Kyle took Jane to a nearby restaurant and he allowed her to order anything she wanted even though she was still being considerate as she didn’t want to be a financial burden to him.
Kyle found this cute and he noticed that Jane was a lot freer around him, she was no longer stiff.
She ordered hash browns, consisting of finely julienned potatoes that have been fried until golden brown with a glass of juice at the side.
Kyle ordered exactly what she was having because he wanted to try something different, pancakes were his usual go to but he wanted what she was having.
“Jane, how are you truly holding up?” Kyle began the conversation.
“If I’m being honest, I don’t know… Ella has been struggling for years but I thought the worst was over,” Jane was opening up, and Kyle knew this was his chance to get to know Jane.
He knew nothing about her and this was his chance to gather crucial information.
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you with my mess,” Jane quickly apologized but Kyle wondered why people always did this.
They were on the verge of opening up only to apologize for doing so as if they were putting the listener on the spot. They would be more prone to give them their full attention if presented in such a manner.
“If you can’t talk to me then you might as well be mute,” Kyle teased, he had to laugh at the end of this sentence or there was a chance that it would be taken wrongly.
Jane gave him a reassuring smile before taking a deep breath, she realized that Kyle was a person she could give her soul to.
She had feelings for him and it went beyond a mere crush and she was willing to take this risk with him.
“This is how it goes…” Jane began.
–
A young girl in her mid-teens had on braces but she was seated in the toilet, sobbing.
Her school uniform was wet with her broken glasses shattered on the ground in front of her.
This was a younger Jane and she was a victim of bullying in the all-girl school she attended.
This was because of her plain look and she was one of the kids that wouldn’t be considered conventionally attractive.
“You know, you have to fight back or they will just keep coming back,” A girl in one of the bathroom stalls said but Jane couldn’t see who it was because of the door and also the fact that her glasses were shattered.
“W-Who is there?” Jane muttered, backing away from the direction the voice came from.
The door to the stall shot open and out came a girl with red hair, it was Ella.
“Grey your ass up or I will join in!” Ella barked and in a heartbeat, Jane got to her feet.
Ella walked up to her and smacked her lightly on the head.
“The correct answer was no. You don’t do everything you’re told, only what you want to do. You would get your ass beaten either way so isn’t it better to be beaten for putting up a fight?” Ella shrugged.
This was a sound argument even though bullying wasn’t that black and white.
Ella was a delinquent in this school but she didn’t care about anything enough to participate in.
And she was on probation after her last run and this was only because of her family’s influence within the school.
“Oh, you can’t see me?” Ella questioned and Jane nodded to confirm this.
“Is it the mean girl clique?” Ella questioned and Jane nodded once again, snot running down her nose.
Ella sighed before awkwardly patting Jane on the head.
“There, there,” Ella didn’t know how to comfort her but she realized that this particular group of girls were becoming a nuisance.
She had to clip their wings soon or it would only escalate.
She grabbed Jane by the hand and walked her out of the bathroom, she was dripping wet.
There was no doubt that she would attract attention but that was about it, no one dared laugh because Ella was with her.
Jane couldn’t see clearly but the moment she heard laughter in the distance, she forcefully stopped in her tracks.
“What are you doing?” Ella asked but Jane didn’t say a word.
She thought Ella was setting her up and didn’t want another beating but Ella began to drag her forcefully.
They soon came into view of the girls and Jane hid behind Ella.
“Hey!” Ella screamed and the girls turned to her, they were three in number but even they looked alarmed when they saw Ella.
Ella had a nickname within the school and that was “The Blood Sucking Witch”.
She absorbed the blood of those she beat and that’s why her hair was so red so naturally, everyone knew she was trouble but she was outnumbered and on probation.
These girls knew it and that was the only reason they confronted her.
“What do you want bitch? You found a stray puppy to protect?” One of the girls teased her.
“Hm… ” Ella muttered as she examined the uniform they had on closely.
“Okay, yours will do,” Ella said before approaching the girl that had just spoken but the leader of the clique stepped right in front of her.
“Are you stupid or som-!” A roundhouse kick to the side of the head sent the bigger girl flying.
” I wasn’t talking to you,” Ella said and the other two girls immediately surrendered because if she could do this to their leader, there was no telling what she would do to them.
She got the girl out of her uniform in the hallway for all to see and measured it up against Jane.
Jane couldn’t see what had happened due to her blurry vision but she had an idea.
“Remember, if anyone asks, she fell… T for thanks,” Ella said to the girls despite witnesses being present, she knew that everyone was tired of these girls and if anything, she was doing them all a favour.
And respond accordingly, thank you
