Breathless

School bullies can be an added burden when you are already dealing with so much. It was a weekend, and Suzie was planning a public mockery session against Madeline. The high school bitch had her gang around her on the bed. Suzie addressed them with a sly smile.

'Look what I stole from Miss Luna's table.'

Prying eyes stared at Suzie's elegant body as she stood before them. She held her handbag with sheer imprudence.

'What is it, Suz?' One of them tried to snatch her bag.

Bit Suzie kicked her and pulled her down. When her friend was on the carpeted floor, Suzy blew around her nails and ordered. 'Nobody should mess with me. That is the first rule.'

The gang members rolled their eyes and stared at the bag. They patiently waited for Suzie to pull out the treasure.

She pulled out a file of their assignments.

'I stole these!'

The others screamed in excitement.

Suzie bit her lips. 'Look, that bitch scored the highest again, even though she had submitted her assignment after the deadline.'

Amelia, another bully, saw the grade on Madeline's paper. She had got an A. While the others had got below B+

'Something has to be done!' Suzie added. Her eyes gazed at the floor without blinking.

'Like what?' Amelia asked.

Suzie did not reply. But after a while, she burst into a devilish laugh.

'Let us drop a text in the class group about a party. We can personally invite Madeline, and…' her tone started getting scarier, but Amelia interrupted.

'Madeline never joins a party.'

'This time, she will because we will throw it for her: she is the topper. We will try to persuade her that we are apologetic for bullying her.'

'Oh, so lie to her and call her to her own graveyard?' Lucy laughed.

The three girls started hosting a party. They dropped a text in the class group: Madeline's Party! The text read.

Madeline had not even checked the message yet. She had put the group on mute. But the others had responded with a yes. The party was tonight.

Suzie shushed everyone before dialing Madeline's number. She put the call on speaker and greeted her well. Madeline had never heard her gentle voice. Something was fishy.

Suzie sniffed. 'Maddy, did you hear? You topped the class again!'

'Uhm…i don't know,' Madeline responded with perplexity.

'I was at the school after the classes. She showed me the papers then. I was thinking…i did wrong…' Suzie paused and suppressed her laughter. She gently slapped Amelia, who made funny faces before her.

She continued her pretense. 'I was wrong, and now I want to make up for my mistakes. I am throwing you a party. Let us start on good terms…'

'But…' Madeline's reluctant voice spoke in between Suzie's constant jabber.

'No, Maddy. Consider it my apology to you. If you come to the party, I will think that you've pardoned me.'

'I am…actually…' Madeline tried to think of an excuse. But her eyes fell on so many messages in the group. Almost all her classmates were coming to Madeline's Party.

'You have to come…' Suzie kept insisting.

'Uhm…okay…' Madeline finally spoke.

'Wear white.' Suzue added. She paused and muted the call because she could not control her laughter anymore.

'Why?' Madeline asked. She waited for the reply, but it did not come for a long time until Suzie finally u muted and said, 'it's a theme. White stands for peace. We are beginning afresh with peace!'

'Uhm…okay..' Madeline hung up.

She scrolled down the group chat. She could not believe that the celebration was actually named Madeline's Party. She smiled and finally felt accepted. 'Maybe Suzie is not that bad, after all!' Madeline giggled.

She was excited. Finally, she could have a party of my own. She strode to her closet to look for a white dress. But to her dismay, she could not find any.

There was only one white top, and even that did not look fit for the party. Everybody else would be so well-dressed.

Madeline's heart sank. Maybe she should not get her hopes high. She did not even have a good dress to wear. The white theme limited her choice.

But it was a once-in-a-while opportunity. Madeline could not miss it. So, she went to a store that offered branded dresses for rent.

She had never done this before. She did not even know the charge for the rent. 'It must be high!' dye muttered as she walked toward the Rental.

But to her surprise, even the rent charge was minimal, something she could afford.

'I am looking for white dresses, please…' she told the salesperson who took her to another section in the shop which only had white dresses.

Madeline had never seen so much glamour before. She looked at the tag of one of the dresses. It was worth $1000. It was branded. But she was getting it for only $25. Madeline was finally excited to be around her schoolmates.

She picked up a dress that had a slit cut. Soin, she put the hanger back when her eyes fell on a bodycon dress. She picked that and another basic white shimmery dress. Madeline excitedly rushed to the trail room.

She got undressed and put on the bodycon dress. It fit her so perfectly. The edges kissed her chest so elegantly. It was mainly exposed. Madeline kept staring at her beautiful curves and felt so different. But she was not confident with how exposed she felt. She bit her lips and tried the other dress. It was not as great as the other one. But she went with it anyway. At least, it coveted her body which made her feel less conscious.

Before packing the dress for her, the salesperson added. 'If there is any stain, wear or tear on the dress, we will charge you entirely.'

Madeline's heartbeat intensified. 'And how much is that?'

'$570.'

Madeline breathed deeply. Soon, the salesperson assured her. 'This is only when there is remarkable damage to the dress. Otherwise, it does go for dry cleaning. So don't worry about it!'

Madeline finally decided to pay the rent. She took the dress and grew more excited about the party.

At 7, she knocked on Suzie's door.

There was a lot of noise from inside.

Suzie opened the door and shouted, 'look who is here!'

She put her arms around Madeline's shoulder and gently pulled her in.

Madeline could feel her ticklish fingers around her neck.

'Give a shoutout to our topper!' Suzie shouted. Madeline blushed. The others cheered for her as she walked forward. So much limelight was on Madeline that she felt uncomfortable. It felt unreal.

Suzie offered Madeline a drink.

'Did you add it?' she whispered into Amelia's ears, who nodded with a smirk.

'Drink it. It is your party!' Suzie offered the glass to Madeline, who kindly accepted the glass.

'Let us go dance!' Suzie pulled her to the poolside, where loud music was playing.

They moved their bodies to the rhythm. After a few minutes, Madeline could feel her head spinning. Extreme fatigue gripped her body.

Soon Madeline heard Suzie and the others laugh at Madeline. Their voice echoed in Madeline's ears.

Everything was spinning around for her.

'You really thought I would apologize to you?' Suzie threw the red wine on her face that slipped through her dress. Madeline was dipped in the red color of the wine.

She looked down at her dress. Madeline dropped to the ground and saw the others walk toward her. They started pouring their half-drank beverages on her like she was trash.

Suzie pulled her up and forced her to dance.

'Dance…come on…dance, bitch!'

But the more Madeline felt her hands around her body, the more she felt like fainting. Her headache intensified.

Soon, she slipped and dropped into the pool.

She was drugged. She could not pull herself up. She was drowning in the pool, and nobody saved her.

Everyone was laughing at her recording a live video on their Instagram.

Soon, the lights started to flicker. They looked around and saw a man run to the pool. He wore a British cloak, the ones they had only seen on the screens. He was extremely beautiful. Those blue eyes sparkled in the flickering light. He dived into the pool so elegantly that all the girls in the house had their jaws apart. They had only seen a man so beautiful in movies.

Madeline was drowning when she finally felt soft hands around her waist. She was still in the water when she saw the face of the man who had saved her last night. His blue eyes stared deeply into her. His curly long hair flowed in the water and made him look more unreal.

He tightly held her waist. He pulled her body toward himself and pushed her up. His fingers touched her hips.

Now they were both on the surface. Everybody looked at the two of them who were lost in each other's gazes.

'Are you okay?' He asked in his melodic voice.

Madeline nodded.

But the effect of the drug did not go. She soon fell into his broad arms. He picked her up and walked out of the pool.

Her slender body fit his arms so perfectly. He gently put her on the ground and gently pressed her chest.

'Can you breathe?' He tried to feel her heartbeat.

She had fainted. He thought she was breathless. He leaned down closer to her lips. When their nose touched one another's, Madeline opened her eyes.

From that close distance, they looked at one another. His hand was still on her chest. Her heart was beating at pell-mell speed.

The man stopped in that position. Their gazes were interlocked with each other.