2.

Leia dragged her feet across the hallway. The sound of chattering was drowned in her head as she fixed her gaze on her locker. There, on the surface of her locker were graffities that could not be removed. They were all demeaning words, names that aimed to hurt her.

The words haunted her. And although it should have hurt her emotionally, she didn't feel anything. You become emotionally numb when you see something way too many times. She opened her locker and grabbed the books she needed for the day. She pushed her glasses up and turned around to her first class of the day.

She sat at the back of the class. She opened her notebook and started looking at the notes she took the day before. She tried to drown the conversations in the class with formulas that wouldn't help her when she started living in the real world.

Soon class started. She loved it when class started. No one paid attention to her then. Halfway through the class, a pencil dropped near the edge of her chair. She looked at it hesitantly before slowly bending down to take it. She looked at the pencil. There was a name- Iris.

"That's mine." a soft voice said. She turned around. A shy looking petite girl pointed to the pencil she was holding. She cautiously handed the pencil back.

"Thank you, Leia.."

Thank you. When was the last time she heard someone saying thank you? Leia's mouth thinned and nodded before turning back to hear the teacher. She looked at the clock. 5 minutes before the bell rang. She could feel dread overwhelming her. She couldn't focus for the next 5 minutes. Her eyes fixed on the clock.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The bell finally rang. Sounds of chairs being dragged reigned in the room. Woods against woods. Leia did not move. She did not move until she made sure the rest of the students had left. Only then, did she pack her bag and get out of the class.

She tried to blend in with the background as much as she could when she moved to her next class.

The rest of the class fell into a familiar rhythm. Get to class, wait for everyone to leave, then walk discreetly to the next class.

Before she knew it, lunch finally rolled around. Everyone in the class had left to go to class. Leia continued to sit on her desk. She didn't want to leave. She hesitated before finally leaving the classroom, only because her teacher was giving her a look.

Leia went to her locker. Many students were walking past her. She stared at the locker for a very long time before finally closing it. She walked to the opposite direction of the cafetaria, happy to be as far away from everyone.

She saw someone coming towards her and looked up. Standing in front of her were two girls. One is a short, black haired girl named Lin, while the other is a tall blonde girl named Adeline. Leia took a step back. Dread was evident in her face.

"Well look what we have here." Adeline said.

"Where are you going, darling?" Lin emphasized on the word darling, earning a laugh from Adeline.

Leia bit her lip, refusing to answer.

"Oh look, she is ignoring us!" Lin said.

"Hmm, don't you think that is a little… rude?" Adeline asked. "I think she deserves a punishment. What do you think?"

"I think that is an excellent idea." Lin gave a twisted smile.

Before she could blink, Lin already had her on the floor. Leia grunted in pain, but she felt a pull on her hair that distracted her away from the pain of falling down.

"Stop!" she shrieked. "Please stop!"

They ignored her pleas and continued to drag her by the hair. They led her to the nearest toilet. They pushed her inside the cubicle and ripped her bag away from her.

"Do you know that there is another purpose for a bag?" Lin grinned as she hit her head with her bag. Leia hit her head against the toilet cubicle as a result of the impact.

"It's lunchtime, darling. I hope you're thirsty." Adeline grinned. She pulled Leia by the hair and pushed her face down the toilet.

It was suffocating- it felt like she was drowning. She struggled for air and on instinct, opened her mouth. Her body was greedy for air but it was met with water.

Leia heard the sound of the toilet flushing. She tried to pull her head back, but Adeline had her hair in her grip. Leia struggled for air in the brief moment where all the water was flushed down. But her face immediately met with water again. She was constantly tormented by the water.

Leia didn't know how long the process continued, but it was too long for her. Lin and Adeline only stopped when they got bored. They left her in the toilet to her own devices. She could hear their giggling as the door closed shut.

The sound of her unsteady breathing echoed in the bathroom as she tried to hold back her sobs. Despite her desperate attempt, tears were falling down on her cheeks. There was a dull ache shooting up her back from sitting down on the cold floor for too long, but she didn't want to get up. She shivered under the cold air, and her damp clothes were not helping. She leaned against the cubicle as she rested her head on her knees, her hands hugging her legs closer. She curled up like a ball, drenched from head to toe, sitting on the toilet cubicle.

Class had started long ago, but she couldn't care less about missing a lesson. Her heart ached in a dull pain, fuelling more tears to come out. It wouldn't be the first time they had physically tormented her. But each experience did not lessen the pain.

She didn't know how and why the bullying started. Was it because she was too plain? She preferred long skirts and sweaters over clothes that other teenagers were wearing. Her glasses were thick, thanks to all the nights she spent reading her books. She didn't like to converse with another human being. She rather paint, draw, or read. Maybe it was part of growing up, but she never did fit in with any of her peers.

One day they started calling her names. Then there were rumours about her. Then there were pranks. At first she tried to shake it off. But sometimes silence does not mean strength. The more she doesn't react, the more the bullying grows harsher. It was as if they wanted a reaction from her. After two years of enduring, she just wanted everything to end. She wanted to die and escape all these pains. She wanted out.