I told my father again about that "plastic flower" and how she had incriminated me with that weed, how I thought Sam could be different, although it's not that I felt disappointed at all; I also told him that one of those bullies was the Sam's boyfriend, it couldn't be that someone like her dates such a jerk like him, she had a terrible taste.

-I thought you said Sam seemed a little nicer than her friends-.

That was his way of saying "I told you", I simply asked him not to remind me, and he told me that how angry I was at that moment reminded him of my mother. I preferred to tell dad the other "good" news for a little change;

-I saw those boys again today-.

- And is that a good thing or a bad thing?-.

-I guess that's fine, I mean...-. I looked everywhere to make sure no one was there.

-He saw me, but he just thought I went to see one of those... guys-.

-You? No way-. He laughed, I realized we were heading to the gym.

-Wait, where are we going?-

-Well, I'm going to my next class, and you will return to your classroom-

-Didn't you want to leave me at the office first?-.

-Honey, I'm not going to take you there, that weed wasn't yours, I would know, I believe in you-.

"try telling that to your new colleagues". I thought, but I just tried to be understanding (and ignore the fact that he had checked my backpack).

-Dad, it's ok, If you don't take me to the principal's office, you're going to be in troubles.

-I have it covered, If anyone asks, I'll tell them they let you go with a warning for being the new girl. Those "plastic flowers" are not the only ones who can have their perks-. he told me and winked at me.

-Now, why don't you go back to your classroom, young lady?-. He said and kissed me on the forehead.

Everything was under control, I knew that if any of the other teachers insulted my van, Dad would defend us since it had belonged to him for some time before me.

When I got back there, Yasmine and that big guy laughed at me, Moon and Sam just looked embarrassed and that boy Kyler was just trying not to laugh so he would appear a little more mature in front of Sam; I tried to look like I had just been scolded as best I could, but deep down I planned in my mind to hit her with that same van, but that was a symbol that always brought me some peace in moments like this, and I couldn't use it for something so horrible, I wouldn't never forgive myself, no matter how much that bitch she really deserved it; Just take a deep breath and count to ten (thousand).

-Miss McGowen, please, sit down-.I smiled weakly and did what I had been asked. During lunch, unfortunately I had to stay in that big dining room, Dad was there discreetly watching me from a table he shared with his colleagues.

(I say that maybe they did it to see themselves more as a single authority, although it wasn't doing them much good);

Counselor Blatt gave a very useless speech against bullying towards the "poor things", but I only thought about what my mother somethimes says, "sometimes all what they need is a good straitjacket" although we never understood it very well. I took a look at Yasmine's table and I could see those girls with their phones in their hands. Sam was smiling, so I figured he was texting that Kyler guy. Every time Yasmine's clear eyes with false eyelashes met mine, I got the bad impression that she was planning something that would make me look very bad... And my intuition is usually very good. I also saw the bullied' table, and I only saw with pity that that boy Eli was covering his scar, since everyone knew that what was being talked about was about him. I didn't have much news about nothing or attention until the end of that day, when I was waiting for my father hiding behind the gym bleachers again, when all the boys' phones rang at the same time; What reached the entire school was a meme of me, sitting on the bench of my last class with a joint coming out my mouth with our adress below saying that:

"You could get the best marijuana in the Valley here with the McWeed girl"

Dad approached the crowd.

-What are you looking at?-.

-Um, Nothing, sir-. Kyler responded, trying to hold back his laughter, his buddy didn't even bother with that.

-What's the fun, boys?-. He said taking the phone from Kyler. As soon as he saw it, he instinctively raised his head towards where I was, and we both knew who had done that shit; he saw me with one of my worst angry faces in the last sixteen years. At that moment he gave the idiot Brucks' ponytail a tug to get him to start doing something productive. He wasn't going to let anyone at that school make fun of his little girl or his name.

-Why don't you guys run a few laps in the gym?-.

-okay, sir-.

-YES, SIR, and I'm going to count your times, you have two minutes from now-. He had gone into his "military mode" again, he always went softer when the others went into "asshole mode". If any of them got even more unbearable, dad would get worse with the whole class, to a level that not even me and mom knew about, that's why no one questioned him at all, not even the strongest ones. I think that at that moment everyone began to "respect" him a little more, but I knew that he was only doing it for us.

I didn't stay to see those guys sweating, or to wonder if all of them deserved it or not, since I went to lock myself in my van. That little plastic flower did that didn't surprise me at all, I could tell that not even all the trips to Paris in the world could entertain her enough, but I couldn't explain how Sam and that other girl, Moon, could allow that; the worst part was that my dad had already seen it, but I would make him promise not to show it to Mom, I wasn't sure which of the two could be more aggressive when it came to defending their daughter. I stayed there in the parking lot, with my fists clenched on the steering wheel, I thought that the next person who dared to talk to me would probably break his nose, If it hadn't been dad who knocked on the window.

-Oh, darling, this is becoming a bad habit for you-.

He knew how to calm me down and caressed my cheek. I just opened the car door for him so he could get in.

-Was that little plastic flower, wasn't she?-.

-...That bitch-. In a normal situation, Dad would scold me for using a bad word in the van, but I think he just tried hard to understand me and just hugged me.

-You know, when I was at the high school, many made up rumors about me, I remember that someone said that I had a rare sexual disease-. I laugh and looked at him.

-And what did you do, did you hit him or something?-.

-I didn't do anything to...-.

-Who? one of your ex-girlfriends...?-. I laugh again. The story sounded very interesting, but I decided not to ask more, dad had already accomplished his mission, I was already calmer. I tried to ignore my new meme and all its repercussions, and focus better on schoolwork, taking care of Jackie the way he deserved, doing yoga, and talking to my mom about the things that were happening at home.

That big boy, Brucks started harassing me every day, asking me if I had any more of that weed, I didn't tell anyone, not even Dad, and I told myself that only if I kept being so insistent would I break his nose with a punch and would make others believe it was an accident. I knew that, sooner or later, they were going to find something better with which to brighten their pathetic lives, I kept telling myself that "it couldn't be that bad", but everything got worse when, on the night of the Halloween dance, when Yasmine made a new meme... about one of the few people in the whole school who hadn't laughed at me... I think her name is Aisha...