Bittersweet Revenge (The Memoirs Of A Bullied Schoolgirl In Singapore)

Chapter 1 - Justin's betrayal

I couldn't believe it. Justin been using me as a stepping stone? He was the last person I would ever suspect for doing such a thing. Tears cascaded down my cheeks when I received that message on my phone. How could he do such a thing? How dare he used me as a stepping stone? I screamed and punched the mirror, which revealed my tear-stained face. Cracks emerged on the mirror, linking each other together, like the spider silk of a spiderweb. Blood seeped from my hands and stained my white shirt, but I did not care. Why, I thought, did I have to befriend such a person? How could I be so gullible?

When I first met Justin, he was the new boy in my class. "I hope that you can get along with Justin and be more understanding towards him. Justin, would you like to introduce yourself?" Mrs Wayland asked. Judas stood up, and said,"Hi, my name is Justin and I can perform magic tricks. Can I show you one of them?" He looked at Mrs Wayland pleadingly.

Mrs Wayland said, "All right, Justin, if you wish to do so."

At that time, I had no friends as I was considered a nerd and some people found me annoying whenever I spouted facts about History as I was eager to share my knowledge with everyone. As a result, many people gave me odd glances, spoke bad things behind my back and made fun of me, called me 'Ebola' and left my schoolbag at the edge of the drain, especially the girls, who kept shooting me evil looks whenever I gazed at them curiously, wishing that I could have a couple of friends like them.

I waved shyly at Justin and that gesture caught his eye. During recess, he walked over to me, and asked,"Hey, what's your name?"

I looked around shyly, trying not to avoid his gaze. "I am Sophia."

He looked at the book I was clutching in my hands. "Do you like to read books?"

I nodded. "Yes, it's my hobby."

"Well, I like reading too. So are we friends?"

I shrugged. "Yes."

From that day onwards, we were in the same group for a learning journey to the museum, where we started talking about the Japanese Occupation of Singapore and how it could have been avoided, along with a few discussions about Hitler and Nazi Germany.

During lunch, Justin said,"Sophia, you're so knowledgable about History."

"Well, no one has ever commented on how knowledgable I am. My classmates call me a nerd."

"Well,"Justin said,"I think that you are smart and knowledgable in History. And I feel that you're one of the greatest people I've ever met."

"Really?" I asked. No one had ever complimented me for being knowledgable or told me that I was one of the greatest people they had ever met. I would only find out later that he was merely using me as a stepping stone to get what he wanted.

"Yeah, and I think that you're cool."

"Well, thank you Justin. I take that as a compliment."

As the weeks and months flew by, everything but our friendship kept changing. We had some arguments on my obsession with History and the fact that Justin had a tendency to flaunt his ability to swallow a coin and make it appear back in his wallet, but our relationship had always remained as firm as a tree, its roots digging firmly into the earth.

During a Biology class, Justin started having one of his fits, which was completely normal as he had several of those fits during the first few weeks, and most of my classmates started teasing him behind his back and called him a lunatic who ought to be placed in the Institute of Mental Health, other than Vera, a quiet girl and I.

"What is wrong with everybody?"Justin bawled like a frightened child."Everyone hates me. They treat me like a piece of sh*t!" We had gotten used to the vulgarities he used and I had no idea why he wouldn't kick the habit at once.

Justin was clawing at his forehead, and Ms Lee, my Biology teacher told the class monitor John to get the school counsellor and he ran out of the classroom. Everyone was staring at Justin despite repeated orders from Ms Lee to complete their homework and ignore him.

"NOBODY HAS EVER CARED FOR ME! I DON'T BELONG HERE! MY FIRST FRIEND LEFT ME AND SHE DOESN'T EVEN BOTHER TO HELP ME! I BET THAT SHE ISN'T EVEN SINCERE ABOUT BEING MY FRIEND! ALL SHE DOES IS TALK ABOUT HISTORY ALL DAY LONG AND IT'S WASTING MY TIME! SHE DOESN"T EVEN LET ME SHARE MY KNOWLEDGE OF MAGIC TRICKS TO THE CLASS! SHE'S SUCH A SELFISH WRETCH! I WISH THAT SHE HAS NEVER EXISTED ON EARTH!"

As soon as I heard these words, I felt like my heart had been stabbed with a sword. Everyone's eyes were glued to my face. Before I could speak, Justin flung the table and it clattered to the floor with a crash. Before we could react, he grabbed one of my classmates and slapped him hard on the cheek. The boy burst into tears and was about to punch Justin on the nose when Ms Lee stopped him from doing so.

Just then, John scrambled into the classroom, along with the Vice-Principal, the discipline master and the counsellor, whom were all drenched in sweat. My classmates were whispering to each other and looked very frightened. Justin stared at us and yelled,"See? Nobody cares! You're laughing at me! You're making fun of me!" He had the crazy expression of a wild animal who was about to lunge at its prey.

"Justin,"the school counsellor spoke politely,"Nobody is making fun of you. See, they are doing their homework."

"NO!"Justin roared, scrambling away from the everyone and huddling into the corner. "I'm going to be expelled! Leave me alone!" He grabbed his glasses and threw them aside, and he mumbled,"See? Now my glasses are broken, just like me. I have no one to talk to. I wish that I could leave this world at once, away from my treacherous friend, away from everyone! Just LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Ms Lee realized that the lesson could not go on. "Class,"she called out,"We're leaving the classroom. Pack your schoolbags and we're going to the spare classroom." I started having a headache that seared across my head like someone had been hammering at it.

My classmates abruptly stuffed their papers, textbooks and pencil cases into their schoolbags and ran out of the classroom. We could not believe our eyes. How could Justin do this to me? How could he? HOW COULD HE? The question was screaming repeatedly inside my head.

On that very night, My heart was pummeling with rage. I decided to tell him what he had done to me on that afternoon. I jabbed at the buttons on my phone.

WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU? YOU WANTED ME TO GIVE YOU SOME PRIVATE SPACE AND I RESPECTED YOUR DECISION. AND ALL YOU DID WAS CRITICISE ME IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE CLASS. WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM? JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE AUTISM, THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN BE RUDE TO ME. AND STOP USING VULGARITIES. IT MAKES YOU SOUND UNEDUCATED AND IMMATURE. OH, SINCE YOU THINK THAT I'M SUCH A SELFISH WRETCH, I'M GOING TO SAY THAT YOU ARE A SPOILT BRAT IF YOU THINK THAT YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME!

Before I could stop myself, I jabbed at the 'send' button on my phone.

During the next day, I received the last message from Justin and it was the biggest shock of my life.

YEAH,HAHA! I WAS JUST USING YOU AS A STEPPING STONE! AND WHEN I'VE SEEN THIS MESSAGE, I'M GONNA DELETE IT AND BLOCK YOU! I WILL GAIN YOUR CLASSMATES' SYMPATHIES AND BE POPULAR AND COOL! GOODBYE SUCKER AND GET OUT OF MY LIFE! I WILL BE SO HAPPY WHEN YOU DIE!

Have my eyes been deceiving me? I do not know. All I know was that it was the final straw. That message had shattered our friendship to smithereens, and it would never be glued back again.