A/N: Hey guys! Wow, so it has been almost two whole years since I last published anything on this site, let alone something for Cause of Death. A lot has changed in two years! I got bored one day before work this past week and remembered Fanfiction, so I looked up my profile and started reading some of my old work. I originally did it just to laugh at how horrible my writing was two years ago and compare it to some of the newer stuff I've done, but after re-reading this one (because, quite frankly, I forgot 70% of what I even wrote in this), I realized I abandoned a pretty good plot. I was actually kind of sad that I just left the story hanging, because I absolutely loved writing it and playing with Mal's and Nat's characters as teenagers. Even though the game has been done for quite a while, and I really don't know if any of you Deathicated still check this site or will ever even see it; but for my own personal satisfaction, I'm going to continue writing this. I'm publishing it on the off-chance anyone will read it, but if nobody but me ends up seeing it, oh well. If you do happen to read this, though, please leave a review and let me know what you think! (:

The Outside: Chapter 8

A few days later, Bethany and I are sitting on a brick ledge outside of the school. The final bell had just rang and we are waiting for Bethany's mom to pick us up—we're going to her house to work on a project together. We are in the middle of a conversation when Katie—who still seems to like to torment me, for whatever reason—strides by us. She almost passes without noticing our existence, but then she stops and turns back towards us, her lips immediately forming into a smirk. "Hey loser," she sneers. "Where are the rest of your friends? Oh, wait, you don't have any."

Bethany scowls at her. "Don't you have anything better to do? Leave her alone."

Ignoring her, Katie just laughs and looks Bethany up and down. "Nice outfit," she adds with a mocking laugh. "Where'd you get it from, your grandma's closet?"

"Thanks," Bethany answers as if she hadn't just been insulted. "I got it from your closet, actually. Thanks for letting me borrow it." I laugh at this and Katie just rolls her eyes.

"What are you laughing at?" she prods, turning to me and scowling. Unsure of what to say, I find myself just staring at her uncomfortably.

"Uh... Nothing, I, uh..."

She rolls her eyes. "What, forget how to talk? What an idiot." She glances down and sees my backpack sitting at my feet, and before I can hop off the wall I'm sitting on and grab it, Katie picks it up and opens it. She pulls random items out of it and tosses them to the ground or throws them behind her. A binder filled with class notes hits the ground and flies open. Papers fly everywhere as she continues to pull things out and toss them carelessly whichever way she chose.

"Hey, what the hell?" Bethany exclaims, jumping off the wall we're sitting on and trying to grab my bag from her. "That is so not cool, give her her bag back." She tries several times to grab the bag, but Katie keeps pulling it away. After a few moments, Katie seems to grow bored of her little game and lets go of my backpack. Bethany snatches it away before she can change her mind and hands it back to me.

"Thanks," I manage weakly to Bethany. I avoid Katie's eyes as I hop off the wall and begin picking up my things. I am about to reach down to grab a notebook when Katie kicks it out of the way and shoves me backwards. I lose my balance and fall down, my arm painfully grazing the rough brick behind me. Hot tears of humiliation prick my eyes, and I advert my gaze in an attempt to hide my hurt feelings.

"You dropped a few things," she sneers at mainly me as she flips her hair over her shoulder and walks away.

"What an asshole," Bethany mutters as she watches Katie walk away. She shakes her head in anger, though she doesn't seem to be personally offended by anything Katie just said. I'm jealous of Bethany's ability to do that—to have careless words thrown at her and not be hurt by them. I mean, I'm sure she doesn't particularly enjoy being called names, but it doesn't seem to phase her or her confidence. Though I am so grateful that I have friends now, I would be lying if I said the mean things Katie and her friends say to me don't bother me. I'm thankful that I have at least two people to back me up, but I'm sensitive to begin with. I rarely show it, as I like to keep my emotions to myself as much as possible; but I can't brush them off as easily as Bethany and Annabelle seem to be able to. I often pretend I'm that confident and unable to be phased, because I really wish I was. But the truth is that I'm just not. "I don't know why she feels the need to do that. You okay?" she asks before turning and realizing I'm still on the ground, head hanging down as I try to hold back tears. I'm holding my arm where I scraped it, though that's not what hurts the most right now.

"I'm fine," I murmur almost inaudibly, unable to say any more without my voice breaking. I look down as I feel more tears stinging my eyes and try to swallow the lump in my throat.

"No you're not," she replies softly, sitting down beside me and reaching over to give me a quick hug.

"Why does she do that?" I choke, letting a few tears escape. I quickly wipe them away and sniffle. "What is so wrong with me that she has to point out so often?"

"Because she's a jerk," Bethany answers simply, resting her arm around me. I gently lean my head on her shoulder. "She has nothing better to do than bully others. There's nothing wrong with you, it's her that's the problem. Just try not to let her get to you."

"How do you do that all the time?" I ask, genuinely curious.

Do what?" she questions, looking at me.

"Just sit there and take all the mean things people say to you and act like none of it bothers you."

"I don't know, honestly," Bethany answers. "I mean, it definitely annoys me that people feel the need to bully others, but Katie and them don't really hurt my feelings or anything. I just wish she'd leave you alone."

"How?" I ask, genuinely curious. "How do you just, like... Not care what people say about you?" I wish I could have that attitude towards things.

"I don't know," she answers after a short pause. "I've been picked on like that before, and I guess I've just gotten to the point where I don't want it to ruin my life anymore. Maybe it's just part of my personality or something, but I've kind of just learned to filter out the mean things and focus on the good. And plus," she adds with a light laugh, playfully nudging me, "what kind of insult is 'loser,' anyways? Are we in second grade again?"

"I guess that is a pretty lame insult," I laugh.

We sit wordlessly like that for a few moments before Bethany breaks the silence. "You know those things aren't true, right?"

"Huh?"

"Everything Katie just said about you... None of that stuff is true. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I reply unconvincingly, forcing a small smile at my friend. As much as I wanted to be able to say that I was 100% confident that those things they say about me aren't true, I can't. I mean, I know I'm not an awful person and I do know I have positive things about me; but it's just so easy to focus on the negatives when they're constantly being picked out. I can usually force myself to at least appear confident, but sometimes—like today—people's words get the better of me and I get pretty down on myself. I try not to let things bother me, but unlike Beth, I find it really hard to just shake them off. When I think about it, I really only have two friends. Three if you count Mal, I guess. That's pretty loner-like and loser-ish if you ask me. Plus I'm in an AP class as a 15-year-old. Talk about being a freak.

"Really," she persists firmly, "they're not." I look up at her, wondering how she can be so sure about something in regards to someone that she had only known a few months.

"How do you know? I mean, we've really only been friends a few months. And we became friends because you found me crying in the bathroom like a complete loser."

"Come on, Nat. I may not have known you long, but I know a genuinely wonderful person when I see one. You're smart and kind and super sweet to everyone, even when they're rude to you. You have a lot more going for you than you give yourself credit for. And I'm not gonna lie, I've always been jealous of how gorgeous you are."

I smile and wipe my eyes. "Whatever," I laugh, nudging her back. "You're really pretty, too."

"Thanks," she chuckles. "But you're the one with the boyfriend."

"What?!" I exclaim, turning towards her. "Are you talking about Mal? He is not my boyfriend, we don't even really talk other than when I help him with his homework." Bethany just smirks playfully at me.

"Bull, that guy is in love with you. He stares at you more during class than at the teacher." I feel my cheeks heat up, and Bethany's smirk deepens. "And you are clearly into him, too, seeing as you're blushing out of your mind right now."

"Oh my gosh, shut up," I laugh, turning my head away and wishing I didn't blush so easily. "We're barely even friends."

"Whatever," she shrugs, "say what you will. But someday you guys are gonna date and fall in love and get married and have kids, and then I'm gonna get to say 'I told you so!'"

I shake my head and stand up, offering her my hand. "I hate you," I joke as I help her up. She just laughs in return and pulls me into a tight hug, which I happily return.

"I'm always here if something is bothering you and you need to talk," she tells me. "I know what it's like to feel like you have nobody to go to, and it sucks. So if you ever need anything, just let me know. I promise you won't be annoying me or anything."

I smile at her—a real smile, not one of those forced ones. "Thanks, Beth, I will," I answer. And I mean it. I usually hate showing any weakness to others in fear of them using it against me or judging me for it. But even though I haven't been friends with Bethany for that long, I know she's someone I can count on to tell things to without her thinking I'm weird. "Same for you," I add. "You know how to reach me."

She returns the smile. "Thanks, Nat, I really appreciate it."

"All right, enough with the sappy stuff," I joke with a playful nudge, "let's just get my stuff out of the grass."

"Sounds like a plan," she laughs.

A/N: I'll try to update this when I have time! I'm working two jobs and taking an online summer class, so I don't have a plethora of time; but I will update when I can (whether or not anyone actually reads it—I'm writing mostly for my own pleasure, haha). This chapter was a little bit of a downer, but I realized that the plot was a little unrealistic—bullies won't just leave you alone when you find one or two friends, and I noticed I hadn't mentioned anything about the bullying issue since Bethany and Natara became friends. So I figured I'd bring it back in the interest of keeping the plot a little more realistic. Anyways, if you read this, thanks so much for reading and please leave a review and let me know what you thought!