Riddle Middle

Chapter 38: Transition

Phil (1st person)

Mom's sending Lila to my school. I don't know why. I have to help her with basic stuff, like managing homework and navigating the school, at least for the first week or so. I'm afraid she'll get bullied. She's a few inches shorter than most people my age, and middle schoolers definitely aren't the nicest. I helped her get ready in the morning, since she hadn't done that in about three years. I'm not really sure why she was even homeschooled in the first place. Lila seemed nervous, and she's usually good about staying calm, so I assured her that she'd be fine. I decided I'd try to tell her about anyone I'd seen that I knew. I described my friends before we left, though she already knew Smiley. Phred's come over to my house before, but him and Lila haven't met. I thought I should walk with her, so I did. Lila introduced herself to my friends, and they seemed fine with her being there.

We got to school, and luckily, her locker was pretty close to mine. I didn't have to help her organize. After a few minutes, Joy came over to me. She examined Lila. She looked to me. "Is that your sister?" Joy asked. "Yes," I said. "Oh, that makes sense, you both look stupid," she said. Lila completely ignored Joy. "Hey, did you hear me? Are you capable of speech?" Joy said, getting extremely close to Lila. Lila just focused on organizing her locker. "HELLO?!" Joy yelled. Lila flinched, but she didn't turn to face Joy or say anything. "C'mon, say something, loser!" Joy shouted, shoving her into the face of the closed locker next to her. "Hey!" I said, going up to Joy and Lila. Joy just shoved me backwards and ignored me. She repeatedly slammed Lila's head into the locker. Lila was beginning to look a bit hurt, but she still didn't react in any way. "Ugh! Why won't you talk?!" Joy yelled. She stopped slamming Lila's head into the locker. Lila still didn't say anything. Joy just grunted and shoved Lila backwards onto the floor, then she walked away. "Lila!" I yelled, running up to her. My friends were still outside by Phred's post, and I had just come inside early to show Lila around. I don't know why Joy was twenty minutes early. "Lila, are you alright?" I asked. "Ugh... Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." she said. She had a few bruises on her face, but she didn't look too injured. "So, I'm assuming that was Joy," Lila said. I nodded. Lila looked a bit pale. "Are you okay?" I asked. She shrugged. I hugged her, and she actually hugged me back for once. Usually she just freezes. "Do you need ice or something?" I asked. "No, I'm okay," she said. We had the same schedules, probably because my mom arranged that.

Home room was fine. We had a few minutes between each class to prepare for the next one. Joy came by Lila's locker again. I stood behind Lila to act as a human shield. "Move," Joy said, shoving me to the floor. I stood and went back to them. She was holding Lila's hands behind her back like she was arresting her. Joy twisted her wrist awkwardly. I ran up to them, but Joy just kicked my crotch. I fell onto the floor helplessly. Joy kept twisting Lila's hand. Lila closed her eyes tightly. Eventually, Lila made a squeaking sound. "Oh, so you can talk?" Joy said. Lila's eyes were watering, and I felt terrible for her. I couldn't do anything because of the pain I was feeling. "C'mon, just say something!" Joy said. "F-Fine!" Lila said. Joy let go of Lila and walked away like nothing had happened. I did my best to ignore the pain, and I staggered to Lila. "Lila, are you-" I started. Lila ran towards me and wrapped her arms around me. She began crying. It was subtle, but I still noticed it. She almost never cries, so I knew either Joy really got to her or she was hurt badly. I gently rubbed her back, and she hugged me tighter. "H-How do you survive here?" She asked. I shrugged. I grabbed her wrist and examined it. It looked okay. I managed to avoid Joy for the rest of the day. Lila jumped at every small sound. "Lila, what's going on?" I asked. She was shaking a bit. "I...I-I..." she said. I gently put my arm around her. I know she's dealt with bullying before, but she hasn't had to in like, three years.

I walked her home, and she went straight to her room. I followed her. She had locked the door, so I knocked. She didn't answer. I went back to my room and did my homework, which took a few hours. Once I had finished, I went back to Lila's room. I gently knocked on the door. She didn't say anything. I guess she must've unlocked the door at some point, because I could open it. I opened it, but she wasn't in her room anymore. I went downstairs to the bathroom. The door was cracked, and the lights were on. I opened the door and found her leaning over the toilet. I couldn't hear anything, and she wasn't retching. She leaned away from the toilet. Her skin was still pale and she was still shaking. "Lila..." I said. She jumped and faced me. I went closer to her and sat on the bathroom floor next to her. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head near her knees. "Lila, what's going on?" I asked. "I... I don't know..." she said. "It's okay, you can talk to me," I said. "Is mom gonna make me go to school again?" Lila asked. "Yeah, probably," I said. She began sweating. "Lila, did you throw up?" I asked. "No... I felt like I was going to..." she said. "C'mon, let's go see mom," I said. "No! No, I don't need to!" She said. "What?" I said. "I... What if she thinks in crazy?" She said. "Why would she think that?" I said. She shrugged. I dragged her to mom. She obviously didn't want to, and she kept trying to pull away from me, but I made her. "Hey, mom?" I said. "Yeah?" Mom asked. "Can you see if Lila's okay?" I asked. "Sure," she said, turning to Lila. She immediately looked concerned. "She's been like that since school ended, and she said she felt like she was gonna throw up, but she didn't," I said. "Aww... Did something happen at school?" She asked. "Yeah, Joy. She kept hurting Lila," I said. "Hurt?" My mom said. "Yeah, first she kept slamming her head into a locker, then she twisted her wrist until she was forced to say something," I said. "Oh... Okay, I'll talk to the school about that. Lila, do you want your medicine?" My mom asked. I didn't know what medicine she was referring to. Lila nodded. "A-Are you gonna make me go back?" Lila asked. "We'll see how you feel tomorrow," she said. "Wait, wait, medicine? Is it for her stomach?" I asked. "No, Phil," my mom said. She looked down at Lila, who nodded. "It's for her anxiety," she said.

"Anxiety? Is this new?" I asked. "No, Phil, that's why she was homeschooled," my mom said. "Oh..." I said. "Okay, go back to your room, I'll bring you your medicine," my mom said. Lila went back upstairs, and I followed. She went into her room and curled up on her bed. "Phil, I want to be alone right now..." Lila said. "Oh, alright... You did you're homework, right?" I asked. She didn't respond, but she started crying. I wasn't sure what to do. My mom came a few seconds later. "Phil, why is she crying? What did you do?" My mom asked. "I asked her if she did her homework..." I said. My mom didn't say anything and just went to Lila. While she was giving Lila her medicine, I took Lila's homework and brought it back to my room. It took me three hours to do it all. Once I had finished, I put it back in her backpack. She went to school the next day because she'd been completely fine in the morning. Lila seemed surprised when she was looking through her backpack and found her completed homework. Joy had left her alone for the entire day. Lila repeatedly thanked me after school. She asked if there was any way I could repay her, and I said she could come to the dance with me. "W-What?" She asked. "I mean, if you can't, I understand. There will probably be a lot of people there," I said. She shrugged. "Well, I'll try," she said.