Emma: Seventh Grade

Chapter 34: Retaliation

"So you decided to tattle on us, you little shit!"

Emma felt herself being thrown up against the wall by Kendra, who had a firm grip on the front of her sweatshirt. Kendra's teeth were clenched in anger, and her brown eyes glared relentlessly into Emma's scared, blue ones. Not far behind Kendra stood Briana, Laken, Alyssa, and Nate, all of whom gazed at Emma with merciless looks. All five of them were in gym class with her, and no sooner had Emma entered the gym, they had all surrounded her like a pack of wolves, with Kendra roughly grabbing her by the front and slamming her up against the hard, brick wall. Mr. Ferrington was late for class, as usual, and all the other kids were either running around playing or standing in groups chatting.

"I-I'm sorry!" Emma stammered as she felt Kendra's sharp fingernails dig into her bony chest. "Mrs. H-Hanke found me and-d f-forced me to...."

"One more damn excuse and I'll pull your pants down for everyone to see your ugly ass!" Kendra interrupted, slapping Emma on the cheek. "I'm dead serious!"

Wincing in pain, Emma stumbled forward, but managed to catch her balance before she toppled over on the ground.

"You're soon gonna find out what we do to tattlers," Briana hissed, kicking Emma as hard as she could in the left shin. "And you're gonna regret it!"

"Ow!" Emma cried, drawing her injured leg up towards her stomach so she could rub her bruised shin. "Guys, stop it!"

"One more peep out of you and all five of us will be kicking you at the same time!" Kendra snarled, grabbing Emma's blonde hair and yanking it, forcing her to look directly into Kendra's mean face. "Got it, you big, fat crybaby?"

Emma whimpered in pain as her head was jolted in Kendra's direction. She felt stands of hair being ripped out of her head with Kendra's forceful tug. "Y-yes," she answered as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Good," Kendra answered, letting go of Emma's hair. Turning to her friends with a mean smirk spreading across her face, she asked, "Now who wants to help me throw this piece of shit away before it causes any more trouble?"

Emma glanced around nervously as Briana, Alyssa, Laken, and Nate all chorused their agreement with Kendra's plan. What were they gonna do to her now? Her heart raced in apprehension as the group encircled her, whispering and giggling amongst each other.

Just then, Kendra grabbed Emma by the wrists, pulled both her arms behind her body, and tied her hands together with a ponytail holder. "Come on!" she barked, shoving Emma forward across the gym floor while the others willingly followed. 

Emma had no choice but to go with them. With her hands tied behind her back, she kept moving forward as Kendra kept mercilessly pushing her from behind. They walked across the gym towards the door at the other end that led directly outside. Emma's heart sank as she realized that outside was exactly where they were headed. She felt Kendra push her roughly into the door, forcing it to open.

Stumbling outside in the thin layer of snow that covered the ground, Emma shivered. She had a very low tolerance to cold; however, she dared not say anything lest Kendra would make her current punishment even more severe.

"This way," Kendra commanded, grabbing Emma by the shoulders and directing her towards the big, green dumpster that sat just outside the building.

Emma's pounding heart raced even faster as they approached the dumpster; she had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next.

"Okay, stop right here," Kendra demanded, parking Emma directly in front of the dumpster. "And do not move unless I tell you to!"

Emma did exactly as she was told. She stood completely still and stared at the ground, frozen with fear. She pressed her bony knees together in order to keep her thin legs from shaking from both anxiety and the cold. Every breath she exhaled formed a small, white cloud that quickly dissipated in the chilly winter air. The decorative holes in the thighs of her jeans only provided another passageway for the cold to reach her body.

"Sooo....should we strip her? Or should we be nice and leave her clothes on?" Laken's voice sounded from directly behind Emma's back.

"Are you kidding me?!" Kendra's voice sounded adamant. "We are stripping her fucking ass!"

"Yeah!" Alyssa chimed in. "She decided to tattle on us and get us in trouble, now she's gonna get what's coming to her!"

Emma's stomach lurched when she heard those words. Not this humiliating experience again! "Please, please don't strip me!" she cried in desperation as tears ran down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I ever tattled on you! It won't happen again!"

"Shut your big, fat, lying mouth!" Kendra snapped as she yanked Emma's pants down, revealing her bare bottom. The others joined in by untying Emma's hands and ripping off her sweatshirt simultaneously.

"No! Stop it!" Emma sobbed. She failed her arms out and kicked her feet in an effort to stop Kendra's gang from undressing her further.

"Stop fighting us, you little brat!" Kendra hissed.

With that, Emma felt someone give her a massive push that sent her toppling to the ground, face first. As she lay on the cold, hard cement, she was held firmly in place while the rest of her clothes were torn off of her. Sobbing throughout the whole process, Emma was shaking violently and she felt like she could barely breathe from crying so hard.

"All right, let's throw her in!" Alyssa's voice sounded excited. 

Emma felt herself being picked up from under the arms and raised to a standing position. Looking behind her, she spotted Laken and Briana both hoisting her up at once. Then, Nate grabbed her by the feet and, on the count of three, they effortlessly tossed Emma into the air above the open dumpster as she screamed for her life.

Emma landed at the very bottom with a loud thud, taking most of the impact on her left side. For a few moments she lay without moving on the cold metal, as the blow had knocked the wind out of her. The pain from her fall was so severe that she felt like she was going to pass out from it. She heard Kendra and her gang laugh maliciously as they walked away, yelling out that she was a worthless piece of trash and that she should just kill herself. 

Emma gasped for air as she struggled to sit up; the inside of the dumpster was nearly empty except for a few garbage bags sitting around and all she could hear was her own breath echoing off the walls. Her bare body was shaking uncontrollably from the cold, but that did not stop the tears of embarrassment and pain from coming.

Curling up into a ball on the cold, metal floor of the dumpster, Emma started sobbing. She wished she had never told anyone about her bullying problem. In spite of being punished for their actions, Kendra and her friends were going to make Emma's life even more miserable in retaliation. Stopping them was out of the question; they would continue to harass her as long as she went to school there. The only way out would be to switch schools, but Emma knew her mom had no money to pay for the private school that Hannah went to. She could ask to switch school districts, but knowing how little her mom cared about her problems, Emma doubted that it would ever happen.

As she continued to shiver, Emma knew she had to get herself out of the dumpster before someone found her there. Her fingers and toes were starting to take on a bluish hue and her limbs were stiff with cold. Slowly and painfully getting to her feet, Emma wiped the tears from her eyes and gripped the edge of the dumpster in an attempt to hoist herself up. However, her fingers were so cold that she could barely hold on, and as Emma attempted to pull herself over the edge, she lost her grip and tumbled down once again on the hard metal floor below.

Tears filled Emma's eyes as she once again lay on the ground. Her whole body ached and her head throbbed with pain. She was so cold she could barely stand it anymore; she had to do something to get out of there. Her mind felt like it was in a fog; she could hardly think, let alone get up. She lay there in a daze, staring up at the sky, which was blanketed with a huge, white cloud. Her muscles slowly stopped shaking as the cold took over her body; her breathing and heart rate slowed down drastically and her consciousness was slowly slipping away. Her eyelids closed and Emma was plunged into a sea of darkness.