Scarred

Chapter 18

Then it was the week before Christmas break. The past month had been filled with people gossiping and staring at her as she walked by, name-calling on and off line, and glares from her old friends. It was packed with sleepless nights and—on the off chance that she would fall asleep—nightmares. There were late night visits to the bathroom and tears in the shower, and the rumors only made it worse.

The days passed in spacey hopelessness. Her grades inevitably noticed it, and after a talk with her father, she focused on improving them. Her studies soon became her life. She'd tell her dad that she was going out with friends when in reality she was going to do homework in the park. It kept her from drifting back into the fog.

Charlotte had been sitting with Sam and her other friends at lunch. She would stare at her old table with longing, but the only time any of them spared her a glance was the day Anthony surely told them about the breakup. They didn't want to be associated with her after that. At first, she tried to initiate conversations with them, but she gave up after being ignored each time. It was as if their good opinions of her had dissipated along with her relationship with Anthony.

Meanwhile, Charlotte's ex-friends were continuing their "war" with Raelynn. She witnessed many memorable pranks, including: the Replace Her Shampoo with Hair Dye, Post an Embarrassing Picture of Her All Over School, and Swap Her Deodorant with Butter.

Of course for each of these pranks, there were repercussions. Not for them, for Charlotte. Raelynn was well-aware that she was not the actual perpetrator of the pranks, but it didn't stop her. One time, she convinced the entire school to refer to Charlotte as "chlamydia" for a week. Then to top it all off, today she started a rumor about Charlotte being "easy". On its own it wasn't diabolical, but when you added in the perverts and disapproving teachers, it was a bit much.

At lunch, she was waiting in line, ignoring everyone as usual when someone touched her butt. It was not just an accidental brushing of the hand. There was a hand planted firmly on her butt, and it squeezed.

Embarrassed and flustered, Charlotte spun around to find the sleaze. She was disappointed to find one of the few people that treated her like an actual human being. She glanced around to see if anyone else besides his posse had witnessed the harassment. No one spared them a glance.

The boy smiled lazily at her.

"Looking for—" he started. Charlotte slapped the smirk off his face before he finished that thought.

He stepped back with a hand to his tender cheek and his eyes widened in shock. Now everyone was paying attention. She left the silent cafeteria before he could compose himself.

Charlotte hid in the bathroom like she had weeks earlier, except without food. She longed for the razor. She needed to slice at her wrists and forget about the embarrassment. She wanted the pain.

By the time the period ended, Charlotte was called to the office. She sat in the cushioned chair across from the principal, playing with the ends of her sleeves.

The principal was a rather obtuse fellow who enjoyed the failures of children and whose bald scalp gleamed brighter than the futures he ruined. He clasped his greasy hands on the desk and leaned forward.

"I have a teacher that tells me you slapped Mister Hill at lunch without any reason. Out of nowhere." He mimed a slap. "Would you like to explain your actions, Miss Harris?" Mr. McDaniels raised his thin eyebrows at her.

Charlotte preferred detention to explaining the events in the cafeteria. Either way ultimately led to the same punishment. "No, sir."

Mr. McDaniels' beady eyes remained on her a second longer. He wiped a hand across his sweaty face before filling in a detention slip. "You have a week of after-school detention and you are also required to write a formal apology to Jacob. If you do not do this or are late to any of your detentions, you will serve an additional session and your parents will be notified."