StanfordBound2020: Trust me, I would have given those kids a hardcore assbeating. :( Bullying somebody is never okay! Poor Hope.
Hope's P.O.V
I was at home, seated on the living room couch, a box of tissues besides me. I was wiping away my tears which were just flowing with no end. School had sucked major ass today. Harassment and pranks had been the order of the day. I had brought this upon myself. Why, oh why, did I go to that stupid party? It had been like a butterfly effect, that catalyst which caused my life to become a living nightmare. I couldn't walk in the school hallways without those judgy stares following me or those horrible whispers and name-calling. Everyday, in my desk I would find an abusive note and my locker vandalized with one horrid name after the other spray-painted over it. I couldn't tell anyone about it; who would believe me anyway? I deserved to suffer for what I did, didn't I?
As I sat deep in thought, I heard the doorbell ring. I quickly dabbed my eyes with a tissue and went to the front door and opened it. Lo and behold, it was Cassandra and a blonde-haired blue-eyed girl I did not recognize.
"Hey, Hope," Cassandra greeted me with a smile.
"Hey, Cassie," I replied unenthusiastically.
"May we come in?"
I stepped to the side to give them entry. They entered the house and I shut the door behind me. I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear and licked my lips. I asked them, "So what brings you here?"
We sat on the couch and Cassandra replied, "Look, Hope. Um, Julian and I saw what the students at your school have been posting on your Board."
My eyes widened in shock and I stammered out, "You... You have?"
Cassandra nodded. I sighed. "So what? You tell my parents or something?"
"Actually, I wondered if you wanted to talk about it. There has to be the genesis of all of it, isn't there? That's why I brought a friend of mine, Jessica to talk to you. She's on the Student Council and she's a pretty good listener."
Jessica held out her hand in greeting and I shook it. Maybe talking to them wouldn't be so bad, would it? Having someone to listen to my side of the story would be a welcome change.
"Umm, okay," I agreed.
They waited patiently for me to begin the story of how the harassment began. I licked my lips and sighed. "Damn, this is so difficult to say."
Jessica put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, Hope. Take your time."
I nodded. "Well, it was a couple of weeks ago..."
(Flashback)
"OMG, Hope! You have to come with us to the beach party this weekend!"
That was Alyssa, my best friend at school, pleading with me to take a break from my usual routine of staying home for the weekend.
"I don't know..." I trailed off.
"Come on, Hope. You can't keep locking yourself up in the house. Don't be such a buzz kill," Dana, my other best friend wheedled.
I licked my lips and tucked the stray strand of hair behind my ear.
"Look guys, as much as I'd like to go with you, I'm not even invited..." I began but Dana interrupted me.
"Luckily, the party is for the entire school. So you don't have an excuse to stay in the house."
Dana and Alyssa gave me a triumphant smirk. There was no way out of this. I sighed and conceded. "Okay, fine. I'll come."
The duo cheered and hugged me. I smiled at their excitement. Apart from the fact that they had begged me to accompany them, there was another reason why I was going to the beach party. Asher Rollins. A junior. He was the richest and most handsome guy in school. I had had the longest crush on him and I knew that he would be there. Maybe I'd get a chance to talk to him at the party and get to be friends. Thing is, he had a girlfriend. But hey, can you blame a girl for trying?
That Saturday, Dana and Alyssa came by and made sure that I didn't worm myself out of going. They dressed me up in some tiny distressed shorts and a crop top with gladiator sandals. They did my make up immaculately and when I looked myself in the mirror, I was looking like a different person. Dana had her older brother drive us to the beach in the evening and I could feel the excitement in the air. It was contagious. We arrived and we could see the students from school all around; some dancing to the music, some talking nearby the snack table which had been set up, and some seated on logs making out. Yeah, not my scene but I could get behind it.
Dana and Alyssa dragged me to the snack table to get some drinks. While we were filling up our cups, two older looking guys came up to us. I'd seen them around before, they were juniors and they were pretty cute. They began chatting up Dana and Alyssa, completely ignoring me. Not that I was complaining though. I had my eye on only one guy at this party. I began sipping the punch and soon enough, my head was spinning. I needed to sit down somewhere, anywhere away from the music, the crowds and the laughter. I began walking on the beach and found myself a secluded place a slight distance away from the party. I sat down on the cool sand and just watched the waves on the sea and the slight breeze beat against my skin. It was really tranquil here. I was so absorbed in the scenery that I failed to notice when someone sat beside me on the sand. I only realized that when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my skin and then I froze. It was him. Asher. Oh. My. God.
"Hey, you okay?" He asked.
I looked at him at what seemed like an eternity before he raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded in response.
"Um, yeah. I just needed to be alone for a little bit," I replied.
"Not enjoying the party?"
"The party is awesome and all, but it's not really my scene, you know. I only came because my friends asked me to."
"Let me guess, you're a quiet girl who prefers to do art or something like that?"
He gave me a warm smile that made me light up inside.
"Pretty much, yeah." I smiled back.
"You have a cute smile," he complimented me. "Which reminds me, I never got your name."
I blushed at his compliment and looked down.
"I'm Hope. Hope Vega."
"Well, Hope Hope Vega, it's nice to meet you."
I laughed lightly at his joke and licked my lips softly. He had a sense of humour. I liked that. We began talking about anything and everything under the sun and I found myself more enamored by his charm and wit. I found myself looking at his lips once or twice. Maybe it was the punch; maybe it was me, I don't know. But I wanted to kiss him.
Then he asked me the million dollar question.
"How come such a pretty girl like yourself doesn't have a boyfriend?"
How was I supposed to answer? Was I just supposed to say, 'Hey, that's because I have it bad for you?' I had to play it cool.
"Um... That's because the guy I like happens to be dating someone else," I replied, not making eye contact with him and tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
He tilted my chin up so that we were making eye contact and ran a thumb across my cheek. His touch sent shivers across my body. He gave me a knowing smile and whispered, "We can do something about that."
He leaned in and our lips nearly met but I pulled back.
"Wait, aren't you dating someone?" I inquired. "Chelsea Reinhardt?"
"Don't worry about her," he murmured.
Maybe they'd broken up or something, so I wasn't doing anything wrong, was I? Our lips met in a soft and gentle kiss that made me melt. It increased in tempo and I was so happy inside. Everything was so magical. I could imagine a future where we were dating and in love. Little did I know that someone had been watching us on the beach and had been taking photos of the whole thing. And that's when my life became a fucking mess.
On Monday, I was walking down the hallway, a bounce in my step at the fact that I had finally gotten with the boy I liked. Stupid me. As I was walking, I noticed the groups that were huddled by the lockers were giving me filthy stares and were whispering as I walked. That was odd. I wasn't used to this type of attention and the stares were rather unnerving. I tried to ignore it and took my books out of my locker and rushed to class. As I sat down at my desk, my classmates were busy talking about the party and how epic it was. At one of the lockers, a group of girls were huddled around a phone and caught one of them saying, "This little skank could dare makeout with Asher! She's not even that pretty!"
My blood froze at this statement. Wait, what? Did everyone know? But I didn't do anything wrong. Chelsea and Asher weren't together anymore. I turned to look at them and they looked back at me with glares. One of them loudly said, "Whore."
Oh God. Before I could even say anything in my defense, the teacher came in for homeroom. I faced the front, my heart sinking in dread. The whole period, I couldn't even concentrate due to my worries. I hated the scrutiny that I was under. When I later went to the washroom, I heard some chatter from my cubicle.
"Like, oh my God. Hope is the biggest slut ever. You can ask like anybody," one random girl said.
That statement elicited some giggles. My eyes welled up with tears. These girls didn't even know me and they had already labeled me a slut. If you thought that was bad, my day was about to get worse.
At lunch time in the cafeteria, I went to my usual table where Alyssa and Dana were seated. They gave me apprehensive looks the moment I sat down. I narrowed my eyes the moment I saw the looks on their faces.
"What?" I inquired. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Is it true?" Alyssa asked. "Did you make out with Asher?"
"Hope, you know he has a girlfriend! How could you do that?" Dana scolded.
"Wow. You're already judging me without listening to my side of the story," I stated in a flat tone. "We only made out coz he said that he broke up with Chelsea. I wouldn't have done it otherwise."
The duo looked at each other and back at me. Alyssa then spoke, "I wish you could see the names they're calling us for being your friends."
"I'm sorry but I have never been called anything so horrid in my life," Dana piped up.
My heart broke a little bit at what they were implying.
My voice quivered a little bit. "So what are you saying?"
"We can't hang out with you anymore," Alyssa stated with finality in her voice.
They stood up with their lunch trays in hand and left me alone, tears streaming down my face. I wiped them with the sleeve of my jacket. But that wasn't even the icing on the cake.
"Hope! Hope Vega!" An angry voice called my name.
I turned around and I saw an angry Chelsea Reinhardt stomping towards me.
She stopped once we were face to face. The whole cafeteria hushed to see the drama unfold.
"So you think it's okay to just kiss my boyfriend and you think I wouldn't find out?" she hissed.
"Chelsea..." I tried to explain myself.
"Shut it, slutface! I don't wanna hear it!" she yelled, slamming her fist on my table.
She then took my plate of chilli cheese fries and smacked it on top of my hair and drizzled my glass of passion juice all over it. She topped it off with a slap to the face.
"Fuck you," she steamed and walked off.
The cafeteria burst out into laughter and I could see some people whip out their phones and begin taking pictures. I was so mortified that I was frozen. I couldn't move. I could only sit there saying that this was all my fault. Why did I have to go to that damn party? In the stream of one day, I had been labeled a whore, I had lost my friends and now, it was open season on Hope Vega.
(Present)
At this point, I was sobbing and Cassandra put her arms around me in a comforting hug.
"Hush now, sweetheart. It'll be okay. It'll be alright," she whispered.
Jessica patted my back in comfort and handed me a tissue. I took it and wiped my tears and blew my nose.
"I'm sorry. It's just..."
Cassandra murmured, "There's nothing to be sorry about."
Once I had calmed down, Jessica asked, "Have you told anyone else about this? Your parents or someone you trust?"
I snorted, "Hell, no. They wouldn't understand. They'll just take my computer and internet. Or even pull me out of Statton. Despite all that's going on, I love the program I'm in."
"Hope, you can't let this shit go on. This Chelsea girl and her cohorts are going too far," Cassandra said.
"And aren't they justified in doing so? I kissed Asher. As much as he said that he was no longer dating Chelsea..."
"Does Chelsea know that?"
"I tried explaining it to her but she wouldn't listen!"
"Then try again. If you want, I could go with you," Jessica offered.
I licked my lips apprehensively then I nodded my head. It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?
"Okay. Chelsea goes to a dance studio. Playground Seattle," I informed her.
"Great. Let's get a move on."
Cassandra, Jessica and I walked out of the house and I locked the door behind me.
"Good luck, kiddo," Cassandra said with a smile on her face. "Tell me how it goes."
"Will do," I nodded as I followed Jessica out the door.
Cassandra's P.O.V
I watched Hope and Jessica drive off and I took my phone from my pocket and texted Julian to meet me at the bowling alley. I drove there and sat down at the snack bar and ordered two strawberry milkshakes. Fifteen minutes later, Julian came and sat down next to me.
"So did she tell you how it all started?" he asked as he took a sip of his milkshake.
"Yeah, and just listening to it has made me lose my faith in humanity," I responded with a grimace.
I told him all what Hope had told me and he scowled with each detail. Once I was done, he sighed sadly and I gave him a warm hug, one that he returned tightly.
After a few minutes, we separated and he asked, "Where is she now?"
"She's gone to talk to Chelsea. See if she'll listen to her and back off."
Julian raised an eyebrow at me. "Alone?"
"Vega, you truly have little faith in me. I wouldn't let her face that bitch alone. Jessica is with her."
Julian nodded in approval. "Then we'll just have to hope for the best then."
"Amen to that. Wanna bowl for a little bit?"
Julian shrugged, "Why not? It'll help me take my mind off of things."
A few hours later...
Julian and I went back to his place and once we were in the house, we found a happy Hope waiting for us with Jessica seated next to her.
I beamed, "I take it that things went well?"
"Yeah. Weirdly enough, she didn't talk trash or anything. Just listened to my side of the story and promised to take all that crap off my Statton page," Hope informed us.
"That is good news, kid."
Julian smiled, "It's good to see you like this, sis."
He walked towards her and gave her a tight hug, which she returned.
"It's all over. It's all thanks to Cassandra and Jessica," she beamed. "Thank you all so much."
"My pleasure," Jessica replied.
Hope separated from Julian and reached into her bag in search of something. She frowned as she rummaged through it.
"That's odd. Has anyone seen my laptop? I could have sworn that it was in my bag," she inquired.
She ran to her room and came back a few minutes later, looking panicked.
"It's not there!" she cried out.
"Did you take it with you to the studio?" I asked.
"Yeah. But it was in my bag. The only time I put it down was when I was talking to Chelsea. Other than that, I can't imagine why it would disappear."
"Jessica and I can take you back to the studio and look for it," Julian offered.
"That'd be great," Hope agreed.
"I have to rush home, guys. Let's talk tomorrow, yeah?" I told them.
They nodded and we all walked out of the house, the trio going in one direction and I in another.
The next day...
I was seated with Lance at breakfast scrolling through my phone as I had my cereal. Suddenly, a call from Julian came through. I picked it up and said, "Yo, 'sup, Vega? Talk to me."
"Could you come by my place? It's urgent!" he requested, sounding pissed off.
I frowned in concern, "Everything okay?"
"Just come by, you'll see."
I didn't like the sound of that but I figured I'd find out once I got there. I wolfed down the rest of my cereal and put the bowl in the sink.
"What's the rush, Tolah?" Lance asked.
"I have to get to Julian's house. It's a bit of an emergency," I replied.
"Okay, be safe."
"Always."
I ran out of the door, got into my car, put in drive and drove off to Julian's house.
Julian's P.O.V.
I was seated on the couch with Hope sobbing on my shoulders. I was silent as I went through the feed on the Statton page. With every sentence I read, my faith in humanity just dropped. After a while, I heard a knock at the front door and I said, "It's open."
Cassandra came in and walked towards us and asked, "What's going on? Why's Hope crying?"
I didn't answer her. All I did was minimize the screen and showed her the wallpaper of the laptop. Cassandra put her hands over her lips and whispered, "Oh my God."
What she was looking at was a picture of Hope and Asher kissing with a black 'X' over her face and the words 'NICE TRY' on the screen.
Hope then spoke, "She lied! Chelsea lied when she said she'd take everything down. I thought she believed me! These posts are even worse than the initial ones. I can't believe that she would post that online."
"What did she post?" Cassandra asked curiously.
"You're gonna want to seat down and read, Cassie. It's going to be one heck of a day," I told her with a humorless smile.
"Ain't that the truth," she agreed.
She sat down besides me and we began perusing through Hope's Statton page to read what Chelsea had posted online.
Author's note: So, I'm back. :) I finally found the inspiration to write and get myself in order. As promised, the second part of Cyberbully. I felt so sad writing this as Hope is going through a lot of emotional torture, something no person should ever face regardless of whether they are at fault or not. The third part should be up soon. As always, please read and review. Ideas are always welcome. I also apologize for any grammatical errors or typos made. Bye bye! Canary out! :)