Public Ridicule

"First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you."

― Nicholas Klein

(Freya)

"Hey Freya, new hoodie?" Tyler the jerk Barns asked as he laughed with his group of jocks. Shifters on steroids.

Freya had just sat down with her lunch tray in the cafeteria, the whole day had been a blur, she had just been going through the motions. Now she had to deal with this asshole, who thought he was just the biggest wolf in the world, and to be fair his ego probably was the biggest in the world. Raising her hand in the air, she flipped him the bird, which got his little group riled up. "Better watch out Tyler looks like she is offering." One of roidheads laughed.

Tyler did a spit take, very dramatically, milk spraying the air. "I like my women to have a little life to them, Freya Summers would be your classic definition of a dead fuck."

Freya put her head down, closing her eyes, she blocked out the laugher around her. Willing the voices to the back of her mind, it was comforting when the laughter faded, it meant that the little group had finally moved on to another topic. Being bullied was second nature by now, it had started in middle school, and when you were in a pack with the same people for years, you just got accustomed to a certain type of treatment. In her own little world, Freya did not notice what was happening till it was too late.

"Let's see what's under this shitty hoodie of yours." Tyler announced, so close to her ear, that the smell of his rank breath fanned her cheek. Jumping in surprise, she reacted too slowly, and before she could move Tyler had her hoodie pulled up over her head, trapping her arms in the sleeves. "Well look at that boys, there is a body under this rag, a white bra Freya how uncharacteristic of you."

The bellow of laughter was not dulled by the fabric around her head. Mortification flooded her body, and her breathing was slightly erratic. Calm down, calm down, do not have a panic attack right now. Do not give them the satisfaction of breaking you. Freya kept chanting that over and over in her head. Twisted and flaying her body to try and break out of Tyler's hold, she felt his grip tighten on her arms to hold her in place. "As long as your face is covered, you might actually be able to get me off." Tyler stated sickly.

"Let me go!" Freya yelled; her voice was muffled by her hoodie, but she tried to be loud as possible.

There was a light pressure of what Freya assumed to be Tyler's hand as it slid down between her cleavage, on down her stomach, to the buttons of her pants. Real panic started to set in, they were in a room full of students who really were not going to try and stop him from assaulting her? The knowledge did not fully surprise her, but it hurt none the less that they would just sit by and laugh. Like this was a little game that Tyler played with her all the time and that she enjoyed being sexually harassed by him. Freya's legs were trapped under the table, she could not find the footing she needed to leverage her body up, her arms trapped in her sleeves, she literally could not strain any more than she was to break his hold. Not like it would have made that much more of a difference, seeing as he outweighed her by two hundred pounds.

The sound of one of her buttons being undone was vaguely processed in her mind and she squirmed in vain, yelling out for held. Out of no where there was a smacking sound that echoed around the cafeteria, and Frey felt herself being released. Quickly as she could, she pulled her hoodie back down, and stood up. Sam stood there holding the lunch tray in her hand, her cheeks flushed in rage as she stared Tyler down hard.

"I swear to God if you ever touch her again, I will break your throwing arm." Sam stated, throwing down the tray on the table.

Freya felt the breath return to her lungs and had to hold back her tears of relief.

"You fuckin bitch, you hit me in the face." Tyler looked like he was about to go after Sam, but his buddies pulled him back. "You are lucky you are a girl." He threatened.

Sam spat in his direction, before wrapping her arms around Freya, escorting her out of the cafeteria. They made their way to the girl's bathroom, Freya walked over to the sink, and ran cool water over her flushed cheeks. Sam leaned against the wall silently, waiting, letting things settle for a moment.

"Sorry." Freya whispered. Placing her hands on the sink basin, she looked at Sam through the mirror, meeting her gaze cautiously.

Sam had her arms crossed over her chest, tapping her index finger against her arm, irritation making her angsty. "Sorry?" she asked shaking her head, "Freya what in the world do you have to be sorry for? That guy was holding you down and fucking with you in front of a whole cafeteria of people that could have stopped him. I am just mind blown right now that we are apart of a pack that would let someone do that to one of their own. It makes me sick." She ranted.

Freya sighed, "I'm sorry, because you had to be the one to help me, he could have hurt you Sam. I don't know what I would do if you had gotten hurt over me." She held up her hand to stop Sam from speaking, "It is not your job to protect me. I need to be able to protect myself. I let my guard down, it won't happen again, I will be more vigilant from now on."

Sam bit her lip and walked over to Freya hugging her tightly, "I really can not wait for high school to be over with already." She stated.

Freya took a deep calming breath, "Me too." She whispered against her friend's shoulder. "Alright, lets get back to class, so we can get this day over with already." She put on a brave face for Sam's sake and maybe even for her own.