Mistreated
Blindsided - Part 2
Friday January 24th
Iris’s POV:
I woke up to what feels like an earthquake to a normal person, but it’s really just my alarm clock. I got one of those cool vibrating alarm clocks that shake your bed in a pattern to wake you up. I have to use it since I wouldn’t be able to hear a regular alarm clock playing music or just flat out ringing. As long as my hearing aids are out, all I hear is mumbling or a bass drum, if anything at all.
I sighed and turned off my alarm clock before climbing out of bed. I had set the alarm super early for extra time to get ready and so I can get to the school nice and early. I have a lot to do this morning.
I walked over to my closet and pulled out a black chiffon smock dress. I guess chiffon is like when your clothes are see-through, and mine is see-through along the collarbone, the shoulders, the middle of the back, and the shoulder blades. So basically, it’s just see-through at the top. My chest, boobs, and butt will be covered, no worries.
I picked out black heels that have a gold heel on them. I threw them on my bed along with the dress to worry about later. I pulled a black purse out of the closet that has a gold zipper and logo on it as well as shiny black fabric on its sides. Lastly, I grabbed a gold feather bracelet out of the drawer on my end table. I threw those on my bed as well.
I walked into my bathroom to get ready and was in utter shock at my appearance. Dry tears, smeared makeup, knotted hair, and a dirty dress. I forgot I didn’t change last night. I stayed at the track and chatted with Riley about what we were going to do today. After that, I headed straight home and cried myself to sleep.
I decided to take a quick shower before I got ready. Not only did I scrub the dirt, tears, and makeup away, but I wiped away any bit of sadness I had left. Today is not the day to be broken. Today is the day I become free.
I told Riley I didn’t want to do anything too bad to Kyle, Liz, and Dakota. Why? Because I want to get the whole school for ever hurting me. They’re all going to learn the most valuable lesson today: bullying is wrong.
After my shower, I wrapped myself in my lilac towel and brushed my tangled hair before blow-drying it.
I’m doing this for Harry. I’ll finally have power, the power I once longed for. I thought about how just in September I wanted to be like Riley: pretty, popular, happy, loved, and well-known for good reasons. I’m finally going to get what the old Iris wants, but why does it all seem so bittersweet? Why do I feel so…awful?
Once my hair was dry, I pulled out my makeup and worked on that first. I wanted to do my own hair and makeup today to see if my sister’s lessons for me have paid off. I put on foundation, blush, and mascara. When I got to my eye shadow, I placed silver on the inner part of the eye, gold in the middle, and brown at the end. I added a little eyeliner as well. Then, I wiped nail polish remover along my pale pink nails and painted glittery gold polish onto my nails. As I waited for my nails to dry, I checked my phone for messages:
From Mr. Four Tits:
Where are you?
From Mr. Four Tits:
At least text me so I know you’re alive since you forgot about me :p
From Mr. Four Tits:
Mercy, I’m starting to get worried.
From Perrie:
Hey, Harry’s freaking out. Are you alright?
I face palmed. Shit. I’m the worst girlfriend in the world. I totally forgot about him and now he probably thinks I went and offed myself. Just fantastic.
To Mr. Four Tits:
Babe, I’m sorry. I’m a terrible person for forgetting. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. ):
I didn’t even bother texting Perrie; she’ll see me at school anyways. I sighed and decided on blow-drying my nails dry. I don’t even care if it burns: a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Once I was done with that, I slid my dress on. Then, I braided my hair to the side and placed a feather hair grip at the end of the braid. Last but not least, I put on my sexiest red lipstick. It’ll come in handy since it’s an attractive color.
I walked into my room and placed my stuff from yesterday’s bag into today’s purse. I placed my feather bracelet onto my wrist and slid my heels onto my blistered feet. I finally picked up my hearing aids from the end table and placed them in my ears. Then, I grabbed my bag once I was all set and took one final look in the mirror at the finished product. I look hotter than I did yesterday. Yesterday I was just cute. Today, I’m a lioness who’s out to get what she wants.
“Good morning,” my mother greeted me at the bottom of the stairs. “What’s the special occasion?” she asked, referring to my outfit.
I shrugged, “We’re celebrating freedom.” Freedom from bullies.
“Well I like it,” my mom smiled. “Let’s get you some breakfast and then I’ll take you to school.”
“No can do, Mom. I’ve got to get to school early.”
“Why?” she furrowed her brows.
I groaned, “I’ve got a test to make up.” Such a lie.
She sighed, “Well, can we at least stop and get you something on the way?”
“Sure,” I smiled.
My mother is so gullible. I told her we should get something from the grocery store, when in reality, I have a grocery list of my own to get. My parents give me an allowance now, for no reason since I don’t have to do chores anymore, but the point is, I had money to get the things I needed. I told my mom we also needed stuff for the house and started listing a few things from the top of my head. She eventually told me to go find something for breakfast while she got the other things. Too easy.
My mother was on the other end of the store from the produce area, so I started there. Okay, I need a hot pepper. Hm. Is a riper pepper spicier than a less ripe one? Does it even matter? Oi, this is annoying. I grabbed the ripest pepper I could find and placed it in a plastic baggy. Okay, now I need to find condiments. I stroll over to the aisle and decide on picking out the basic ketchup and mustard. I wound up needing a basket to carry my items since I still had a few things left to get. Honey, check. Habanero sauce, check. Chocolate covered peanuts, check. Paper bowls, check. Plastic knifes, check. This combination of stuff probably looks ridiculous, but I don’t really give a shit.
I walked over to a self-checkout lane and began scanning my items. When I noticed my mom heading to the checkout lanes, I began to panic. I cannot let her see me; I didn’t even pick out something to eat. Why is she even already paying for her stuff already? Was she not going to wait for me? Luckily, there’s a stupid magazine rack next to the self-checkout, so I just grabbed a magazine and pretended to read it as I scanned the rest of the food and paid for everything. Once I bagged everything up, I managed to stuff it into my purse before making my way over to my mom.
“Hey, you weren’t going to wait for me?” I teased.
She chuckled, “I saw you in a lane already, so I just assumed you got what you needed.”
Oh, well that makes sense. “Yes I did. It’s in my purse,” I tapped my bag lightly.
“See? I know my daughter,” she nudged my shoulder before paying for the food I had her get. I just laughed, but even I could hear the forcefulness of it. She doesn’t know me. We just started acting like a family.
My mother dropped me off at the school straight from the store. Riley was already waiting for me in the girl’s restroom.
“Hey,” she looked up at me as she continued lightly pouring powder on each sheet of toilet paper on the roll. She was wearing gloves so she could rub the powder onto the sheets without getting it on herself. “Did you get the stuff?”
“Yup,” I grinned and plopped my purse onto the counter. I pointed to the container in her hand, “Is that the itching powder?”
She laughed evilly, “Of course. I already did the boy’s bathroom.”
“Oh God,” I chuckled. “Now we’ll know what type of business they did in there.”
She waved her head as if she were telling me ‘well duh’ and said, “That’s what’ll make it so much funnier.”
“True. Are we doing it to all bathrooms, or just this one?”
“I already did them all,” she snickered.
“Damn girl, you’ve been busy,” I laughed.
She nodded, “Well, I just wanted to make sure to give you as much help as possible. It’s the least I can do, really. I am really sorry, Iris.”
“I know,” I shot her a sincere smile. She really has been doing everything to prove to me that she is trustworthy. I find it odd that she was more loyal than Kyle, Dakota, and Liz. If you told me a month ago that’d I’d be working together with my bully to fight other bullies, I wouldn’t have believed you one bit. In fact, I probably would’ve asked if that was some sick joke.
“Are you sure you don’t want to do anything bigger to those three?” she set down the bottle of itching powder and began rolling up the toilet paper.
I sighed, “Yes. They’ll be getting their revenge plus the other pranks. I’m pretty sure that’ll be enough damage.”
“Okay,” she sang. She took the roll and placed it into the toilet paper dispenser before closing the stall and throwing away her gloves. “Make sure you tell the group not to use the bathroom or to-“
“Don’t worry,” I interrupted. “I got it.” I wished Riley would just talk to them herself, but I’ve already asked so much of her. I think she’s done enough of owning up to what she's done to me. It’s weird, I feel like she could possibly be my…friend. What? Psh, no. Besides, if I could forgive her for everything she did, that’d mean I’d have to forgive everyone else in the school. There’s no way in hell that’s happening.
“Alright,” Riley grabbed her chocolate brown messenger bag from the floor. “Next stop is, Mr. Webber’s class.”
I took my time, sucking every last bit of chocolate off of the peanuts I bought and placing the peanuts into one of the paper bowls I had also bought. As I did that, Riley sat in the desk next to me and cut up the pepper I brought with a plastic knife. She wore gloves again because the pepper is extremely hot.
“I have a question,” I stated as I popped another chocolate covered peanut into my mouth.
“Shoot.”
I sat up straight in my seat, “Have you ever been in the principal’s office?”
She sighed as she continued cutting away at the pepper, “Once because some Bitch complained about me making out with…” She bounced her head as if I should know who she was referring to. Oh.
“With Harry?” I raised my brows. “Oh geez,” I let out a laugh.
She chuckled, “I couldn’t help myself. Anyways, why?”
“I was wondering if the principal ever…” I paused and shuddered just thinking about the way he looked at me yesterday. “…hit on you.”
She looked up from the pepper and waved the knife. “Now that I think about it, he did stare at my chest.”
“Awesome,” I said sarcastically. “This school is being run by a pervert.”
“Why? Did he do something to you?”
“He thanked me in some creepy ass voice and stared at my body like I was some toy for him to play with.”
She shot me a look of disgust, “That’s disturbing.”
“Yeah,” I said so softly I’m not sure she could hear. He’s the main reason I cried all night. I’m scared. I’m scared of what he and Scott could do to me. I’m actually scared for my life that I once wanted to end. Niall was right, Scott could plot to hurt me worse. I’m so stupid for yelling at Niall, he was just looking out for me, but still, I can’t let him know that I’m wrong. Yet again, it’ll only make me seem so fragile.
“Okay, so before we do this,” Riley held the split pepper up. “We need to film you and those peanuts.”
I smiled and pulled the chocolate-free peanut out of my mouth and placed it into the bowl. I grabbed the container of chocolate covered peanuts and waited for Riley to pull out her camera.
She clicked record and waved for me to start. I pulled a chocolate covered peanut out of the container and showed it to the camera with a smirk on my face. Then, I popped it into my mouth and began sucking the chocolate off as I made silly faces to the camera. Once the chocolate was completely off the peanut, I took it off my tongue and placed it in the bowl of other spit covered peanuts.
Riley chuckled and turned the camera off, “Perfect. Alright, go hold the door open so I can do this.”
I grabbed all of the peanuts and my purse before walking over to the door and opening it. I stood halfway into the hallway and held the door open with my foot as I watched Riley do her thing. She took the pepper that was cut in half and began smearing the juices on both door handles.
You see, Mr. Webber is the most loved teacher in this school. People go to his room all day, from the beginning of the school day till hours after school is over. What’s the pepper on the door handle going to do? Well, since so many people go to his class, they’re all going to get hot pepper on their hands just from opening the door. What makes it so funny is that the smell makes your eyes water, which will make them wipe their eyes…catch my drift? They are in for a burning sensation on their eyes. Also, they touch other people and their food. God, this is such a good prank.
“What shall we call this one?” Riley giggled as she continued rubbing the pepper along every spot on the handle.
“How about ‘Operation Burn the House Down’?” I smiled smugly, or as Harry would say, cheekily.
She waved her finger at me with an agape smile spread across her face, “That’s a good one.”
“What about the itching powder one?” I asked before popping another peanut in my mouth. I’ve got to do this to all the peanuts.
“Hm,” she thought about it for a second before walking into the hallway and throwing the pepper and gloves away into a trash can. She walked back over and pulled her bag out of the room and gestured me to let the door close. As we walked down the hallway, she began helping me with the peanuts since I was getting tired of them. “Itch a Bitch?” she laughed.
I nearly choked on the peanut because I was laughing so hard. “Our claws really came out on that one,” I joked.
She slapped her knee as she cracked up some more, “You’re so punny.”
“We’re so dumb,” I snickered. “This is weird.”
“That we’re friends?” she cocked an eyebrow up at me.
I playfully shoved her, “We’re so not friends.”
She smiled, “Frenemies?”
“Frenemies,” I nodded. That’s not the same, right? We can be frenemies because that means I don’t have to forgive her for a thing, but we can still somewhat enjoy each other’s company. Gah, I don’t think that makes any sense.
Just then, I felt my phone vibrate and I pulled it out of my purse to check it:
From Mr. Four Tits:
Come over after school. We need to talk.
I felt my heart drop to my stomach. The last time I heard those words, Andrew told me he cheated on me. Nothing good comes out of those words. He’s mad at me, huh? He’s mad that I forgot about him. I didn’t realize it was that big of a deal: so big that he’s going to dump me. I can’t face him. I need him and he’s just going to break up with me like it’s nothing.
“Iris? Are you okay?” Riley’s voice was filled with concern as she began rubbing circles on my shoulder. I can’t show her I’m sad. Nobody can ever see that side of me again. I won’t allow myself to be frail. I can’t. No, instead, I’m going to be pissed. This school is ruining my life and they’re going to pay for it, once and for all.
“Dandy,” I smirked at her, hiding every hint of sadness as far back into my mind as possible. Never again will I shed a tear. Never again. “Let’s prank some assholes.”
“Hey guys,” I finally gained enough courage to face the group. I received a smile from every one of them, which I was definitely not expecting. It has to be fake, right? Niall had to have told them.
“Hey,” Perrie grinned and hugged me. “I’m glad you’re okay. Once Harry started freaking out, we all were.”
“Well I’m fine,” I forced a laugh. “I just came over here to warn you guys about something.”
Liam furrowed his brows, “What did you do this time?” I’m assuming he found out about yesterday’s activities.
I rolled my eyes, “You’re lucky I’m even helping you out since you hate me.”
“I don’t hate you,” he sneered. “I never did.”
“Anyways,” I ignored him. “Don’t go to the bathroom here unless you have your own toilet paper or tissues to use.”
Eleanor groaned, “Oh God.”
“Also, don’t touch Mr. Webber’s door handles. Make someone else open the door for you or something.”
“Can’t you at least tell us what you did?” Louis chuckled. At least he finds this funny. Although, Louis can’t take anything like this seriously.
“You’ll find out at lunch,” I giggled. “Oh yeah, at lunch, don’t eat the peanuts.”
“Flower,” Niall sighed. “Why are you doing this?”
I frowned at him. Nialler. He’s so disappointed in me and though he’s trying to hide it, it’s written all over his face. My buddy, the boy I think of as my best friend, he hates me. No, shake it off Iris. Don’t do this. I took a deep breath and regained my composure, “They all have a valuable lesson to be taught: bullying is bad.”
“So you have to be a bully to show them that?” the disappointment was now in his voice.
I was taken aback by his words. “I am not a bully,” I said through gritted teeth. “How dare you compare me to them.”
“Come on Nialler,” Zayn nervously chuckled. “She’s just playing jokes.”
“But this isn’t like her,” Niall sighed. “Iris doesn’t do this kind of stuff because she wouldn’t want it done to her.”
“Well you’re wrong,” I spat. “Do you think any of this will make them cut? Will they cry themselves to sleep tonight? I’m not doing anything worse than they did.”
He stepped closer with anger flashing in his eyes, “No, but I have a feeling you’re going to hurt them, and guess what, Iris? That’s bullying.”
I shook my head in disbelief. How could he say that to me? How could he be so cold? Whatever guilt I had for him before, it’s gone now. “You’re welcome for warning you,” I shoved him out of the way and stormed off. I heard the rest of the group calling out to me, but I turned my hearing aids off. There’s no way I’m listening to anymore of that bullshit.
Riley and I ditched our first classes to go to Liz’s class. Liz had told us she always sleeps in that class because they don’t do anything, so we thought up a silly little prank to pull on her with the honey I bought this morning. This classroom has two doors, so Riley walked into the classroom through the door closer to the teacher’s desk and distracted Miss Hahn while I snuck in the back door. Lucky for me, Liz was asleep, laying across her desk, and practically drooling. Some students saw me and let out light giggles and pulled out their phones, ready to record what I was about to do.
I pulled the honey out of my purse and quietly lifted up the lid. I bit my lip in concentration as I began squirting the honey all over her hand. Why not put it in her hair? She’ll do that on her own. I lifted up my braid and grabbed the feathers I had gripped on the end of it. I took the feathers and tickled her nose a bit with them. She moaned and wiped the bottom of her nose with the back of her hand as she sat up in her seat, lightly spread honey on her nose without noticing it. She stretched out her arms, making students duck out of the way from drops of honey.
Finally, she ran her hand through her hair and immediately realized what was going on. Her hair hand one giant, shiny streak of honey from her hairline all the way down to the ends; the streak being at least five shades darker. Students were laughing and continue their recording session as Liz tried to unstick every hair from her hand and figure out what the goo was she was holding.
I let out a little laugh, making her whip her head towards me. I glared at her, but it didn’t seem to faze her. Her once flat mouth curved into a smile in one corner. What the hell? I just rolled my eyes and crawled out of the room, shutting the door hard to let Riley know I was out.
“How’d it go?” she asked after walking into the hallway.
“She fucking smiled,” I growled.
She furrowed her brows, “That’s weird.”
I groaned, “Whatever. At least we still have the other two. Maybe their’s will go better.”
At the third class of the day, Riley and I headed to Dakota’s classroom. Riley paid some random person, who happened to be walking in the hallway, ten dollars to keep Dakota busy. He walked into the classroom and asked if he could speak to Dakota about a personal matter that the teacher was allowed to listen to as well. This kid was good. He started talking about how he witnessed Dakota hurt somebody. I laughed to myself as I crawled into the classroom. Once again, students were snickering and getting ready to watch my plan unravel.
I pulled the ketchup and mustard out of my purse and popped up the tabs. I began squirting as much of the condiments as I could all over her chair. Some kid grabbed one of the bottles and showed me that I could just twist the whole cap off of both of them, making me feel incredibly stupid. I just laughed before dumping the condiments onto Dakota’s chair. I crawled all the way to the back of the class and knocked on the wall, signaling the boy that’s talking to Dakota to leave.
Dakota shook her head in confusion at the teacher as the boy just randomly stormed out. The teacher just shooed her to her chair. She walked over to her chair, but instead of just sitting in it, she noticed what I had done and stared at the mess before her. She scanned the room and I swear she locked eyes on me before shrugging and sitting down on it anyways, letting out a squeal as she did. What? She knew, but she let me get her anyways? I’m so confused.
A roar of laughter filled the classroom as I crawled back out. “Goddammit,” I cursed once the door was shut behind me.
“She smiled too?” Riley chuckled.
I began playing with the ends of my braid, “Did they all know I was getting them because of yesterday’s pranks? That has to be the reason they’re just letting me, right?”
She shrugged, “I guess.”
After leaving Dakota’s class, Riley and I snuck into the cafeteria and finished sucking the chocolate off the peanuts. We equally poured them into enough bowls to place at every other table in the cafeteria. We were sure not to place one at Harry’s friends' table just in case Porky…I mean Niall is tempted to eat some.
After we did that, Riley began her job of hooking up her camera to a laptop that was already set up to be shown on a projector. I pulled the last prank I had out of my purse, the Habanero sauce. Should I use it on Kyle? I mean, it could be a total waste. He’ll just suck it up like the girls did. It’s no fun when they expect it.
Ring ring! Alright, it’s show time. I have no time to decide. Kyle deserves what’s coming for him, whether he expects it or not.
The cafeteria started flooding with people. Some jocks were already munching on the peanuts Riley and I had left for them. Yum. Then, the cheerleaders. Then, everyone else who had a bowl at their table. I can’t wait to see their reactions when they find out where those have been.
“Alright,” Riley chirped. “Time to go make Kyle cry.” She made her way over to Kyle and shamelessly flirted with the blushing boy. She had him turn so his back was away from the burrito he had gotten from the lunch line. I quietly walked up behind them and placed a few drops of Habanero sauce in the inside of his already bitten burrito. Perfect.
I walked away with a playful smile on my face and leaned against the wall of the room that had a perfect view of the boy. Riley soon joined me, leaving Kyle flustered and confused. Surprisingly, he didn’t notice me. Finally. We watched as Kyle sat back down and picked his burrito up. He waved at the sluts who just sat down to join him just as he took a bite. He chewed and swallowed before he felt the sauce kick in. He began sweating, his face turning red as he fanned it and he bounced his legs from the pain. He took a water bottle from one of the blondes and began chugging it down. He let out a little scream when the water didn’t help and I watched as tears began streaming down his face. Geez, I didn’t put that much. What a baby.
“EVERYONE! LISTEN UP!” Riley screamed and stood up on a table as she clapped her hands to get the attention she wanted. She waved for me to join her on the table, which I gladly did, stomping both of my heels onto the tabletop as loud as I could.
I looked around the room at the familiar faces. There was Kyle, who was still bouncing in his seat as he tried to cool himself down with more water. There was Liz, who now had her hair up in a messy bun. There was Dakota, who was now wearing a different outfit. There was Harry’s friends, whom all sat with mixed emotions of confusion, disappointment, and amused. Then there was…Quinn Brady and Georgia White. The two girls who I used to call my friends.
Way before Andrew, up until the breakup, Quinn and Georgia were the two most important people in my life. They weren't that great of friends, but I still loved them to death. I was there for them whenever they had a problem or just needed a person to talk to, but most of their drama was a fight with each other. It’s weird how they remained friends when it’s likely that I was the most loyal of the group. Life works strangely.
“I have a question for you,” I smiled at everyone. “Does anyone feel…itchy?” I smirked. The word ‘itchy’ made half of the students squirm in their seats, trying to fight the itch on their butts that a minute ago, they had forgotten about. I’m sure glad I reminded them.
“Oh,” Riley laughed as if she had just remembered something. “That’s right. There’s itching powder on the bathrooms’ toilet paper.” Some coughs were heard from the wide-eyed crowd.
I jokingly face palmed, “Oh yeah. I might’ve had something to do with that.”
“Did you put pepper on Mr. Webber’s classroom door handles?” she raised her brows. People exchanged looks of horror, and a few people laughed at their friends who were in pain from the pepper.
I chuckled with the smuggest look on my face, “Why yes I did. Do you know what else I did?”
“Why yes I do,” she grinned evilly and stepped down from the table. Everyone watched Riley’s every movement as she walked over to the computer she was at earlier and turned the projector on. “If I could just have everyone turn their attention to this video, that’d be great. It’s a very important STD warning. Some of you may have it now.”
I watched as people exchanged puzzled looks and murmured to each other before staring at the wall the video was being projected onto:
I pulled a chocolate covered peanut out of the container and showed it off with a smirk on my face. Then, I popped it into my mouth and began sucking the chocolate off as I made duck faces and crossed my eyes.
People began chuckling at my silly actions in the video. That was until the next part played:
I showed off the chocolate-free peanut as it sat on my tongue. Then, I took it out of my mouth and placed it in the bowl of other spit covered peanuts.
“Oh dear,” I grabbed my chest in fake shock. “Those aren’t the peanuts you guys have been eating, are they?” People began coughing as if they were choking and I watched a couple of cheerleaders gag. “So now you may or may not have an STD,” I glared. A few girls began squealing, boys began fidgeting in a panic, and everyone looked worried.
“You Bitch!” a cheerleader yelled.
“Oops,” I shrugged, not caring at all. “Maybe now you’ll think twice before bullying someone.”
And with that, Riley and I linked arms and walked out of the cafeteria. Operation Bully Takedown is finally over.
My principal sighed as Riley and I took seats in front of him in his office. “Girls, what you did today was wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Riley batted her eyelashes innocently, making me chuckle internally.
“I heard about everything. The honey in a girl’s hair, the condiments on someone’s chair, the itching powder, the peanuts, and the pepper.” Well, not everything. He forgot about the Habanero sauce.
“I’m sorry,” I said sarcastically. “I didn’t realize those were so bad. I mean, someone raped me here.”
He shook his head, “I hardly call harassment ‘rape’, Miss Mercer.” He’s talking about what Scott did yesterday, obviously avoiding the other incident.
I shrugged, “I guess you’re right, but you have to admit, everything we did was funny.” I bit my lip and leaned forward to show off a bit of my chest. I could feel Riley’s gaze on me, most likely surprised by my behavior.
“Well,” he chuckled. “The itching powder was certainly a good one.”
I giggled and bit my lip again, “See? They were just a couple of harmless pranks. They’re just overreacting.”
“You’re right,” he said before making a clicking noise with his tongue. “Alright, I’ll let you off the hook this time.”
“Yay,” I clapped and bounced in my seat a little, making sure my boobs bounced as I did.
“Iris,” Riley warned me with wide eyes. I just smiled at her and waved my hand to say ‘it’s okay’.
“If it happens again, I’ll have no choice but to punish you,” the principal nodded.
I smiled, “Oh, we promise today was all.” And it’s true. I don’t plan on doing anymore pranks. I’m just hoping everyone got the message.
“Okay, you two are free to go,” he pointed to the door with a grin on his face.
“Thanks,” I beamed. I heard Riley mutter a curse word at him as we walked out.
Once we reached the hallway she yanked me towards her, “Are you insane?”
Sudden fear washed over me. Why did I do that? I’ve been scared out of my mind, but I used his lack of morals to my advantage anyways. Not only does he scare me, but I scare me. If I was willing to do that, what else am I willing to do?
“I-I,” I whimpered. She shushed me and pulled me into a hug. She was at a loss for words, but who could blame her? I’m not sure what I’d say if our roles were reversed.
I couldn’t go see Harry after what had just happened. The fact is, I am frail whether I want to be or not. Today may have been scary, but I can’t imagine that what Harry has to say will be any better. I walked into my room and closed the door behind me before plopping onto my bed. I adjusted myself so I was leaning my back against the wall and holding my knees to my chest. Okay, here goes nothing.
I pulled my phone out of my purse and dialed his number. He answered after two rings, “Hello?” Oh how I missed his voice. It’s only been two days, but still.
“Hey Babe,” I half smiled even though he couldn’t see me.
“Hey, I thought I asked you to come over,” he chuckled.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I just can’t,” I sighed. I can’t even come up with a lie right now. I just can’t bring myself to face him.
I heard a ruffling noise on his end of the phone before he spoke again, “Okay well, I just wanted to ask you something.” So he doesn’t want to break up with me? “Why did you lie to me?”
“What do you mean?”
“You told me you were practicing with Perrie and El,” he sighed. “But when you didn’t come over, I texted Perrie to ask if she was still with you. She said you were never with her. In fact, she said you were acting weird all day. What’s going on, Mercy?” Well shit. Um, come on Iris, think of something.
I started twisting the hairs on the bottom of my braid, “Harry, I just had a bad day. I didn’t mean to worry you or anything, I just wanted to be alone.” Sounds believable.
“Why didn’t you just tell me that?” Why must you be so interrogative?
I curled my lips, “I don’t know. It was stupid to lie, Babe. I just have so much on my mind.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” I shook my head, still not caring that he can't see me.
“Come on, Angel,” he pleaded. “You know you can talk to me about anything.”
“I know,” I sniffled.
“Don’t cry,” his words sent waves of comfort through me. “Do you want me to come over?”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Why not?” his voice was filled with hurt. Because if you come over, all you’ll see is the girl who cuts: the girl you don't want.
I wiped away an unwanted tear, “I’m okay, Harry. Really.” I’m not okay.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I breathed. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
There was a long pause. “I miss you, Angel.”
“I miss you too,” I sniffled again. Stop crying. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
“But what about-“ I hung up before he could finish and began sobbing. So much for not shedding a tear ever again.
I know he was going to mention our date night, but I won’t be able to face him tomorrow either. Monday is another day. For now, I just want to cry about everything: losing Niall, losing the group, the memories of Quinn and Georgia, the betrayal of Team Retaliation, Scott touching me, and my perverted principal. I'm supposed to feel free, so why don't I? I have so much power now, but it doesn't feel right. There’s just so much overwhelming emotions clouding my mind.
I’m back in September, still broken and scared.
Iris’s POV:
I woke up to what feels like an earthquake to a normal person, but it’s really just my alarm clock. I got one of those cool vibrating alarm clocks that shake your bed in a pattern to wake you up. I have to use it since I wouldn’t be able to hear a regular alarm clock playing music or just flat out ringing. As long as my hearing aids are out, all I hear is mumbling or a bass drum, if anything at all.
I sighed and turned off my alarm clock before climbing out of bed. I had set the alarm super early for extra time to get ready and so I can get to the school nice and early. I have a lot to do this morning.
I walked over to my closet and pulled out a black chiffon smock dress. I guess chiffon is like when your clothes are see-through, and mine is see-through along the collarbone, the shoulders, the middle of the back, and the shoulder blades. So basically, it’s just see-through at the top. My chest, boobs, and butt will be covered, no worries.
I picked out black heels that have a gold heel on them. I threw them on my bed along with the dress to worry about later. I pulled a black purse out of the closet that has a gold zipper and logo on it as well as shiny black fabric on its sides. Lastly, I grabbed a gold feather bracelet out of the drawer on my end table. I threw those on my bed as well.
I walked into my bathroom to get ready and was in utter shock at my appearance. Dry tears, smeared makeup, knotted hair, and a dirty dress. I forgot I didn’t change last night. I stayed at the track and chatted with Riley about what we were going to do today. After that, I headed straight home and cried myself to sleep.
I decided to take a quick shower before I got ready. Not only did I scrub the dirt, tears, and makeup away, but I wiped away any bit of sadness I had left. Today is not the day to be broken. Today is the day I become free.
I told Riley I didn’t want to do anything too bad to Kyle, Liz, and Dakota. Why? Because I want to get the whole school for ever hurting me. They’re all going to learn the most valuable lesson today: bullying is wrong.
After my shower, I wrapped myself in my lilac towel and brushed my tangled hair before blow-drying it.
I’m doing this for Harry. I’ll finally have power, the power I once longed for. I thought about how just in September I wanted to be like Riley: pretty, popular, happy, loved, and well-known for good reasons. I’m finally going to get what the old Iris wants, but why does it all seem so bittersweet? Why do I feel so…awful?
Once my hair was dry, I pulled out my makeup and worked on that first. I wanted to do my own hair and makeup today to see if my sister’s lessons for me have paid off. I put on foundation, blush, and mascara. When I got to my eye shadow, I placed silver on the inner part of the eye, gold in the middle, and brown at the end. I added a little eyeliner as well. Then, I wiped nail polish remover along my pale pink nails and painted glittery gold polish onto my nails. As I waited for my nails to dry, I checked my phone for messages:
From Mr. Four Tits:
Where are you?
From Mr. Four Tits:
At least text me so I know you’re alive since you forgot about me :p
From Mr. Four Tits:
Mercy, I’m starting to get worried.
From Perrie:
Hey, Harry’s freaking out. Are you alright?
I face palmed. Shit. I’m the worst girlfriend in the world. I totally forgot about him and now he probably thinks I went and offed myself. Just fantastic.
To Mr. Four Tits:
Babe, I’m sorry. I’m a terrible person for forgetting. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. ):
I didn’t even bother texting Perrie; she’ll see me at school anyways. I sighed and decided on blow-drying my nails dry. I don’t even care if it burns: a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Once I was done with that, I slid my dress on. Then, I braided my hair to the side and placed a feather hair grip at the end of the braid. Last but not least, I put on my sexiest red lipstick. It’ll come in handy since it’s an attractive color.
I walked into my room and placed my stuff from yesterday’s bag into today’s purse. I placed my feather bracelet onto my wrist and slid my heels onto my blistered feet. I finally picked up my hearing aids from the end table and placed them in my ears. Then, I grabbed my bag once I was all set and took one final look in the mirror at the finished product. I look hotter than I did yesterday. Yesterday I was just cute. Today, I’m a lioness who’s out to get what she wants.
“Good morning,” my mother greeted me at the bottom of the stairs. “What’s the special occasion?” she asked, referring to my outfit.
I shrugged, “We’re celebrating freedom.” Freedom from bullies.
“Well I like it,” my mom smiled. “Let’s get you some breakfast and then I’ll take you to school.”
“No can do, Mom. I’ve got to get to school early.”
“Why?” she furrowed her brows.
I groaned, “I’ve got a test to make up.” Such a lie.
She sighed, “Well, can we at least stop and get you something on the way?”
“Sure,” I smiled.
My mother is so gullible. I told her we should get something from the grocery store, when in reality, I have a grocery list of my own to get. My parents give me an allowance now, for no reason since I don’t have to do chores anymore, but the point is, I had money to get the things I needed. I told my mom we also needed stuff for the house and started listing a few things from the top of my head. She eventually told me to go find something for breakfast while she got the other things. Too easy.
My mother was on the other end of the store from the produce area, so I started there. Okay, I need a hot pepper. Hm. Is a riper pepper spicier than a less ripe one? Does it even matter? Oi, this is annoying. I grabbed the ripest pepper I could find and placed it in a plastic baggy. Okay, now I need to find condiments. I stroll over to the aisle and decide on picking out the basic ketchup and mustard. I wound up needing a basket to carry my items since I still had a few things left to get. Honey, check. Habanero sauce, check. Chocolate covered peanuts, check. Paper bowls, check. Plastic knifes, check. This combination of stuff probably looks ridiculous, but I don’t really give a shit.
I walked over to a self-checkout lane and began scanning my items. When I noticed my mom heading to the checkout lanes, I began to panic. I cannot let her see me; I didn’t even pick out something to eat. Why is she even already paying for her stuff already? Was she not going to wait for me? Luckily, there’s a stupid magazine rack next to the self-checkout, so I just grabbed a magazine and pretended to read it as I scanned the rest of the food and paid for everything. Once I bagged everything up, I managed to stuff it into my purse before making my way over to my mom.
“Hey, you weren’t going to wait for me?” I teased.
She chuckled, “I saw you in a lane already, so I just assumed you got what you needed.”
Oh, well that makes sense. “Yes I did. It’s in my purse,” I tapped my bag lightly.
“See? I know my daughter,” she nudged my shoulder before paying for the food I had her get. I just laughed, but even I could hear the forcefulness of it. She doesn’t know me. We just started acting like a family.
My mother dropped me off at the school straight from the store. Riley was already waiting for me in the girl’s restroom.
“Hey,” she looked up at me as she continued lightly pouring powder on each sheet of toilet paper on the roll. She was wearing gloves so she could rub the powder onto the sheets without getting it on herself. “Did you get the stuff?”
“Yup,” I grinned and plopped my purse onto the counter. I pointed to the container in her hand, “Is that the itching powder?”
She laughed evilly, “Of course. I already did the boy’s bathroom.”
“Oh God,” I chuckled. “Now we’ll know what type of business they did in there.”
She waved her head as if she were telling me ‘well duh’ and said, “That’s what’ll make it so much funnier.”
“True. Are we doing it to all bathrooms, or just this one?”
“I already did them all,” she snickered.
“Damn girl, you’ve been busy,” I laughed.
She nodded, “Well, I just wanted to make sure to give you as much help as possible. It’s the least I can do, really. I am really sorry, Iris.”
“I know,” I shot her a sincere smile. She really has been doing everything to prove to me that she is trustworthy. I find it odd that she was more loyal than Kyle, Dakota, and Liz. If you told me a month ago that’d I’d be working together with my bully to fight other bullies, I wouldn’t have believed you one bit. In fact, I probably would’ve asked if that was some sick joke.
“Are you sure you don’t want to do anything bigger to those three?” she set down the bottle of itching powder and began rolling up the toilet paper.
I sighed, “Yes. They’ll be getting their revenge plus the other pranks. I’m pretty sure that’ll be enough damage.”
“Okay,” she sang. She took the roll and placed it into the toilet paper dispenser before closing the stall and throwing away her gloves. “Make sure you tell the group not to use the bathroom or to-“
“Don’t worry,” I interrupted. “I got it.” I wished Riley would just talk to them herself, but I’ve already asked so much of her. I think she’s done enough of owning up to what she's done to me. It’s weird, I feel like she could possibly be my…friend. What? Psh, no. Besides, if I could forgive her for everything she did, that’d mean I’d have to forgive everyone else in the school. There’s no way in hell that’s happening.
“Alright,” Riley grabbed her chocolate brown messenger bag from the floor. “Next stop is, Mr. Webber’s class.”
I took my time, sucking every last bit of chocolate off of the peanuts I bought and placing the peanuts into one of the paper bowls I had also bought. As I did that, Riley sat in the desk next to me and cut up the pepper I brought with a plastic knife. She wore gloves again because the pepper is extremely hot.
“I have a question,” I stated as I popped another chocolate covered peanut into my mouth.
“Shoot.”
I sat up straight in my seat, “Have you ever been in the principal’s office?”
She sighed as she continued cutting away at the pepper, “Once because some Bitch complained about me making out with…” She bounced her head as if I should know who she was referring to. Oh.
“With Harry?” I raised my brows. “Oh geez,” I let out a laugh.
She chuckled, “I couldn’t help myself. Anyways, why?”
“I was wondering if the principal ever…” I paused and shuddered just thinking about the way he looked at me yesterday. “…hit on you.”
She looked up from the pepper and waved the knife. “Now that I think about it, he did stare at my chest.”
“Awesome,” I said sarcastically. “This school is being run by a pervert.”
“Why? Did he do something to you?”
“He thanked me in some creepy ass voice and stared at my body like I was some toy for him to play with.”
She shot me a look of disgust, “That’s disturbing.”
“Yeah,” I said so softly I’m not sure she could hear. He’s the main reason I cried all night. I’m scared. I’m scared of what he and Scott could do to me. I’m actually scared for my life that I once wanted to end. Niall was right, Scott could plot to hurt me worse. I’m so stupid for yelling at Niall, he was just looking out for me, but still, I can’t let him know that I’m wrong. Yet again, it’ll only make me seem so fragile.
“Okay, so before we do this,” Riley held the split pepper up. “We need to film you and those peanuts.”
I smiled and pulled the chocolate-free peanut out of my mouth and placed it into the bowl. I grabbed the container of chocolate covered peanuts and waited for Riley to pull out her camera.
She clicked record and waved for me to start. I pulled a chocolate covered peanut out of the container and showed it to the camera with a smirk on my face. Then, I popped it into my mouth and began sucking the chocolate off as I made silly faces to the camera. Once the chocolate was completely off the peanut, I took it off my tongue and placed it in the bowl of other spit covered peanuts.
Riley chuckled and turned the camera off, “Perfect. Alright, go hold the door open so I can do this.”
I grabbed all of the peanuts and my purse before walking over to the door and opening it. I stood halfway into the hallway and held the door open with my foot as I watched Riley do her thing. She took the pepper that was cut in half and began smearing the juices on both door handles.
You see, Mr. Webber is the most loved teacher in this school. People go to his room all day, from the beginning of the school day till hours after school is over. What’s the pepper on the door handle going to do? Well, since so many people go to his class, they’re all going to get hot pepper on their hands just from opening the door. What makes it so funny is that the smell makes your eyes water, which will make them wipe their eyes…catch my drift? They are in for a burning sensation on their eyes. Also, they touch other people and their food. God, this is such a good prank.
“What shall we call this one?” Riley giggled as she continued rubbing the pepper along every spot on the handle.
“How about ‘Operation Burn the House Down’?” I smiled smugly, or as Harry would say, cheekily.
She waved her finger at me with an agape smile spread across her face, “That’s a good one.”
“What about the itching powder one?” I asked before popping another peanut in my mouth. I’ve got to do this to all the peanuts.
“Hm,” she thought about it for a second before walking into the hallway and throwing the pepper and gloves away into a trash can. She walked back over and pulled her bag out of the room and gestured me to let the door close. As we walked down the hallway, she began helping me with the peanuts since I was getting tired of them. “Itch a Bitch?” she laughed.
I nearly choked on the peanut because I was laughing so hard. “Our claws really came out on that one,” I joked.
She slapped her knee as she cracked up some more, “You’re so punny.”
“We’re so dumb,” I snickered. “This is weird.”
“That we’re friends?” she cocked an eyebrow up at me.
I playfully shoved her, “We’re so not friends.”
She smiled, “Frenemies?”
“Frenemies,” I nodded. That’s not the same, right? We can be frenemies because that means I don’t have to forgive her for a thing, but we can still somewhat enjoy each other’s company. Gah, I don’t think that makes any sense.
Just then, I felt my phone vibrate and I pulled it out of my purse to check it:
From Mr. Four Tits:
Come over after school. We need to talk.
I felt my heart drop to my stomach. The last time I heard those words, Andrew told me he cheated on me. Nothing good comes out of those words. He’s mad at me, huh? He’s mad that I forgot about him. I didn’t realize it was that big of a deal: so big that he’s going to dump me. I can’t face him. I need him and he’s just going to break up with me like it’s nothing.
“Iris? Are you okay?” Riley’s voice was filled with concern as she began rubbing circles on my shoulder. I can’t show her I’m sad. Nobody can ever see that side of me again. I won’t allow myself to be frail. I can’t. No, instead, I’m going to be pissed. This school is ruining my life and they’re going to pay for it, once and for all.
“Dandy,” I smirked at her, hiding every hint of sadness as far back into my mind as possible. Never again will I shed a tear. Never again. “Let’s prank some assholes.”
“Hey guys,” I finally gained enough courage to face the group. I received a smile from every one of them, which I was definitely not expecting. It has to be fake, right? Niall had to have told them.
“Hey,” Perrie grinned and hugged me. “I’m glad you’re okay. Once Harry started freaking out, we all were.”
“Well I’m fine,” I forced a laugh. “I just came over here to warn you guys about something.”
Liam furrowed his brows, “What did you do this time?” I’m assuming he found out about yesterday’s activities.
I rolled my eyes, “You’re lucky I’m even helping you out since you hate me.”
“I don’t hate you,” he sneered. “I never did.”
“Anyways,” I ignored him. “Don’t go to the bathroom here unless you have your own toilet paper or tissues to use.”
Eleanor groaned, “Oh God.”
“Also, don’t touch Mr. Webber’s door handles. Make someone else open the door for you or something.”
“Can’t you at least tell us what you did?” Louis chuckled. At least he finds this funny. Although, Louis can’t take anything like this seriously.
“You’ll find out at lunch,” I giggled. “Oh yeah, at lunch, don’t eat the peanuts.”
“Flower,” Niall sighed. “Why are you doing this?”
I frowned at him. Nialler. He’s so disappointed in me and though he’s trying to hide it, it’s written all over his face. My buddy, the boy I think of as my best friend, he hates me. No, shake it off Iris. Don’t do this. I took a deep breath and regained my composure, “They all have a valuable lesson to be taught: bullying is bad.”
“So you have to be a bully to show them that?” the disappointment was now in his voice.
I was taken aback by his words. “I am not a bully,” I said through gritted teeth. “How dare you compare me to them.”
“Come on Nialler,” Zayn nervously chuckled. “She’s just playing jokes.”
“But this isn’t like her,” Niall sighed. “Iris doesn’t do this kind of stuff because she wouldn’t want it done to her.”
“Well you’re wrong,” I spat. “Do you think any of this will make them cut? Will they cry themselves to sleep tonight? I’m not doing anything worse than they did.”
He stepped closer with anger flashing in his eyes, “No, but I have a feeling you’re going to hurt them, and guess what, Iris? That’s bullying.”
I shook my head in disbelief. How could he say that to me? How could he be so cold? Whatever guilt I had for him before, it’s gone now. “You’re welcome for warning you,” I shoved him out of the way and stormed off. I heard the rest of the group calling out to me, but I turned my hearing aids off. There’s no way I’m listening to anymore of that bullshit.
Riley and I ditched our first classes to go to Liz’s class. Liz had told us she always sleeps in that class because they don’t do anything, so we thought up a silly little prank to pull on her with the honey I bought this morning. This classroom has two doors, so Riley walked into the classroom through the door closer to the teacher’s desk and distracted Miss Hahn while I snuck in the back door. Lucky for me, Liz was asleep, laying across her desk, and practically drooling. Some students saw me and let out light giggles and pulled out their phones, ready to record what I was about to do.
I pulled the honey out of my purse and quietly lifted up the lid. I bit my lip in concentration as I began squirting the honey all over her hand. Why not put it in her hair? She’ll do that on her own. I lifted up my braid and grabbed the feathers I had gripped on the end of it. I took the feathers and tickled her nose a bit with them. She moaned and wiped the bottom of her nose with the back of her hand as she sat up in her seat, lightly spread honey on her nose without noticing it. She stretched out her arms, making students duck out of the way from drops of honey.
Finally, she ran her hand through her hair and immediately realized what was going on. Her hair hand one giant, shiny streak of honey from her hairline all the way down to the ends; the streak being at least five shades darker. Students were laughing and continue their recording session as Liz tried to unstick every hair from her hand and figure out what the goo was she was holding.
I let out a little laugh, making her whip her head towards me. I glared at her, but it didn’t seem to faze her. Her once flat mouth curved into a smile in one corner. What the hell? I just rolled my eyes and crawled out of the room, shutting the door hard to let Riley know I was out.
“How’d it go?” she asked after walking into the hallway.
“She fucking smiled,” I growled.
She furrowed her brows, “That’s weird.”
I groaned, “Whatever. At least we still have the other two. Maybe their’s will go better.”
At the third class of the day, Riley and I headed to Dakota’s classroom. Riley paid some random person, who happened to be walking in the hallway, ten dollars to keep Dakota busy. He walked into the classroom and asked if he could speak to Dakota about a personal matter that the teacher was allowed to listen to as well. This kid was good. He started talking about how he witnessed Dakota hurt somebody. I laughed to myself as I crawled into the classroom. Once again, students were snickering and getting ready to watch my plan unravel.
I pulled the ketchup and mustard out of my purse and popped up the tabs. I began squirting as much of the condiments as I could all over her chair. Some kid grabbed one of the bottles and showed me that I could just twist the whole cap off of both of them, making me feel incredibly stupid. I just laughed before dumping the condiments onto Dakota’s chair. I crawled all the way to the back of the class and knocked on the wall, signaling the boy that’s talking to Dakota to leave.
Dakota shook her head in confusion at the teacher as the boy just randomly stormed out. The teacher just shooed her to her chair. She walked over to her chair, but instead of just sitting in it, she noticed what I had done and stared at the mess before her. She scanned the room and I swear she locked eyes on me before shrugging and sitting down on it anyways, letting out a squeal as she did. What? She knew, but she let me get her anyways? I’m so confused.
A roar of laughter filled the classroom as I crawled back out. “Goddammit,” I cursed once the door was shut behind me.
“She smiled too?” Riley chuckled.
I began playing with the ends of my braid, “Did they all know I was getting them because of yesterday’s pranks? That has to be the reason they’re just letting me, right?”
She shrugged, “I guess.”
After leaving Dakota’s class, Riley and I snuck into the cafeteria and finished sucking the chocolate off the peanuts. We equally poured them into enough bowls to place at every other table in the cafeteria. We were sure not to place one at Harry’s friends' table just in case Porky…I mean Niall is tempted to eat some.
After we did that, Riley began her job of hooking up her camera to a laptop that was already set up to be shown on a projector. I pulled the last prank I had out of my purse, the Habanero sauce. Should I use it on Kyle? I mean, it could be a total waste. He’ll just suck it up like the girls did. It’s no fun when they expect it.
Ring ring! Alright, it’s show time. I have no time to decide. Kyle deserves what’s coming for him, whether he expects it or not.
The cafeteria started flooding with people. Some jocks were already munching on the peanuts Riley and I had left for them. Yum. Then, the cheerleaders. Then, everyone else who had a bowl at their table. I can’t wait to see their reactions when they find out where those have been.
“Alright,” Riley chirped. “Time to go make Kyle cry.” She made her way over to Kyle and shamelessly flirted with the blushing boy. She had him turn so his back was away from the burrito he had gotten from the lunch line. I quietly walked up behind them and placed a few drops of Habanero sauce in the inside of his already bitten burrito. Perfect.
I walked away with a playful smile on my face and leaned against the wall of the room that had a perfect view of the boy. Riley soon joined me, leaving Kyle flustered and confused. Surprisingly, he didn’t notice me. Finally. We watched as Kyle sat back down and picked his burrito up. He waved at the sluts who just sat down to join him just as he took a bite. He chewed and swallowed before he felt the sauce kick in. He began sweating, his face turning red as he fanned it and he bounced his legs from the pain. He took a water bottle from one of the blondes and began chugging it down. He let out a little scream when the water didn’t help and I watched as tears began streaming down his face. Geez, I didn’t put that much. What a baby.
“EVERYONE! LISTEN UP!” Riley screamed and stood up on a table as she clapped her hands to get the attention she wanted. She waved for me to join her on the table, which I gladly did, stomping both of my heels onto the tabletop as loud as I could.
I looked around the room at the familiar faces. There was Kyle, who was still bouncing in his seat as he tried to cool himself down with more water. There was Liz, who now had her hair up in a messy bun. There was Dakota, who was now wearing a different outfit. There was Harry’s friends, whom all sat with mixed emotions of confusion, disappointment, and amused. Then there was…Quinn Brady and Georgia White. The two girls who I used to call my friends.
Way before Andrew, up until the breakup, Quinn and Georgia were the two most important people in my life. They weren't that great of friends, but I still loved them to death. I was there for them whenever they had a problem or just needed a person to talk to, but most of their drama was a fight with each other. It’s weird how they remained friends when it’s likely that I was the most loyal of the group. Life works strangely.
“I have a question for you,” I smiled at everyone. “Does anyone feel…itchy?” I smirked. The word ‘itchy’ made half of the students squirm in their seats, trying to fight the itch on their butts that a minute ago, they had forgotten about. I’m sure glad I reminded them.
“Oh,” Riley laughed as if she had just remembered something. “That’s right. There’s itching powder on the bathrooms’ toilet paper.” Some coughs were heard from the wide-eyed crowd.
I jokingly face palmed, “Oh yeah. I might’ve had something to do with that.”
“Did you put pepper on Mr. Webber’s classroom door handles?” she raised her brows. People exchanged looks of horror, and a few people laughed at their friends who were in pain from the pepper.
I chuckled with the smuggest look on my face, “Why yes I did. Do you know what else I did?”
“Why yes I do,” she grinned evilly and stepped down from the table. Everyone watched Riley’s every movement as she walked over to the computer she was at earlier and turned the projector on. “If I could just have everyone turn their attention to this video, that’d be great. It’s a very important STD warning. Some of you may have it now.”
I watched as people exchanged puzzled looks and murmured to each other before staring at the wall the video was being projected onto:
I pulled a chocolate covered peanut out of the container and showed it off with a smirk on my face. Then, I popped it into my mouth and began sucking the chocolate off as I made duck faces and crossed my eyes.
People began chuckling at my silly actions in the video. That was until the next part played:
I showed off the chocolate-free peanut as it sat on my tongue. Then, I took it out of my mouth and placed it in the bowl of other spit covered peanuts.
“Oh dear,” I grabbed my chest in fake shock. “Those aren’t the peanuts you guys have been eating, are they?” People began coughing as if they were choking and I watched a couple of cheerleaders gag. “So now you may or may not have an STD,” I glared. A few girls began squealing, boys began fidgeting in a panic, and everyone looked worried.
“You Bitch!” a cheerleader yelled.
“Oops,” I shrugged, not caring at all. “Maybe now you’ll think twice before bullying someone.”
And with that, Riley and I linked arms and walked out of the cafeteria. Operation Bully Takedown is finally over.
My principal sighed as Riley and I took seats in front of him in his office. “Girls, what you did today was wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Riley batted her eyelashes innocently, making me chuckle internally.
“I heard about everything. The honey in a girl’s hair, the condiments on someone’s chair, the itching powder, the peanuts, and the pepper.” Well, not everything. He forgot about the Habanero sauce.
“I’m sorry,” I said sarcastically. “I didn’t realize those were so bad. I mean, someone raped me here.”
He shook his head, “I hardly call harassment ‘rape’, Miss Mercer.” He’s talking about what Scott did yesterday, obviously avoiding the other incident.
I shrugged, “I guess you’re right, but you have to admit, everything we did was funny.” I bit my lip and leaned forward to show off a bit of my chest. I could feel Riley’s gaze on me, most likely surprised by my behavior.
“Well,” he chuckled. “The itching powder was certainly a good one.”
I giggled and bit my lip again, “See? They were just a couple of harmless pranks. They’re just overreacting.”
“You’re right,” he said before making a clicking noise with his tongue. “Alright, I’ll let you off the hook this time.”
“Yay,” I clapped and bounced in my seat a little, making sure my boobs bounced as I did.
“Iris,” Riley warned me with wide eyes. I just smiled at her and waved my hand to say ‘it’s okay’.
“If it happens again, I’ll have no choice but to punish you,” the principal nodded.
I smiled, “Oh, we promise today was all.” And it’s true. I don’t plan on doing anymore pranks. I’m just hoping everyone got the message.
“Okay, you two are free to go,” he pointed to the door with a grin on his face.
“Thanks,” I beamed. I heard Riley mutter a curse word at him as we walked out.
Once we reached the hallway she yanked me towards her, “Are you insane?”
Sudden fear washed over me. Why did I do that? I’ve been scared out of my mind, but I used his lack of morals to my advantage anyways. Not only does he scare me, but I scare me. If I was willing to do that, what else am I willing to do?
“I-I,” I whimpered. She shushed me and pulled me into a hug. She was at a loss for words, but who could blame her? I’m not sure what I’d say if our roles were reversed.
I couldn’t go see Harry after what had just happened. The fact is, I am frail whether I want to be or not. Today may have been scary, but I can’t imagine that what Harry has to say will be any better. I walked into my room and closed the door behind me before plopping onto my bed. I adjusted myself so I was leaning my back against the wall and holding my knees to my chest. Okay, here goes nothing.
I pulled my phone out of my purse and dialed his number. He answered after two rings, “Hello?” Oh how I missed his voice. It’s only been two days, but still.
“Hey Babe,” I half smiled even though he couldn’t see me.
“Hey, I thought I asked you to come over,” he chuckled.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I just can’t,” I sighed. I can’t even come up with a lie right now. I just can’t bring myself to face him.
I heard a ruffling noise on his end of the phone before he spoke again, “Okay well, I just wanted to ask you something.” So he doesn’t want to break up with me? “Why did you lie to me?”
“What do you mean?”
“You told me you were practicing with Perrie and El,” he sighed. “But when you didn’t come over, I texted Perrie to ask if she was still with you. She said you were never with her. In fact, she said you were acting weird all day. What’s going on, Mercy?” Well shit. Um, come on Iris, think of something.
I started twisting the hairs on the bottom of my braid, “Harry, I just had a bad day. I didn’t mean to worry you or anything, I just wanted to be alone.” Sounds believable.
“Why didn’t you just tell me that?” Why must you be so interrogative?
I curled my lips, “I don’t know. It was stupid to lie, Babe. I just have so much on my mind.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” I shook my head, still not caring that he can't see me.
“Come on, Angel,” he pleaded. “You know you can talk to me about anything.”
“I know,” I sniffled.
“Don’t cry,” his words sent waves of comfort through me. “Do you want me to come over?”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Why not?” his voice was filled with hurt. Because if you come over, all you’ll see is the girl who cuts: the girl you don't want.
I wiped away an unwanted tear, “I’m okay, Harry. Really.” I’m not okay.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I breathed. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
There was a long pause. “I miss you, Angel.”
“I miss you too,” I sniffled again. Stop crying. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
“But what about-“ I hung up before he could finish and began sobbing. So much for not shedding a tear ever again.
I know he was going to mention our date night, but I won’t be able to face him tomorrow either. Monday is another day. For now, I just want to cry about everything: losing Niall, losing the group, the memories of Quinn and Georgia, the betrayal of Team Retaliation, Scott touching me, and my perverted principal. I'm supposed to feel free, so why don't I? I have so much power now, but it doesn't feel right. There’s just so much overwhelming emotions clouding my mind.
I’m back in September, still broken and scared.
Notes
Sorry it's late, but it's a super long chapter, so that should make up for it. It took so long because I had so much to write and edit. I'm sure there still were mistakes haha.
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11/18/17