Darkness Surrounds

The alarm went off, signaling the start of Lena's day. Lena grumpily woke up; the alarm had awakened her from a lovely dream. She had stopped having those a week after the bullying had started. Now, Lena cherished every lovely dream she had.

"Lena, wake up; you will be late for school." Liliana, Lena's mother, called as she knocked at Lena's bedroom door.

"I am up, Mom," Lena moved the blankets away from herself and got up.

"Then get your butt downstairs to have breakfast," Liliana said as she moved away to make her way downstairs.

Lena gathered her clothes and made her way to the bathroom. Within 20 minutes, Lena was ready to face her day. She gathered her backpack and headed downstairs.

It had only been her mother and her for the past six years. Lena's father passed away when she was twelve; he had gone on a business trip, or at least that was what her mother had told her. The plane he had been on crashed, and he had passed away. It had not been until her 15th birthday and halfway through the school year that she learned that her parents had been about to divorce because he had fallen in love with a younger woman. That woman was the sister of Stacy Lena's best friend until the day the bullying began.

"Good morning, Mom," Lena said as she sat on one of the chairs in the breakfast bar. "Are you going to be home later?" Lena asked. Liliana has an excellent job that she has to prove herself to keep and maintain and do; there were times when she had to go on business trips to bigger cities, which meant that Lena would be left alone. She had learned quickly that she needed to ensure she could care for herself.

Liliana took a sip of her coffee while scrolling through her email before taking her eyes off her phone and looking at her daughter. "Today, I have to fly out to deal with an issue on one of the sites," Liliana said as she turned her eyes to the emails on her phone again, "I should be gone for three days."

Lena nodded and continued eating her food. "Okay," she said, acknowledging barely. 

"I will call you tomorrow morning to make sure that you are up and heading to school," Liliana said, putting her coffee cup in the sink. She walked around the table, went to Lena, and kissed her head, "Be good; I left some money in the drawer next to the fridge in case you need food. I have to go. I must take care of something in the office before going to the airport. Be a good girl, and ensure you are home before it gets dark outside." Liliana left the kitchen and out the front door a few seconds later.

Lena was left alone, contemplating how alone she was, "Bey, Mom, be careful." A sad smile made its way onto Lena's face. Memories of the first time she had been bullied and she had made her way home only to find it alone with a voice message on the answering machine, her sweet mother's voice telling her that she would be gone for two days and that she would be back on Sunday.

The bullying started on a Friday, right at lunchtime. Lena had been waiting for Stacy to arrive by their lockers just like every morning, only to make her way to the first period, where she found Stacy talking to Cristal, laughing and joking around.

Lena asked, "Are you okay? You didn't come to the locker today?" as she stood before Stacy.

Stacy just looked at her and turned to continue talking to Cristal. Lena was about to ask another question, but the teacher came in, and she headed to her vacant seat. Lena was confused about what was happening; it had just been yesterday when Stacy was laughing and joking around at her house. Lena decided to ask Stacy what was going on at lunchtime. The only class they had together was the first and last period. They would get lunch at the cafeteria and find a seat near one of the tables closer to the windows. The second and third periods pass exceptionally slowly. The bell rang, signaling lunch, and as fast as she could, Lena got her things together and headed out the door toward the cafeteria.

She pushed the door in and looked around for Stacy; she finally found her sitting at one of the tables where the more popular kids in school sat. She was sitting next to Cristal, and they were talking and laughing. Cristal was facing the doors and noticed when Lena came in. She motioned to Stacy to look toward the door, and as she turned around, her smile fell.

Lena saw the smile falling from Stacy's face and felt terrible in the pit of her stomach. Lena still needed to find out why the sudden change made her way to stand before Stacy. "Hey, can we talk?" Lena asked.

"Sorry, but I am prohibited from talking to the child of an immoral man," Stacy said, sneering at Lena.

"What do you mean?" Lena asked. Stacy had been her friend for so many years, and she knew Lena's father; he would take them out for ice cream or the movies.

Stacy got up from her seat and walked to stand in front of Lena. As her eyes moved closer to Lena's right ear, "Your father seduced my sister," she said, "and now she is dead because of him." Stacy whispered.

Lena's eyes began to water, "NO!"

Stacy stepped back and, without Lena noticing, got the carton of milk sitting near her. Stacy moved the carton of milk on Lena's head and began to pour the milk on her head as she continued to talk, "Do not come near me anymore. We are no longer friends," Stacy said as she returned to her seat after putting the milk carton on Lena's head. Lena did not have another chance to protest since Cristal approached her and emptied a second carton of milk, saying, "Didn't you hear her, Lena? She said leave."

Lena couldn't take it. She turned around and left the cafeteria before she full-on started to cry. "No, it can't be true.' Lena kept saying to herself as she entered the bathroom and began to wash her hair as best as possible. It was a good thing that her next period was gym class. It would allow her to change her clothes and ensure that she could wash her body before the milk started to smell.