Behave Yourself

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Chapter 6

Thursday, 2:12 pm

At school

Katie's POV

I'm in the bathroom, hiding from Penelope. She doesn't know I'm in here. I came in here to pee, and while I was in the stall, she and her friend came in. Now I'm stuck in here, because if I walk out, she's gonna say something to me. And I'm not in the mood for her and her bullshit today. She's been fucking with me, all day. I'm tired of it. I just wanna go home.

Penelope: I just think that she could at least try to be normal. You know?

Brittany: But what makes her not normal? She seems pretty normal, to me.

Penelope: She's not. Have you seen the way she walks and stands? The way her knees bend almost backwards? That's not normal. That's-

Brittany: Bow legs. That's bow legs. And it's not her fault. She didn't choose to be bow legged. She was born like that. That's not a good reason to bully somebody, Penelope.

Penelope: But you've said it yourself, her voice is annoying.

Brittany: No. I said her lisp is annoying. That doesn't mean I don't like her. It just means I don't like the way she talks. But I understand that it's not her fault.

Are you on my side or not, Brittany? Because I really can't tell.

Penelope: But her fingers bend weird and-

Brittany: She's double jointed. Do you have any actual reasons to not like her? Or do you just pick on her because you can?

It's definitely just because she can. She has nothing better to do with her time than pick on me. So that's what she wastes her time doing.

Penelope: I don't need an "actual" reason, Brittany.

Brittany: You kinda do. Otherwise, you just seem like a bitch.

Penelope: Whatever. I'm better than her, and that's all I care about. I'll see you later.

Brittany: Yeah. See you later.

I hear one of them leave, but one of them is still here. I don't know which one's still here. So I'm still stuck in the bathroom.

Brittany: I really need better friends.

Yeah, you do. You need a friend who doesn't bully people, including you, for fun. Now that I know that Penelope's gone, I can leave this stall. I walk out and Brittany gasps, like she's shocked to see me. She probably is, being that she didn't know I was in here.

Brittany: Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were in here.

Katie: It's ok-

Brittany: No, it's not. It's really not. I shouldn't let her talk about people like that, especially not about things that you can't control. I just don't know how to make her stop, and I don't have any other friends. I really only hang out with her because I don't wanna be alone and-