Forever And A Day

Ten: The Past

High School . It had a status quo that one had to follow to fit in . If you didn't life would be hell . Teenagers can be crueler than preteens and younger kids .

My first year breezed by .

No. That's a lie .

My first year was hell . Especially with Max's girlfriend  being there to bully me and my friends .

Max saw what she was doing ,but never defended us . I hated him for it and I wasn't over the book incident .

I still visited Lyssa and Jessie . We'd become great friends . I just didn't visit when Miranda was there because the one time I did she'd treated me like I was the trash in the trashcans that lined the streets on a certain time of the week when the recycling truck would pick up all the trash .

Mostly Jessie and Lyssa visited me on those days .

I still saw Max ,though , but never had a conversation with him .

It saddened me that our once blooming friendship had been reduced to nothingness.

I missed him greatly every single day . I only didn't give in and go see him. I suppose that,that had been a grave mistake on my part. I regret that now .

My second year started out to be pretty busy . Classes were hectic .

After school I worked in Uncle Joel Malan's Supermarket to save money . I'd started there in December and he'd asked me if I could come in every day after school . I took the job and me and his daughter Katrina became friends . We were in the same Grade so we helped each other with homework and such .

She became one of my group of friends that sat with me every day at lunch .

I didn't just have girls for friends . I also had boys . Four to be exact . Thabo , Sarel, Kevin and Amir. They were all from different backgrounds and cultures .

Amir was an Indian boy who's parents had come to South Africa from India when they were newly weds.  Kevin was a coloured boy who's parents had lived all their lives in Seagull Bay . Thabo came from Johannesburg the previous year to live with his grandparents and  Sarel's parents was doctors .

Then there was the girls Ursula , Katrina , Estie , Lorato and Bonita.

Lorato was Thabo's cousin . Or to be more exact sister as he called her for whatever reason . I still don't understand that particular thing about their culture ,but hey I'm truly happy to have them as my friends .

Estie was a girl I've known since Primary as was Ursula . Katrina I've already explained about .

It was somewhere in the winter holidays that a camp was opened for all kids from fourteen and up .

The owner of the property was a friend of Max's parents and he was hosting this two week camping event .

Camping wasn't mandatory ,but most parents and guardians was probably too happy to get rid of their troubled teens that it didn't matter if we wanted to go or not .

My Mom forced me to go and I had no chances of getting out of it .

And of course Max and Lyssa,who was now a fourteen year old beauty, was forced to go too by their mother .

Jessie who was in her last year of primary school was lucky to not have to go.

Oh and she rubbed it in every chance she got .Lyssa and I didn't know if we wanted to strangle her or not .

Max was different ,though. He could've protested against it and Aunty Emma might've listened to him ,but he didn't protest and he was going to drive us to camp . I had no say in the matter so I kept my mouth shut .

Two weeks worth of clothes and stuff were packed  carefully and neatly and then the day for leaving arrived .

I wasn't surprised when he picked up Miranda up on that day . I should've known that she'd be coming too .

She glared at me and Lyssa where we sat on the backseat of Max's car . She had clearly not anticipated that we would be coming too .

" What's the shrimp doing here ?", I heard her ask Max ,her voice dripping with anger .

" She's my neighbor ,Mira Sweetheart , and she's Lyssa's friend . "

Max's voice was neutral and that must've aggravated her more because the next moment I felt someone grab my hair and pulled me harshly out of the car .

I heard Max shout and Lyssa cry out in alarm ,but I was in too much pain to listen properly .

My scalp burned and my hair felt like it was being torn from my skull.

" You're not going with us !", Miranda spat into my face as she yanked me around by my hair .

I started crying , begging for her to let go of my hair ,but she didn't  . She was too angry it seemed .

All of a sudden the pressure on my hair was gone and I slumped to the ground feeling dizzy as my head throbbed  painfully .

My ears sang , yet I heard someone yelling even though I couldn't hear anything .

The next thing I know I'm being carried back to the car and being dumped beside Lyssa who encircled her arms around me.

The dam wall broke and I started silently sobbing while Lyssa tried to comfort me .

To this day I would never understand what possessed Miranda to treat me like that . Why did she even hate me so much back then ?.

I was younger than her . I didn't hang out with her . She was beautiful.  More than I could ever be and yet she hated me for some reason . I was so confused .

I cried myself to sleep , waking up only when we reached the camp in the afternoon .

My head was still sore . I just didn't show it as I grabbed my bags , acting as if I didn't see Max and Miranda .

I didn't know that, that incident was just the beginning of Miranda's treatment towards me . I would be utterly helpless throughout the whole two weeks .

Max was different , though , somehow . He started hanging out with me again and I ,sucker that I was, forgot about the book incident and forgave him .

Big mistake I tell you . Big bloody mistake .

              ♥️💚♥️💜💚♥️💚
Sorry just a sort of filler . Hugs .