BEING bullied isn’t always as easy as everyone thinks about it. If they thought that I could just ignored it, well, they’re wrong. Not because it was our school bad boy, I should be glad because he’s paying attention to me. No, I would never be thankful for being the apple of Tyler’s eye.
“Hey, normie girl!”
I was surprised when somebody suddenly clung into my arm. It was Becca, looking happy for apparently no reason. Nathan is still absent so I was left with no choice but to talk to her just to prevent myself for having a spoiled saliva in my mouth.
“Hey, Becca...” I tried to add a little bit enthusiasm in my voice, but it sounded like fake.
“Looking good. Where’s your nerd bestfriend, any way?” she asked.
My mind was half debating if I should tell her the reason why. But I know that Nathan will be mad at me if ever. That topic was a very sensitive one for me to open up to another person. I should respect’s their family’s privacy.
“Uhm... I don’t no either.”
“What? But he’s your bestfriend!” she complained. “Haven’t you seen him in your neighborhood?” she asked once more.
“I-I... I did, Becca. It’s just that... You know, maybe he’s busy our something.”
“Oh.”
That was her short response. Maybe she already realized that I’m not in a mood to talk about Nathan’s life or whatever.
“Okay... Bye for now, Natalia. I’ll go to my classes now. See you later at the Cafeteria!” she waved at me and I simply did the same.
I guess it wouldn’t hurt me having her by my side all the time. Maybe I just couldn’t handle how loud she could gets every time that she have someone to talk to like me.
“Bye, Becca...”
I signed, before walking down the hallways towards my respective classroom. Then I remember that I need my books for my Mathematics class. So I decided to came towards the locker room instead of going straight into where our classes are.
As I walked through the locker area, I remembered something about this place. The scenario when I saw Tyler and some other girl making out in here. I should be glad that they aren’t doing anything more than kissing. But I shouldn’t have saw anything either. I was partially blaming myself, thinking that it was my curiosity that leads me into witnessing that shit.
There, I cursed. I just broke the rule number twelve on my manual. It feels like a deja vu, walking through these lockers again while looking for mine. As I reached the location of my locker, I opened it up, and that was the same exact moment that I was showered... Literally, with a smelly water together with a few trashes in it.
“What the?” I groaned, annoyed by the fact that I’m all wet right now.
My books are soaking wet too, just like me. I wanted to scream out of madness, but I couldn’t. I don’t want to get anyone’s attention by screaming at the top of my lungs just because of this awful event.
“Like it?” someone asked.
I turned around, only to see the smirking look plastered upon Tyler’s face. He’s laughing, and I knew it. He’s the only one who could do this to me right after I busted his cheating to her girlfriend... To Freeda, which by the way, didn’t believe me at all and decided to hate me too.
“How dare you! Look at what you’ve done!” I shouted right in front of his face.
“How dare me? Why? What exactly have I done to you, Natalia Carter?” he asked, raising one of his brows.
“This! Look at me!” I accused.
No one in their right mind will do this kind of thing to me except Tyler, who by the way, probably loosing his mind right now. I wanted to punch him right into his arrogant face, in order to wiped that goofy smile off of his lips.
“Oh baby, I’m already staring at you...” He moved closer and I backed away.
“Will you please just stop doing this?!” I asked, annoyed.
“Why would I stop? I haven’t done anything yet... This was just the beginning...”
I closed my eyes shut, before taking a deep breath. I need to calm down, hoping that I could still negotiate with him. I’m always ready to swallow my pride if ever that I need to do it. So maybe, just maybe, now is the proper time for me to do that.
“I’m sorry, okay?” I stated, after opening my eyes. He looked surprised, before his brows furrowed in confusion.
“Sorry for what?” he asked.
“For telling Freeda about that stupid event that I saw... I should’ve just shut my mouth up...”
“But you didn’t, because you’re desperate for her attention, right?”
That brought pain and guilt into my system. I unconsciously pouted, remembering how Freeda doesn’t want to associate herself with me anymore. That statement of him hit me hard.
“Now I hope you’re getting enough of the attention that you’ve always wanted, Natalia Carter.”
I gulped, suppressing my tears. After a few seconds, I just saw him walking away from me, and I felt guilty for hearing those words coming from Tyler. He’s right. Maybe I’m just an attention seeker. I shouldn’t have let that attitude of mine to get in the way of me having a peaceful high school life.
Rule number eighteen... Don’t seek for people’s attention. You’ll regret it in the end. Popularity is so overrated, and a normal student just like me doesn’t need it, I guess.
“Natalia? Hey! What are you doing here? Don’t you have a class or something?”
I looked up, seeing Becca’s worried face. Her brows suddenly furrowed in confusion, before helping me get up.
“What happened to you? Are you crying?” she asked.
“No, I’m not...”
“You’re soaking wet.”
“Please don’t ask about it.”
“Okay, fine... I won’t. But you need to change your clothes... You wouldn’t want everyone to see you like that.”
“What about class?” I looked at her in confusion. It’s not lunch time yet.
“Class? Really? You’re worried about your classes but you’re not worried about yourself... Come on, you need to change, Natalia. And don’t worry about mine. I chose to escaped. It’s really boring...”
She chuckled before helping me picked up my stuffs. She then pulled me along, not even bothered by the way I smell right now because of Tyler’s revenge. When we reached the comfort room, she lend me her spare clothes and I’m glad that it fitted me too well like it was really mine.
“Perfect!” she shouted. “Now you smell nice again.”
I laughed, unconscious by the fact that this girl just helped me out of that very frustrating situation. Maybe I wouldn’t regret being her friend after all.
“Hey, Becca...” I called out.
“Yep?”
“Thanks a lot.”
“You’re always welcome. That’s what friends do, right?” I smiled to myself, thinking that maybe, just maybe, I’m not a black sheep after all.