I am SO sorry. I did not think it would take this long to write it. But one of my friends just suddenly stopped talking to me, and I have homework, and drama... To make up for it, it's a bit longer than usual, at 1,500 words.
Thank you so much for the reviews! I was a bit disappointed at only getting 2 reviews, but then over the past few days I got 2 more, which really motivated me. Thank you to Invader Johnny, Jeremy Shane, Bade569, and GothicGillian for reviewing!
I really hope you like it, because I worked really hard on it!
Walking through the halls on Monday, Tori strode up to her locker and opened it deftly. Sunglasses covered her bleary eyes, and, taking them off, she looked around warily. Why wasn't anyone looking at her, whispering about Trina's demise? Running a head through her straightened hair, she gathered her books before glancing around again. Did no one care enough to even mention Trina?
"Nobody knows Trina's dead, so stop looking around like an idiot." Jade hissed to Tori, with her hair up in a messy bun. Trying to make sense of what Jade was saying, Tori willed her sleep deprived brain to wake up.
"Why not?" Tori asked after a minute.
Rolling her eyes, Jade smirked. "Why would they? It's not like anybody would've tried to contact her over the weekend."
"Should we tell everyone? What are they going to say? Is it better to keep it a secret?" Tori blurted out.
"Relax, Vega. I've made all the arrangements." Jade smiled mischievously and stalked away, but even Tori could see that the glint in her eyes was gone. Or, at least, that's what she thought, especially after she saw a piece of paper flutter out of Jade's back pocket. Casually walking towards the piece of paper, she bent down and picked it up. The words
'BULLY' stood out at her, a glaring red on the white paper.
"What's that?" Cat asked suddenly from behind her. Tori jumped up, books flying everywhere. "What does B-U-L-L-Y stand for? Is it some kind of organization? My brother belongs to an organization, but-"
"I have to go, Cat." Tori said, gathering her stuff up hurriedly before rushing away, leaving a pouting Cat in her wake.
After 10 periods and 4 unsuccessful attempts to find out what Jade had told her, Tori was tired and frustrated. Stifling a yawn, she almost didn't hear the beginning of Helen's speech on the speaker.
"-any of you know the..loud Trina Vega. Well, after being informed by a reliable, although surprising source, it has been discovered that she has committed the grave act of suicide due to bullying, a most unfortunate thing. Please join us in a moment of silence for the school's loss."
The murmurs that had begun immediately stopped as everyone was quiet for a minute. After that, though, the room was ablaze with talk. , the unenthusiastic chemistry teacher looked relieved as she slumped down in her seat.
Shifting in her seat, all eyes turned to Tori.
"Excuse me, but I really must go." Tori rushed out of the room, set for the parking lot.
After thinking for a moment, she opened her locker, and a CD fell out. Picking it up, she read the title. 'Reason #4', it said. Frowning, she tossed it into her bag and headed for Andre's car, which she knew had the keys still stuck in the ignition. Ignoring the fact that she would be breaking the law by driving without an adult with a driver's license in the car, she climbed in and put the CD in. Turning the ignition, she put her foot on the gas and began driving.
"Lindsey DeVonn. Were we ever really friends, or was it all just in my head? You must've never really liked me if you could ditch me so quickly. Do you even remember what class we had together in sophomore year? It was Health, if you actually forgot. We saw each other there, in the 2nd period of my first day at HollyWood Arts, but we didn't really meet until we were at the girl's bathroom later that day. It was lunchtime, and after the big bad Jade and ruined any chance of me having friends in 4 short hours, I had nowhere to sit. Everyone shunned me, and the ones who didn't looked…uneasy at the prospect of me sitting with them. And I got it. No one wanted to be unpopular on the first day of school. Also, everybody had formed their own cliques during freshman year, so there were only a few loners that didn't care about their reputation, but all of them were too intimidating for me to approach. Hovering in the courtyard, I heard someone say, "Fat ass," quietly, and I couldn't help but be paranoid they were talking about me. My jaw clenched and I tossed my lunch into the garbage before escaping to the bathroom. Sinjin, you were in one of them, probably hoping to hear some juicy rumor and follow up on it using blackmail. You were in one of the stalls, vomiting up a storm in there. I'd always hated that sound, and as I entered a stall, the smell became too much and I retched as well. After a few minutes, all was quiet, and I ventured out of my stall, glad to see that Sinjin had disappeared.
You were at the sink wiping your mouth, and as I looked at you, you smiled at me.
"You're a binger too?" You asked as if I knew what that meant. When you saw my puzzled look, you elaborated. "You throw up your food on purpose, you know, binge?"
I didn't, but I didn't want you to know that. You were the only person who had been half friendly to me since I had gotten to HollyWood Arts, and I wasn't going to just let that go.
"Yeah." I smiled back, rinsing my mouth out at the sink. "I'm a little too big in some places."
"Same." You gestured to your stick thin body as I pretended to know what you were talking about. "My other friends just don't understand, and they tried to stage an 'intervention' once. Now they think I quit. You probably know how that is."
"Actually, I just started. Nobody knows about it yet." I said truthfully, staring at the tiled floor.
"Don't tell anyone." You ordered, smiling, before grabbing my hand. "Let's go somewhere." I followed you like the eager puppy I was, reveling in the first taste of friendship I'd had for a while. We went to some Chinese place, getting heaps and heaps of lo mein that we stuffed ourselves with. As I went to look for my wallet, you whispered for me to leave, that you'd pay the bill. So I did, even then suspecting something. It was only a few days later, when I tried to go back to that restaurant, that I found out you'd dined and ditched, leaving me to get escorted to the police office to pay a fine. I never mentioned it to you, but you owe me $600.
Even after that, I still hung out with you, but never at school. In Health you sat behind me, and every once in a while, during a particularly embarrassing Health lesson, you'd tap my shoulder and giggle with me at all of the red faces around us. But when we hung out after school, it couldn't really be classified as girl time. We talked, and went to the mall once or twice, but mainly, we ate. And ate and ate and ate. You had tons of food stored in your mansion of a house, and I brought some too, and we ate until our stomachs ached. Then we threw it all up, of course. It was kind of exhilarating, doing this, and only one other person knowing about it. It was like when I was little, and got away with not going to bed at 9:30 because my parents were always busy. But you were a bully. You never missed an opportunity to mock me after a month or so. You'd never do it blatantly, but you made jokes and implied things, said little set-downs that ruined my day. I got thinner, but in all the wrong places, and after a few months, all I really wanted was to be a loner again. So when I turned your invitation to binge down one day, you were shocked. You didn't ask me to stay, or suggest we do something else, though. You just said okay, in a strangled little voice and walked away. But it didn't end there, did it? You whispered to your friends about my disease, of how I was a binger and probably a cutter, and how you'd tried to help but just couldn't. But that wasn't how everyone found out, now was it Cat? But that's another reason, for another day. Let me just say this. Lindsey, you and Cat are a lot alike."
Rubbing her eye with one hand, Tori's anger grew. Why had all of these horrible things had to happen to Trina? Why couldn't someone else get stuck with all of this?
She almost didn't notice when she drove off of the road.
I hope you liked the little twist at the end! And I got the idea of Lindsey and Trina binging together from a book I read a while ago, although it was quite different, and I can't remember the name of it. :( And Lindsey was the 'friend' of Trina's in Beggin' on Your Knees whose heart got broken by Ryder... Which will come up in another reason!
Please review and tell me what you thought!