Bullied by the Sidemen.

- chapter three -

Simon and I hadn't spoken since he left. Nothing happened, but as soon as he left I kind of wished something had; I hated myself for wishing it though. I refused myself of time to think about it, I kept myself busy for the rest of the evening. Since half past seven, when Simon left, I was either doing homework or watching Game of Thrones. Occasionally I would let my mind wander accidentally, I just couldn't help it. What did it mean? What was going to happen when I next saw him? Was everything going to change from here? I liked Simon, nothing more than that, I hope we can become friends but the boys will probably hold him back.
I was walking into school the next morning. I stopped off at my locker to get my books for the first lessons. As I walking to Physics I saw Simon and Ethan headed in my direction.
'Oh look who it is Simon' Ethan said with a look of disgust on his face.
'Oh... Yeah... Haha' Simon said, I could tell he felt uncomfortable. I looked up and saw him looking at me, I caught his eyes before they quickly darted to the floor. I knew how hard this situation was for him.
'What's wrong with you today Simon, you seem really off' Ethan said, turning his attention to Simon.
'Nothing, I'm just not not in the mood today' Simon replied, looking at Ethan and me and then to the floor again.
'Okay fine lets just go to Maths, but Mia, don't think you're getting off so easily this time' Ethan spat at me. And then they started walking away, I turned to look at them. Simon turned to look at me too, his eyes were apologetic, as if to say 'I'm sorry about Ethan.' I understood. I knew it wouldn't change in a day, it mightn't even change at all.
It was about half way through my physics lesson when I saw Harry look at me in between talking to some girl. But they weren't his normal eyes, full of hatred and spite, they were more gentle. Maybe Simon had spoken to some of the boys already, told them how he felt, told them to go easy on me. Maybe Ethan was just being difficult, enjoyed abusing me too much to simply let it go. Maybe the other boys would be more like Harry or Simon. Then Harry did something that nearly made me choke, he smiled at me. Not a big obvious smile like you do to a friend, but a small smile, like the kind you do to someone you know but not well enough to talk to. Just like a smile of acknowledgement. I gave a small smile back and continued my work even though I couldn't concentrate. Neither, apparently, could Harry as Mr.Brooks told him to focus on his work.

I was walking home after school when I heard a voice shouting my name. I tuned around to see Simon, alone.
'I just want to apologise about Ethan earlier, it was out of order. I spoke to the guys and everyone seemed okay to go easy on you apart from him. I don't know why, I guess I'll just have to try to talk to his again.'
'It's okay Simon, to be honest I hadn't expected things to change today, I thought they were going to be just like normal but they weren't. Harry smiled at me in Physics and Vik and Jj said hi to me in maths. So thank you Simon, you've made this day easier than it would've been' I replied.
'You're welcome' he said as we both started walking again ' so how are you?'
'Um yeah I'm good thanks, you?' I replied.
'Good, nothing much going on. Hey um do you wanna maybe go out to dinner sometime?'
'Uhh, okay sure' as I said this I felt nervous and excited. I mean, it was Simon Minter, everyone wanted to be asked out on a date by Simon and I was chosen. But I don't know where this is headed, I don't want things to go too fast. Don't get me wrong I would love to be friends with Simon, and I would love to have a boyfriend but I just don't know if Simon can be both considering what's happened.
Simon grasped his warm hand over mine and held it there. It was a weird feeling, stranger than the hug we had last night but it kind of felt normal, like it had always been there, like it was meant to be there. I looked up at him and he looked down at me and smiled. I smiled back.
Soon enough we were at my doorstep. Before Simon let go of my hand he pulled me into a hug, it lasted about 10 seconds. Then he let me go, we said our goodbyes and he left. I watched him walk away for a while and then went through my front door.

Three days had passed, it was Friday. It was lunch and I was doing my usual routine of eating alone. I saw the boys walk into the form room and sit at the table on the opposite side of the room. Simon, Harry, Vik and Tobi looked towards me and gave me a small smile. Ethan gave me a look of disgust and the others didn't bother to look, which I understood. I just didn't understand why Ethan was being so out of order when the other guys were getting over it.
The afternoon went by quickly, I had art, which none of the boys were in.
I started walking home, my bag over my shoulder and my headphones in my ears. I couldn't hear a thing other than the music, the way I liked it. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, not gentle like Simon, harsh like someone wanting to cause my pain. I turned around to see Ethan standing there, giving me a nasty smile, the kind you see in horror movies. Needless to say I was scared.
'You thought you could try to befriend the guys did you Mia? Well you were wrong. If you think I'll ever be nice to you you're wrong about that too. I hate you Mia, I hate everything about you. I hate the way you're changing the guys, manipulating them to stop them bullying you when it's what you deserve. You deserve pain Mia and that's what I'm going to give to you' Ethan said, in a low, serious voice that was scarier than shouting. I was beyond scared at this point. I knew if I tried to call for help he would hurt me, I had a feeling he was going to hurt me anyway.
'W-why are you d-doing this?' I stuttered, trying to have courage but failing completely. He could tell I was scared. And I knew he would take advantage of that.
'I'm here to teach you a lesson Mia, what's going to happen is I'm going to punch you and see how long you can stay standing up. I promise it will help you Mia, it's going to help you understand that meddling in our lives is not a good or smart decision, are you ready?' Ethan said you last bit slowly but aggressively. I felt more scared then ever, more threatened then I have ever felt in my life. I was not prepared, I had never been hit properly, I never had any siblings to fight with and never had any fights in general.
Then it came, like a bolt of lightning striking in a storm, the pain was immense. I didn't know what to expect, but the pain got worse as the time went on. The hits after that were way worse than the initial blow. So far I had counted three on my face and two on my stomach. Ethan gave one final blow to my stomach and I stumbled, falling backwards into the floor. I could feel my legs and arms graze the concrete as I hit it. Ethan bent down over me and looked me in the eyes, he laughed his maniacal, demented laugh and walked away, but not before kicking me in the ribs for safe measure.
I was left on the floor, the pain was unreal, I could feel myself bleeding and I knew I wouldn't be able to make it home alone anytime soon. I felt myself feeling tired so I closed my eyes. That's when I heard it, a voice of panic, but a nice voice. A voice that felt like a dream in the midst of a gloomy nightmare.
'MIA' the voice said 'OH SHIT, MIA CAN YOU HEAR ME?'
I tried to nod my head slightly, the person must have seen my head move because I heard them give a sigh of relief. I opened my eyes just enough to see but not so much that the brightness of the light would make my headache worse. Through my eyelashes I saw a figure with blonde hair.
'Harry' I whispered, barely audible. He must've heard it because he grabbed my hand and held it tight.
'I'm here, Mia. I'm not going anywhere'