TORN (One Direction fanfiction)

Chapter 2: Mean

"You, with your words like knives

And swords and weapons that you use against me

You have knocked me off my feet again

Got me feeling like I'm nothing

You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard

Calling me out when I'm wounded

You picking on the weaker man

You can take me down with just one single blow

But you don't know, what you don't know...

Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city

And all you're ever gonna be is mean

Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me

And all you're ever gonna be is mean

Why you gotta be so mean?"

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Emalin's POV:

Stepping out of my room and down the stairs of our old London flat, I was greeted by the delicious smell of my dad cooking bacon and pancakes, a tradition in the Kaeyn family. I giggled, seeing my brother already seated with a mountain of pancakes soaked in syrup in front of him.

Snapping his head around, he gave me a look that said,"So what? You know you're going to eat just as much as me!"

Sad part is, it's true.

"Don't look at me like that, fattie," I joked at him, sticking my tongue out.

He replied with a sigh, "And don't pretend your don't want just as much as I have."

"Good morning, Ema," my dad said, laughing at our cheerful banter. Ruggedly handsome, my dad was the envy of all the other dad's at our private school. He was where Ehli got his good looks, and his height. At 6'1, he was a pretty imposing figure, which matched perfectly with his job, a lawyer and volunteer firefighter. That's why he was gone most nights, he gave most of his time helping and saving people in our community.

"Morning, dad," I replied happily, giving him a big hug as a slid into a chair facing our counter, "Serve me up!"

After scarfing down about 4 pancakes in record time, I looked at the clock.

"GREAT GRANOLA, LOOK WHAT TIME IT IS!" I yelled, scaring my brother, who had apparently fallen asleep in his plate, and was now sheepishly wiping syrup off his face. Smooth.. I thought in my head, laughing along with my dad, who had sneakily taken a picture.

With my grumbling brother in tow, I grabbed a grey sweatshirt and my favorite aztec print backpack and raced out the door to my old used pickup truck that I got for my 16th birthday. I loved that old blue truck, even with it's chipped paint and squeaky back door.

Making sure both my brother and I were in the door, I started the car, and we were off.

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"I'm sexy and I know it," crowed my brother, shaking his black hair and jamming out to the radio.

"Shut up," I cracked up. My brother couldn't sing worth anything.

Even though it was only 7:30, the street was already buzzing with people and cars. I guess that's what you get for living downtown!

Suddenly, I heard the beat of my favorite song coming on the radio. It's quiet melody and sad words always gave me a jolt.

"Shut the door, turn the light off, I wanna be with you, I wanna feel your love.." began the song, Liam's voice ringing rich and true through my updated car speakers.

"Yes!" I whispered softly to myself, this was my favorite song, though I kept it to myself. I wasn't a huge fan of One Direction, unlike some of the girls who thought they were at my school, but this song really spoke to me. Luckly, I kept this secret to myself, because I knew that if I told anyone about this, the ridicule would never stop.

"Oh, look, it's my jam," Ehli joked; he was the only one I ever shared my secrets with, and he knew how much I liked this song. He began to sing, but I cut him off.

"Hush up," I teased, "I don't want your horrendous voice ruining this song."

Luckly, he quieted down, at least until the song trickled to an end.

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"Ahh!" I screamed quietly as I parked my car in it's usual spot at the very back of the school lot. "Parked with five minutes to spare!"

The first bell rang at a quarter to eight, and we had just barely made it. Ehli walked quickly, but slowed down as he got to the entrance. No doubt to take the five minutes we arrived early to go socialize. The new 9th grade "Mr. Popular" never rushes anywhere though, I guess. I slowly walked to the doors of our private school, Ahbourne. (A/N which is an actual private school in London, though I don't know anything about it! Just imagine(:)

Senior year. That's what was spinning through my head as I made my way slowly toward the steps of the school. Remembering the promise I made to myself just hours earlier, I shook out my shoulders and instinctively stood a bit taller, bracing myself for the usual chaos of the school.

Squeakkk. The antique doors groaned as I pushed them open. But don't be fooled, the inside of Ahbourne was state of the art. After going through the initial big doors, the whole school seems to change. A big clear sliding door leads out of the waiting room of the schoo', and behind those doors was just plain chaos.

Shhhkk. I guess that's what noise the sliding door makes, but that sure wasn't the sound I heard. All the air seemed to be sucked out of me. Over the summer, I had forgotten just how loud the school could be.

Slam! A locker on my right shuts, and a lock is carelessly slung onto the pale blue locker, quickly, since lockers aren't supposed to be open until the first bell. Pound, pound, pound. A sophmore jock bouncing a basketball is roaming down the hallway, lean arms wrapped around a skinny blonde, who is giggling. Finally, the noise I had been waiting to hear.

BRRRINNNGGG. The signal that everyone is supposed to report to their lockers to get ready for the early morning assembly. It was the same everyday, just a quick "hello", maybe a "welcome back" for today, and then a send off to first period.

Nothing ever changes here, I thought to myself, watching as the "populars", who for some reason hated me, walk off in their pink infused line; the jocks, bouncing balls and towering above everyone; the nerds, quietly shuffling through the hallway with bulging bags and schoolgirl skirts; and my group- the outcasts.

I walked in their direction, happy that we were aloud to choose our own lockers at the beginning of the year. Let me clear something up, too. Yes, our school is probably your stereotypical high school, but we treat each fair- at least when the teachers were looking.

I noticed a lot of new curious facing looking at me. No wonder- this was the first time I had held my head up high in a hallway, marched with pride and waved to my friends, who waved back with confusion.

Without notice, a sudden pink bag hit my shoulder, knocking me flat off my feet. My bag slid off my shoulder, and I landed with a resounding thud. Giggles flew across the hallway, all the girls were happy when another was humiliated- that's just how our school works. I stood up calmly, never the one to fight. Sadly, Skae was.

Without even trying, I knew it was her. Every since sophmore year, she had always been cruel and malicious to me. During freshman year, when I had first moved here, we had been best of friends, but as she soon learned that looks can get your anywhere, and she immediately dumped me. I had never worn makeup, never dressed fancy, so she just left. When sophmore year rolled around, she was a new person, and left me hanging. Soon, she was the most popular girl in the grade.

Her tall bony body leaned toward me, face in a grimace.

"Keep your head down, loser, "Skae hissed, "Stay an outcast and don't try anything funny senior year. I'm the boss here, so lose the new you."

Her idiot friends laughed, and with a flick of her dark hair, Skae and her posse snaked away, leaving me broken in the hallway.