An Item of Bully

Rhea has been attending Waggoner High School with her sister, for a month now. To Celia, Waggoner is one of the best schools she has attended. She had gotten a new friend, Rosa, on her first day. But to Rhea, school life hasn't been easy at all.

She kept getting into trouble with either Sasha or Dahlia and sometimes both. Will wouldn't let her be either, and the rest of the students weren't making things better. On her second day at school, she got detention twice. She was sent to the library to arrange books and had to clean the female restrooms too.

Every week has its trouble. It's either she gets entangled with Sasha, Dahlia, Maya, and sometimes Will. Darian wasn't left out too. Being Will's best friend, he has also made life miserable for her. And no matter how she tried to stay away from trouble, she ended up in one.

Yesterday, she almost got detention, but luck was on her side; Mr. Mark, the chemistry teacher, was in a good mood and did not get her detained.

Sasha had placed her chewing gum on Bella's hair, during Chemistry class. When Bella found out, she reported to the teacher. And when he asked who had done it, Sasha claimed it was Rhea.

Every hour Rhea spent at school was like living in hell until Louie showed up. He was out of school, the first week she joined Waggoner High School. In her second week, he came to school. She had found out he'd been sick for a while.

At first, she thought he was like the rest: cold, rude, arrogant, and maybe sassy. But he proved her wrong. He was so friendly and different from the rest. He became the only one who understood and loved her.

Talking of him, Rhea saw him coming into the class with two milkshakes and chips and she smiled.

"What's up, Rhea?"

He dropped them on the table and sat down beside her.

She chuckled, "I'm good."

She placed her pen in between her mathematics notebook and then closed it. It was closing time already but she had waited a bit to finish up her mathematics assignment since Celia wasn't going home with her.

"I got you this."

He handed them over to her and she stretched her hand to take it from him.

"Thanks," she cooed

She shoved some chips into her mouth.

"Least I forget. I overheard your sister talking about your birthday with her friend. When is it?" He asked.

"A week or two from now, I guess," she replied with an eye roll.

She had no interest in celebrating her birthday; she had decided not to remember when it would be.

He chuckled. "Really? That's great news". She groaned and he furrowed his brows. "You do not look happy."

"I am happy."

"So, are you celebrating it? I mean your birthday."

She sighed. "I won't be celebrating it."

"Why?. I thought you wanted to. Your sister seems to be eager and looking forward to it."

"I don't want to," she replied

"Is it because of your Mother? I heard your sister talking about that too."

Rhea's countenance changed as she stared at him.

"Celia spoke about our Mother to her friend?"

Louie nodded. "She did. She was so sad talking about it. Is that the reason you are not going to celebrate it?"

Rhea shrugged. "No."

She shoved her books into her bag.

"Are you sure?" Louie asked.

Rhea rolled her eyes. She had always looked forward to her birthday every year; her birthday had always been celebrated by her family. But this year will be different; she wasn't able to celebrate it last year either, because they were still mourning their Mother's death.

And though her dad tried to celebrate it in a small way, she wasn't interested in the celebrations anymore. If her Mother was to be alive, she would have been in charge of making cakes and small chops. Her dad, as usual, will be in charge of the music, and Celia, in charge of the decorations. Her mom would have asked her to invite her friends, and by now, invitations would have gone around.

Her birthday has always been the best thing that happened to her. Although her family wasn't rich, they have always provided her and her sister with the best. But now that her mom is no more, she doesn't think she was to celebrate her birthday at all.

A hand touched her, jolting her back to reality. "Are you ok?" Louie asked.

She nodded and stood up from the seat. "I should get going."

Louie sighed and stood up too. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Sure and thanks for the meal."

He smiled, "Come on."

She took her bag from the desk and made it to the door. Sasha was by the door, chewing gum. Dahlia stood by her side, taking pictures. Rhea walked closer to them, adjusting her glasses.

"Excuse me, please." Sasha glared at her while Dahlia ignored her. "Can I pass through, please?"

Ignoring her, Sasha joined Dahlia in taking pictures, while Rhea kept standing and waiting patiently for them. Louie saw what was going on. He took his bag from the desk and stood up from his seat. He walked closer to them, holding his mathematics textbook.

"Sasha, let her pass through."

Sasha laughed. "And why should I, huh? 'cause you are her Superman?"

Louie snarled, and Sasha groaned.

Dahlia faced him. "Louie, I think you should stay out of this."

He glared at her and she kept shut. "Sasha, don't let me repeat myself."

Dahlia sighed, "Sash, a let her g,o please."

Sasha groaned and moved from the way.

"Rhea, we should go." Rhea followed him and they went out of the class to the parking lot. "Rhea, my driver is here. Hop in, let's drop you off."

"No, thanks. I'll wait for my sister," she lied.

She knew she wasn't waiting for Celia but she just didn't want to go with him.

"Are you sure?" he asked

She nodded. "Yeah."

He walked closer to her and pecked her cheeks. "Take care of yourself."

"I will. See you tomorrow."