Bullied (A Tal Fishman Fanfiction)

Chapter 22

When the movie was finally over and Tal and I had laughed our heart's out, we both stood up and stretched, grunting and making funny noises.  We kept making funny noises and pretending to stretch for the next few minutes, making fun of one another and laughing.  

"Tal?"

"Yes Eva?"

"Are you okay with us going to the beach?  It's only 4 o'clock."

"I don't know.....you remember what happened last time we went out somewhere."

"I know, but I hate being cooped up in here for so long.  I never got to go outside at the Cooper's, and I love to be outside.  If I could, I would live outside forever and never go inside anywhere ever again."

"Really? You love to be outside that much?"

"Yes.  It killed me to not be able to go outside ever."

"Why couldn't you?"

"They didn't want me running away or getting into any sort of trouble that they had to pay for...like property damage.  I was a teenager, and they didn't..and still don't..trust me."

"Why wouldn't they trust you?"

"I'm a teenager.  They knew that I didn't really like it there, and they thought I would get them back for something by making them pay a lot of money for the damage I would do to property's.  They may have even thought I would kill myself because I hated being there with them and going to school so much that I would just end my life because of it."

"Would you have ended your life?"  Tal asked.  I stayed silent, kneeling down on the floor and staring down.  Tal knelt in front of me, resting his hands on his knees while mine were rested on the floor.  I pressed my forehead against the floor, not wanting him to see the tears that were starting to streak down my face.  I couldn't contain them.  I knew that he would feel very guilty for what my answer would be, and I didn't want him to feel bad.

"I understand now why you bullied me, but I didn't at the time."  I whispered, trying to contain my composure and my normal voice so he wouldn't know I was crying.

"So you would've if you got the chance.  You would've ended your life...wouldn't you?"  He said, resting his hands on mine and pressing his head lightly to the back of mine.  

"I.............yes."  I whispered, hoping he couldn't hear me since my face was pretty much pressed flat against the floor.

"All because of me.  You would've taken your life because of me...because you didn't have anyone.  I should've been there for you.  I should never have done anything bad to you and instead, helped you through everything.  You had a bad enough time with the Cooper's, and I made the one place you could be yourself and be free into another place where you dreaded to go.  I made everything 100 times worse than it already was."  

"It wasn't your fault!!  You were just doing what you had to!"  I said, slowly lifting my head so I wouldn't hurt him.  I grabbed his hands and looked straight at him.  He did the same, tears falling down his cheeks slowly.  I could feel tears falling down my face also.

"It was my fault.  I could've let Andy be your friend.  I could've just ignored you and not have done anything bad to you or made you feel even worse than you already were feeling.  There were so many other ways I could've done things, and I chose the one way that was the most harmful to you."

"That's all in the past.  That doesn't matter anymore.  You didn't have really any choices.  If you would've let Andy be my friend, he would've gotten bullied too, and he doesn't deserve that.  If you would've just ignored me, I would've tried to talk to you and get to know you, and that would make things even worse.  You chose the right thing by trying to keep me as far away from you as possible and to make me hate you.  You didn't want me to get too close to you otherwise I would've gotten hurt.  If you hadn't done what you had, things would be much worse and we wouldn't be here right now.  I would probably be dead."

"You could still have been dead.  You could've taken your own life.  I would feel 100% responsible if you had taken your life because I would've been the cause of that."

"No, you wouldn't have.  It would have been Allison's fault.  She was the one forcing you to do these things.  The one thing I don't understand is, if Allison wanted you all to herself, why did you always reject her every time I saw you?"

"I only rejected her when you were around.  I didn't want to hurt you if you even liked me a little bit...even after everything I had done to you.  I didn't reject her though when she requested me to do something that I am extremely ashamed of.  I only did it because she threatened to hurt you.  I never wanted to do it, and I didn't enjoy it one bit."  I slowly let go of his hands, afraid he was going to say that they did what I think they did.  I moved farther away from him, staring at him in shock.

"What did you do with her?  Please tell me it's not what I think it is.  Please?"

"Eva...."

"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER TAL?"  I shouted, angry tears streaming down my face at a very fast pace.

"She made me have sex with her."

"I knew it."  I mumbled, standing up and rushing into the bedroom, closing and locking the door after grabbing my phone off the make-shift bar.  Before I shut it though, I looked at Tal, and he was still kneeling where he had been before.  I flung myself onto the bed and started crying on the pillows.  Of course...of all the things she could've forced him to do..it had to be that.  I don't know why it made me so upset, but it did.  I didn't know how to feel or how to react.  Instead, I just cried into the pillows for what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes.  I sat up with my back resting against the headboard and turned on my phone, sort of grateful that there was no new notifications.  I didn't know if I wanted Tal to try to call or text me.  I kind of hoped me would, but also hoped he wouldn't and would give me space.  I just needed some space for a little while to think.  There was a lot I needed to process.  I couldn't believe that he had sex with her.  He could've said no or told someone since it was considered rape.  I started wondering how many times they had did it, and decided to call Tal instead of actually seeing him.  I didn't think I could see him quite yet.  I hit the dial button and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?"  He answered, his voice raw from what I think was crying.

"Tal?"

"Eva?  Why are you calling me?  I'm literally right outside the door."

"I don't want to see you right now..but I need to know something."

"What?"

"How many times?"

"How many times what?"

"How many times did you do it with her?"

"Eva..."

"Please just tell me..I need to know."

"A lot."

"How much is a lot?"

"Over 20 times."  I instantly hung up, hearing the seriousness in his voice and knowing that he wasn't lying.  I couldn't stand that number.  Most people don't even do it that many times in their entire life times, and he had done it that many times with someone he "hated".  I was starting to wonder if he really did hate her or if my dream was starting to come true.  Was Tal in love with Allison and just using me?

To be continued....

A/N:  CLIFFHANGER!! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.  I know that there isn't much drama in this story and that most of the chapters are super boring, so I tried to spice it up a bit.  Thank you to all those who commented and voted!  It means the world to me when you comment what you think and vote on my story.  It gives me so much inspiration to write and hope that I really am a somewhat decent writer.  No one in my life thinks I'm good at writing.  They all think I'm an ugly, annoying person who can't do anything.  I don't have friends and I'll probably be alone forever.  Wattpad is the only place where I can be myself and let some of my creativity flow.  Thank you all for supporting me in being myself through this story....