GRIEVOUS VENGEANCE

CHAPTER 9

Sandy and her best friend Nadia were on their way to school when a group of students started bumping both of them from behind, then went back to bump them again. The bullies are Darryl's friends.

"Hey, ugly! What's up?!" One of the boys said. "You still have guts going to school, huh?"

Sandy didn't bother to respond. She pulled her best friend to continue walking towards the school entrance.

"Don't be like that, c'mon!" the guy repeated. His friends followed behind them, smiling wickedly.

"Will you stop that and just ignore us," Nadia pleaded. "We are not doing anything bad to you."

"Ignore you?" The guy laughed. "Okay." He raised his hand and signaled his six friends behind Sandy and Nadia. They all walked and bumped the girls hard, pretending to pass by. They immediately ran after seeing Sandy fell on the ground. Nadia was able to balance herself that's why she didn't fell.

"Sandy!" Nadia exclaimed as she saw her best friend knocked down. "Are you all right?"

"yes, I am," Sandy said. She held her wounded arm.

"You're not okay," Nadia said. "You're bleeding. Let's go to the clinic before going to class."

Sandy just nodded and walked towards the school clinic with her best friend.

"This will not happen if I wasn't so careless."

"I told you it's not your fault," Sandy exclaimed. "It's my fault for admiring someone like him."

They both entered the clinic. "Nurse Jen, can you tend her wound?" Nadia pleaded to the school nurse.

"Sure, sit down here," Nurse Jen said. "What happened to you? That's a deep wound."

"I fell on the ground so hard and my arm hit a stone," Sandy explained, skipping the part that those bullies knocked her down.

Nadia just shook her head. She knows her friend has a soft heart even though she's been bullied.

Nurse Jen applied antiseptic solution on her wound. She screamed. "You should be careful next time or feel that pain again."

"Y-yes, I'll be careful next time." Sandy waited until Nurse Jen covered her wound with bandage.

"Janine, I told you I'm okay, don't over react," Jackie exclaimed. She's trying to pull herself away from Janine but her best friend is holding her arm so tight as she pulled her towards the clinic's opened door.

"What happened to her, Janine?" Nurse Jen asked. Nurse Jen is Janine's neighbor and their friend. They've been staying in her clinic everyday during lunch for small talks.

"A volleyball hit her head hard, she might lose her sanity anytime," Janine giggled. "Do you have a cure for it?"

"Sorry, I can only tend to small wounds. Jackie needs to go to the hospital," Nurse Jen joked as she also tried not to laugh.

"A ball just hit me and it wasn't even painful, why do I need to go to the hospital?" Jackie can't believe her two friends are ganging up to make fun of her.

Janine just realized there are other people in the clinic, and one of them is Sandy. "Hi," she greeted them hesitantly.

"We'll go ahead, Nurse Jen," Sandy said. She averted her gaze and looked down. She stood up and walked towards the door. Nadia followed her immediately.

"What happened to her?" Jackie asked.

"She said she fell on the ground and her arm hit a stone," Nurse Jen replied.

Janine looked at Jackie, then her gaze went back to Nurse Jen. "She's been bullied. We saw a group of students bullying her yesterday just right outside the campus. Did they hurt her?"

"She didn't say anything like that." Nurse Jen sighed. "She needs to report bullying to resolve it. She can't just keep it to herself."

"Sir Homer saw it, too," Jackie said. "He said he will talk to those kids. I don't know if they would listen though."

"I can see sadness in her eyes. She's not okay." Nurse Jen stood up. "I hope she can get through with this."

Let's go and have some lunch. My treat."

"That's the best thing I heard today, after telling me to go to the hospital." Jackie held both of their hands and pulled them towards the door.

*****

"You go ahead to our classroom, Nadia," Sandy said. "I jest need to get some of my things from my locker room."

"Are you sure you're okay to be alone?" Nadia is skeptical. She's worried about her best friend.

"I'll be fine, go ahead." Sandy tried to speak confidently and faked a smile to make Nadia believe she's fine.

"Okay, if you say so." Nadia waved he hand and walked towards their classroom.

Sandy's facial expressions as she pulled her phone from her pocket. She read the text message from Darryl. It was sent to her while they were in the clinic. She rushed and walked towards the rooftop of the school. It was one of his instructions. Come to the rooftop alone or we'll also bully your friend. She hesitated but she wants to protect her one and only best friend.

She arrived on the rooftop and saw Darryl's group. There were two boys and two girls with him. She was nervous but she needs to face them alone. One of them shuts the rooftop door where she came from.

"W-what do you want from me?" Sandy asked. She's trying to look strong and fearless.

"I just want to know if you still like me," Darryl asked. His eyes are red and his walk is not stable, seemed high of something.

"N-no, it was all in the past. Just leave me alone, will you?" she said. Her knees are shaking. She feels danger.

"We'll see about that." Darryl looked at his friends. "Hold her tight."

His friends did what he instructed them. Two of the girls immediately walked towards Sandy and held her both arms.

"W-what are you planning to do?" Sandy felt scared. "This isn't funny anymore."

"Who said we're doing funny things? We'll go to heaven. At least, someone as ugly as you can still go there." Darryl walked slowly towards her.

"W-what do you mean?" She triend to pull her arms. "Let me go or I'll shout!"

"No one can hear you from here." Darryl's lips twitched. "You have an ugly face but your body is above average." He grabbed her chest hard. The girls laughed at her.

"Don't touch me!" Sandy shouted. She's frightened. Now she knows what these people have been up to. She needs to escape. "Let me go!"

She kicked the legs of two girls who were holding her hands. They might think she's a weakling but she knows self defense. The two girls fell on the floor. She ran quickly towards the door but the other guy blocked it. She ran to the other end of the rooftop, only to be trapped and she has nowhere to run.

"Stop running and play with us," Darryl said.

The two girls she kicked earlier recovered and grabbed her again. She fought hard. She will never let herself get ruined. Darryl came closer and slap her. She felt dizzy as she fell on the floor. He grabbed her hair to pull her up. "No one says no to me." She slapped her hard again, this time she hit the ledge of the rooftop. She lost he balance and fell on the first ground, head first. They heard loud scream from students on the ground floor.

Darryl seemed just realized what happened, he ran towards the rooftop door. His scared friends followed him.