A Song for Elodie

Chapter Five

Elodie ran as fast as a cheetah. It was only her third week at her new school, and she was already late. She had to catch the bus before it left. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite make it and got there only to see the bus pull away, loaded with students. Elodie groaned. This left her walking the two kilometres to school.

When she got through the gates, recess was already in session. On her way to the office, she could see groups of students huddling and snickering together. They seemed to be looking at a video. Elodie decided to ignore it, it wasn't her concern and headed to the office to sign a late arrival form.

When she came out, a year eight girl noticed her and gave her friend a nudge. She pointed at her and they fell over each other in a series of guffaws.

Suddenly it hit Elodie as sudden and swift as a cyclone.

They haven't.

She charged over to Layla and the other girls, who were also giggling furiously.

"Did you...?" stammered Elodie.

Layla was too busy ridiculing the video of Elodie at the smoothie bar to immediately answer her question. When she finally calmed down, she said, "Of course we did. How could we resist?" Her face was suddenly sneering.

"Where did you post it?" demanded Elodie, shaking with rage.

"It's everywhere!" chimed in Emma. "Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok. You're going viral!" Then she collapsed into cackles again.

Elodie was quivering with anger. She looked Layla hard in the face.

"You're going to regret the day you chose to cross Elodie Moreno's path, Layla," snapped Elodie. "Just remember that."

Layla stood up, smirking now. "Really? Because I know you thought we were friends. Obviously, you were wrong about that."

Elodie felt like she'd been slapped hard across the face. She stormed off.

"See ya, Slop Girl!" shouted Peyton, much to the amusement of the girls.

The only thing Elodie didn't notice was Audrina, standing at the back of the group, clearly not happy with what had been done.

###

All day, Elodie endured the taunts and comments about the video. Everyone, even the teachers, though they didn't show it, seemed to have seen the video. Indeed, in class Elodie wasn't free of it. In French, Layla, who sat next to her in all her classes, whispered jeering comments in her ear all day. Elodie shrugged it off, deciding to keep her head down and silently tolerate it all.

Once she got home, she threw her bag in the cupboard and headed upstairs to the sanctuary of her bedroom.

###

Wednesday 7th May 2019

Dear Diary,

Today was terrible. I got to school late and everyone had seen the video of me tripping over at the smoothie bar and ending up with gloop all over me. I heard my phone ping in my pocket on the bus home from school and saw I was tagged in a photo on Instagram a horrible cartoon of me with juice all over my face, obviously drawn by my so-called 'friends.' It had received more than fifty comments and likes, and way more views. The whole school had seen it.

I haven't told my mum or dad though. They are so busy, and I don't want to bother them. They haven't even realised or noticed anything, even at dinner tonight. I'm trying to disguise it. Honestly, this isn't that bad, and I can manage it. We'll just have to wait and see.

Lots of love

Ellie x

###

31/4/19 8:23 pm

MannixK: hi

EllieMoreno: hi

MannixK: how's it going??

EllieMoreno: fine. how is evry1?

MannixK: sophie 'n' jake say hey

EllieMoreno: cool. how r ur parents?

MannixK: yeah, they miss u being around evry other day.

EllieMoreno: so do mine. U no those girls im hanging out with?

MannixK: yah? What about them?

EllieMoreno: dont worry. 4get i said it.

MannixK: said WHAAAT??!!

EllieMoreno: lol. facetime tmrw?

MannixK: sure why?

EllieMoreno: my sister who is at this moment infringing my private space and reading my text ova my shoulder says my parents say i need 2 get ready 4 bed so i g2g! Gnight!

MannixK: Yas, talk tmrw! see ya!

EllieMoreno: bye bye bye.

Elodie switched off her phone and placed it on her bedside table, newly installed in her room. Then she heard another ping, so she flicked the screen open and saw her inbox full. Full of horrible messages from Layla.

'You're ugly!'

'No one likes you anymore'

'Why don't you just go back to where you came from, Slop Girl'

'You can't sing to save your life.'

Elodie deleted them all and turned her phone off. A single tear ran down her cheek. She heard a tap on her door and quickly wiped it away. Teresa entered, wrapped in a flamingo-patterned dressing gown.

"You alright sweetie?" she asked, sitting down on the bed and stroking her daughter's hair. "Maybe go to sleep now. You seem tired."

"Yeah, I'm just adjusting to a new school." Elodie snuggled down into her quilt.

"Honey, I'm so proud of you for being so great with your sisters and your brother. I know it was hard moving to a completely different place, but you're being so good about this."

"Thanks, Mum."

Teresa planted a small kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight, Mum."

Elodie rolled over. Suddenly she didn't feel so great about this new arrangement.