Adopted by Heathers Cast

Why Do They Hate Me? Why Don't I Fight Back?

It was the first day of school since I sprained my ankle, and it was pretty much better by now. I still had to take it easy, but I was scared to go into school.

When I walked in the building, Red ran up to me and hugged me so hard that I almost fell over.

"Geez, Red, you do know I hurt my ankle, right?" I asked, and Red kept hugging me. She pulled me aside and said, "You do know that everyone's spreading rumors about you and Elle, right?" I gasped.

"Why are they spreading rumors about my mom?" I asked, and Red shrugged. "Because all they want is for you to get expelled. I think Violet started it. She's trying to gather proof that she's the victim in this whole thing, and she started a petition to the superintendent to let her back in school, and it's really gained popularity. Over 150 signatures to date. It's getting ridiculous." Red rolled her eyes and put her head in her hands.

"Let me see this petition." I said. Red pulled out her phone and then said, "Holy crap. She had the audacity to do that..."

"Do what?" I said, getting worried.

"Get Catlynn McLemore expelled from Hamilton Middle School, 227 signatures." Red said.

"Please tell me you didn't sign that!" I snapped. Red laughed and said, "Calm down! I would never sign something like that. And I'm surprised she used your real name, considering she never actually called you by your real name once."

Suddenly, a bunch of people ran down the hallway, screaming.

"What's going on?" I yelled.

"Hey guys, you have to sign this. If we get 300 signatures, the Broadway freak's gonna be out of our school for good." a boy said. His friends nodded excitedly, then the boy turned to me. "Hey look, here she is! Better clean out your locker, Sunshine. You won't be here for much longer." he said, saying my nickname in a mocking tone. His friends all laughed.

"Don't call me that!" I yelled. Great. Now my stupid school is ruining my special nickname too.

"Just ignore them. You can't get expelled without a proper reason." Red said.

"They have a proper reason! Look, Violet fudged the truth!" I said, shoving my phone in Red's face. She took it and read the petition description.

"That's it. Cat, if you get expelled, I'm switching schools with you." Red said.

"If they get what they want, this goes on my permanent record. I might not be able to get in a good college if they succeed." I said. Everyone started laughing at me, then I ran to the bathroom and started to sob. I texted my entire family the link to the petition, but when I was about to send it, I checked it again.

It had reached it's goal.

I was done for. I started to sob hysterically. Soon, my phone flooded with texts from my family, and I decided to call Jessica. I needed some stability.

"Hello? Sunshine?" Jessica said when she answered the phone.

"I'm about to get expelled...don't hate me..." I said, crying.

"Why?" Jessica said. "If it's about the petition, you're being ridiculous. You're not gonna get expelled because of an online petition."

"Jessica, check the comments." I snapped. I heard the sound of a computer opening, and Jessica said, "Oh my God. These people are brutal."

"Yeah. I'm hiding out in the bathroom until these kids stop looking for me." I said, crying. I didn't know what to do. All I could hear were people screaming my name.

The screaming stopped when the loudspeaker beeped.

"Catlynn McLemore, please report to the principal's office." I heard, and I burst into tears. This was it. I was done for.

"They just called me down to the principal's office. I have to go." I said to Jessica.

"Elle's gonna be there. She just got off the phone with the school." Jessica said. I sighed and said, "Bye. Love you." and hung up.

_______

"You wanted to speak to me, ma'am?" I asked, sounding as professional as possible. The formality was dropped when I saw Elle sitting in a chair.

"Mommy!" I yelled, running up to her and launching in her arms. Elle hugged me tight and kissed my head, then repositioned me so I was sitting on her lap. I didn't care if I looked like a toddler. I felt safe, and that was all that mattered.

"So, um, I think we all know why we're here today." the principal said.

"Actually, I don't. Can you please explain?" Elle asked, keeping a tight grip on me and keeping me safe.

"So, a student started an online petition asking for us to expel Catlynn. She provided evidence and details, and the petition reached its goal of 300 signatures. Based on the evidence, I have no choice but to expel Catlynn." the principal said.

"What?" Elle snapped. "Are you seriously kidding me? She did nothing wrong!"

"Violet started the petition, Mommy. She stretched the truth. None of it is true. I did nothing wrong." I said, crying.

"Of course it's Violet..." Elle muttered to herself.

"Ma'am, Violet provided pictures if you would like to see them." the principal said to Elle. Elle yanked the phone out of the principals hands and said, "I'm sorry. These are fake. Cat would never punch anyone like that. It's either that they're fake or that Cat didn't do that."

"I understand your frustration, but we have multiple people who say it's true." the principal said.

"ITS NOT TRUE!" I said, thinking of someone to pin the blame on. But that was wrong.

At the same time, if I didn't know exactly who "punched" Violet, because I knew it was Photoshopped, I would most definitely be expelled.

"It's Photoshop. She Photoshopped it in the computer lab at school." I said, hoping that it was a believable lie. Elle seemed to understand what I was doing and simply nodded along.

"I'm sorry, what?" the principal said, slightly laughing. "Those are real bruises." Elle groaned.

"But my point is, Catlynn did nothing wrong. And I would appreciate it if you didn't listen to the petition because Violet is a liar." Elle said.

"We have more reason to believe that Catlynn may be the one at fault." the principal said, and Elle gasped. She was getting mad. Elle rarely gets mad.

"Okay! That's it! We'll withdraw Cat from the school, but this is not going on her permanent record!" Elle yelled. I gasped and started crying.

"Mommy...but my friends..." I said, crying. Elle hugged me and the principal banged paperwork on her desk. "By all means, sign them."

"Listen, Cat, I know this is hard, but you want the teasing to go away, don't you?" Elle said. I nodded, and Elle signed the paperwork.

"You can go and collect her things." the principal said, opening the door.

Elle and I walked around, grabbing everything at the school that I owned.

Goodbye, Hamilton Middle School. I won't miss you.

AN: So, Cat's expelled. I'm so sorry. Hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!