Before You Go

New Day, Same Pain, But With You

(This chapter contains some  violent physical bullying) 

"Good morning Natalie!" the text said.

The tired girl slowly picked up her phone and answered the message. Her eyes were closing and was half-awake. Riley asked her questions like "How was your sleep?" or "Did you have any dreams?". Natalie didn't have the motivation or energy to answer the rest of her questions, but she didn't want to be rude. Without noticing, her eyes closed and her phone fell out of her hand on the bed. 20 minutes later, Natalie wakes up with the sound of  her mom yelling and banging on the door. "WAKE UP YOU'RE LATE!!!" Her eyes widened. She got out of bed so quick that it made her dizzy. She quickly got ready and and ran out the door. "Shit I'm not gonna make it!" Natalie tried to run faster but she was already out of breath. It was 8:55. School starts at 9. She was just right around the corner but knows that she won't make it in time. The girl walked for the rest of the distance she had left. Entering the school, she went to the front office and got a late pass. Natalie walked up the stairs, knowing the moment she walks in, all eyes will be on her. With a trembling hand, she twisted the door knob and opened it. All of her classmates looked back at her. "Oh good you're here, take a seat!" Mr. Collins' said. She took a seat and sat there quietly. "Okay class, today is the day you all have partners for your project!" She always hated doing partners, mostly because she always ends up with a person who doesn't do the work. But this time, it was assigned partners. Natalie could feel her heart beating out of her chest, hands shaking, and lots of worries. "Natalie and Chris, you two will be working on the stages of mitosis." She sighed of relief. He wasn't one of the bossy or lazy kids. They both worked together for the rest of the class period.

The bell ringing was something Natalie hated. People would stare at her, judge her, insult her, just bad things and the teachers won't even notice. But that thought only crossed her mind once today. She was excited to see Riley. While looking for her in the crowd of people, she suddenly feels someone pulling her backpack, almost like dragging her in a crowd. She quickly got free by removing her arms from the straps, feeling scared. The students started to follow her, ready to beat her up. Natalie ran to the girls bathroom in a dark hall hoping that they won't find her. She sat on the toilet with her legs folded, knowing that she can't hide in there forever. She suddenly hears the door open, and sounds of footsteps.

"We know you're in here..."the student said. Natalie kept her mouth shut and her feet out of site, trying not to move. The sound of the doors getting pounded on startled her. The door
finally got loose and opened. Before getting beat up, she yelled out "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS??" The scary figures ignored her question and they picked her up. She screamed for help  and no one came. She felt hopeless. Like no one can hear her except for herself. They punched her and knocked her out for a good 5 seconds. "Go kill yourself, no one will miss you."One of the guys said as they left the bathroom. Feeling numb, Natalie slowly got up from the floor, blood dripping from her nose. The left side of her face was full of bruises from the punch, while her nose was bleeding. She rested her arms on the sink, sobbing. She looked at herself while replaying the phrase in her head

"Go kill yourself, no one will miss you."

The bruised girl sobbed even harder, making her fall. She curled up in a corner, and cried. She didn't want to live this kind of life anymore. She wanted to be free from everything bad
that has happened to her. She slowly got up and cleaned the remains of blood coming down her nose. With the bruises being not as visible as she thought it would, she covered it with her hair. After wiping her tears and cleaning her face, she walked out like nothing happened. 

Natalie's next period was an easy class, because the teacher always puts in random good grades on things that the students don't turn in or fail. She opened the door and as always, all eyes were on her. She sat in the back of the class like she always does. She put in her earbuds and listened to music. Listening to music helped her be calm and focused, but also with lifting her mood. After a couple of minutes, the bell rang. She got up, grabbed her stuff, and left as fast as she could. Until she saw a familiar girl. It was Riley. She went to her and said hi. In her head she wanted to run up to her, hug her, and tell her how much she missed her. But she couldn't. They both walked together, talking. Riley had to go to the bathroom so she asked Natalie to go with her, and she said yes. While waiting on Riley to finish, she kept on having flashbacks. Flashbacks from when her and the bullies were in the bathroom... surprisingly not to long ago. She could still feel the pain from the punch, and she could still hear her screams. As soon as Riley got finished, She washed her hands. She went up to Natalie letting her know it's time to go. Natalie pushed her hair back a little, forgetting that the bruise was still there. Riley noticed. "What's that on your cheek? Are you ok?" she said, looking concerned. "I'm fine." Natalie lied. Riley knew she wasn't fine. The look on her face doesn't even show that she's fine. "It's ok, you can tell me. I'm here to listen." Natalie stopped and started crying. She told her everything that had happened. After listening, Riley gave her hug. She wished that she was there to protect her, but she wasn't. She felt guilty. They stared into each other's eyes, blushing. Natalie looked down at Riley's lips, slowly leaning towards her. Riley did the same. They both leaned in, about to kiss. Until Natalie suddenly panicked and leaned back. "Ah um, i'm sorry I didn't mean that i-" She said nervously. "It's ok haha you don't have to apologize!" Riley interrupted. They both smiled at each other. Riley thought that Natalie's smile was always beautiful, so she was happy to see her smile.

It was the end of school and Natalie didn't want to go home. Until Riley asked her something: 

"Hey, my parents aren't home, mind if you come over until they come back?"

Natalie's eyes widened with shock. She was sure her parents wouldn't mind as long as they knew where she was. She texted her mom to ask, and she said yes. They both happily walked to her house. Finally, they were here. "Wow, your house is pretty big!" Natalie said, looking amazed. Riley lived in a two story house, where it was probably more room to move around. Natalie's house is a pretty big one story house, but not that much. They both went inside, Natalie looking at everything. "Oh wow, It's not what I expected but it's still pretty big." Natalie said. "Thank you!" Riley exclaimed. They both went upstairs and to her room. Both of them sitting in quietness was getting pretty boring. "So what's your favorite movie?" Riley asked. "Can't Help Falling in Love" Riley searched it on netflix. "Ooh cool it's part of the international movies haha" Riley said.   

An hour passed and the movie finished.  They were both crying and had the tissue box between them. "That movie was really sweet" Riley cried. Natalie agreed. She put her head on Riley's shoulder and said:

"Thank you for being my friend, and just for being there for me." 

Riley looked at her knowing that she wasn't there when Natalie got punched in the bathroom. Natalie knew that. "It's ok, it was a bathroom in a dark hall that was far from everyone anyways..." Natalie said. Suddenly the front door to the house opens. It was her parents. They both came downstairs and said hi "Hi Mr. and Mrs. and Mr. Davis." Natalie said respectfully. They both said hi, and asked her if she needed a ride home. "No thank you, I'll just walk home."

*i wanted to add more but the continuation is going to be in the next chapter*