Adelyn

It was Monday—another fucking miserable day in high school. Grade 12, the final stretch, just one more year of this hellhole and the bullying might end, right? Adelyn dragged herself out of bed, still groggy from the dream she had. In it, she was finally getting back at Rebecca, her bully. She was so close to seeing Rebecca suffer, and then she had to wake up. "Damn it, I was just getting to the good part," She muttered under her breath, pissed off that reality had cut her revenge fantasy short..

She checked her wallet, hoping maybe by some miracle there was enough cash for breakfast. But no, of course not.* "Fuck... not even enough for a piece of bread thanks to those assholes," she grumbled, slamming the empty wallet shut. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it and turned to see her mom slumped in a chair, bottle in hand. "Mom, I’m going to school," she said, not really expecting a response. Her mom was deep in her usual state—drunk and oblivious to anything that wasn’t the next bottle. Would she even care if Adelyn didn’t come back? Probably not. She could barely take care of herself, let alone her own daughter.

With a worried expression, Adelyn headed out, her steps hesitant as she neared the school. Every time she approached those gates, dread twisted in her gut. The classroom door loomed ahead like the entrance to a dungeon, and the second she stepped inside, chills ran down her spine. There they were—Rebecca and her friends. The second they noticed her, the whispering started. She could practically feel their words slithering through the air like venom. "What the hell are they whispering about now?" she mumbled to herself, her voice trembling along with her steps as she made her way to her seat.

She heard Rebecca’s voice, dripping with mockery. "Hey, do you smell something weird?" Her lackeys snickered on cue. "Haha, yeah, I do," one of them chimed in. Adelyn’s heart sank. "What was that just now?" another added, like they didn’t already know exactly what they were doing. Rebecca’s eyes gleamed as she delivered the final blow, "I don’t know, but isn’t it coming from one place in particular?" They all burst out laughing, they were referring to Adelyn, the sound drilling into Adelyn’s skull like nails. She clenched her fists, fighting the urge to scream or run—anything to make it stop. But she just sat there, paralyzed by their cruelty.

An hour later, they were assigned a partner project. Of course, no one wanted to be her partner. Why would they? To them, she was the creepy girl, the weirdo. Rebecca and her gang didn’t miss the chance to make fun of her isolation, pointing and whispering just loud enough for her to hear. "Looks like someone’s all alone again," one of them sneered. Adelyn stared at the empty seat beside her, biting back tears. Not like she expected anything else, but it still stung like hell.

After the project, Adelyn slumped in her seat, resting her head on the desk. She was so fucking tired of this—of all of it. Every day was just another round of torture. "When will this shit end..." she whispered, her voice barely audible. But the worst was yet to come.

Rebecca and her friends had found her vent account online, where Adelyn had poured out all her anger and despair. She never thought anyone would find it, but of course, they did. Rebecca confronted her in front of the entire class, a devilish grin on her face as she held up her phone. Adelyn’s blood ran cold. "No... they couldn’t have..." But the cruel reality hit her as Rebecca started reading her posts out loud, each word slicing through Adelyn like a knife.

"Fuck you, Rebecca," Rebecca mocked, reading her posts with exaggerated disdain. "Why can’t you leave me alone? This classroom sucks, everyone here should die." The words echoed in the room, and the other students gasped, turning their judgmental eyes on her. The whispers started, each one like a dagger in her back. Adelyn wanted to disappear. "No... s- stop, please stop," she begged, but Rebecca was relentless, feeding off her misery.

"Did you all hear that?" Rebecca smirked, "Little miss Adelyn wants us all dead." She took a step closer and slapped Adelyn hard across the face. Adelyn froze, her mind blank with shock and fear. She looked around the room, hoping—praying—that someone would help her, but they all just went back to their business, not giving a shit. She was completely alone. Until...