Bullies (2)

"I…" Madison looked at Auralia frustrated.

"You don't have to tell me now but you have to tell me what happened." Auralia explained. "It's best to deal with those girls before they cause more problems." 

Madison turned around to look at Auralia. "How are you going to…deal with them?"

"It depends on what they did." Auralia responded.

Madison smiled at the comment. "You sound like those rich girls from soap operas."

"Well, I'm a rich girl now." Auralia smiled back. "I want to do a bit of face slapping."

"Okay…" Madison turned around, becoming serious. "I'll tell you everything…but you have to promise not a word to my parents…They can never know."

Auralia wondered why Madison didn't want to tell her parents but she felt it was more important to deal with the problem first. She could convince Madison to tell her parents about the whole bullying thing later.

Auralia nodded in agreement. "Alright I swear. Just let me help you deal with them."

"Of course…But you have to let me join in your face slapping." Madison said with a determined look on her face. "I want to… teach those girls a lesson."

***

Twenty minutes later, Auralia and Madison stopped by a corner café near the Davidson Mansion. Madison had decided to tell Auralia everything that day, so Auralia took them to a café away from the mall.

She didn't want to have another run in with the girls while Madison explained what had happened.

The two were sitting at the back of the big café, a few people sitting around while others walked in and out, grabbing drinks on their way. 

Auralia looked at Madison, who was sitting opposite of her, waiting for the younger girl to start talking. She was patient, knowing Madison needed space to tell her everything properly. 

After a few minutes of silence, Madison sighed. "Where do I start…"

"I guess the best place to start is when I entered 8th grade." Madison said after another moment of silence. "I started at a new high school, Greyton High. It's this private school with boarding options. It's also the school those girls go too.

"Anyway, I was going to board as it was some distance from the mansion. Father was also travelling a lot for business and mother would join him…So, boarding was the best choice for me."

Madison went quiet, looking down at her glass of water. Auralia could clearly see the sadness in her eyes as Madison spoke about the past.

"That's where I met those girls…They were in the same grade as me but ran the school like it belonged to them." Madison paused again. "One word from them could make your life peaceful or a living hell.

"The reason they could act the way they did was because Lia's mother was the head of the school. They also came from wealthy families so most girls couldn't handle them. A few tried but it always ended badly for them."

"At first, I was just a bystander, enjoying my high school life and keeping myself away from them." Madison took a deep breath, her voice shaking as she spoke again, "But one day, I found out…"

Auralia placed a hand over Madison's hand, somehow knowing that she wanted to be comforted. That Madison needed to know things were going to be okay.

"My friend, Emily, had become their target after stopping them from harassing their latest target. It didn't seem like much at first, but after two weeks, Emily started going crazy. They forced her…"

Tears started pouring down Madison's face as the girl seemed to recall the horrible memory. Auralia squeezed her hand.

"You don't have to say anything more if you don't want to continue." Auralia murmured softly.

"No…I want to tell you everything." Madison said, wiping her face. "I don't know why but it feels good talking about it…Haha! I must sound crazy." 

"You don't sound crazy…"

"Thanks…" Madison said before taking another deep breath. "Anyway, they forced her to humiliate herself in front of our classmates and seeing her slowly breakdown was hard. I tried my best to help her but I caught Lia's attention…

"She couldn't stand that I way trying to help Emily and decided to break our friendship…She gave Emily a choice. Turn on me or be have her acts of humiliation be posted online. Emily took the easy option and betrayed me.

"I didn't learn about her being blackmailed into betraying until she dropped out of the school, so you can imagine how much it hurt." Madison laughed angrily. "I hated her but mostly I hated myself for being her friend.

"I hated being bullying, acting like a slave to a group of horrible girls because someone I trusted threw me under the bus. And the bullying went on for months. I wanted to tell someone but at the same time…It was hard.

Mother and father were busy and grandmother…well we don't really get on. I didn't want to be a pain. Especially, when the school was a really good one and mother had done a lot to get me into it. 

I didn't want to seem bratty. But the mental torture soon became too much and I begged to be taken out of the school. My parents couldn't understand why…but I also couldn't tell them."

Madison stopped, trying to wipe her tears but they continued to fall. "So, I continued 9th grade at the school and became known as Lia's plaything. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and tried to…"

Auralia didn't need Madison to finish the rest of the sentence to understand what she was trying to get at.

"I understand…" Auralia murmured, knowing Madison didn't want to have to explain.

Madison smiled sadly. "Yeah…My parents thought I did it because of the pressure of school and let me transfer to my current school. I hate lying about the reason I wanted to transfer but I don't want my parents to know…It'll break their heart and make them feel guilty for always being busy."

Madison looked up at Auralia. "So, please don't say anything about what I told you…I don't want them to be hurt."

"I won't say anything but I think you need to tell them what happened. They'll be more hurt if you hide this from them." Auralia explained. 

"Maybe one day…"