Invisible- Chapter 2

As I walked into the bathroom, I surveyed the damage in the mirror and instantly regretted it. I looked terrible!

I already had dried blood all over different parts of my face and hand. I looked like I just came off the battlefield. To top it off, I had fresh blood still trickling down to my chin.

Thank God I didn't faint at the sight of blood.

There was no way I could go to my first hour like this! The name-calling would just get worse! I could only imagine what horrible things Stefanie would say. She’d probably be really proud of herself.

I threw the soaked tissue away and wadded up a ball of toilet paper to begin washing the blood off my face. The worst of the bleeding had stopped, at least.

As I was cleaning up, I heard a gasp from behind me. I spun around, stuffing the tissue back to my face. A girl I'd never seen before stood by the bathroom door, looking horrified

"What happened?" She gasped, running over to me.

"It's...um...nothing. Am I in your way?" I asked as I hastily tried to gather my things with one hand. She was probably horrified that she could get caught by some popular girl by being in the same room with me.

That was why I had no friends; they would get bullied by Stefanie and her crew for associating themselves with me. Everyone figured it out and left me alone eventually.

I planned to hide in a stall until this girl was gone, it was better for her sake and mine.

"No! No, it's okay. Tell me what happened." She said sweetly, putting her stuff down on the sink and turning to me. She looked very concerned.

I looked around the room, in shock. Did she know who she was talking to? Was this girl asking for a death sentence? Did she know her whole high school career could become a living hell just by simply talking to me?

Once it became obvious she was talking to me, I took one nervous look at the bathroom door; it should be safe for her to talk to me, for now at least. First hour had already started so we should be alone for a little while...

I took a deep breath. "Stefanie..." I began.

The girl began nodding, vigorously "Enough said. I heard she was a bitch!" She burst into giggles.

My eyes widened in surprise. Was this girl crazy?! She had to be new here; no one dared to talk about Stefanie like that at school. Or anywhere, really.

"She tripped me, I fell, and my face hit the ground." I blurted stupidly.

For some reason, I wanted to tell this strange girl what happened. I liked her immediately, despite the nagging thought in the back of my mind that as soon as she left this bathroom, our conversation wouldn't matter.

The thing was I didn't need or want friends; they just caused drama or stabbed you in the back eventually. I saw no point to them, after high school you would lose them all anyway...

"Here, let me help you..." She said wadding up more toilet paper and handing it to me, "Here, put this to your nose and pinch." She instructed.

Eyeing her warily, I took it and did as she told me to. I began tilting my head back to further stop the blood.

“No, don’t do that! That’s not good for you.” She said, waving her hand, telling me to sit back up.

“How come?” I asked. Wasn’t that what everyone always said to do?

“Tilting your head back could make the blood trickle back into your body, and you don’t want that. Everyone says to do it, but it’s actually not good for you.” She said, “My mom is a doctor.” She added proudly, when I gave her a weird look.

"You're new here aren't you?" I asked, having no clue why I was trying to talk to her. I couldn't help it though, I was intrigued at the thought of a pleasant conversation. I didn't have many with people my age.

"Yup, I just moved here from Maine. How did you know?" She asked.

"Simple. Because everyone from around here knows not to talk about Stefanie that way during school." I said. We had been talking for way too long. I was getting nervous for her.

"Oh. Why? And, you can probably let go of your nose now, the bleeding should have stopped," She said.

I let go and realized she was right. After wetting some toilet paper to clean off the dried blood, I answered her question by saying "Stefanie isn't the...friendliest person. Better not to get on her bad side." Instinctively, I lowered my voice. I didn't want anyone to randomly come in and overhear us.

"She's really popular and has lots of friends around here. If they heard you talking about her like that, life here would be...less than fun." I explained, sweetening the details for her sake.

"Sounds like everyone here is afraid of her." Her demeanor darkened, for reasons I didn’t understand.

I nodded. That was pretty much it.

"Well, I'm not. She's just a bully," She shrugged.

I shook my head, amazed and a bit saddened for this girl. Soon she would understand what the rest of us already knew. "You should be. We are juniors, she's a senior. She has a lot more power here than we do."

"So? She's just a person."

"She's a model student; Straight A's, on the cheer-leading team, captain of the debate team and student body president. She's a teacher's pet and acts like an angel to all adults, but to anyone else she’s just a big bully. She also has a really strange boyfriend." I looked away, shrugging.

I wasn't sure why I was throwing all her accomplishments around, or why her boyfriend made feel so…. Uncomfortable? I'm not really sure what he made me feel. Weird was the best way to describe it.

"Oh yeah, I saw him before. Isn't he the guy with all those crazy tattoos?"

I nod.

"He hardly seems her type. She seems like she would date the preppy guy of the school, not the bad-boy." She says.

I don't like where this conversation is going, just talking about him makes me uncomfortable.

"You could say that again," I grumble.

"What's his name?" she asked.

"Harry Williams. I've never seen him so much as smile, or talk for that matter," I added. I felt goosebumps raise on my skin as I mentioned his name. “He just stands behind her like some dark cloud, feeding her negative energy and hate.”

She laughs. "Weird. But now that your nose is better, we better get to class. What class do you have?"

I can't believe what I am hearing. Does she want to –what?- walk out of the bathroom with me? Does she want to get seen? But, I forgot she is new here, she doesn't understand what happens if she gets seen near me.

I was planning on staying hidden in here for all of first hour, maybe the day, but she seems as if she won't let that happen. Crap.

"I have English, what about you?" My voice is hoarse. I pray it's a different class. I don't want this nice, bold girl caught up in the hell that is my life of being bullied.

"Math." She replies and I sigh with relief; that is on the opposite end of the building from my class.

"Oh well, bye then." I turned to leave.

"Hey, what's your name?" She asks suddenly.

I turned around and decide to humor her by actually responding, "Victoria."

"I like that name, mine is Paige."

I don't respond, I just turn back around toward the door and roll my eyes at her compliment as we walk our separate ways.

Check out the last part here: https://vocal.media/stories/invisible-chapter-1

Check out all other parts on my page here: https://vocal.media/authors/sarah-russell