Life at the High

Bleach

Miko had heard about Charity being pulled from class by police. She couldn't believe any of the rumors she was hearing about what happened after, and of course, the only reliable gossip source she could trust was the one being gossiped about.

She signed up for a beautification project at school and decided to put her bleach, trash bags, and gardening tools in her car so it would all be ready for the next morning. As she neared her front door, she thought she'd heard faint sounds of her next door neighbors. She wasn't sure and decided to wait a few moments to see if she could either be sure of what it was or wait it out.

The items she was carrying became full, and she decided it would be best to rush to her car and get back inside. She hated knowing Bronte was being abused, but she was pretty sure Bronte didn't want any help when it came to this. She wasn't ready for that yet, and Miko understood and tried to respect it.

Miko tried to be silent as she feared making too much noise would somehow bring the very negative attention from next door onto her.

She heard the husband scream, "It's your fault" and "Just fucking stop."

Miko dropped her gallon of bleach. She went weak at how Bronte must have been feeling guilty over probably having done nothing wrong at all.

Things next door went silent and Miko hurried to her car, barely holding onto everything she was carrying.

Bronte walked out and began to get into her car. Miko thought she was going to pee on herself because she just knew the husband was going to step outside next.

Bronte saw Miko and stood next to her car door and cried. "Please. Please understand I didn't mean to hurt him.

In Miko's mind, it all came together in a million little pieces but quickly all at once. "I got bleach and trash bags." She held her bleach up. "We can finish this now after what he's done to you."