A reason why it happened

When the world walks away from you, destiny is not on your side, wounds cannot be healed, you cannot even feel anything, and there is only a feeling of emptiness. What is our reason for staying? When you open your eyes in the morning, the only thing on your mind is why you are still allowed to live the day? You have no appetite when you see food, you no longer care about your body, and you no longer care about the people around you. What is your reason for staying?

Hope. There will always be hope even in the worst of circumstances. People always hope that everything will get better, hoping to be freed from feeling vulnerable. Hope that after all these sufferings, they will get what they deserve. Hope is considered as an excuse to keep going through the day. We continue to take refuge behind words that are not sure to be fulfilled without thinking about changing for the better.

let me tell you something about life. We only live once. We can't go back in time or repeat a moment. If we take too long a break, we will miss many great things that might lead us in a much better direction than now. That is why we have to live in this world with a purpose, not just to survive. Because life will be too short if you fill it with a purpose, and vice versa, life can be very long and hard if you just want to survive.

When Ella opened her eyes, the nightmare still haunted her. She could not sleep soundly. Every time she closed her eyes, only bad things appeared in her mind. It felt like she didn't want to get up. Jackson's words the previous day was still running through her head non-stop. Back then, she didn't even know how to forget all these things. She sat pensively on her bed, staring around. Silence.

Silence often makes her feel better, but sometimes it can be torturous. Ella covered her mouth to hold back the urge to cry as she looked back at the photo on her desk. A picture that shows her without wearing a single cloth. She covered her ears, trying not to listen to all the words that kept spinning in her head. Her tears could no longer be held back. Her heart was prickling. She didn't know what to do. There were only wounds that kept opening without anyone being able to heal them, and she was alone in silence without a single person because she didn't want people to see her in this situation.

"Ella, Daffa is waiting for you in downstairs, hurry!" said Jeremy without entering her room. Ella wiped her tears and sighed. She could no longer escape, no matter how much she had to face all of this, however painful it was to accept.

Ella got ready without taking a long time because she was not the type of girl who wore makeup or spent a long time choosing a stylish outfit.

She then took her bag and put on her shoes. She walked down the stairs and over to Daffa, who was cooking in the kitchen.

"Good morning," said Daffa with an enthusiasm which was only answered with a thin smile by Ella. Daffa stopped what he was doing and stood right in front of Ella. He held Ella's shoulder and bent slightly to see her face clearly.

"Did you cry last night?" asked Daffa.

"No, I'm not crying," Ella lied.

"I want you to be honest with me," said Daffa very seriously. "If anyone hurts you, just tell me," he continued.

"No one hurt me. Yeah I cried because I watched a really sad movie last night, okay?" Daffa straightened up again and looked relieved. "Okay then."

After that, they went to school. Like the day before, Ella did not talk much. Daffa was the one who told the story, and she just listened with a thin smile, affirming whatever Daffa said. When they arrived at school and walked in the corridor, Daffa suddenly stopped his steps.

"Oh shit," he muttered. What?" asked Ella.

"It's her."

"What? Who are you talking about?" asked Ella, confused.

Before Daffa could answer, the girl who was not far in front of them called Daffa and approached them.

"Hi, Daf." said that girl. Daffa tried not to get nervous and smiled stiffly, "Hi, how is it going?"

"Yeah, nothing happen, there hasn't been anything exciting since I entered this high school, though," she replied.

"I know right. oh yes Aleya, this is my friend Ella," said Daffa. Aleya, who was not wholly aware of Ella's presence, now she looked at Ella from top to bottom, judging. And then smiled faintly, "Oh hi, I am Aleya."

"Hi, I know you. Daffa talked about you yesterday, nice to meet you," said Ella kindly.

"Oh yeah? I didn't know that. Daffa never told me about you."

The situation at that time became very awkward. Ella was offended, it didn't matter if Daffa never told her about it, but it really wasn't necessitated. After all, she knew Daffa first than the others.

"Anyway, how about your chemistry assignment yesterday?" Daffa asked, trying to break the ice.

"Oh about that, I really thank you for helping me to finish it," said Aleya with a sweet smile.

"Wait, since when did you understand chemistry? I mean, since when exactly did you intend to study?" asked Ella, exposing Daffa. Daffa looked at Ella as if to say, "Really?"

Ella intends to re-expose the cooped up Daffa because of her cell phone rings. Ella picked up her cell phone and looked at the screen, an unknown number. She rejects the call, but the number calls her back.

With full consideration, she walked away from Daffa and Aleya and picked up the call. "Yes, Hello. I'm sorry but who is this?"

"Hello, sweatheart." That voice. A very familiar voice. How could she forget that voice if, from yesterday, his voice kept turning in her head? Her heart was beating fast. She was so scared. Yes, who else was it if not Jackson Edgar.

"What do you want?" asked Ella without preamble. "Woah, why do you have to hurry? Just enjoy your time while you can," said Jackson.

Ella sighed, "Why are you doing this to me?" asked Ella in a trembling voice.

It sounded from there Jackson laughed sarcastically, "You know why."

"Honestly, I don't. I mean, why me, Jack? I've never mocked your sister in my entire life because I know exactly how it feels."

"Oh woah stop in there and listen to me clearly. First you don't know how it feels. And secondly I know that you're innocent."

Ella was perplexed, "So if you find out I'm innocent why are you doing this to me?"

"That's the reason. Because you didn't do anything wrong. Just like my sister. She never did anything bad but you guys bullied her. If you feel this is unfair right now, yes you are absolutely right. Because this world is indeed unfair honey. If you want to blame someone for all of this, the right people are your friends. "

Slowly Ella's tears fell. She did not expect it at all.

"I'm truly sorry for what happened to your sister, I tried to fix it but you only gave me a short time."

"Short? Really? You have a very long time even years just to apologize to her, and you didn't try to do it before i told you to," Jackson replied.

Ella wiped her tears, not wanting anyone to notice that she was crying. "So what do you want to do?"

"Just wait a little longer, you will know."

Right after Jackson said that, the people around her suddenly sounded crowded. They seem to be watching their respective cellphones. Because she wanted to know what happened, without turning off the call, she walked towards Daffa, who was also looking at his cellphone.

"Oh syit, no way," said Daffa. When Ella looked at what Daffa was seeing, her whole body seemed to have been electrocuted. Her legs seemed to be unable to hold her weight. Unconsciously her tears had fallen. Her body was shaking violently. She wanted to feel like she ran out of the school door and screamed as loud as she could. But she couldn't. All she could do was stare at the photo silently without saying anything.

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll make sure the photo will come back scattered with your face there. There's nothing you can do, just accept it." said Jackson, then ended the call.

Ella opened her cellphone, which also got a message, how hurt her heart was when she saw the photo. It was the same photo as yesterday. Only this one was cropped up to the neck, so people didn't know it was her. Ella quickly wiped her tears before people became suspicious of her. She had to pretend that she was okay. At least no one knew it was her.

"Who the fuck is this," said Aleya, then laughed.

"Dude..i can't. I mean, what happened to her though," Daffa asked as he continued to look at the photo.

Ella struggled to hold back her tears. She couldn't cry, not at that time and not at there.

"I don't care what happens to her, but oh my God! look at her. Look at those scars," said Aleya chuckled.

"She definitely wants to cut her whole body," continued Aleya, pointing to the incision scars that filled the body in the photo. Yes, Ella's body is full of cuts. No one knew about that.

"Wow, this is really bad," said Daffa.

"I think this is so disgusting, who the hell thinks of cutting their whole body, she's kinda needs help," said Aleya without feeling guilty.

Ella couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She looked around, and people did the same thing. Laugh at it. Even during the class, they talked about the photo and tried to find out who the person behind the picture was.

During break time, she refused to go to the cafeteria. She would not be able to hear people teasing at her body indirectly.

"I wanna go to the library, there are books I want to borrow there," Ella reasoned.

After making sure her friends did not suspect her, she then walked to the library. When she entered the room, it was considerably quiet. There were only a few people.

Ella took the same seat as the previous day. Only in this place, she could cry freely without fear of being noticed by people. Just imagine if the whole school mocked your body. How would it feel? It hurts a lot, especially if one of them is your close friend.

When Ella cried, she did not realize that someone was sitting beside her. "Are you gonna cry here every day during the break time? If so I will be willing to accompany you." Hearing that, Ella immediately straightened her body and quickly wiped her tears. "Oh it's you again, Hi."

Ethan seemed to be shaking his head, then giving Ella a handkerchief. "Thank you."

They were silent for a few moments. Ethan waited for Ella to calm down and be ready to talk.

"So you go to the library every day, huh?" asked Ella. "Almost every day," Ethan corrected. Ella nodded her head and they fell silent again.

"Hey, anyway do you know Nora?" Ella asked, changing the topic when she remembered something that she has to do.

"Nora who?"

"I don't know, how many Nora are in this school?"

"I don't know. But I know her if you mean Nora Clark," Ethan said.

"Does she have short hair that reaches the shoulders and a small birthmark next to her eye?" asked Ella trying to remember the Nora she meant. "Yes, she is the one. Why? She is my cousin."

Ella was a little surprised to hear that. "Can you give me her contact? I want to ask something to her but i don't have her number."

"Of course." After Ella finished copying Nora's number, she calmed down a little. "Thank you so much," said Ella sincerely.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Umm did you also receive the photo that many people talk about today?" asked Ella carefully.

"The girl's photo? Yes. Sometimes they like to go too far," said Ethan and put down the book he had been reading earlier.

"What do you mean?"

Ethan sighed, "That's clearly the wrong thing. The girl behind the photo must be having a hard time now."

Ella really wanted to cry. Finally, someone understood her situation.

"But what do you think about the scars. I mean, a whole school made fun of her. What do you think about that?"

"Honestly, I really admire that girl. She can endure until now is a very good thing. You know what, every scar has its own story. Those scars is beautiful. I hope that girl is not ashamed to have it because it is proof of how strong she is. No one deserves such bad treatment like her, "explained Ethan.

"And to be honest, I really want to report this. But I don't have the right to that. The only person entitled is herself because it is her body. I don't want to make the photo spread any further," continued Ethan, who made Ella want to hug him right now. She really wanted to say that it was her but she couldn't.

"So far you are the only person I have heard say that," said Ella.

Ethan smiled at her, but then he remembered something. "I'm sorry but I have to go, if you wanna cry again tomorrow, you know where to go, right?" Ethan joked.

"Yes absolutely," Ella replied with a chuckle. After Ethan left her, Ella immediately took her cellphone and typed something into Nora.

Nora, it's me, Ella. I need you. You know what just happened, please can we talk?

Ella sighed and waited for Nora's reply. She tapped the table with her finger and looked around. Not long after, a reply message came from Nora. She quickly took the message and breathed a sigh of relief.

Second break time, meet me behind the school.