I woke the next day to my alarm and a blinding headache. Today was the first day back to school after winter break, and I was not excited.
I had already attended a few preseason practices the week before, but waking up and attending a full day of school was different.
I was going into 4th year and had two friends.
I had Cara and Siobhan (shiv-on), but they weren't my favorite people in the world. You know that phrase, 'Trios never work out?' Yeah, well, I was practically living that. Cara and Siobhan always hung out on the weekends and never invited me.
It even took my mom having a long discussion with me at the dinner table, asking if I had any friends and if I wanted her to talk to some of her friends to see if they had any daughters my age.
I had friends, but they didn't talk to me a lot. I was the only girl in our entire year in higher-level classes.
In the first year, all the other girls had formed their little cliques, and I had been put into one where I wasn't really wanted anymore.
Shelly and Helen were always gossiping; they reminded me of Cara and Siobhan in a way.
Claire seemed like the perfect person to try and be friends with if it wasn't for Lizzie's deep hatred for me.
Rumors have gone around that I tried to get with Lizzie's long-term boyfriend, Pierce. Pierce and all his goons have been making fun of me ever since, and now I am known as the 'weird, desperate girl.'
I cried every night for that month, and where were Johnny and my parents?
Johnny told me that I needed to stop playing victim, and if I kissed Pierce, I needed to own up to it, and everyone would leave me alone. He said he would talk to me only then.
How do you own up to someone raping you without sounding like a victim?
Ma and Da were away for two months around that time and didn't even notice the change when they returned.
Since then, Lizzie has deeply hated me and glares at me every time I pass her in the hallways.
I overheard Clair and Lizzie talking about a girl named Shannon coming to our school after Winter break. I hoped to be friends with her, but she's already in Lizzie and Claire's clique.
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I stared up at the words Tommen College, and my gut turned involuntarily. I walked through the doors and caught sight of Lizzie, Claire, and the new girl, Shannon. I rolled my eyes internally as Lizzie shot me a cold glare.
I thought, " Someone knows how to hold a grudge," as I passed by them and walked toward my locker.
As I was walking, I looked down at my shoes to see one of them was untied. While looking down, a hard chest bumped into me, and I landed hard on my ass.
I looked up to see none other than Pierce O'Neil. He smirked at me as he stuck out his hand to help me.
Alarm bells went off in my head, and I scooted across the floor to escape him.
He gave me a warning look as he walked towards me and picked me up from under my armpits.
I couldn't help the scream that I let out as I shook from head to toe. I couldn't even think about the weird looks I was getting from everyone in the hallways.
"Would you cop on Maeve? You're making a scene." He told me angrily as the tips of his ears started turning red. I couldn't speak in embarrassment or anger because of the fear pulsing through my veins.
"N-no, get away from me," I stuttered as I tried and failed to stand up and run away. My legs were shaking too much.
Someone else had their hand on me, and I jerked away from them only to turn around and see Claire Biggs and Patrick Feely helping me off the floor.
As I found my footing, I ran straight out of the hallway that had formed a circle where Pierce and I had just been.
I heard someone yelling my name, but the ringing in my ears made it difficult to tell who.
Get me away from here
