Don't Let Go Of Me [ Jasper Hale ]

19 || Damn Freaks

I was losing all track of time
For a moment I thought I'd died

Phoenix, Arizona
MIRABELLE   SWAN

Phoenix heat was bad enough when you just stood outside. Being confined to a building that roasted you alive like a bronze bull was a whole other kind of hell. The torment didn't get any easier when I was trapped with a bunch of imbeciles for a whole 7 hours. I tried my best to listen to Mr. Wellington's rant on the anatomy of humans. But my doodles required more attention so I decided to give it to them. 

I was satisfied for a while but was interrupted by an intrusive kick to my seat. The snickering of the harlots behind told me who it was. When I didn't say anything they kicked my seat again albeit harder. My hand fisted my pencil. Mom's begging last night echoing in my head. We must've spent 3 hours glued to our seats across from one another at our crummy little dinner table. 

Her beautiful blue eyes turned red from the amount of stress her tears were putting them through. She was a mess over her youngest daughter - the troublemaker that never seemed to fit in at any school that she and her sister was moved to. This was our third school this year. Our options for places to graduate from were growing limited. At this rate, Bella was going to be the only one that graduated high school. 

I've gotten into more fights than I could count. The skin around my knuckles barely had time to heal between brawls. This was one of our last chances. If I screwed this up I wouldn't just be hurting myself, I'd be hurting Bella and Mom. That was unfair to them. 

So I endured it. Even when Avery Collin and her little side bitch Tina Bran started throwing insults my way. I tried keeping my mind focused on things other than their irritating voices. The moment the bell rang for lunch, I threw my bag over my shoulder and marched out into the busy hallway before I could spin on my heels and do something I would regret. 

Whenever I glanced to the side I'd notice the few eyes that kept themselves on me. They smirked as if they knew something I didn't. My feet drew closer to the exit leading to the track. When the desert heat hit my face it helped dispel the cold chill racking my body. This school was full of people that hated me. 

I couldn't tell Mom or Bella that I was being bullied for reasons beyond my comprehension. It started in the most typical manner. Avery was the cheerleader captain and it was practically ingrained in her DNA to pick on anything that got more attention than her. She and her pose would say a few snide comments here and there. 

But then her attention became focused solely on me when I started standing out in our shared classes for academic excellence. Soon our teachers were comparing her (the one with the lowest grades) and me (the highest). The insults persisted for a month or so, but when she realized they weren't doing anything she started playing dirty. 

My nickname that I'm so popular for is Trash-and-Dash. Terrible, I know. It was a jab at the fact that I wear second-hand clothing and a rumor that she had spread around the campus about me having been loose at my other schools. The rumor was false, but no one cared what I had to say. Idiots enjoyed joining in on humiliating a complete nobody.