Chapter 5
It was about 5 o'clock on the Monday morning when Gaby woke up. Yet again she woke up dripping in sweat, she'd had a horrible dream about the girls who were bullying her, she felt terrified and was properly hyperventilating. It took her about 5 minutes to calm herself down, however she started to panic again when she realised she had to go into school today.
She had actually woken up with quite a bad stomach ache and thought maybe she could play on that for a bit, she hoped it would work because she really couldn't face going in to school today, she knew the bullying would be worse than ever after they'd put that video on of her.
Gaby thought that it might be more convincing if she woke her Mum up to tell her now as then it would look like the stomach ache had woken her up it was so bad.
She decided to get up and walk across to her Mums room
Slowly she crept inside, and she saw her Mum fast asleep in bed, still snoring gently. Gaby did feel a little bit mean waking her up, however she knew that it was her best bet of getting out of school, so she went over and gently tapped Rachel awake
Rachel jumped when she felt someone tapping her and then slowly stirred.
"Gaby what are you doing out of bed?" she asked still half asleep
"I've got a really bad stomach ache" Gaby explained
"okay, try and go back to sleep it's still night time" Rachel mumbled, clearly not listening to her at all
Gaby shook her again to stop her falling back to sleep causing Rachel to wake up properly
"No mum, it's really bad"
Rachel sighed before opening her eyes and sitting up
"When did it start?"
"I've been awake for about an hour with it"
"okay, I'll get you some paracetamol see if that helps huh"
Rachel dragged herself out of bed and went over to her bathroom cupboard and found Gaby some paracetamol
"There you go"
Gaby swallowed them down quickly
"Reckon you can go back to sleep for an hour or so?"
"Yeah I guess so" Gaby said "Do I have to go to school today?"
Rachel rolled her eyes, now realising this stomach ache probably had more to do with trying to get out of school as opposed to actually being ill
"Yes Gaby, I know you're probably scared what people will think after Friday, which by the way you can do a detention for this break, but you've got to face it sometime haven't you?"
"I am ill, remember last time when you thought I was lying and then I was in hospital a few hours later"
"Gaby that was different and I'm sorry I just don't believe you"
"Well it'll be your fault if I end up needing surgery again like last time"
"somehow I don't think it'll come to that Gaby"
"fine don't believe me then" Gaby said with tears in her eyes as she stormed back to her bedroom
Rachel sighed heavily, she really didn't know what to do with Gaby at the moment, all weekend she'd been extremely irritable and emotional, and she just couldn't figure out why
After being woken up, Rachel found it hard to get back to sleep, she kept tossing and turning but couldn't get comfortable
Her alarm went off at about 6.30 s0 she got out of bed and went in the shower before going to wake the girls up
By the time they got in the car, Rachel was feeling exhausted already. Gaby had complained so much about having to go to school, however Rachel hadn't backed down and had forced her to go in.
They dropped Ivy off before heading to school
Gaby slammed the car door shut and then ran inside
"Honestly what am I going to do with that girl" Rachel sighed
"Do you reckon she is ill rach?" Amy asked
"No, she's not, she's trying to get out of school"
"Do you want me to keep an eye on her today, check there's nothing going on"
"You know what Amy it'd be really great if you could, there's definitely something not right, I just don't know what"
Amy agreed to keep an eye on her and then walked off into school
As soon as she got in Gaby could feel people laughing at her
Suddenly Jessica and Leah cornered her
"What you having for lunch Gaby? There's plenty of grass available"
"I always have thought she was a bit of a cow"
"Nah I'd say more pig myself"
"She's definitely as fat as one"
"Yeah she's like huge"
"And ugly to"
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone so disgusting"
Gaby couldn't stand it any longer and ran into the girl's toilets, she sobbed hysterically and wished she could just run away and never come back here
She stared at herself in the mirror and felt disgusted, every word they said was true. She was fat, ugly and disgusting
She punched the wall hard, trying to let her anger out. It hurt quite a lot as she did, but it somehow seemed to help so she did it again
A few minutes later she heard the bell go, she felt physically sick as she walked to class
As soon as she got in, everyone started staring at her, whispering and laughing with each other
Gaby tried her best not to cry knowing it would only make it worse
Eventually registration ended, and it was time for French, as they were walking out the name calling started again
"oink oink" one of the boys said as he passed Gaby causing everyone to laugh
"I wouldn't have thought grass would have filled you up"
"Yeah not a big girl like you"
"she'd even uglier when she puts makeup on, did you see the picture Josie put up at the weekend"
"She looked like such a slag"
"I wonder what your precious Mum thought of it"
"I bet she wishes she'd never given birth to you"
"You'd be embarrassed to give birth to something so ugly"
Gaby couldn't help but cry now, it continued all the way to French
Steph saw Gaby come in and instantly felt worried about her
"Gaby what's the matter?" she asked sounding concerned
"I don't feel that well, I'll be fine"
"Do you want to go up to your Mums office? Maybe you should go home if you're that unwell"
"I'll be fine"
Gaby then found her desk and sat down quickly
Her stomach felt really sore now and she felt a bit sick
They'd been in French for about half an hour and all through the lesson Gaby could hear people whispering about her, the boy behind her kept kicking her chair. Her stomach ache was getting worse and she was beginning to feel really uncomfortable
About 5 minutes past and Gaby was actually feeling pretty ill now, she felt a bit dizzy too
She put her hand in the air
"Yes Gaby what is it?"
"Please can I go to the toilet Miss?"
"Yes of course"
Gaby walked up to the front and people instantly started laughing, however this didn't really surprise her at all
She saw someone take a picture and before long the whole class were in hysterics
She ran out the room and into the toilet, she was in tears by this point
It was only when she went to the toilet that she realised what they'd all been laughing at. She saw that she must have started her period and it had leaked all onto the back of her skirt
Gaby didn't know what to do, she felt so scared and embarrassed and couldn't believe everyone had seen. She stayed in there for a good 5 minutes before eventually coming out, she went out the toilets and started running however she bumped straight into Jessica
"Oh my god, look who it is. Is it true?" she aske before turning her around violently and looking at the back of her skirt
Gaby started shaking she felt so scared and upset
Jessica started laughing hysterically and took some more pictures on her phone, "These are going to be great on the site"
"Don't post it" Gaby sobbed "You've already got the video of me"
"Sorry no can do, your just so popular you see. Everyone loves it" Jessica said "You're absolutely vile, who just lets their period go all over them"
"I didn't know I had it" Gaby cried
"Well like I said, I'm sure it'll be a very popular post"
Jessica then ran off
Gaby felt like she was going to faint she felt that upset, she wished she could just disappear as she couldn't face it anymore.
She started running, however just as she did Rachel came down one of the corridors
As soon as she saw Gaby she ran straight over to her
"Gaby" Rachel said, holding an arm out so Gaby would stop running
She crouched down slightly so she was on Gaby's level, but Gaby continued to sob hysterically
"Gaby look at me love" she said
Gaby couldn't help herself from throwing her arms around her Mum as she continued to cry
Despite the fact they were in the middle of the school corridor Rachel hugged her tightly and tried to soothe her a bit
"Shh its okay, look it's all fine I promise. Whatever it is we're going to sort it"
Gaby continued to cry into her Mum and after a minute Rachel got her up
"Mum I started my periods and it's gone on the back of my skirt" Gaby cried turning around so Rachel could see, barely able to breath from crying so much
"Okay" Rachel said very calmly "Well let's wrap my cardigan around you and go up to my office, yeah?"
Gaby nodded her head, so Rachel took her cardigan off and tied it around Gaby's waist
"There we go, come on lets go upstairs"
Rachel put her arm around Gaby and started leading her upstairs
As they were walking they passed Leah
"Is everything okay with Gaby Miss?" She asked sounding fake concerned
"Yep she's going to be fine, get to your lesson please Leah" Rachel said, knowing Gaby would hate a fuss being made
When they got to Rachel's office, Steph was up there too, she was worried when Leah hadn't come back from the toilet and wanted to check she was just in her Mum's office
"Gaby love, just go and wait through there, I'll be with you in two seconds"
Gaby then went through to her Mum's office and sat on the sofa, feeling faint from crying so much
"Rachel is Gaby okay, I was really worried about her."
"I don't really know Steph, I found her in the middle of the corridor. She was completely hysterical when I found her. What exactly happened in her French lesson?"
"Well she said she needed to go to the toilet and when she got up all the kids started laughing, I think she must have started her period, which I know must have been awful, but I really think there's something more to it than that because she was crying when she came in to my lesson"
"Did she say why?"
"She said it was because she was poorly, I asked if she wanted to go and see you but she said she was fine"
"Okay" Rachel said "Thanks for coming to check on her, if you see Mr Mead can you tell him I'm going to go home with Gaby but I'll be back around lunch time"
"Yeah sure, I hope Gaby's okay. She's such a lovely girl but there's been something wrong recently"
"I know and I'm going to find out what" Rachel said "Thanks again Steph"
Rachel smiled at her before going into her office
Gaby was still crying but had calmed down a little bit now she was away from everyone
"Mum everyone saw and …" Gaby started saying however she couldn't finish her sentence because she was crying so much
"Gaby, I know and its going to be okay I promise you" Rachel said, matter-of-factly
Rachel got her some water and some tissues
"Here Gaby have some sips of that, I think it'll help."
Gaby put the water to her lips and Rachel dabbed at her eyes
She then sat down next to her
"Gaby, we don't have to talk about what happened, not if you don't want to. I know how embarrassing it must have been"
"I can't believe everyone saw"
"Yeah, they did, but you know what Gaby they're going to get over it, give it a few days and it'll all be forgotten. But I know starting your period is a big enough deal as it is without everyone knowing about it"
"I just didn't expect it to happen"
"I know you didn't Gaby, that'll be why you had a stomach ache this morning" Rachel said, "But the thing is love, I think there's more to it than just this isn't there huh?"
"No"
"Miss Haydock said you were crying before the lesson started"
"I just felt unwell"
Rachel sighed, however she knew it wasn't the right time to push Gaby as she'd had a traumatic enough day as it was anyway
"Okay" Rachel said quietly
"Do I have to go back to class?" Gaby said fearfully
"No, lets go and get you home yeah? I can stay with you for about an hour or so, but do you reckon you'll be okay spending the afternoon on your own? I can call Grandma round if you'd rather"
"No it's okay, I'll be fine" Gaby said "Mum do you have any pads or anything" She asked her cheeks flushing slightly
"I don't have any on me, but I know there's some down in the medical room" Rachel said "You wait here, I'll nip and get some for you"
As soon as Rachel left Gaby started to get all upset again, she dreaded to think what Jessica had posted about her, the thought of it all was making her feel sick
Rachel came back a few minutes later
"There you go love, do you know how to put it on, it just sticks to your knickers"
"Yeah I know" Gaby said
"You go and sort yourself out then I'll wait in here"
Gaby went to the toilet
Even on the short route there people were still calling at her and laughing
She quickly went inside the toilet and sorted herself out before going back to her Mums office
"Come on then Mrs, let's go home" Rachel said
The two of them went out and went into Rachel's car
As soon as Gaby got in she started to feel overwhelmingly tired and closed her eyes. Within about a minute she'd fallen asleep
Rachel smiled to herself slightly, however she still felt extremely worried about Gaby
When they pulled up at home Gaby stirred
"Hey are you feeling a bit tired?" Rachel asked
"Yeah I feel so sleepy"
"How about I run you a bath when you get in and then you can have a relax and freshen up a bit"
"Yeah that'd be nice"
"How's the stomach is it still as sore?" Rachel asked as she unlocked the door
"It's still quite bad"
"You can have some more paracetamol, I'll go and get you some"
Rachel went and got Gaby some and then started running her bath
As Rachel was doing it Gaby went onto her bed, she felt like she was in a trance after everything that had happened
A few minutes later Rachel came through to her bedroom
"Baths ready love" she said smiling slightly "I've put some clothes in there for when you get out and I got you a pack of pads from out my bathroom cupboard, just keep them in your room and let me know if you need any more okay?"
"Thanks Mum"
Gaby got up and went into the bathroom. It felt nice to get into the bath and relax for a bit and just forget it all for a few minutes
She stayed in there for quite a while before deciding to get out and get changed
Once she'd sorted herself out she went downstairs and found her Mum in the kitchen
She went over and put her arms around her
"Mum thanks for being so nice to me"
"Hey its what I'm here for" she said "Do you feel a bit better after your bath huh?"
"Yeah"
"I'm going to have to go back to school in a minute love, but I'll get home as quick as I can after school. Ivy's going to a friend's house to play so I don't need to pick her up" Rachel said, "Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?"
"yeah I'll be fine"
"Okay well anything you need you just give me a call"
"You've got my phone"
"Oh yeah I forgot, I'll go and get it for you now" Rachel said, quickly going in her bag to get it "There you go, send your friends a text let them know you're okay, I'm sure they'll be worried about you"
Rachel then put her coat on and gave Gaby a quick kiss goodbye before going off back to school
Almost as soon as she'd gone Gaby started sobbing again, all the things they'd said to her were going over and over in her mind
She went upstairs with her phone and with shaking hands turned it on
Almost as soon as she did messages started flooding through
They were saying how disgusting she was. Someone had started a group chat and all of them were just sending random pictures of her in it and saying how ugly she was and how huge she looked
Then she noticed someone had sent a link to something. She couldn't help but click on it but when she did she started having a full-on panic attack
Jessica had made a hate page about her and it was full of pictures of her, including the one she'd taken today of her skirt
Gaby couldn't catch her breath she was crying so much, she scrolled through all of the comments. They were all talking about how much they hated her, one of them even said she should just go and kill herself
Gaby gasped as she sobbed, she stumbled to the bathroom and started to throw up, she couldn't seem to think straight at all
She stood up and saw herself in the mirror, yet again all the words were going through her mind, they were ringing louder and louder
She collapsed to the floor putting her hands to her ears trying to make it all stop. She didn't know what to do, she'd never felt more alone or scared in her life and she just wanted it to end. Right now, she didn't care how.
One of the comments kept whizzing around her mind, the one about her being better off dead, was it true? She thought, she must be a pretty disgusting person for everyone to hate her so much, and right now she really would rather not be here at all than to have to spend another day at school. Gaby just didn't know what to do, or what option she had left.
It was lunch time at school and Amy was walking out of her lesson when she heard some girls laughing and though she heard Gaby's name, so she walked up to them
"Oi what are you laughing at?"
"Nothing"
Amy glanced at their phone and noticed a picture of Gaby on there, without warning she grabbed the phone off one of the girls and couldn't believe what she saw. On the phone, was the hate site Jessica had set up, Amy saw all the pictures that had been posted of Gaby and read all the comments. She felt sick as she read through it all and couldn't believe what Gaby had been going through all on her own, all her behaviour suddenly made sense.
"You sick little pair of shits" Amy said to them both "Who made this?"
"It wasn't us"
"Who was it?" Amy screamed
"Jessica Jameson" one of them answered
"Send me the link" she demanded
The girls didn't know what else to do so found Amy on Facebook and sent her it
"When I'm finished with you and anyone else who's posted anything on this vile little site, you're going to be sorry you were ever born, do you hear me"
The girls felt really scared now, it had just seemed like a bit of fun before but now it seemed pretty serious
"Have you been bullying Gaby in school or just on here?"
"It's not us that's bullying her"
"You've been commenting on here you disgusting little animals, now I asked you a question"
"It's Leah and Jessica mainly, they've been getting everyone to say stuff and making her do stuff like eat grass for their videos"
"What stuff do they say"
"Just daft things. Like that she's fat and ugly and stuff"
"What and you think that's daft? Have you got any idea how upset, how hurt you've made her feel?" Amy screamed tears running down her face "I hope you all rot in hell"
Amy then ran upstairs to her aunties office
"Amy what's up?" Rachel asked
"It's Gaby"
"Oh, you found out about earlier? It's okay, I took her home a while ago and she seems to have calmed down a bit"
"No you don't understand, look I really don't want to show you this"
"Show me what?" Rachel asked, instantly feeling worried again
Amy quickly unlocked her phone and showed Rachel the site.
Rachel couldn't believe what she was seeing, she couldn't believe anyone could be so cruel to anyone let alone a lovely girl like Gaby. She wanted to turn away but she forced herself to look through it, tears started to run down her face. She saw the video of Jessica forcing her to eat grass, of her lifting her skirt up, all the pictures they'd posted of her.
"It's not just on here, they've been bullying her in school, saying she's fat and ugly and all sorts. It's Jessica Jameson and Leah Bell who put it up, though I think Jessica was the ring leader"
Rachel had never felt more infuriated or upset in her life. She couldn't comprehend how Gaby had gone through all this alone. She almost felt too shocked to speak, however she quickly grabbed her bag and put her coat on
"Rachel I'm coming with you" Amy said crying
"Okay" Rachel agreed and the two of them ran over to the car
As they were going over, Rachel caught sight of Jessica, for a moment she had an overwhelming urge to go over and smack her. She'd never felt that about any of her pupils before, no matter what they'd done, however the amount of pain she'd inflicted on her daughter made her forget she was a head teacher for a second. Of course, she refrained herself however and her and Amy got in the car.
Rachel put her foot down and drove home, speeding the whole way there
Back at home Gaby was still in the bathroom, she just didn't know what to do but she knew that it wasn't going to get any better
Shaking and crying she reached for the packet of paracetamol and started to take them out the packet
She was so scared; however, she didn't know what other option she had and didn't want to face anymore of it
About 5 minutes later Rachel swerved onto the drive. Her and Amy ran out of the car and Rachel quickly unlocked the door
"Gaby" Amy shouted as they ran upstairs
Rachel looked in her bedroom but realised she wasn't in there, panic started to flood through her
"Rachel the bathroom doors locked" Amy shouted
Rachel ran over and hammered on the door
"Gaby are you in there" she shouted "Gaby open the door"
However still there wasn't an answer
"Amy go and get me a coin" Rachel said "Quickly"
Amy ran as fast she could and passed Rachel a 2p coin
Rachel turned the lock as quickly as she could and barged in
She gasped when she saw Gaby on the floor, a box of paracetamol beside her
She ran over and pulled her head forward
"Spit them out Gaby" she screamed "Come on spit them all out"
She out her hand inside Gaby's mouth and physically pulled some of them out her mouth, while violently patting her back
Amy stood at the bathroom door crying
"Gaby spit them all out" Rachel repeated "That's it darling good girl"
"I want to die" Gaby cried
"No Gaby, no you don't. How many have you taken, tell me how many"
"None, I didn't swallow any before you came"
Feeling weak, Rachel wrapped her arms around Gaby and pulled her into her chest
"I'm going to be sick" Gaby said
Rachel helped her to the toilet and soon she started being violently sick
"There we go, get it all out" she said "are you sure you didn't take any pills?"
"I didn't take any" Gaby sobbed "But I wish I had, I didn't know what else to do"
"Gaby, I promise it stops right now. It will never ever feel like this again" Rachel said "Come on let's get you into your bedroom"
Amy went over and helped Rachel get Gaby up and into her room
"Gaby why didn't you tell me" Rachel said with tears in her eyes "Why the hell didn't you tell me what was going on?"
"I'm sorry" Gaby cried "I thought it would make it worse"
Rachel sighed and wrapped her arms around her and cuddled her as if she was as young as Ivy again
"Alright sweetheart shhh it's alright" she soothed
"How did you find out?"
"I saw some girls looking at the page on their phones and I made them tell me everything" Amy said "You've been so brave Gaby"
"No I haven't" Gaby said "It's true what they say, I am fat and ugly"
"Gaby listen to me" Rachel said suddenly sounding quite stern "You never ever take a word of what they say seriously, I wouldn't often say this but they're a bunch of scum Gaby and I don't want them in my school anymore. What they did to you was horrific, and the fact other people joined in made it worse but they're a bunch of cowardly idiots and what they say to you, they say out of pure jealousy and spite nothing else do you hear me?"
Gaby nodded her head
"I can't believe what could have happened" Rachel said crying "I'm so sorry Gaby, I'm sorry I didn't notice what was going on"
"I never want to come back to school"
"Gaby when I'm finished with them all they'll be on their hands and knees apologising to you"
"Please don't make me go back to my form group"
Rachel realised that maybe It would be better to move her to a different group
"Gaby, have Chloe and Megan been joining in on this" Rachel asked these were two of Gaby's really good friends from primary and even though they'd all drifted apart at secondary Rachel thought that maybe it'd be good to get Gaby talking to them again as they were both really nice girls
"No not at all, they were nice to me a couple of weeks ago when they found me crying, I don't think they really knew what was going on"
"Well how about if I put you in a form group with them, it's a really nice group that one too"
"Yeah that'd be good" Gaby said "Please don't make me go back in tomorrow, I couldn't face seeing everyone"
"Yeah I was thinking a day or so at home might do you some good. Gaby, I need you to promise me something"
"What?"
"Promise me you're not going to try anything else, can you promise me that"
"I won't try anything"
Rachel gave her another hug
"I want you to leave all the doors open to, including your bedroom door"
"Mum do you not trust me"
"Gaby you are the most important thing in my life, I couldn't stand to lose you" Rachel said crying again
"You're so much better than those girls Gaby" Amy said, this was the first time she'd spoken since they'd found Gaby "They're mindless bitches and you're worth 10 of the lot of them, I used to get bullied you know"
"But why would anyone bully you, you're so pretty and slim"
"And you're not? Gaby I'm not just saying this because I have to, you're absolutely stunning and I know you don't feel it at the moment but it's true. They go for girls like you because they know you're too nice to say anything back to them, and they're jealous of you, because you're kinder than they are, because you're prettier than they are and a hell of a lot smarter than they'll ever be" Amy said
"Amy's right you know Gaby" Rachel said "What you've been through is horrific, it's one of the worst cases of bullying I've ever seen if not the worst"
"I just don't get how it's going to end, they've got all these pictures of me"
"Well like I said, Jessica and Leah aren't welcome at my school anymore and I'm going to make sure the police are aware of what's gone on, I think with a bit of conformation we'll see just how much of a cowardly bunch they really are"
"Mum I'm really tired, can I go to sleep for a bit" Gaby asked, she felt overwhelmed by everything that had happened and suddenly felt exhausted
"Yes of course, me and Amy will let you have a little rest, but Gaby this bedroom door stays open okay"
"Okay"
"And pass me your phone, I don't want you looking through it till all this has been taken down"
Gaby handed it over and also gave Rachel her laptop before getting into bed
"I'll go and make us a coffee Rachel" Amy said, leaving Gaby and Rachel alone
Rachel crouched down beside Gaby and started stroking her hair
"I love you so much" she whispered even though Gaby was already half asleep
Rachel stayed with Gaby for a couple of minutes before deciding to go downstairs
As she was going down she could feel Gaby's phone going off in her pocket
She walked downstairs and went into the back room with Amy and the two of them sat on the sofa
"She'll be okay you know Rachel"
"Will she? I don't think I would be if people had been treating me like this this" Rachel said
She got the phone out of her pocket and looked at all the new messages that's come through and it made her start crying all over again
"Jessica told her to kill herself" Rachel said "I bet that's what put the idea into her head, honestly Amy I don't know how I'm going to keep my cool with her tomorrow when I speak with them all. I saw her today and I felt like smacking her, I honestly could have done"
"Do you not think maybe it might be better to let someone else deal with it Rach" Amy asked gently
Rachel thought before saying "No, it's got to be me, I'm the one who's seen how much it's effected Gaby. I promise you I'll refrain myself from doing what I want to do with them"
"Well I don't know if I'll be able to refrain myself"
"No Amy" Rachel said suddenly sounding serious "between you and me I couldn't give a crap what happens to them, but you are not getting into trouble over them, no one is, they're not worth getting suspended over do you understand?"
Amy nodded her head
"I mean it, don't you go up to them they're not worth it" Rachel repeated
"Take some screenshots of the page Rachel, just in case anyone gets suspicious and figures out you know and takes I down"
"How do I do that?"
Amy took the phone and got the screenshots
"How's she going to get through this Amy, they've humiliated her in the worst way possible" Rachel said "The poor kid"
"She'll get through it Rachel, we'll help her to"
The two of them stayed chatting for ages and about an hour or so later Gaby came downstairs in her pyjamas and dressing gown, she looked so fragile Rachel thought to herself
"Hey love, come and sit down with us"
Gaby sat down in between her Mum and cousin
"do you feel a bit better after your sleep huh?"
"A little bit" Gaby said sounding small
"Yeah, do you want a drink or something to eat or anything?"
"I'm okay" Gaby said, "Mum has anyone else said anything, are there any more messages?"
"That's not for you to worry about Gaby"
"Are you going to talk with them tomorrow Mum?" Gaby asked sounding scared
"Yes I am and like I said I'm sure when I talk to them we'll see just how pathetic they all are" Rachel said "Now Gaby I need you to do something for me, I want the names of every single person who's been involved in this and I want you to tell me what they've done"
"Mum there's loads and some of them haven't really done anything they've just kind of said a couple of things"
"I want all the names Gaby" Rachel said "I don't care what they've done, if they were involved in this then I'm going to sort them out"
Rachel went and got Gaby a pen. With trembling hands Gaby started writing, she tried to remember every single person
Eventually she handed the list to Rachel
Rachel glanced through it, Gaby had written down about 25 names, most of them were in year 8 however there were a few in her form group in year 7 too. Some of the names really surprised her as she'd never have thought they'd have been involved in this, however, she knew kids would just often copy each other so they wouldn't finish up a target themselves, even if they didn't agree with what was going on.
"Thank you" Rachel said "I meant what I said Gaby, it stops right now, I'm going to make sure of that"
Gaby really didn't understand how her Mum was going to put a stop to it, but right now she didn't want to think about it all
The afternoon seemed to pass quite quickly. Rachel had just put Ivy to bed even though it was quite early, she was really tired after playing at her friend's house.
Rachel came downstairs, she had her hair tied back in a bobble and was wearing her hoody and leggings, this was quite unusual for her but after today she just wanted to get all comfortable
"Girls do you fancy getting a Chinese takeaway, none of us have eaten much all day"
They all agreed to this, Amy and Rachel were starving however Gaby still didn't have much of an appetite
When the Chinese came they, all went into the living room and got cosy on the sofa.
Amy stuck wild child on in the background, knowing it was one of Gaby's favourite films
Gaby barely touched her food and just pushed it around her plate
"Mum I'm really tired, is it okay if I go to bed"
"Yeah of course, I'll come and see you in a bit" Rachel said
Gaby got up and went upstairs, Rachel watched her as she went upstairs
After everything that had happened today both Rachel and Amy felt pretty tired too
Amy went upstairs and after about 20 minutes Rachel decided to go up to
She went to the bathroom and put her pyjamas on before going into Gaby's room, panic flooded through her when she saw she wasn't in there
Flashbacks of earlier came to her instantly and she ran across to the bathroom and saw the door was locked again
"Gaby open this door right now" Rachel screamed
She was about to go and get another coin when suddenly it opened, and Gaby came out, relief flooded through Rachel
"Mum I wasn't trying to top myself, I'd just gone to the loo, unless you want me to keep the door wide open every time I go in there"
"I'm sorry Gaby I just saw you weren't in your room and I panicked"
"I told you, I'm not going to try anything else"
"Okay, I'm sorry"
Gaby walked off and went back to her bedroom
It was about midnight and Rachel still couldn't sleep despite the fact she was really tired. She decided to go and check on Gaby
When she went into her room she found her still awake, crying slightly
"Budge up" she said
Gaby moved over, and Rachel got into the large double bed
Rachel wrapped her arms around Gaby and eventually they fell asleep
Rachel woke up quite early the next morning. She crept out of Gay's bed trying hard not to wake her, before jumping in the shower.
She was nervous about today, all night it had been going around in her head, what she was going to say to the girls and how she was going to handle it
After she got out the shower, she started putting her makeup on. She had dark circles under her eyes which she put concealer over, she wanted to look as confident as possible, she didn't want to show any sign of weakness when she saw them today.
After doing her makeup and hair she put on her black pencil skirt and blue blouse with her jacket
She looked at herself in the mirror for a few seconds, she fiddled with her hair a bit more before going and waking Ivy and Amy up
Rachel had rung her mum last night and asked her to keep an eye on Gaby as she definitely didn't want to leave her alone again. She'd had to explain what was going on but didn't go into all the details, knowing that Gaby wouldn't want a massive fuss made.
Just before she was about to drive the girls to school she decided to check on Gaby
When she went into her room she found her awake and sitting up
"Hey love, how are you feeling today"
"Okay" Gaby mumbled "I'm nervous about them finding out that you know"
"Believe me Gaby it should be them who are feeling nervous" Rachel said "Grandma will be round any second now"
"Does she know everything?"
"Not everything no, but I had to tell her the basics" Rachel explained "I might not be back till quite late on tonight because obviously I'm going to have to sort out a fair bit of paperwork for Leah and Jessica"
"Are you definitely going to chuck them out Mum?"
"Yes I am, the two of them will be lucky not to end up with a criminal record by the end of today. And based on the conversations I have with the rest of them today they might not be the only ones" Rachel said "But anyway, that's not for you to worry about, you just have a relax today okay?"
"Okay"
Rachel went downstairs and got her stuff together
"Girls it's time to go" she shouted
Amy and Ivy came running through and they got in the car
Rachel dropped Ivy off first
"Are you ready for them Rach?"
"too bloody right I'm ready for them" Rachel said "Amy I meant what I said yesterday I don't want you going near them today"
"When you going to call them in"
"I don't know, I'm going to talk to the staff first, I need to let them know what's going on"
"Will you expel them straight away"
"Much as I'd like to I can't do that, I've only got the power to suspend them, but I'll set up a meeting with the governors for the end of the week, we've got more than enough evidence against them all"
They got to school, and Amy got out and went ahead
Rachel went to her office and quickly found Chris and Kim
She explained what had happened with Gaby, it still felt awful talking about it and she struggled not to get all emotional again
"Rachel I can't believe it, it's so awful. Poor Gaby" Kim said
"She's in such a bad way" Rachel said
"Would you prefer me to speak with them?" Kim offered
"No, it needs to be me" Rachel said "Though I think it would be a good idea if one of you sat in on it, just to make notes and everything"
"I'll sit in with you" Kim said "How are you going to face it though"
"With difficulty, but I need to do it"
"So are you going to get Jessica and Leah in on their own first before you speak to the rest of the that were involved"
"Yeah that's probably best"
Rachel waited about 20 minutes, her stomach was in knots however eventually she got up and went to the classroom Leah and Jessica were in
She knocked on the door
"Miss Mason?" Jasmine asked
"Leah, Jessica my office now" Rachel said
She saw them exchange a glance with one another and they seemed a little reluctant to get up
"I said move" she shouted
The rest of the class jumped. None of them had ever seen Rachel look so angry before
Rachel walked in front of them on the way to her office
"Inside here the pair of you"
The girls smirked at each other
"I don't know what you're smiling at, but by the time I'm finished with you pair of cruel idiots there won't be anything left to smile at now get inside"
Hearing Rachel speak like this did shock the girls a bit
"Miss you're not allowed to talk to us like that" Jessica said
"Aren't I?" Rachel said raising an eyebrow
"No and I'll tell my dad and he'll come in and see you"
"Oh I'll be seeing your Dad later don't you worry" Rachel said "Inside now"
The two of them followed Rachel in, Rachel sat behind her desk and the two girls sat down
"Do you know I can hardly bear to look at the two of you, I can hardly stand to have you in this school for another second"
"Miss, we haven't even done anything" Leah said
"Do you know how I found Gaby yesterday huh?" Rachel said "I found her locked in the bathroom with a box of paracetamol by her, you two cowardly bullies had made her feel so miserable she wanted to take her own life."
Jessica and Leah began to look uncomfortable now
"Miss, we don't know anything about Gaby, we don't even know her"
"Don't you dare sit there and lie to me." Rachel shouted
With shaking hands she got Gaby's phone and opened up the website and showed them it "So you didn't make this? You didn't post a picture of her yesterday when she started her period. You didn't yank her skirt down or force her to eat grass. You didn't post a comment on there Jessica saying she should kill herself. You didn't do any of that did you?"
The girls began to look really uncomfortable and wished Rachel would put the phone away
"What? Making you feel embarrassed is it looking at what you two have done, are you too cowardly to face up to it. Because I think the word cowardly just about sums you two up, have you got any idea how disgusting what you've done is, how much you've humiliated Gaby. You've been picking on Gaby because you know she won't stand up to you, she's scared of you, but you know what neither of you scare me, I think you're both pretty pathetic"
"Rachel" Kim warned, thinking she should really calm down a little bit
"Miss, we didn't mean for her to try and kill herself, it was only meant to be a laugh"
"A laugh? You call telling someone they'd be better off dead a laugh do you Leah? Telling someone they're ugly and worthless, is that funny to you? Making someone feel humiliated and hopeless"
"We're sorry"
"It's gone way beyond saying sorry girls. Do you know I've found Gaby in tears nearly every day for the last couple of weeks, I've been worried sick about her and she's been too scared to come to school because of you two? And do you know something else, Gaby didn't say a word about any of this to me, she was too scared, so every vile thing you've done to her, she'd had to go through entirely on her own"
Both girls were crying now, they couldn't believe how far this had gone
"You may cry girls, but it doesn't fix anything does it. It doesn't fix the fact you've probably scarred Gaby for life, completely damaged her self-esteem" Rachel said "But that doesn't matter because Gaby's worthless, isn't she? She's fat and ugly, isn't she?"
Leah flinched hearing Rachel say this
"What is it Leah? Do those words make you feel uncomfortable?" Rachel said "They clearly weren't having that effect when you plastered them all over this hate site"
"Is Gaby okay now?" Jessica asked through tears
"What's with the sudden concern you weren't bothered on Friday were you, when you cornered her and forced her to eat grass then kicked her in the stomach"
"Look I know how awful we've been but is she okay now"
"No she's not, like I said she tried to kill herself yesterday. But she will be okay and you know why? Because I'm not going to let a pair of bullies like yourselves ruin her life, she's worth so, so much more than that. The pair of you turn my stomach"
"What's going to happen to us?"
"I'm suspending you both, by the end of the week they'll be a meeting with myself, the governors and your parents, the likely consequence of that meeting will be a permanent exclusion"
The girls suddenly looked horrified.
"Sorry do you think that's unreasonable girls?"
They looked at one another for a second and then Leah said "No miss, it's what we deserve."
"Oh you deserve far more than that Leah, now get out of my sight the pair of you. Go and collect your stuff and I'll get your parents to collect you from the school gate, Miss Campbell will supervise you off the site"
The two of them stood up, as they were about to go Jessica turned around
"Miss tell Gaby we're sorry, we honestly, honestly didn't mean for it to get so bad. I'll take the site down straight away"
Rachel didn't reply to her and watched as they went out
When they did she closed the door behind her, she'd never spoken to any of her students like that before, however she'd never felt angrier in her life
She wondered how she should deal with the rest of them she knew that Jessica and Leah had been the perpetrators, however obviously others had been involved. She looked at the names on the list and decided to get them all together during next period.
She went into the different classrooms and got all the kids out who'd been involved and got them all in a classroom together
The kids that were there all felt very confused as they couldn't understand why Rachel had called them all together as they couldn't think of why she'd need to see them all
Once Rachel had collected everyone she needed to, she walked in and closed the door behind her
Everyone seemed to stop talking and turn to face her
"You'll all be wondering why I called you in here, and this shouldn't take too long" she explained "It's bullying that I want to talk to you about"
The kids still looked pretty confused at this
"You see I've got strong evidence to suggest to me every single one of you has been involved in one of the worst cases of bullying I've ever seen. You might not have even realised what you were doing, how much damage you were causing, in fact I suspect the most of you didn't realise how involved you were in it."
Some of the kids were starting to look pretty uncomfortable now as they had guessed what Rachel was going on about
"But you all were involved, every single one of you has played a part in bullying my daughter Gaby and because of your actions she'd been left in an absolute state, you've humiliated her in ways that make me feel physically sick"
"Miss, we didn't set up that site" one of the girls said
"Oh believe me I know who was responsible for setting it up and you won't be seeing them again in school that's for sure. But you were all still a part of it weren't you, and you've all been pretty horrible to Gaby haven't you, you've been calling her names, laughing at her, telling her how worthless she is. You may not have set up this site but a lot of you still commented on it, some of you posted pictures, saying how ugly she is or how fat she is. Can you even begin to imagine how much that could hurt someone?"
The kids all started to look quite upset now, they hadn't realised it was so serious and had just been going on with what everyone else was doing
"One of you" Rachel began staring pointedly as Josie "was very lucky not to be heading the same way as Jessica and Leah, because what you told me last week, that little conversation we had about Gaby and Zach, it was a pack full of lies to try and get Gaby into trouble wasn't it Josie?"
Josie didn't answer and just stared at the ground
"Wasn't it?" Rachel repeated louder this time
"Yes miss"
"What's Gaby ever done to you? What's she done to make her the victim of this? Come on someone come out and tell me because I'd really love to know" Rachel said
She paused for a second however of course no one answered
"The truth is Gaby's never done anything to any of you has she? You don't hate her at all, you just went a long with it because you were all too scared to stand up against it"
"Miss, it was only a bit of fun" someone said
"Oh so making someone feel so ashamed of who they are they begin to hate themselves and are too scared to come to school anymore, that's a bit of fun is it"
Again, she was greeted with silence
"The truth is you all know it's not fun, not fun at all, it's actually pretty disgusting"
A few of the kids were crying now, they'd never meant to hurt Gaby this much and were beginning to feel truly ashamed of themselves
"Miss, I'm really sorry, I never meant to hurt Gaby, I just went along with it" One girl said
"I think that's what a lot of you did, but the reality is, you did all hurt Gaby. You hurt her in ways that no decent person should ever be hurt. Collectively you've succeeded in making her life a living hell." Rachel said "I'm not going to say anymore, but remember this, what you say to someone it sticks and it can cause real damage, I never expect to see any of you involved in anything like this again, and if I do you'll no longer be welcome at this school anyone is that clear?"
There were a few nods of the head
"Let me make this clear, you have all bullied Gaby and this school doesn't tolerate bullying. Not in any way, shape or form. Now because of your actions Gaby's going to be home from school for a couple of days, but when she comes back every single one of you will go up to her and apologise in the sincerest way possible. I will be contacting your parents throughout the day too. Let this be a lesson to all of you and consider this a final warning. Any more reports of bullying from any of you and you're out"
By now everyone had gone quiet, they were beginning to feel awful about what had happened and couldn't believe how much pain they'd caused Gaby, who was really one of the nicest girls they'd ever met.
As they were filing out of the classroom a few of the students came up to Rachel and apologised to her in person.
When the classroom was finally empty Rachel breathed a sigh of relief, she was so glad that most of the students seemed genuinely mortified by what they'd done and she could tell that it was going to be the end of it. She realised how much pain Gaby was in at the moment and that it was probably going to take quite a while before she got back to being the bubbly, self-confident girl that she once was, however this was the road to it starting to get better.
At break time Rachel decided to give her Mum a quick call to see how Gaby was doing, her Mum explained that Gaby had been pretty tearful throughout the day and seemed to want to spend a lot of time on her own. Rachel knew this was only to be expected after everything, she just really hoped that she'd be able to help Gaby get over this eventually.
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