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φ Chapter Three φ

Harper's parents had to eventually drag her out of her room and practically force her to go to school. No matter how much she pleaded with them, they wouldn't have any of it.

See, being the parents of a teenage girl, you tend to believe that your child is dramatic. And in most cases, that's the truth. But Harper wasn't that kind of girl, she always strived to be as honest and mature as possible. And yes, obviously she had her days and mood swings, what sixteen year old girl doesn't?

As Harper made her way down the hallway, she felt the heavy eyes push her almost down to the floor and the crude laughter fill her eardrums. She fought desperately to fight back the tears, but only succeeded at hiding her face under her hoodie.

Chewing on the string, Harper pulled the hood as far down as she could and entered the combination to her locker: 40 right and laughter, 16 left and teasing, and 23 right and shoving. Madison and her boyfriend walked passed, not missing the opportunity to push her into her locker.

Harper's face slammed into the locker shelf and she nearly lost her balance as all her books fell out, making their way across the hallway. Harper's face flushed red, Why won't they just leave me alone!?

Harper frantically picked up each book as fast as she could when her hand touched another; it was #11, the football player, Zack. She blushed a little and stood up and he handed her Physics book. "T-thank you," she sniffled. "I'm Zach," he replied "Sorry about my friends, they can be real jerks." Harper only stared at the floor, "Yeah," she said softly. "Well... uh, see you around then," and he was gone.

Harper put all of her books back in her locker and shut it behind her as she walked to her first period. She'd had a crush on Zach Edwards since the second grade, but this was only the second time he'd noticed her. The first was in fifth grade when they had to be in "The Brady Bunch" play together.

Harper didn't meet Vincent at their normal spot at lunch. Instead, she used the time not only to avoid the group that only used their lunch to make fun of them, she also caught up on her missed schoolwork.

She didn't normally use the library as a place to hide from everyone else, but it actually made a pretty good spot. After turning in all of her late work, she still had ten minutes to her last periods. Inhaling a gasp of the crisp air, she sucked up as much courage as she could and approached her best friend.

"Where've you been?" he asked, as she took a seat beside him.

"I was... catching up on my missing assignments." she replied, taking a bite of her Peanut Butter & Nutella sandwich.

"And...?" probed Vincent.

"Ugh!" Harper groaned "Nothing! Why the hell does it matter anyway!"

Vincent flinched a little, then raised his eyebrows, "Touchy..."

"I'm not fucking touchy. I'm fucking irritated, okay!? Is that a problem!?"

"No..." Vincent murmured "I'm your best friend, though... you can tell me what's bothering you, you know?"

Harper sighed, "I know... and I'm sorry. I've just been really... humiliated lately and I don't know what to do or how to react anymore."

"Just ignore-"

"No!" she interrupted "T-That's what everyone says; all those principals and posters and..." her voice trailed off "It doesn't work nor help anyone. I don't know what motivation is given to them, but I want them to leave me alone!"

Vincent couldn't reply. He didn't know how. He wanted to help his friend, but what was there to do? Harper was hurting... badly. And he needed to figure out how to stop this before it was too  late.

A.N/ Hey OITs! If you have any ideas for this book, I'd love to hear them! I'm sort of getting writers block, but I won't delete, promise! :) Bye!