Bully // l.h. // Book 1 of Bully Series

5. Old News, Buddy

To put it into very simple terms, my week sucked. I talked to Wyatt and Kendra every night, but those were only tiny moments of somewhat happiness while everything else was downright awful. Firstly, there was Luke, who had decided to taunt me despite the fact that he never got any reaction. His jibes were always the same, and his friends seemed like they hated when he was doing it. But clearly he got a kick out of attempting to make my life horrible. Secondly, my father had stopped trying. I wasn’t even entirely positive he even had his job anymore. Maybe they were allowing him to work at home? Probably not, though. And lastly, I had to pretend my life wasn’t a living hell. That was, by far, the worst. Ashton had been texting me, and once had even called just to chat. I had to act like a happy-go-lucky girl whose life had been nothing but fantastic.

It sucked.

A lot.

The only good thing about this coming week? I would get to see Ashton again on Saturday, and even meet his band. God only knew that I needed more friends in this area. Maybe the gig would be the turning point for me; maybe everything would start getting better.

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*The Following Friday*

 I stared up at Luke, knowing full well that he was about to begin his onslaught of insults and such. Megan and Calum were in the background, as they always were. As usual, the two looked uncomfortable. When he didn't immediately start trying to get a rise out of me, my eyebrows shot up. I set my pencil down and leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. 

  "Well?" I prompted after a long pause. As if that was all he needed, Luke started taunting me. My accent, how American people were stupid, stuff like that. The usual stuff. However, today, he said something that caught my interest- and not in a good way.

  I leaned forward slightly, my eyes narrowing as I interrupted, "What did you just say?"

  A flicker of delight flashed through Luke's features as he realized he'd found something with the potential to gain a reaction from me. He plopped down into the chair next to mine and leaned forward.

  "I said your mum doesn't love you." He repeated before grinning. "I mean, how could any woman want to stick around with you in the house?" 

  At first, I was shocked. How had he found out my mother was gone? I mean, I had only found out a week ago when I came home to a drunk father and a house void of my mother's belongings. However, looking at Luke for a moment longer revealed the fact that he didn't know, but was only going there because he'd seen potential for the reaction he had been trying to get out of me for a long time. As Luke continued slinging out insults relating to how no mother would love me, I saw Megan step forward. Her face showed extreme discomfort, and I knew she hated when he did this.

  "Luke, I think you're going a bit too far." She warned. Luke spun to face her, a false grin on his lips. 

  "But it's true, isn't it?" He continued. I sent a quick glance around the room. Everyone was looking. I contemplated the possibility of sticking it out until Mr. Gregory came back into the room. But, I knew the old, balding man wasn't the quickest person in the world. He could be gone for another ten minutes for all I knew.

  "I bet her mum wants to leave so badly." Luke said. Megan shook her head and glanced at me before turning back to Luke.

  "Haven't you-"  

"Don't stop him, Megan." I interrupted, causing all eyes to turn to me in shock. I turned my gaze to Luke. "Not when you're so damn close to the truth." Even Luke looked shocked at that, as if he hadn't actually expected me to agree with him.