untouchable {wlw, teacher x student}

Chapter Five

Lena was early for the first time.
The hallways were almost empty, no one was pushing her around or bumping into her, and it was surprisingly quiet. Lena enjoyed the few seconds of silence; she liked being alone.

She passed a group of girls standing in a corner and flashed a smile. As she didn't get one in return, she quickly dropped her smile again, feeling uneasy. The glances she had received were mean and mocking, making her uncomfortable.

"Hey, weirdo.", one of them called out.

Lena didn't react, she kept on walking, hoping that they would leave her alone. She felt like she was back in high school, where students would pick on her for being an outsider. College was supposed to be different, but obviously, people hadn't changed much.

"I was talking to you."

Lena wanted to flee. She didn't want to confront them, all she wanted was to be left alone and go to her classes. Actually, she was not exactly thrilled to go to her English class either, but it had to be done and Lena rather wanted to be there than in this hallway. Her pace increased, she tried to shake them off, but they were right behind her. Lena could hear them laugh and whisper, tears starting to form in her eyes which she angrily swallowed down. She wouldn't cry because of something so pathetic, so meaningless.

Lena went into a nearby bathroom, hoping that the girls wouldn't follow her. But they did. As soon as the door opened and one of them grinned at her, she knew that she lost.

"What do you want?", she asked, her voice less confident than she intended it to sound.

"Just have some fun."

"We're not in high school anymore."

Lena had enough. She had let people walk over her throughout her adolescence years and now that she was an adult, she wouldn't let people continue to do the same. This was ridiculous, she had done nothing wrong.

"So?", one of the girls said, circling Lena, who backed away slowly, feeling the cold sink press against her back. She was trapped. As she came to this realization, her face turned pale. Flashbacks of high school conquered her mind, causing her hands to shake nervously.

"Please just leave me alone.", she begged quietly. She didn't want any trouble, especially not with people she didn't even know. One of the girls was in her English class as well. That was probably the reason for their dislike, why they thought she was weird. Of course, they thought that. Lena was an outsider. Why did she think that this would ever change?

"But that would be boring."

And then she pushed her right into the mirror.

Pain flooded her whole body and numbed her mind. She couldn't make a sound as she heard the mirror shatter and saw the blood running down her hands and arms. It was almost ironic that her scars were covered in blood as well. As if they were mocking her.

She heard the girls laugh, but as she turned around with teary eyes, they were gone. Finally, Lena could cry. She cried her heart out, tears were running down her cheeks and dripping on her cuts, causing them to burn even more.

Her injuries were not severe, but her heart was aching even more. Why did they do that to her? She had tried so hard to be nice, to not offend anyone, and still, they somehow found a reason to pick on her. Lena felt ridiculous. She was 18 and still crying over the same issues she had when she was 14. Carefully, she wrapped her hands and arms in paper tissues to stop the bleeding. She would have to get to her room somehow so she could find some bandages and cover them up. And avoid being seen because it was humiliating.

As she was back in her bedroom, she patched up her wounds and quickly wiped away her tears. Her mascara was smudged, she barely had time to reapply it before her first class started. As she was back in the hallway, she thought to feel eyes on her, probably because of her arms.

Sitting in her English class, she kept her eyes on the ground. That didn't mean she couldn't hear the whispers and laughter directed at her. They only stopped when Cat entered the room. As long as Cat was here, she was safe. Sadly Cat was only with her for an hour.

Class felt like it took forever. As the bell finally rang, she took her time to get up and leave the room. She didn't want those girls to target her again. She made her way to the door.

"Ms Elliot", she heard her name being called out. As she turned around, her eyes met worrying blue ones. "Is everything all right?"

Lena swallowed. Why was Cat even asking? It was not like she cared, because why would she? She made clear that she didn't.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?", she shrugged it off.

"Your arms.", Cat pointed at the bandages that covered the damage the mirror had caused.

"Oh. I fell.", she managed to say. It was only partially a lie, but she wanted nothing but to tell her the whole truth.

Cat frowned at her answer.
"Is someone harassing you?"

"No, of course not."

"We had cases of bullying here before. Last year. Was pretty nasty."

"I assure you, I'm fine."

"But you can't even write like that."

Lena looked down at her hands, tears forming in her eyes as she realized that Cat was right. How would she complete any of her assignments? She was useless, she couldn't even get through the first days of college without causing a scene and making mistakes.

"I'll figure it out. Please just leave me alone."

She turned around and left the room without once looking back. The tears in her eyes burned, but not as bad as her heart ached.

~~

A/N: wrote this in a rush but wanted to update today 🫶