Saskia
Nova gasps, “Oh my god, did you hear about that really quiet girl, Ryleigh-Grace?”
My head jerks up from my pasta at her name. “What about her?”
“You haven’t heard?” Ayla’s eyes widen.
“Um... no?”
“She got publically outed!”
The air catches in my throat.
“What? That’s... that’s horrible! Is she okay?”
Nova shrugs, “I don’t know really. I did hear that she’s getting bullied worse than before for it, though.”
“She... gets bullied?” Tears threaten to make an appearance, catching me off guard. Why do I care so much? I barely know her.
“Mhm.” Ayla nods. “She has done for a while.”
“That’s horrible! If you knew, why didn’t you do anything about it?”
“I-”
I breathe out.
“Isn’t she the Autistic one?”
I glare at Ayla. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“I... well, it’s just... don’t you think she’s a bit weird?”
My eyes widen. “Don’t tell me you’re serious!”
They swallow.
“God, you’re so mean!”
I ignore their responses and instead scan the cafeteria for Ryleigh. Eventually, my sight resolves on the other side of the room, where she’s sat by herself in the corner. Honestly, it’s really hard to believe someone could be so beautiful... Her big, opal blue eyes remind me of the ocean, and her light freckles are like tiny, individual gems of pure beauty scattered all over her face. However, my heart breaks when I realise her joggers, her oversized hoodie and her long blonde hair half-covering her face, all clearly in an attempt to hide herself. Not to mention the fact that she’s just staring at her half empty plate.
I stand up abruptly, my chair scraping as it pushes back.
“Hey, where are you going?” Nova cries.
“To do something about it!”
“But- your pasta!”
“I don’t care!”
I start to speed walk over to the other side of the cafeteria, when I see a girl saunter up to her before grabbing her and forcing her off her chair. Her eyes widen and her hair stands on end, her mouth falling open but no sound coming out, a look of pure terror consuming her. The girl slams her into a wall as she cries out, starting to sob and scream and shake and plead desperately as the girl pummels her everywhere, her face, her stomach - causing her to double over and gasp - and her hips and waist, screaming at her as she avoids eye contact, breathing heavily and violently trembling.
“Look at me, you freak!” she yells, right in her face, pounding her with her fists.
“Oh god!” I utter, before catching myself. Autistic people have sensory issues, right?
Why is no one doing anything? They’re all just watching! Why are they filming? Where are the teachers?
I run with the ferocity of a tiger, yanking the girl off her, and resisting the urge to scream in her face myself because I don’t want to trigger Ryleigh’s sensory more than this girl already has. Instead, I hiss a few choice words at her. She leaves for her own good, because I’m the most popular girl here and everyone knows you don’t mess with me.
I turn to face Ryleigh as she grabs her bag, tearing out her noise cancelling headphones from it before running out. I don’t follow her, because I know that she would probably prefer to be alone when experiencing sensory overload, which she undoubtedly is.
YOU ARE READING
Opposites Attract
Romance(Warning: contains panic attack scenes that may be triggoring for some readers.) At Ivy College for Girls, outsider Ryleigh-Grace never expects popular and sporty Saskia to ever like her back. Will she be proven wrong or right? Because sometimes, lo...
