On the Ledge

Seed of Hate

February

WEDNESDAY 10:23, SECOND WEEK

Sam and Brad were eating in the cafeteria. Even though the day was strange so far Sam decided not to pay any attention to the kids who would give them occasional weird glances. It was only when his phone buzzed that he pieced it altogether. He just received a Facebook notification. Apparently, Taylor tagged him in a post.

Taylor

YESTERDAY 14:45
Is it just me or are Sam and Brad acting all lovey dovey in the school yard today? Ugh, someone get me a throw up bucket stat...

TODAY 7:12
I woke up with an idea. What if we organise a competition called Who's the school's biggest loser? Sam and Brad are strong candidates but does anyone else wanna apply?

TODAY 7:50
In case you still haven't figured it out yet...Yes, Sam is the guy Brad was kissing at the party months ago. Yes, it sounds unbelievable and yes, he's completely disgusting. It must suck to be Sophia right now.

TODAY 10:23
Does anyone wonder how people like Sam and Brad still breathe? The world would be a better place without them.

His shoulder slumped when he read the latest post. Pink crept into his cheek. He knew Taylor was mean but he couldn't help but feel worthless after reading those posts. The comments beneath the posts were even more hateful. He glanced at Brad who was reading the posts as well. Once they made eye contact he knew what he was about to do. Brad got up and started toward the door.

" What are you doing?" Sam asked. Brad looked enraged.

" This has to stop. Right now! The principal has to hear about this."

" Don't do it." he called after him. Brad turned, frowning.

" Sam? This.." he pointed to his phone. " is not okay. Whoever is behind this needs to get punished."

Sam sighed. " It'll only get worse for us if we bring attention to it. Don't give them the satisfaction of knowing they got to us." he tried to reason with Brad who seemed to disagree.

"  What do you want us to do then?" Brad looked at him incredulously. "Just sit and watch how they make fun of us?" he said, referring to the people in the cafeteria who were snickering and mocking them.

Sam crossed his arms. " We don't even know who this Taylor person is!" he said through gritted teeth. " It could be anyone. The principal's not gonna do anything about it."

Brad sat down, fuming in anger. Sam reached for his hand but he moved it away, shaking his head in disbelief.

" We should just ignore it." Sam said, his eyes pleading with Brad. " If we give them no attention, eventually they'll get tired and they'll find another victim."

" I don't know, Sam.." he doubted. "This has been dragging for too long. Someone clearly has it in for you."