One and Only

Chapter Four - Lies

That Friday, it was raining heavily. PE was scheduled to be outside, and the gym was taken so it was a free period. I sat in the library at the computer, playing mindless internet games, lsitening to the drops of water smash against the ground outside and collide with buildings and trees. Even though I loved the rain and I usually was a very bubbly person, I was miserable. I never thought I would be bullied. All my life I would hear of bullying and think, Gee, that's sad, but never really understood how it could destroy someone. And what I also misunderstood was the different forms it came in. I had never been physically abused (except for when Kelly Jones pulled my hair in grade 2), and no one had ever sent me any mean texts or emails. Surely nobody could hurt me any other way.

But they did.

I still remember my first week of high school. Jenna was in most of my classes, and I though she was so nice.

She wasn't.

We decided to be best friends. Chloe moved to our school the following semester and she and Jenna got on like a house on fire. Jenna finally didn't need me. She could have Chloe to save her from being a loner. So they neglected me.

And bullied me. If I so much as went to the library or toilets without informing them of where I would be and what time I would return, I would cop their angry gossip and be ignored for the remained of the day.

And I never realized that I needed to get out of that abusive friendship. Stupid. Blind. Naive.

So I lost my confidence, self-esteem, self-worth and a few years of my young life.

It was my lack of confidence that caused me to make another big mistake that rainy Friday afternoon.

Two chairs appeared beside me, and were subsequently filled with two bodies.

Guess who?

"Hey Ruby."

I turned, and stared. Why were they sitting with me?

Jenna spoke. "Whatcha doing?"

"Um..."

"Look, we've been thinking..." Chloe began.

"We've been really hard on you," Jenna continued. "You are our best friend. We can't ditch you."

I was in shock. What was happening?

Don't believe them! They're lying, Ruby! Lying!

Chloe said, "Do you want to come sit with us or stay here by yourself?"

"Ruby, we're really sorry."

"Really."

My face was red. My mind and heart both said the same thing: Don't do it. But my body, for reasons I will never know, did the opposite.

"Okay."

They were both pleased with themselves, so they smiled evilly and walked back across the room. I was compelled to follow or be bullied.

No, stupid girl. Stand up for yourself!

When I was sitting with them, they proceeded to tell me how awesome they were, how annoying every one else in the grade was, and how stupid the boys who rejected them were. I could hear it all - it was the same stuff they always talked about - but I was not listening. All I could think about was how I was stuck. How I would never be able to be free of these girls.

"You poor thing," Jenna said. "You must have been so sad these past few weeks - no friends - you must have cried non stop!"

Actually, I thought, the only reasons I was crying was because of how horrible you both were to me. Otherwise, I was overjoyed to NOT be friends with you.

"Oh," I said. "Yeah."

"You looked so lonely," Chloe said, as though she were a saint, "we felt so sorry for you."

Mercifully, at that moment, the final bell rang. I quickly stood up and walked away.

"Wait!" Jenna laughed. "Where are you going?"

I whirled. Where did they think I was going - to the staff room? "Home."

"You don't have to catch a bus. We can just sit here and talk for a while."

Cue awesome back-up plan.

"Well, actually I'm going to a friends house this afternoon and she catches a bus, so, yeah - bye!"

Chloe let out a short, amused laugh. "What friend?"

Jenna looked equally amused. "You don't have any other friends, Ruby."

I was deeply hurt. "What makes you say that?"

Chloe waved me back over. "We still have to show you what Lottie commented on my Facebook post. Ugh. You won't believe it."

Lottie was a better friend to me than they were. And that was when my back-up plan folded out perfectly. "Oh, that's okay," I told them. "I'm going to Lottie's this afternoon, so I can just ask her what she commented."

Their faces went pale. This made me slightly happy, and also boosted my confidence to a minimum degree. I smiled. "See ya!"

But little did I know, that afternoon would not go as smoothly as I planned.