6 Chapter Six

I spent my whole week sleeping, barely eating anything, and generally depressed. At one point the pain got so bad that I puked out the very little I did eat. The medication did absolutely nothing for me.

I wish my grandma was still alive, my abuelita would know what to do. She died of cancer when I was only ten, my female role model, the only mother I got to have, even if it was just for a little while. The last thing I have left from my birth mother is her necklace, a silver little thing shaped like a crescent moon with a tiny diamond in the middle. I never took it off.

I can't even imagine how behind I am in school. The minute I had caught myself up in all my schoolwork, I was set back once again. All my hard work, completely undone. I used to be a terrific student, all straight A's throughout my entire high school life. But now I'd be surprised if I was even passing a class.

I begged my dad to let me be homeschool, but for that, I needed wifi and a laptop, neither we could afford. Instead, I begged to be transferred, but Chambers High was the only school within my district. The other closest school was Klamath High, an hour and a half away. That also wasn't a possibility either.

The other good news was that the pain seemed to have stopped. I haven't felt it for three days now, the last episode was Thursday night, It's Sunday now. I don't know if it's finally over, or if I'm just grasping onto false hope. But to my dad, it definitely meant that I was ready to go back to school. So I go back tomorrow.

But I can't let myself think about what that entails if I do I won't be able to survive it.

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Deep breaths... deep breaths. The last thing I needed was to have an attack right in front of the school. I have to prepare my mind and steal myself for the worst.

As I make my way through the front doors, I'm surprised to see that no one is openly gawking at me or whispering amongst themselves. Everything is normal so far. Everyone is still avoiding me like the plague. But not once do I hear the "pictures" of me mentioned by anyone.

I skip PE in the second hour, it was a class besides anatomy that I had withall of Keenan Hallins puppets. If I can prolong it, I will.

It's not until my lunch when they do catch up to me. I tried thinking of the best place to hide out my lunch period. I contemplated outside, the library, the auditorium, the bathroom, the main lobby, but none of them seemed secluded enough.

I guess in the end it didn't matter, I could hide in Canada and they'd probably find me anyway.

I decide to hide in the library for my lunch hour where it was public and in the view of the librarian. I'm eating my PB and J sandwich when I hear the door swing open, on cue, Vivienne, Savannah, and Carla barge in. These girls don't even pay attention in class yet they're the library?

Immediately I try not to let it show how much I'm freaking out inside.

The librarian looks surprised to see them here, but once she sees them heading straight for me, she promptly turns in her chair so that her back is to us.

"Oh Vermin! Where have you been hiding? We've missed you in gym class."

I didn't say anything, just stared at them warily.

"What? I hope you didn't think we forgot all about you and what you've doned."

Don't take the bait.

"I wonder how your parents would feel if they knew their daughter likes to pose naked for boys in the pool room."

No reaction.

"I'll make sure to past them all over these walls and on social media. Everyone will know then what a cheap whore you are then ."

My vision became blurred as I stared at the desk in front of me.

"I'll even be sure to send a framed picture to your doorstep for your father to find. I know where you live after all. I should change your name from Vermin to Trailer Park Trash."

My breath caught and I froze. How did they find out where I live? If my father finds out it will devastate him. If they post this on the internet I know it'll be there forever, following me no matter where I go.

I finally speak, "please-please don't. I'll do anything!"

The corner of Vivienne's lips lifted into a smirk. "You will, won't you? That's good news for you then, because that's exactly how this is gonna go. You do everything we say, everything, and your photos won't get posted for the whole world to see. If you disobey us, there will be consequences."

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"Call it whatever you want, but as of now, we own you."