Dragon Girl [Hawk ff.]

--- Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

[Cyberbullying]

***

Kim spread the butter over the toast, her mind too preoccupied by the Math test that was just around the corner to notice her whole family staring at her. It was only after she took her first bite of the crunchy bread that she became aware of the overwhelming silence surrounding her. There was usually laughter and loud chatter around the breakfast table in the Gao household, but not today. Something was different, something was not right, and Kim found herself too afraid to ask.

The girl's eyes wandered from her sister, to her mother, and then to her father's form, but none of them dared to meet her gaze. They all averted their eyes. Furrowing her eyebrows, Kim put down the toast, and wrapped her arms around herself self consciously as she continued to chew on the single bite she managed to take. Her mind went through the possibilities as to what could've caused the sudden change in the atmosphere, but she came up empty-handed. She sunk in her seat when her mother let out a long sigh. Did she do something wrong without noticing?

After what felt like forever, the woman finally broke the silence.

"Laila called yesterday after you went to bed."

Kim's eyebrows shut up in her hairline at the mention of Eli's mother. The two families have been close ever since the Gao's moved here. The adults were getting along well; they talked on the phone regularly and even invited each other over for dinner sometimes. This was actually the reason Kim had become friends with Eli, and consequently with Demetri, so fast.

So, it was not an unusual occurrence that Laila Moskowitz called the Gao residence, and yet, something was different now.

"I wanted to talk to you about this the moment the call was over, but you were fast asleep by then," began the woman. She was visibly struggling to find the right words. "She said that Eli went home crying after some kids made fun of his scar. She wanted to know if you were one of them."

"One of the bullies," specified her father, his onyx black eyes staring right into her soul.

Kim looked between the two adults, a frown slowly appearing at the mere thought of her deliberately hurting Eli or Demetri. It was ridiculous. The three of them had each other's back through every hardship they've encountered during the past year. Turning her back on them seemed like an impossible idea, she would never betray her friends like that. The girl couldn't understand why Eli's mother came to this conclusion.

"I'm not," she murmured, leaning back in her seat. A confused and slightly hurt expression married her features. "Why would she think that?"

"Because..." she trailed off, biting her lip unsurely. "Eli kept saying your name while he cried. Laila thought that maybe you were the one that spread nasty rumours about her son."

"But I didn't!" shot up Kim in her seat, her voice coming out as uncharacteristically strong and confident. "I would never hurt my friends."

"Then why was he saying your name!" the mother's question came out more like a demand.

There was silence for a heartbeat, then her father spoke.

"Are they bullying you too?" The man's voice was quiet, but commanded respect all the same. Kim could only fidget under her father's intense gaze.

The girl didn't know what to say. She had an idea why Eli would say her name repeatedly. Most likely, he wanted to know if she was alright.

Kim was, after all, there when the group of bullies approached Eli. She tried to stand up to them, but her reckless act of bravery only led to disaster as the others shoved her into the lockers. Her back was still aching from the impact. At the time she could see the panic in Eli's eyes as he worried about both of their safety, but there was nothing they two could do. They were pushed around and ridiculed for a good 5 minutes until a teacher finally showed up around the corner, and the bullies started to act like nothing happened. An hour later however, both her and Eli's phone was blown up with messages of the nasty kind, most likely sent by the same people that bullied them earlier.