their heads.
"Dawn…let's just get you to second period. You've been out cold for about an hour, and you probably want to think of something else besides this. I know I certainly do." said Zoey. Zoey, Cameron, and Ella all lead me to second period. As they opened the door,
"Zoey, Cameron? What's going on?" asked Gwen.
"She just tried to stop the bullies and…well…" said Zoey.
"Say no more, I understand. You two can go now." said Gwen. Both Zoey and Cameron whispered something into my ear.
"Gwen's a good friend of ours, you can trust her." whispered Zoey.
"Yeah, we three go way back." whispered Cameron. They quickly left after saying that. Ella insisted on helping me to the table, but I told her I was fine. I then took a seat next to Gwen.
"You know, that had to be quite possibly the dumbest thing I've seen someone do, and I've seen a lot of dumb things." said Gwen. I didn't make eye contact after she had said that. She noticed how I was feeling, so she made another comment.
"But, that was also one of the bravest things I've ever heard someone doing. I mean, c'mon, you stood up to three people that everyone is afraid of. You showed more bravery than every guy and girl in this school combined." she reassured me.
"Thanks Gwen." I told her.
"Hey, if you need someone to talk to, and Zoey and Cam aren't available, you're more than welcome to come talk to me, and you know Ella is here for you as well." she said to me. I thanked her and went back to my table to work on the drawing I was working on.
"Ella." I said.
"Yes my friend?" she asked me.
"Thank you…" I told her.
"Oh why you are most certainly welcome…I'll try to be a better friend, I promise. Whenever you need someone to help you with something, I'll be there. I know that your other friends would all say the same thing." she told me. I began to think about the last thing she said. Would my other friends be there for me if they weren't so afraid of these people?
"Dawn, are you alright?" asked Mike as he was eating a sandwich. It was lunch time and I was being surrounded by my friends. Mike, Zoey, Cameron, and B all shot my concerned and angry looks at what I had done. Ella had a sad look on her face, and Gwen was trying to get them to stop making faces at me.
"Gwen, how can we not be angry at what she's done? I mean, she could've gotten hurt a lot more than a slap to the face, especially by someone like Jo." said Zoey.
"Look, I know I haven't known Dawn as long as you guys, but I can tell that this was something she needed to do." said Gwen. No one at the table really spoke much after that. They all just went back to eating their lunches, while I was sitting feeling like I was alone.
The whole rest of the day, I could hear people talking behind my back about how I was stupid enough to think I could actually stop these people. I heard snickering and saw people giving me stupid looks. I felt like I was back at my old school. Alone, made fun of, you name it. Maybe I shouldn't have listened to my tea leaves.
On the bus ride home,
"Dawn…I'm sorry." said Zoey. I got a text from B which I could only assume that it was an apology.
"It's fine." I told them.
"No it's not fine. We should've been there for you and we weren't." she told me. As the bus stopped and we all got out, before I left to go to my home I told them both the same thing.
"Now you know how I felt at my old school when I was being bullied. No one was there for me." I began to walk off in anger, not looking back at the concerned face of B and the tearful face of Zoey.
I quickly closed the door and didn't bother to look at my chores. I went straight to my room and closed the door. My mother had come home early from work so she noticed it when she heard my room door close. She knocked on the door.
"Dawn, may I come in?" she asked me. I told her it was fine.
"Dawn?" she asked me as she walked in. "Is everything alright? Did you have a bad day at school?"
"Mother, I tried to stop a couple of bullies today…the only things I got out of it were a slap and my friends being angry with me." I told her. She sat on my bed and put her arms around me.
"Oh Dawn, why did you try to do that? I don't want to hear that my daughter is getting hurt in school…I don't want it to be like it was last time." she said to me.
"Mother, can I be alone?" I told her. She said alright and left me in my room by myself. I laid against the wall, looking out my window. The only thing that was going through my mind was how I felt. No one understood me or my motives for doing things.
The only person that did isn't here anymore.
This is the end of Chapter 5. This was a bit darker and a little more violent. I want to thank everyone who's read up to this point, and I'll be sure to post more and more when I'm not busy in these next couple weeks. I have to decide whether I want to post Chapter 6 of this or Chapter 3 of Total Drama: Redux. But other than that, I thank everyone who's viewed and reviewed this!
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