It was a sunny day and I woke up feeling that something big would happen today. I freshened up and as soon as I packed my bag and got to the door, I waved goodbye to my parents and tagged along with my younger sister. We reached the gate of the school and parted ways. Her class was all the way on the opposite side to mine. I walked into my class and sat on my bench. My life was simple but I lived it the way I liked it and wanted it to be.
It was recess and I was walking along with Lara and I found a guy punching another student mercilessly. I tried to move through the spaces between the crowd and tried to stop the guy beating the other one. I couldn't recognise the victim, I was quite sure that the other guy was Alec Ryder.
"What the heck do you want?", he asked. "Why are you coming in my way?"
"Why are you hitting this guy?", I replied.
"That's none of your business, dork."
"What do you think of yourself, Alec? Don't you think you owe an explanation for beating this student so ruthlessly?"
"Get out of my sight before I beat you up too. I don't care whether you are a guy or a girl."
"That's no reason!"
He reached out for my hand, tightly grabbed my wrist and gave me a cold glare.
"What are you doing?", I demanded.
"Do you still want poke into my business?"
"Well, your business is hurting someone."
"You were the one who asked me what do I think of myself, right?", he asked. "I don't need to introduce myself to you either. 'Too Nice People' like you better not come in my way. I've seen many sluts like you trying to get attention from guys like this."
His words brought back the bad memories I tried to run away from such a long time. For the first time had I got so furious that I slapped that guy.
The people around me gasped. I raised my hand on him in the moment. I didn't know at that time what problem was coming towards me, but I guessed called for it.
"Did you realise what you just did? You slapped Alec Ryder!", Jason (my classmate) said.
"He crossed the line. He deserved it.", I said.
"Did you do it unintentionally? It doesn't matter now cause even if you did, I wouldn't spare you!", Alec said.
"Your words don't scare me. You are a jerk if you still didn't realise that it was your fault."
"We'll see and till then good luck because you'll need it."
He was just blabbering. He was, right? I kept saying this to myself. I knew that I did the right thing but somewhere, I felt that I messed with the wrong person. As I said earlier, I wasn't an outgoing person at all, so I really didn't know what kind of a person that Egoistic Jerk actually was. I really gotta talk about this with the girls. I saw them near the corner table and told them all about it. I realised that I should this matter to the Principal and put an end to this. The bell rang and all the students were heading back to our classes except me as I headed towards the Principal's Office.
"May I come in, Mam?", I asked.
"What can I help you with?", Mrs. Lachowski replied.
I told her about everything that happened in detail. She appreciated my help in the matter and called Alec and Jason (the guy who was beaten up). Both of them came, but Alec came along with a bunch of more people.
"So, what good reason do you have to beat up Jason, Mr. Ryder?", she asked.
"Mam, Alec wasn't the one who beat me up. It was Penelope.", Jason defended.
"That's not the truth. Why are you taking Alec's side after all the things that took place today in the morning?"
"Because what I am saying is the truth. Why are you lying?"
"Yeah, what are you talking about, Penelope?", Alec asked sarcastically.
"You, shut up! Tell us what actually happened, Jason. You don't need to be scared.", I said.
The Principal wasn't able to understand what the argument was about, therefore, she asked the other students which witnessed the whole fight. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw more than half of them on his side and I had 5-6 people on my side. Well, this wasn't a Vikings' battle that I would want an army to prove myself but still I was surprised by seeing the current situation. I regretted even helping that Jason guy. She then told everyone to leave except me and she then told me that she would get me expelled for starting a fist-fight, however, I kept insisting. She told me to pack my bag and she was about to call my parents to pick me up from the school. I went outside and saw that evil-face smirking right at me.
"What are you giggling about?", I asked.
"I just feel glorious after all I got you expelled. Why shouldn't I?", he said.
"Do you think this is a joke?"
"Yeah, I do!"
Tears were running down my cheek. I was so embarrassed although I didn't do anything wrong. I really wasn't in the mood to talk to Alec, my least favorite person in the world right now. I dashed out of the corridor and went to the classroom to pack my bag. Just when I reached my desk in the room and started picking my books, I heard the Principal calling me. I went to the door and she then told me that I don't need to pack because Jason told the truth that it wasn't me who beat him up, but Alec, and for doing this, he got detention. How come I was threatened to get suspended and he got only detention? Well, that is none of my concern now.
When I got back home, I explained everything to my parents, and they assured me that everything will get sorted over time. That night I slept on my bed thinking why can't everyone be as nice and kind as my parents especially that jerk. Why does he have to behave like this?
The next day, when I entered the school, everything seemed normal like all the other days. I came to the class, dropped my bag when out of nowhere Alec came in front of me and apologized.
"Would you please stop acting innocent?", I said.
He kept apologizing to me and followed me everywhere. It didn't make feel like me accepting the apology was important but it felt like I was so convenient to talk to; like whenever people wished, they talk to me and whenever they wish, they dump me like I meant nothing to them. I didn't want to be that kind of person anymore.
During Math, he sat next to me as he tried to apologize to me, again. I had to deal with him for the whole day. After dispersal, he came to me, but before he could say anything, I said, "I accept your apology but, please put an end to this!"
When I got home, I kept thinking about Alec putting an effort in apologizing to me. It was kind of nice of him. I kept smiling while eating supper as well. I slept tight that night.
The following day, I saw him sitting with his friends giggling. It wasn't my intention but I slightly heard what they were saying.
"You guys were right!! It is easy to get to her and convince her. She's really gullible.", he said.
How? How could he do this to me? Even an iron can melt at some point of time but how can he be so harsh. Are my feelings a joke to him? However, it was easy for him to get things back almost to where they were. He started picking on me. Being me was similar to living in hell. He didn't even realize that I knew about that conversation and that is why I didn't talk to him but me talking to him or not, didn't matter to him as usual. Sometimes, I wondered if he was actually human.
Other than this mess, everything else couldn't be better. After a few weeks, at school, we got a form for a trip to Arlington, Texas. Well, I had been to Arlington with my family this year but I thought that hanging out with my friends on a trip would be a good idea. My mom filled in the form for me and I submitted it the next day, but to my surprise, one thing tore my excitement into pieces which was that...
ALEC WAS GOING FOR THE TRIP AS WELL...!!! 😫😫
To Be Continued...