THE RISE OF THE BULLIED

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"Erin! Answer your phone!" Zoe shrieked out and compressed her sleepy head with a large plump pillow. 

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"ERIN!" She screamed at the top of her lungs through gritted teeth.

Since she was already wakened, she quickly jumped up from her bed. She threw the cushion that was her divine armor against the phone's violent attacks on her ears.

Then, she looked daggers on Erin's bed, as it was only next to hers.

To her surprise, an empty bunk caught her off-guard. She rubbed her eyes and blinked before scrutinizing it. It was definitely vacant.

In an instant, her flaring nostrils cooled off. "Where could that woman be at this untimely hour?"

There were no possible signs of Erin anywhere in the hotel room, so she tried checking on the bathroom.

She was nearing it when she detected peculiar sounds coming from within. As she moved closer to it, a stinky smell reached her shapely nose.

'Gross!' Her rosy face scowled fiercely like a crumpled paper. She tweaked her sniffer as she knocked hard on the door. "Yeah?" Erin yelled out as she turned off the portable radio.

"Your phone is ringing," she replied in a roaring voice and clenched fist. She checked on the screen to find out who it was. It was an unknown number.

"Could you answer it, please? Just tell him or her that I'll get back to her in a few critical minutes." Erin responded behind the door and turned on her radio again.

Zoe grimaced as she dealt with her phone and returned to her bed. "Hello!" She answered her phone with a cheerful note, contradictory to her scrunched-up face.

The awful scent still lingers in her nose. She waved her fingers in front of her face to shoo it away.

"Erin?" A woman said in response.

"This is not Erin. I'm Zoe. May I know who's on the line, please?" She asked in a nonchalant tone. She needed to relay to Erin once she's finished doing whatever she is trying to accomplish in the toilet.

"Zoe Cheng?" The woman at the other end inquired.

Zoe froze for a minute before she replies. "Yes?" She wondered who the unidentified caller was and how she knew her.

"Hi, Zoe! It's me, Savannah. Do you recognize me?" Zoe dropped her shooing hands.

She stared blankly for a few minor seconds at the decorated wall before taking in a sharp breath. She was now mindless of the peculiar foul air that she was inhaling.

"Savannah?" She reacted as if she has no idea who she is. But deep inside, all of her unpleasant memories with her came flashing back from her subconscious mind.

Zoe was the most attractive and sought-after girl in their prestigious school. Aside from that, she came from an upscale family. She was also high in the scholastic ranking of the most intelligent student.

The popular, charming guys were dying to make her their girlfriend. And the hateful girls envy her for that. One of them was Savannah.

At first, Savannah had been her closest friend before their family had a vacation on the island. But after her parents died and she lost the proprietary rights of the Cheng Medical Center to her uncle, she also changed her stance towards her.

She started abandoning her during lunchtime. Then, she encouraged others to avoid talking to her. She said she grew crazy after she became an orphan. There was even a cruel time when she, including her so-called friends, cornered her. They forcibly threw contaminated eggs at her.

Savannah smirked. "Did you experience a dreadful catastrophe again, that's why you can't remember? Poor you. You're like a tragedy magnet!"

Savannah was eagerly expecting Zoe to cry hysterically and drop the phone. She habitually does that during their high school days.

But there was an interminable pause. And Zoe answered in an indifferent voice.

"No, I haven't. It just makes little sense to fondly remember people with a tragic face and a tragic attitude that can't be covered up by their makeup or the dress they're wearing. That's probably the reason why I forgot about you. Who are you again?"

As soon as she heard those words, she stopped dead. She frantically grabbed a mirror from her bag and checked out her gaunt face.

Her eye bags were showing in spite of the fact that she applied a lot of concealers in it. Also, her face looks dry even though she veiled it with a thick foundation.

She growled menacingly as she replied to Zoe. "Just inform Erin we're already at the airport. We'll be there in a few hours."

"Sure! For all we know, we could meet and see each other face to face too." She cheerfully responded, making Savannah grit her teeth and drop her call.

"Wow, I'm finally getting thrilled about this reunion thing." Zoe grinned from ear to ear.