Breaking point

Untouchable

He can do whatever he wants! I told myself as I wiped the tears from my face and buried my pain. I just couldn't help wondering if she'd been the one on the phone when he came to pick me up with my sprained ankle.

For me, my whole life was falling apart. It wasn't just seeing Cole and Vanessa making out, it was thinking about the file every time I saw my dad, it was the weird way that my old bullies had been hitting on me lately, it was just the sense of overall feeling like I was drowning. Drowning alone in confusion, lies, and pain.

But even as horrible as everything was, I did was I always did, put on a brave face and pretended I had all the strength in the world.

If I was honest with myself though, I had less strength right now than a torn piece of paper. Though after my years of torment, I'd learned to deal with it.

"Molly, your gonna be late for school!" I heard my dad calling from the kitchen.

"K." I replied weakly, picking up my backpack and trudging out the door.

I took a shaky deep breath as I walked toward the bus stop past Cole's house. As he just so happened to be walking out to his motorcycle.

"Need a ride?" Cole called after me as I kept walking, using my hair to hide my pained expression.

"No." I shook my head, trying to stay strong. I knew if I got on that motorcycle with him I pour out the billions of questions I have and probably end up scaring him away for good even if we were just barely friends.

The bus stop was a weird as always. Ryan jogged up with a cocky smile, trying his luck once again, "hey babe, wanna go out?"

"Nope." I walked past, not bothering to engage him with a comeback today.

I had to be stronger than someone, even if that meant just being able to ignore him for once.

I sat in the front of the bus, where I knew Ryan would never sit, so I was able to enjoy my 15 minutes.

Maybe getting a new look had changed me, because as I walked toward my living hell known as school, a sudden idea occurred to me. Why not just skip?

I tilted my head, considering the idea that for whatever reason had never occurred to me. I didn't have to endure this torturous place.

Smirking, I decided to go around the back of the school and spend the day relaxing on the bleachers. It was a warm day and the bleachers were in the perfect spot. I stretched out, taking in the warmth and quiet of my first time skipping classes.

It was kinda fun, being alone with my overthinking and a nice breeze. I could distantly hear the bell ring after first period.

"Oh those suckers," I laughed, thinking of all the people inside shuffling through the over crowded halls to their next class, "I can't believe I never thought of doing this till now."

Sighing, I closed my eyes, soaking in the sunshine and feeling peaceful.

"You new or something?" A girly voice called from somewhere behind me.

My eyes snapped open as I turned around to see who was disturbing my ditch day.

The girl walked up onto the bleachers, her long straight blonde hair swishing behind her in a ponytail as she walked. Her crystal blue eyes glimmered with curiosity.

"No, I'm uh, just trying this out." I replied slowly, trying to figure out who blondie was.

"Tough day?" She asked, sitting down on the bleachers a few feet away.

I nodded slowly, "who are you?"

"Oh I don't think we've met," she started with a preppy smile, "most people call me the the queen bitch or ms. popular, though I prefer to be called Emma."

"Oh," I frowned, why would one of the popular crowd be ditching instead of annoying one of their fearful subjects inside the school.

"I know, it's weird for someone as seemingly perfect as me to be ditching out here," Emma shrugged, as if reading my mind, "but hey even horrible people like me have a bad day now and then."

"So you popular people know your horrible?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh definitely!" She nodded, "we just don't care. Or at least no one sees us care... I'm usually the only one out here."

I sat silently for a moment, thinking about how popular people always seemed to have it all put together and not give a crap what anyone said. That's what I'd always tried to imitate, not being affected by other people.

"But your kind of people always seem so strong and resistant..." I trailed off as I was still half thinking while I spoke.

"Because that's what we want people to see." Emma admitted, leaning back on the bleachers, "really though, people like me are the weakest of all if you really get to know us. We just put on a cool smirk and walk around like we own the place so no one will suspect a thing."

"It works." I mumbled, "you guys all look like your having the time of your lives as you annoy the hell out of everyone."

"There's an art to it." she laughed slightly, twirling her long ponytail, "you just fake it until you become a hardened shield of not caring. Eventually you become untouchable."

I nodded slowly as I thought about everything she'd told me, I heard the end of second period bell chime in the background.

She gave me a quick pat on the back, "well, that's my cue, gotta get back to running my kingdom. Don't worry, you'll figure it out eventually."

Emma flashed one last pearly white smile as she hopped off the bleachers and jogged back inside with a typical popular girl smile.

I stared into the distance as I thought about it, all I had to do was stop caring. Then no one could hurt me. Her advice proved quite useful as I rejoined my peers for the rest of the school day.

My former bullies gave up for a while since I honestly no longer gave a crap about them. Maybe not caring was the entire secret to being happy...

I jogged home as the bus pulled to a stop and I disembarked. Though once I got home, as much as I was trying to be untouchable, it still hurt. I couldn't stop thinking about Cole and wishing that I hadn't gone to his house and seen them.

My day got even worse when my dad got home. For starters I was still mad about the file but at the same time he was still all I had. But now I was losing that for a while to.

"Molly, I'm going on a business trip for a few days," my dad informed me over dinner, "I know it's really sudden but it could really help me get a better position at my job."

I bit my lip, trying to look as uncaring as possible, "Ok, I'll be fine."

He gave me a big hug, "that's my girl!"

I gave a weak smile as he jogged back to his room to pack. It wasn't as easy as Emma had made it sound.