Lauren's POV
It's the first day of my senior year and I couldn't be more excited. I had finished all of my required credits last year so that I could fill this year's schedule with classes that were fun and that I was actually interested in like art, choir, literature, yearbook, and drama. Then of course I also had study hall and softball to end my day.
My first four periods had gone by rather slow because there wasn't much going on. During lunch I spent time catching up with my best friends Camila, Ally, Normani, and Dinah. We just sat around our table joking and messing around when all of a sudden Dinah nudged my shoulder, "Look who's headed this way, the school's biggest loser!" she chuckled mischievously.
Just as Y/N was about to pass us Dinah stood up and grabbed her backpack and yanked her back. Y/N dropped the books that she was carrying and slowly turned to face Dinah, "H-Hey D-D-Dinah..." she stuttered. "Shut the fuck up, Y/LN! Did I say you could speak!?" Dinah shouted at her. Y/N quickly shook her head 'no' and dropped her head down.
Dinah had a smirk playing on her face as she heard the whole cafeteria laugh at Y/N's reaction. I knew what Dinah was doing was wrong, but everyone in the school knew that Y/N was the loser loner girl and if I tried to help her my popularity would be gone in a heartbeat. Shallow? Yeah I know, but it is what it is.
I was brought out of my thoughts when I saw Camila stand up and snatch Y/N's backpack off of her then shove her to the ground. "You're such a waste of space! You are seriously the most worthless, pathetic human being to ever walk the earth. Honestly you should just kill yourself!" Camila spat as she dumped the entire contents of Y/N's backpack on the floor next to her. The whole cafeteria erupted into laughter, Camila and Dinah joined in before they high-fived each other and returned to their seats.
Once everyone's attention returned to their previous conversations Y/N began to return her possessions to her backpack. When she finally finished and stood back up slinging her bag over her shoulders I heard her mumble something barely audible, "Yeah... I know..." When she looked up our gazes met, it was almost as she was pleading for help, then I felt my heart break as a single tear rolled down her cheek. We held each other's gaze for a few seconds before she broke eye contact and hurried out of the cafeteria.
You see the thing is Y/N and I used to be best friends when we were younger all the way until we were in middle school. That's when I met my best friends Camila, Dinah, Ally, and Normani. Us five became really close while Y/N and I drifted apart. I'm not really sure what happened, but we eventually just stopped hanging out so I spent the majority of my time with my new friends.
In middle school is when the bullying started. People found out that Y/N was bisexual and tormented her for it, not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well. I thought that as long as I didn't join in then I wasn't technically doing anything wrong, but what I failed to realize then was that doing nothing at all was just as bad. I promised myself that I would never participate in the bullying... but I broke that promise one day in the eighth grade.
Flashback
My friends and I were all standing around my locker since we had some spare time before school started. We were just carrying on with casual conversations until I heard someone clear their throat. Our conversations stopped and we all faced a timid looking Y/N.
"H-Hey L-Lauren... Uhh umm I saw your mom in the office and she said you forgot this at home and asked me if I could bring this to you..." she said handing me my book report that I desperately needed. I looked around at my friends and they had disgusted looks plastered on their faces. I quickly snatched my report from her and watched her back up in fear.
