Death of the Perfect Girl

37- The Silent

     Poppy sat in Liam's car in silence. Silence was her new self. She was a paranoid person and one of her fears was being hated. She was about to step into a school of whispers and unconscious bullies who barely knew the real story...who barely knew her.

Liam had tried his best to comfort her and cheer her up but she knew that if she got just a little happy it would be ripped away the moment she stepped into the parking lot.

They car slowly drove into the lot, passing a few of the students. One of them hit Poppy's window. She flinched.

"B*tch," the guy shouted, his friends laughing behind him.

Liam stopped the car. "What the hell?" He was prepared to get out and fight for his friend and window.

Poppy put her hand on his arm.

He turned to her.

Her eyes were filled with tears. She shook her head.

He frowned then he wiped a tear off her cheek. "I'll be by your side all day, okay?"

She nodded.

They pulled into an empty spot and both sat in the car waiting for Fisher.

Poppy sat with her eyes shut trying not to cry. She couldn't understand it. How could Sadie destroy her life with one video? All she could think about were the comments.

"Poppy sounds like a bitch."

"Don't worry Sadie. We'll kill her first if we have to."

"She's just jealous because she looks like her face was grated on a sidewalk. If she keeps this up it might be "

Fisher came running over to the car. He quickly opened her door.

She looked at him with pouted lips and a frown. "I'm sorry."

He quickly climbed into the car.

"Fisher," Liam shook his head trying not to chuckle. "You can't fit in the front of the car. It's not made for three."

Fisher lifted Poppy unto his lap, wrapping his arms around her and resting her head on his shoulder. "You don't have anything to be sorry about. None of this is your fault. She lied in her video. A video that she didn't even have to post in the first place."

She began to cry.

Fisher squeezed her as tight as he could. "Don't cry."

Liam stared at them. He smiled at Fisher. He hadn't trusted him before. He thought Fisher was playing Poppy but he was beginning to change his mind.

Poppy shook as she wept.

A group of girls passed by the car.

One of them looked at them. "Is that Poppy?"

They all turned to her.

"Oh my god," one of them rolled their eyes," Is she crying? Such a pussy." She lifted her phone and took a picture of her and Fisher.

Liam quickly got out of the car. "Are you frickin' kidding me?"

The girls giggled and ran away.

Poppy wiped her cheeks and looked at Fisher. "I'm ready to go inside."

He furrowed his brows. "We should wait until the bell rings. There won't be many people in the hallway-"

"I'll have to face then eventually. I should get it over with."

Fisher gazed at her as she cleaned the tears off her face with a tissue from her pocket. He opened the door and got out of the car. He stood watching her fix her eye makeup in the car mirror. She ran her fingers through her hair, sniffling and taking shaky breaths. She wiped her cheeks one more time, then she got out of the car.

Liam shut the door, and looked at her. "You seem better."

Poppy fixed her black t-shirt. "I can't let this prevent me from getting an education," she giggled, her cheeks swelling up and causing a tear to run down her face again. She quickly wiped it away taking a deep breath and standing straight.

Fisher held her hand with a compassionate smile.

She smiled back squeezing his hand. "Thank you."

He gave her a nod then they all started making their way towards the school.

Poppy's body began to tremble. She was terrified. Terrified that the world would hate her. That those who wanted to kill her for Sadie might actually do it. She looked at Fisher.

He give her a look. The look that let her know that he believed in her.

She looked at the door to the school and shut her eyes, whispering a prayer, then she reopened them, feeling ready. She stepped forward.

*   *   *

Sadie walked into Mr. Pearce's classroom.

He glared her the moment he saw her. "I can't believe you went against everything that I told you-"

"Is this why you texted me?"

"What did you expect? Me to congratulate you for hurting an innocent person?"

"How exactly did I hurt her and what part of her is innocent?"

"You put a video online saying that she wants to kill you-"

"It was a story. People know that. They won't take it seriously."

"Have you read your comments?" Pearce looked at his phone. "I almost cried when I did."

Sadie rolled her eyes but knowing he felt sad made her frown.

"There's death threats...," Pearce shook head. "People making fun of her looks. Someone called her the n-word. Sadie, whether your intentions were good or not, people hear what they want to hear and to them Poppy's a psychopath."

Sadie glared at him. "Maybe she is."

Pearce furrowed his brows. "Excuse me-"

"You're so caught up in looking at what people said about her, did you see what they said about me? I have more than two hundred dislikes on this video, that just came out yesterday. I have comments about my weight and how skinny I am. And then there are comments on my race too. This is a wake up call for Poppy. She lives in a fairytale world where she wants everyone to like her. She needs to realize that she doesn't deserve that and learn to suck it up and move on."

Pearce squinted at her. "Why don't you think she deserves to be liked?"

Sadie stood catching her breath from ranting.

Pearce stepped closer to her. "Did you post that video hoping she would get hate? Is this revenge for something?"

Sadie grit her teeth.

"Sadie...what do you have against Poppy?"

She lifted her head proudly. "I hate her."