StanfordBound2020: Talk about awesome timing. As for Chelsea, that much you said about her is true. Why feel bad only when you realize the serious ramifications that your actions may have on another individual? That is just wrong and I honestly hate that as well. I do however, want to give her a sort of chance at redemption.

For this story, I had a bunch of songs in mind that you should listen to as you read. It may put you in the zone and give you more of a perspective on the characters:

1. The Hospital Scene- Take Me Home by Jess Glynne.

2. The Confrontation- Smoke and Fire by Sabrina Carpenter.

3. The Flashback- I'll Be Good by Jaymes Young.

You can also try listening to other songs that you may feel fit the mood of each scene in the story and holla. I will listen to them as well. ;) On with the show!

At the Hospital...

Cassandra and Julian had been seated at the hospital lounge for God knows how long. Exhaustion and worry were written all over their faces. And who could blame them. It had been a hectic few weeks filled with drama and right about now, Cassandra didn't mind having a rest. She glanced over at Julian, who was hunched over, his hands clasped together as if in prayer. Her heart reached out for him. He had nearly lost his little sister. His mom was speaking with the doctor in one of the therapy rooms. It had also been a trying experience for her and they now needed to figure out the way forward.

The silence was unbearable for Cassandra. She was going mad with worry for Julian and she finally broke the loud silence with a question.

"Hey, you okay?"

Dumb question. Julian looked at her and scoffed. "What the hell do you think, Cass? Of course I'm not okay."

Cassandra winced at her poor choice in question. But she was soon surprised when Julian's expressionless demeanor changed. She could see his heart break and he began sobbing with tears flowing down silently. All the worry and sadness came crashing through.

His voice was hoarse as he spoke, "I failed her, Cass. I failed my little sister. She thought nobody cared about her." His shoulders heaved as all his emotions came crashing through. "What would have happened if we hadn't found her in time? She would've..."

"Ssssh..." She whispered in comfort. Cassandra kneeled before him and silently wiped his tears with her thumb. She rubbed his back comfortingly and his breathing slowly became normal.

Cassandra then tipped his chin up and said, "Julian, there's no need to dwell on the past. We're here now and Hope will be okay. She'll be alright."

Cassandra gave him a reassuring smile and he smiled back in return, albeit a watery one. Just then, Mrs. Vega and the doctor got out of the therapy room and were speaking in hushed voices and finally the doctor put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Cassandra and Julian stood up as she walked towards them.

"The doctor says that the sedative will wear off in a few. It might do her some good if she had some familiar faces around her," Mrs. Vega informed them. "She's also been put in a therapy program for teens struggling with depression and anxiety."

Cassandra shuffled her feet. "Okay, I think I'd better go home. Julian, keep me informed of her progress, okay?"

"Actually, Cassandra. I was hoping that you'd stay. Julian tells me that you've been such a good friend to her and she might appreciate seeing you there." Mrs. Vega requested, giving her a hopeful smile. Julian gave her look that asked for her presence. He couldn't do this alone. Cassandra thought about this. She was honestly and truly emotionally drained from all this, but then again, the Vegas needed her help. She wasn't the type to refuse to give assistance whenever it was required of her. She looked at them and nodded. "Okay then."

Mrs. Vega flashed a genuine smile at her. "Thank you, my dear. Let's go to her room."

She began leading the way to Hope's room. Just as Cassandra was about to follow her lead, Julian held her hand to stop her. "Hold up, Cass."

Cassandra turned to look at him. "What's up?"

She was surprised when Julian wrapped her arms around her in a tight and firm hug. She stood still for a moment before she wrapped her arms around his neck. "What's this for?"

"For everything. You didn't have to help me with Hope and yet you did. You're a rare type of friend, you know that?"

Cassandra smiled. "There are no thank-yous between friends, Julian. I did what any person should do."

"Still, thank you."

They stayed like that for a little while before breaking apart following Julian's mom to Hope's room. They walked down the hallway and took a right and walked to the farthest room. Room 308. They walked in and saw Hope on the hospital bed. She was still sedated but would soon wake up as they had been informed. She was dressed in a hospital gown and her breaths were coming out slowly and gently. Cassandra looked at her face and it had been the most relaxed that she had seen her in a while. Mrs. Vega drew a seat that was near the bed and sat down. She took Hope's still hand in her own and gently caressed it and shut her eyes as if in prayer. Julian took two seats and put them next to his mom. He sat down besides her and Cassandra sat next to him. They sat in silence for a while before Mrs. Vega spoke gently, "When you first came into my life, mija, I was so scared because you were so tiny. I was always afraid that something would happen to you. It's funny because it wasn't my first rodeo as a parent. But you always looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes and I always wanted to keep you close to make sure nothing happened to you. That is what a parent is always worried about; that their child will always be in harm's way. They do whatever they can to make sure that their child is always protected. But sometimes, it's never enough."

Julian looked at his mother and saw tears welling up her eyes before she continued, "I almost lost you, mija. I don't know what I would have done without you..."

Julian put his hand on her shoulder in comfort. Cassandra looked at Hope and noticed her shifting slightly before she opened her eyes slowly. Mrs. Vega gasped and stood up quickly.

"Mija!" She cried and hugged her daughter firmly.

Hope groaned gently at her mother's firm hug that nearly choked her. "Mom, I'm okay, unless you want me to fall unconscious again."

Mrs. Vega chuckled. "I'm sorry. I'm just happy that you're okay."

Hope smiled gently and looked at the others. She sat up and gave an appreciative smile at their presence. "Thanks for being here, you two."

Julian stood up and said, "Of course I'd be here. There's no where else I'd rather be, Hope."

Cassandra retained her seat but gave Hope a genuine smile. "Your folks thought it'd be a good idea if I was here. It's good to see that you're okay."

"They were right. I'm glad you're here with me Cassandra." Hope's demeanor suddenly changed. Her eyes moistened with tears and soon, she began sobbing. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that all of you are here. I'm sorry that I had to put you through all of this. I just wanted the pain to end. I'm..."

Julian hugged her and murmured, "It's okay, Hope. There is nothing to apologize for. You're here now and we promise to get you the help you need. You're going to get through this and we're going to help you. We all want to help you and it's going to be okay."

Hope sobbed into her brother's chest and clung to him tightly. Never letting go. Not once. Her mom sat on the bed and kissed her hair soothingly and stroked it. Cassandra could only watch silently as tears fell down her face as well. Hope finally let go of Julian and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She looked up and was about to speak when she stopped cold and looked at the door.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Cassandra was confused and she turned around and saw what Hope was talking about. It was Chelsea. Tears were streaming down her face and she looked anxious.

Julian folded his arms across his chest and said, "Good question. What are you doing here, Reinhardt?"

"I'm not here to diss Hope or anything of the sort. I just want to talk."

Julian muttered, "Kinda late for that."

Mrs. Vega spoke up, anger in her voice. "You should be lucky that I haven't considered pressing charges for harassment, young lady. I'm leaving that for my daughter to decide."

Chelsea looked up at the ceiling in an effort to stop more tears from streaming down her face and sighed. "I don't blame you if you want to press charges against me. I deserve that." She looked at Hope. "And I deserve nothing less. I have been nothing but hostile to you and I made your life at school a fucking nightmare. I thought that you were a vile person for trying to take my boyfriend from me and I thought you deserved nothing less. Little did I know that there are two sides to every story. I'm going to confront Asher right now and I want you to know that I'm going to get the truth from him. And I am so sorry from making you go through all this. You don't have to forgive me but I really am sorry. It's about time I moved on."

Chelsea walked out and Cassandra decided to follow her. As she was about to step out the door, Julian called her. "Cass, where you going?"

Cassandra replied without looking back, "Gimme a minute."

Cassandra ran after Chelsea who was walking quickly towards the doors of the hospital, face down and not looking up. Cassandra called her name. "Yo, Chelsea!"

Chelsea was just about to step out the doors when she heard Cassandra call her name. She looked up and turned around. She eyed Cassandra warily and asked, "What do you want?"

Cassandra slowed to a stop and asked, "Were you serious when you said you're going to confront Asher about this whole incident?"

"Yeah. Pretty much. He's having a party tonight at this place. I figured that I'd finally get the truth out of him once and for all."

Cassandra smiled. "Good. Then I'm coming with you."

"Are you for real or what?"

"I'm serious. I need to ensure that he doesn't try worming himself out of this mess."

Chelsea looked her up and down before conceding and nodding. They walked out the hospital together and on to Chelsea's car. Cassandra shot a text to Julian:

'Hey, I'm going with Chelsea to confront Asher.'

A few seconds later, Julian replied:

'I'd come with you, but I want to stay with Hope. I'm not leaving her side.'

'Tell me how she'll be, okay?'

'Sure thing. Be careful.'

'Always. :)'

Cassandra slipped her phone into her pocket and entered the car and slipped into the passenger's seat. Chelsea got into the driver's seat and started the engine. The car rumbled to life and so began their journey to Asher's house. It was a slightly awkward journey made in mostly silence since Cassandra and Chelsea weren't exactly friends. But Cassandra soon had a question.

"Hey, Chelsea. How'd you exactly know that Hope was in the hospital? It's not exactly public knowledge."

Chelsea looked at her with the corner of her eye. "I followed you guys after a while when you left me in the dance studio. I went to Julian's house to help you guys when I saw Mrs. Vega walking out the house. She mentioned the hospital and so I put two and two together."

That made sense. Cassandra nodded her head and the rest of the drive was in silence.

(Time Skip)

After a while, the duo were in front of Asher's house. It was in an affluent neighbourhood and they could hear music booming from the large, two story mansion. They got out of the car and walked towards the door where there was a group of guys chilling with cups of punch in their hands. Cassandra and Chelsea stood in front of the door and they faced each other.

"You ready to do this?" Cassandra asked her.

Chelsea took a deep breath and sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

They walked inside, which was packed with guests; some of who were dancing to the music, others seated and playing games and others drinking. As they searched for Asher, a group of girls came towards them excitedly. One of them squealed excitedly, "OMG! Chels! You're here!"

The girl gave her a once over and frowned. "Wait a minute! You're not dressed."

Chelsea replied, "That's because I'm not here to stay. Have you guys seen Asher?"

The girl replied, "He's over by the mini-bar. But..."

The duo walked away without another word, leaving the group alone and dumbfounded. They walked to the mini-bar and true enough, they found Asher, signature hat and playboy smile standing, drink in hand. He was talking to another girl, who was looking down shyly and laughing at whatever he had just said. Cassandra tapped the shoulder of the girl and she looked at them.

"Scram." Cassandra growled, pointing her thumb to the door. The girl saw their faces and she decided not to argue after seeing their deathly glares. She quickly ran off.

Asher gave them a sly smile and hugged Chelsea. "Hi, babe. Glad you made it."

Chelsea didn't hug him back as she remained as stiff as a board. She gave him a serious look. "I need to talk to you about Hope."

Asher rolled his eyes. "Are we seriously going to talk about that cry baby tonight?"

"Yes, we are. She told me that you made the first move on her."

"Are you fucking serious? That little bitch is the one who made the first move on me! And why do you care all of a sudden?"

Cassandra stepped into his face and growled, "Watch that tongue, pretty boy. That's my friend you're talking about."

Chelsea gently dragged her away from Asher and murmured, "I'll handle this."

She turned and faced him. "I care since I came from the hospital. Hope tried committing suicide. And all because of the mean stuff I said to her. And looking back, I think that you lied to me."

Asher wasn't fazed at all by the statement about Hope's attempted suicide. "That girl is trying to break us up. Can't you see? She's a fucking liar."

"Oh yeah? If that's the truth, then who was that girl you were with a couple minutes ago?"

Asher was dumb-struck at this question. He gulped and then quickly recovered. "It's either you believe her or me, your boyfriend."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Asher remained quiet and Chelsea gave him a humourless smile. "That's what I thought. We're done, Asher."

Asher retorted, "Oh yeah? You do that and you're done. The only reason that you were popular was because of me!"

"Well, I don't give a fuck anymore!"

Chelsea grabbed his cup of punch and splashed it in his face. Cassandra felt a surge of satisfaction at the look on his face. Poetic justice. The surrounding guests were shocked at the drama before them and murmurs filled the air. Chelsea grabbed Cassandra's hand and said, "Let's get out of here."

The duo began walking away and Asher had to have the last word. He yelled at their retreating backs. "You know, I can get with any girl in this school!"

Chelsea yelled back, raising her middle finger in the air. "Go ahead and do just that, Rollins!"

"You just made the wrong enemy!"

They ignored him and walked out the door and back to the car. They entered the car and Chelsea slammed the door and punched the steering wheel.

"Fuck!" she yelled.

She ran a hand through her blonde locks and looked up, breathing heavily. She murmured, "I can't believe I just did that. A huge part of my life revolved around Asher. I didn't want to believe that he was a toxic person 'coz I thought I was in love. Stupid me. I was deluding myself so that I wouldn't see the truth that was right in front of me."

Cassandra looked at her and told her, "For what it's worth, I think it was badass."

"Well, yeah. I just essentially committed social suicide. Knowing Asher, he has enough pull to make my life a living nightmare. Cost of doing the right thing, I guess."

She looked at Cassandra and sighed. "It's been a long day. Let's get you home."

"Will you be okay?"

"Eventually."

She put the car in drive and drove off into the night.

Epilogue...

A few weeks later...

Cassandra parked her car in the parking lot of the mall and got out. She was going to meet up with Hope, who had wanted to see her. It had been a while since all the cyber bullying drama and she wanted to catch up on things. She walked into the mall and went to the bowling alley. At the 50s-style counter, she could see a familiar mop of chocolate brown hair who had two milkshakes in front of her. Cassandra walked up to her and greeted, "Hey, Hope."

Hope turned around and smiled. She leaped off the counter and gave Cassandra a tight hug. She pulled away and Cassandra observed that she was looking better. Much better. They both sat down. Cassandra said, "It's been a couple of weeks. How have you been?"

Hope replied, "Things are as okay as can be. Still going to therapy and all. Learning to be stronger. Learning to be better."

Cassandra asked, "How were things after you were discharged?"

Hope gave her a wry smile. "Not so hot..."

(Flashback)

Mrs. Vega arrived at a clinic just at the outskirts of their neighbourhood. Hope folded her arms and had been silent the whole journey. She took a few deep breaths and finally spoke. "I don't know why you're making me do this. I don't want to go."

Mrs. Vega said wearily, "This is no punishment, Hope. It's a support group for you. So that you can talk about what you've been through."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"You don't have to talk about it. Just go and listen to what they have to say. We can't keep acting like this incident did not happen, mija. You need help and there is nothing wrong with needing help. It's scary seeing you in this pain and I am scared to death of seeing something like this happening again." Her voice cracked as the emotions came crashing through. "You have so much life to live, mija. Your life is precious and is worth a lot. Please..."

She began sobbing and Hope finally conceded. "Okay, Mom. I'll go."

Hope stepped out of the car and shut the door, leaving her mom alone, who at this point was crying and had her face buried into her hands. Hope walked into the building and was directed down a hallway where the session was taking place. She stood in front of the imposing door, sighed and walked in. The voices that she heard stopped as everyone looked her way. A friendly older man with black hair and warm blue eyes stood up and welcomed her. "Hi, Hope. Welcome. Have a seat."

She nervously smiled at him and sat down in an empty chair and looked around at the faces in the room. They were all high school kids who, Hope thought, must have been going through some trying times as well. She didn't know what she had to offer here. But as her mom had suggested, she didn't have to speak, only listen. Hope sat down and listened as one of the students, a plump girl narrated her experiences, "Everyday, I walk down those halls, it's all about being made fun of. 'Hey, there goes Fatty Tessie.' Stuff along those lines. It sucks. But when I go home, I get some relief. But how wrong I am. The internet has made it possible for this stuff to make it home with you. Anytime I open my Facebook page, it's those horrid, harassing messages. It sucks. There are days I wish that I don't wake up in the morning, you know? It sucks..."

Her heart ached for this girl. She'd been there and she understood. Then she heard another oration from one of the other students. He was transgender: "The worst part is having your words used against you. There was a guy I liked and I poured out my heart to him; told him a bunch of personal stuff. I thought he liked me. I though he cared. He sent out my messages to a group of guys. They began re-enacting my texts and started calling it 'The Tranny Show'. The worst part about it, as Tessie said, is when it follows you home. How is that someone who you don't even know tells you that they despise your existence just because you happen to be transgender? It's 2018 for God's sake and how is it hurting anyone?"

Another girl chimed in, "I would post mean shit on their pages. Sometimes, you need to even things out a little bit."

The director put in, "Well, you can become the bully. And maybe that will make you feel better, even just for a little while. But vengeance is never the way to go. How many of you have left mean messages on a bully's social media page?"

A good number of the people in the room raised their hands. The director then continued, "Sometimes, silence is the best weapon. Never show the bully that they are getting to you..."

Hope listened intently to his words. And she felt something that she hadn't felt in a while; hope. Hope that things would get better. Hope that everything would be okay. She smiled, feeling peaceful in that moment.

(Time skip)

It had been two weeks of therapy for Hope and she finally decided that it was time to get back to school. Her mom had been reluctant to let her go back and thought that she needed more time. But Hope felt that she was strong enough. They were discussing this over breakfast before Hope left for school.

"The director said that I can't allow the bullies to have power over me. It's about time I walked that talk."

Her mom smiled at her. "When did you become so wise, mija?"

Hope laughed. "It's been a long time coming, Mom."

"Then I will have Julian dropping you off and picking you up from school. And you will continue with your therapy sessions."

Hope wanted to argue but then thought better about it. Her mom needed assurance that she would be okay. That wasn't too bad. She nodded and walked out the door and waited for Julian to come and drop her off. During the drive to school, she was nervous about experiencing her first day back since the incident. She did not know how her classmates would react to her presence. But Julian assured her that everything would be okay.

"If anything is wrong, you can reach out to me, Mom, Dad or Cass. We're here for you, kiddo."

They arrived at Statton and Julian gave her a tight hug. "You can do this, kid. Stay safe."

Hope nodded and got out of the car and stepped into the school. In the hallways, she could feel all the stares and hear all the whispers as she walked to her locker to get her books. She heard the occasional 'slut' and 'whore' being dropped but she no longer cared. She was stronger and she would be fine. As she walked to her class, she heard a group whispering and laughing about her attempted suicide. "Man, I actually thought that she was done at this school. But we can't always get what we want."

Those words stung but Hope remembered why she was back in school; for herself and to show these bullies that she was stronger and better; Hope 2.0. She breathed and walked off to her class wordlessly. The bell rang for her lessons and she attended them without much drama going on.

At lunch, she was wondering where she would sit. She had her lunch tray in hand when she spotted Chelsea seated at a table in the corner. Normally she would have been surrounded by her cronies but this time, she was all alone. Hope remembered what Julian told her about what Chelsea and Cassandra had done. Hope felt sad for her. She had thrown away her reputation and was now suffering the consequences of doing the right thing. She knew what it was like to be a pariah and decided that she would eat lunch with her. Hope walked to her table and sat down across her. Chelsea looked at her in surprise and then eyed her warily.

"Um...hey. What are you doing here?" she asked.

Hope gave her a light, genuine smile. "I heard about what you did at Asher's party. I thought you might need a friend."

"It was nothing, really. Just something I had to get off my chest."

Hope reached for Chelsea's hand and held it. "Still, that was honestly brave of you. Thank you."

Chelsea looked at her and smiled. "You're welcome, I guess. Not everyone seems to appreciate doing the right thing. I've been alone for the past couple of weeks and I've been getting all these harassing messages on my page." She shrugged helplessly. "They say karma's a bitch and now I understand that. I deserve it and more."

"No." Hope said with conviction in her voice.

Chelsea looked at her, surprised. "No?"

"You heard me. Nobody deserves to go through that emotional torture, regardless of their mistakes. We all make mistakes and that is what makes us human. I won't allow you to go through the crap I went through."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're going to forward this to Principal Hawkins."

"Are you for real? What if it gets worse?"

"We won't know unless we try. Besides, Asher and his cronies are violating the law and unless he wants to have a taste of juvie, he's going to back off."

Hope gave her a look that exuded confidence and Chelsea couldn't help but feel the same. She nodded her head and they quickly ate their lunches and went to Hope's locker and grabbed her laptop. They soon logged into Hope's page and took screenshots of all the harassing messages that she had been receiving after her incident and then went on to Chelsea's page. They saved the evidence on a flash drive and went on to print it out in the computer labs. They decided after school, they'd go to the principal and report Asher for harassment and cyber bullying.

(After school)

Hope and Chelsea were seated outside the principal's office waiting for their turn to come. They were nervous but they held each other's hands to give each other courage. They'd be okay. They'd be fine. They were doing the right thing. Even if it wouldn't make all the harassment go away, it would make most of it stop. A telephone rang and the secretary picked it up and nodded her head to whatever the person on the other end was saying. She then hung up and looked at the duo. "Principal Hawkins will see you two now."

They looked at each other and nodded. It was the moment of truth. They stood up and walked over to the mahogany door and one of them knocked. They heard a brisk ,"Come in" and they opened the door and stepped inside.

(The Present)

Hope stopped her narration and saw that Cassandra was hooked on her every word.

Cassandra was itching for more details. "So, how'd that go?"

Hope smiled mysteriously as she took a sip of her milkshake. "Well, let's just say it went fine."

It went more than fine. They had kicked ass and taken names.

"Principal Hawkins saw everything and was appalled by what he had seen. He assured us that he was going to take care of the entire matter and apologized to us for having to go through such a thing. The next day, we were called down to the office and Asher was there with a cop and the principal. We were told that Asher was going to be put on probation for being a first time offender and that if it goes on, they were going to press charges against him. He also had to write an apology letter and make sure that his cronies stop harassing us. Moreover, he was to stay the hell away from us."

Cassandra raised her hand for a high-five and remarked, "Look at you; kicking ass and taking names. That was pretty badass, Hope."

Hope blushed as she returned the high-five and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. "Thanks. I guess going for therapy was a pretty good idea. Chelsea decided that she would be attending as well."

"So you two are friends now?"

"Well, yeah. She's changed a lot and I don't like to hold grudges, It'll just make me sad and cold for nothing and I don't want hatred to consume me and become this old, gnarled root. I want to move on and from this and become better each day. I want to take it one step at a time. One day after the other, you know?"

Cassandra held her hand and beamed, "That's right, Hope. One step and one day at a time."

Author's note: Aaaaand it's a wrap for Cyberbully! This was my take on how the event's of Hope's story went. It was weeks of brainstorming, writer's block, real life interference and emotional roller coasters. But I'm finally done and I hope this final chapter was awesome. I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review. I hope to get started on the next batch of stories as soon as I can. Bye bye! Canary out! :)