What If? A Tale of Bullying, Suicide, and Looking the Other Way [Complete]

Chapter Two: Public Humiliation

Abby and I have been excited about going open skating all week. True to my nature, I spread the word far and wide. By Friday, the whole eighth grade wing was buzzing about going to open skating at the Arctic Blast Ice Rink.

"Madison! Ahhh...it is going to be so much fun! I can't believe how many people are talking about going tonight." Abby squealed, jumping up and down like a Mexican jumping bean on the sidewalk on our way home.

"I know! Right?! I had no idea that so many kids even knew how to skate." I laughed back at her antics.

"Guess who I heard was going?...Cole Miller and Blake Smith!!" Abby and grabbed onto each other and squealed while jogging our feet in place rather quickly. Abby has had a crush on Cole since the first day of sixth grade. One look and she was a goner. It was probably about a month into middle school that I first noticed Cole. Sure I thought he was cute at first, but my crush didn't really grow until this year.

"Maybe they will skate with us. That would be sooo AMAZING!!" I gushed back at her, then began to daydream about holding hands to a song while making laps around the rink.

When we were reaching Abby's street, I noticed someone bent over picking up a bunch of stuff out of the snow. Poor Claire, it looked like someone dumped her backpack in the snow. Her papers were everywhere.

"I don't know why people are so mean to her." I whispered to Abby as we passed by.

"I know. It doesn't make any sense. I have never seen her say or do a mean thing to anyone." Abby responded back. We both turned our heads to give her a sympathetic look, then continued towards Abby's house to eat and get ready for skating.

When we reached the rink, we thanked Abby's mom for the drive. We were both thankful that she was dropping us off. The last thing we wanted was to be seen in front of half the school with a parent. That would be so embarrassing. We were about twenty minutes early because Abby's mom had to take her little brother to Karate practice. We didn't mind at all. We got the best pick of rental skates.

"Hey, isn't that Claire Hunter out there?" Abby asked me when we were tying up our skates. I looked up from the bench and sure enough it was.

"Wow, she's really good." I commented back. First she was skating forward, then she flipped around to backwards. I was surprised when she began to spin, faster and faster, like a top. What shocked me the most was the smile on her face. She actually looked happy out there. Claire looked really pretty when she smiled.

"Impressive." Abby said with her mouth slightly open.

Shortly after, the buzzer went off at the rink and the Zamboni entered the ice. I watched as Claire made her way over to a table and started to remove her skates. Just then, loud laughing was heard by the door way. Brett, Kirsten and a bunch of their friends entered the rink. I quickly turned my focus back on Claire, just in time to see the smile slip from her face and a sadness seep in.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is, Claire Hunter." Kirsten sneered as she approached the table. Claire cast her eyes down and tried to focus on unlacing her skates as quickly as possible.

"What are you deaf or just plain stupid. We're talking to you." Brett piped up. By now, a pretty decent sized group was crowded around Claire.

"Why are you even here? You are so stupid. Nobody wants you to skate with us." Kirsten boasted.

"I'm not skating with you." Claire responded in a small voice.

"That's right you're not. Nobody likes you and nobody wants you here. Right guys?" Kirsten responded, getting back-up from the kids behind her. There was a chorus of that's rights and go homes that followed.

At this point, Claire had both of her skates off and was placing them in her bag. While watching this, my eyebrows furrowed together and my lips turned downwards. I really wished her parents were here so they could stick up for her. This was just so sad to watch. She quickly pushed the last of her items in her bag and stood up to leave. As she was walking away, Brett stuck his foot out and tripped her, causing her fall forwards on her hands and knees. Claire let her head hang for a second, then she tried to stand up. Kirsten came up from behind her and pushed her down again. I glanced around the rink to see why no adult was stepping in, but the group of kids had concealed them pushing Claire down.

Finally, Claire got back up to her feet after being knocked down a couple of more times. Her face broke my heart as tears streamed down her cheeks. She made her way to the door, only to be shoved from behind one last time.

"Go home you idiot. We don't want you here, nobody does." One of the kids called out at her. Claire wiped her tear stained cheeks and slipped through the doors and started to walk to a waiting car in the parking lot.

"Now since that stupid girl is gone, let's have some fun!" Brett called out. The lobby area had filled up with kids and they all cheered. Skating was a lot of fun and I was really looking forward to it. Standing at the skate rental window was Cole and Blake. I sigh internally. I buried down the bad feelings that I was having and decided to focus on having a good time with my friends from school and maybe getting Blake to skate with me.

***Comments and Feedback are welcome. If you like where I am going with this story and feel that more awareness should be made towards bullying and childhood suicide, please vote.***

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My chapters are going to be short to make it a quick read for all ages. This is an important topic and I wish to reach everyone.