Endure for Today

ONE

The colorful, plastic eyes of a dozen plushies gazed judgmentally from their perches atop the cream comforter. Its crinkled and rumpled state blocked many of them from sight, yet the weight of their stares could still be felt. These days, it felt as if everything judged her, inanimate or not.

Huffing out a sigh through her nose, Nalani stepped over to straighten out the bedding. The pink sheets disappeared swiftly underneath the thick comforter while her pillows were retrieved from where they were haphazardly strewn across the bed and set against the headboard. All twelve of her stuffed animals – varying from an adorable, fluffy bear the size of a basketball to a giant pink Snorlax – were organized to lean on the wall that her bed was pressed against.

Only when she finished the self-assigned task did Nalani return to her vanity mirror. The same blemish that had caught her attention to begin with immediately pulled her focus.

"What a bitch," she huffed out, lightly touching the dark bruise that was splotched on her jaw. There was a bigger, matching mark on her left forearm, sitting right on the bone below her elbow. Nalani hadn't noticed that one, however, until she hopped in the shower earlier. "I can't believe she did that."

The person mentioned was, of course, Taylor Scots, another girl in the same year as herself. Since the third day of attending Zimmerman High School, Nalani has landed herself right on Taylor Scots shit list. Unlike the physical fight she was involved in on her very first day as a new student with Cole Fuentes and his buddies, she couldn't even claim that catching Taylor's ire was an accident. She knew as soon as she involved herself with Taylor's business that she'd piss the girl off.

But it's not as if Nalani couldn't step in. There was no possible way that she could walk away.

Taylor Scots, as well as her group of best friends, were messing with a girl that did absolutely nothing but exist. It happened in the restroom closest to the front office. Nalani had just gone in to check her hair and make-up, and ended up playing witness to a group of mean girls putting down another simply because they assumed she was poor. As if not wearing name brand clothing was any indication of wealth.

Nalani would rather spend ten dollars on Wal-Mart tennis shoes than over fifty on a pair of Nike's that looked the exact same. And her and her dad, while not rich, were able to live comfortably and splurge every-so-often if they wanted to.

It only took seconds for Nalani to hear their snide and teasing remarks, and realize what exactly was happening. Then it only took another second for her to move in, carefully pull the poor victim away and gesture her out of the room, and then return to her own business. All of it was done silently – she didn't think anything required saying in the face of the girls' audacity – yet that was enough to make Taylor Scots take notice of her. Unfortunately, it seemed that the girl did not like what she saw.

The moment Taylor became tired of Nalani ignoring her and shoved her shoulder, causing her to smudge gloss down her chin, Nalani was officially done with the girl. So, she shoved her back.

If there was one thing life has taught her throughout these years, it's to not take shit from anyone. Hitting another person wasn't ideal, no, but Nalani only reacted when someone put their hands on her first. Taylor Scots, the bitch that she is, pushed her. Returning the gesture wasn't an automatic reaction, yet it was more than satisfying to see the shock play out across all of their faces.

It seemed like no one had ever actually stood against the group of mean girls. Learning that Taylor Scots happened to be the Vice Principal's daughter, which in turn meant she carried a lot of influence on the student body, only nailed that fact home.

Fortunately, Nalani has never been the type of person to allow status to hold back her opinions. When a teacher stormed into the restroom – either alerted by the victim or the sounds of their scuffle, she wasn't certain – and separated them from gripping each other's hair and slapping and punching and kicking, Nalani felt pride in being able to shatter Mrs. Scots' sweet, innocent viewpoint of her daughter. It would have helped if the girl they were bullying had spoken up when she was questioned about the matter, but she kept mum about what went down between her and her bullies.