ELEVEN MONTHS AGO

"Are you Hillary?"

I cleaned my teary eyes with the back of my palm, took in a deep breath, and turned around to see who it was.

Oh my! In front of me was a stunning beautiful girl, with ocean blue eyes and long curly blonde hair. She was obviously my age, but she looked way more–I wouldn't say beautiful but rather sophisticated than me.

Apparently she had noticed my teary face and my silence didn't help her feel comfortable. "I'm sorry for bothering you...I'm just going to sort it out myself..." She said,

"No worries, I'm fine...and yes, I'm Hillary. How may I help you?"

"Are you sure? It's nothing I can't handle." She said still feeling uncomfortable.

"I'm really fine. Ignore my face. So, what's the problem?"

"I heard you're the person hosting the party?"

"Yes, I am." I said. My mind began to twitch like a building having power issues. I hoped nothing had happened. My parents weren't even aware that I was hosting a party in the house. It wasn't my idea but that of my so-called friends, Janette and Clarissa. They persuaded me in setting up a house party and I had stupidly agreed. Though it wasn't like I had an option, it was Janette's 18th birthday and she couldn't celebrate it at her own house since her father was really sick and was stuck in a wheelchair at home.

"Well, there's a little problem." The blonde girl said.

From her countenance, it was obvious that the problem was far from little.

"What happened?" I asked nervously.

The sound of the loud music was still very audible from the woods where I had hidden. My hands began to quiver and my palms became sweaty. If anything happened, I'll have to take full responsibility for it. My stepfather, Steve Harrow would finally see a perfect reason to murder me. My mum would be totally disappointed and shocked, as I wasn't the party type. I never attended any parties apart from school parties, so me hosting a party at home would be a shocking surprise to my mum.

"I think it's better you see for yourself." She said,

"Fine." My mind went haywire. Something terrible must have happened.

She led the way as we walked through the dark woods. I had not gone too far into the woods, so we soon got back to the house.

The garden and walkway were filled with empty alcohol drinks and several trash I couldn't recognise.

We pushed our way through the jam-packed door and into my house.

The stench of alcohol and cigarette filled the living room.

The disco lights and the loud music made me dizzy and I was sure that I wouldn't make it through the living room without collapsing. The alcohol and dense air made me feel like vomiting.

She must have noticed my state as she grabbed my hand and led me through the living room and up the stairs.

We walked into my room, and she guided me to the toilet to vomit.

It took me some minutes to vomit the stench of alcohol off my mind and my system.

I was whimpering and shaking and mumbling curse words when I noticed her laughing. "What's making you laugh?" I asked, offended.

"Nothing," she managed to say, as she was almost choking with laughter. "You didn't even drink alcohol, yet you vomited your full guts out, which makes me wonder what would happen, if you had gotten drunk."

I don't know why her utterance annoyed me. It was patent that she meant it as a joke and her laughter served as evidence. Maybe, I was annoyed because she looked really pretty and classy, just like my fake friends Clarissa and Janette and all the other girls who made fun of me, the only difference being that she was way more beautiful than them, which made it even worse.

My mum had a funny saying about girls like that; 'The prettier and more dressed they are, the higher the tendency of them being bullying bitches.'

I stuck to that rule for almost all my life, until the last two months when my mother shockingly told me to try to mix up with the others, to attempt to see if I could still be a normal kid. She more or less forced me to be friends with them. She said that she wanted to see if they'll like me or if I'll be interested in talking to them at all. She had suggested Janette and Clarissa,since they were the only two girls from my school who attended the old town church. Even though they came once every ten months, my mum still believed that for them to come to our church, whether it be because of their parents or not, they still had good in their heart. A good which could help her broken daughter.

Stupid, right? I know. But it didn't sound stupid to her. To her it was the perfect way to help me—like I needed any help.

To cut to the chase, her perfect plan hadn't worked as I still disliked them and all it did was increase my hatred for them. Now they were in my house, drinking, smoking, laughing, kissing, and doing other crazy things that normal people like them do, sending me away from my house, into the woods to face my nightmares all by myself.

I made up my mind that the girl standing behind me and watching me vomit was no different from the rest. By the way, she looked just like them, even better dressed and prettier than them. So, she must be even worse than the rest. She had to be.

I stood up and washed my face and mouth with water from the sink. From the mirror, I caught her staring at me, so I quickly looked away. She didn't have the mean, predator-like look which the other girls had whenever they saw me. She had a look of care on her face, like she really cared about how I was feeling. But, I cleared that out of my thoughts and concluded that I was just making it up and it could not have been genuine care. No one really cared about me, no one could ever genuinely care about me.

I turned around and faced her. Her glistening blue eyes fixed on me. I cleared my throat and asked in a firm voice, "So, what's it?"

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"What do you care?"

"Whatever, follow me." She said already feeling my negative energy.

We walked out of my room and towards my parents room. I felt like jumping out of my skin, as we arrived at my parents room door.

She opened the door and walked inside. I stood by the door frame with my mouth agape and eyes wide open. I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was Clarissa and Janette with a girl from school and two boys I couldn't identify. They were seated all over, on the bed and on the chairs in the room. Apart from some fallen pictures and the rumpled bed sheets, there was nothing physically wrong with the room, and it was the least of my problems at that time.

On the small coffee table was a powdered substance which Janette and one of the guys were sniffing from. Clarrisa was laughing hysterically and on her nose was also the same powdered substance which was also on the nostrils of the rest.

No one needed to tell me that the powdered substance was some kind of hard drug, as it stunk like something burning.

When they noticed my presence at the door, Clarissa laughed again and said to the rest, "Is there any of the good stuff remaining because it seems like our dearest friend, Hillary would need some."

Janette lifted her face from the pile of drugs on the table and stared at me. "Come right over, baby. The party just began. By the way, your house is lovely. You never told me you had such a massive house... not like I would have believed you."

Clarissa giggled. "Who would believe that a mansion like this would be built by the edge of the woods. Crazy right?"

My chest rose and fell as my body was crammed with fury. I stormed towards them and angrily wiped the powdered drugs off the table.

Janette stood up angrily in reaction to what I had done. She looked at me with her eyes burning with anger, but I wasn't having her crap that day. "You idiot, what did you just do?"

I stared back at her with my eyes flaring like fire. "Get out! Now!"

"Or what?" Clarrisa said as she rose up from the bed and moved towards me. "Are you going to beat us or kick us out? Don't you wanna be friends with us? Remember Hillary that being friends with a loser like you is a favor which we gave to your mum, so don't mess it up."

I tried shutting their words from my head but the attempt was futile. They got to me again, but this time I didn't cry or run away, I transformed my pain into anger. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!"

The two boys and the other girl had stood up and were about walking out but Janette stopped them. "Feel comfortable, by the way this is mommy's house too."

Clarissa said. "Yea, and it seems like mommy is way nicer than you, Hillary."

I felt like grabbing Janette by the shoulder and hitting her face with my clenched fist, and that was what I was about to do when the pretty blonde girl came to my rescue.

She stepped in front of me and was now face to face with Janette. From the look on Janette's face, it was evident that she was intimidated.

She said in a soft but authoritative voice. "If she wants you to leave her house, I'll advise you to leave before things get messy."

"And who are you?" Clarissa asked.

"Someone who is ready to punch your stupidity out of you. I call it the deliverance method." She said,

Janette laughed frantically. "Fine, we'll leave, but remember, Hillary, she'll save you today but before tomorrow I bet she'll figure out that you're nothing but a dumb, stupid and worthless loser who has nothing to offer, and she'll will quit from being your shield, leaving you back with us...your true friends."

Janette walked out laughing and so did the rest. I collapsed on the bed and took in deep breaths.

She sat beside me. "Are they always that stupid?"

I laughed. "Yes, they are." I looked at her but immediately looked away when I saw her ocean blue eyes fixed on me. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For what you did earlier, standing up to them for me."

"Yea." She took in deep breaths. "I hate when people try to bully others. I have a history of my own."

I stared at her in disbelief as she now had her eyes on the floor. "I doubt that anyone can ever bully you."

"Why's that?" She said as her eyes met mine, I tried looking away but it was already too late.

"You look too confident and strong to ever get bullied."

She smiled. "I don't think that's why but you're right, I've never really been bullied but I know someone who was..." Her voice faded.

It was clear that the topic wasn't really a happy subject so I changed it. "Damn! I really have to get this place cleaned up." I said, rising to my feet.

"Yea, you're right. Let me help." She also stood up.

"Thank you, you're so nice."

"Trust me, I'm not."

I chuckled. "OK. That's cool too." I stood up and began picking the pictures.

In a minute I was done setting the portraits correctly. I turned around and was startled by a tattoo which was at her back, it was exposed as she bent to arrange the sheets.

It was strange. It looked like a weird tattoo of a big dog's eyes...no, a wolf's eye.

She stood up and turned around. "What the hell are you looking at, Hillary?"

I stood there frozen to the spot. There was something about her that changed. Her eyes didn't spark with friendliness anymore, rather they looked hard and stern. Her voice wasn't the soft confident voice but was strict and unfriendly.

I wondered why she took offense to me looking at her tattoo. A tattoo which I thought was really cool. "Nothing." I uttered.

"You are a terrible liar, Hillary, and trust me you don't want to know what I do to humans who dare lie to me." She took a step closer to me and I simultaneously took a step backward. "Let the dumb cat out of the bag, Hillary."

The fact that she used the word 'humans' to address me made me more frightened. What did she mean by that? If she isn't human, then what is she, some kind of Godzilla? Whatever she was, I wasn't taking any chances, although my life was crap, I still wanted it.

I cleared my throat and happily let out the cat. "Well, I saw a tattoo of a..."

"Shut up!" She barked at me, making me jump in fright. "That's right, shut up, Hillary. Now listen carefully, you didn't see anything like that, okay? You saw nothing."

I nodded my head frantically. "Yes, I swear I didn't see anything."

"That's better." She straightened her top and walked towards the door. She stopped at the door and turned around. "Hillary, if you ever say anything to anyone about me and the tattoo, YOU'RE DEAD."

That was the last thing she said before she walked away from the room.

I once again collapsed on the bed. For a brief moment, I had believed that we could have been friends, but again my mother's rule proved correct. The more pretty and better dressed girls always turn out to be the worst bullying bitches.

I couldn't believe that she had threatened to kill me, the only people who have ever threatened me to such an extent was my family.

I laid there on the bed with my eyes open until the party died down. From the wide beautiful window of my parents room, the sun slowly vanished and left the world dark. I was so interested in watching the light of the sun give way to darkness. I hated watching the sunset but I was still interested in watching it. I had this stupid idea in my head, which made me think that the sun setting to night is just like light surrendering to darkness, and like good surrendering to evil.

For like an hour and a half, I watched nature display its wonders, until I felt the creepy feeling of darkness around me. The monsters from my nightmares were already out and searching for me.

I stood up and reached out for the lamp switch and I flicked it on, the sight of light bringing me back from my delusions. My mind was still pondering on nature when I heard the landline phone ring loudly. I hurried out of the room and down the long spiral steps to the lounge where the phone was placed. I picked the call and asked who was on the line.

It was my mother. Her voice was quivering and it was obvious that she had been crying. She told me that they were close, and that she hoped I had made dinner because both she and Steve were starving. It was then it came to my mind that everywhere was a mess. I replied with a couple of yeses and okays before I dropped the phone.

My heart was in my mouth, as I knew that I'd be dead in less than an hour if Steve found out about the party.

Fortunately, I had prepared dinner—or something edible at least. In our family, dinner, breakfast and lunch had no difference, as long as they were edible, we were fine with it.

I knew that panic wouldn't lead me anywhere so I took in several deep breaths and began working like a Trojan.

To my own surprise, in less than five minutes I was done with the inside of the house, so I hurried outside. As I opened the front door, I was pushed back by the wind. It was going to rain really hard, and might even turn out to be a storm.

The wind really helped in blowing away most of the trash outside, and luckily, most of the alcohol was in cans, which made it easier for the wild wind to blow away.

As I picked up some trash which couldn't be blown away, I heard a loud roar...more like a howl. It felt so close... almost like it was in the woods close to my house. I attempted running back into the house but I slipped on the wet grass, instantly dislocating my knee. I yelled in pain, as I couldn't move and was helplessly waiting for the beast in the woods to come and find me.

For the first time in my life, I wished for my parents to come back quickly, at least if they were around they could get the guns inside and if not kill the beast, they could at least scare it away.

But that wasn't the case, they weren't around the one and only time I needed them in my life. They just happened to be late.

The sounds of the beast became clearer and louder, until I saw something incredible before my eyes. It was a giant white wolf, with beautiful blue eyes.

But how could there be a wolf in the woods? I had grown up there my whole life and I hadn't seen any wild animals.

I slowly retreated, wincing in pain as the wolf came closer to me. I had an awkward feeling about the wolf... it was almost like I knew it. I had seen it before, so many times, I had experienced this moment before but I just couldn't remember. I was in this same stupid blue jacket and black pants and I had broken my knee, it was also raining, so I was able to  anticipate every clap of thunder. This was a familiar experience which I had witnessed before...but when? Or rather, where?

It was a couple feet away from me, its legs pounding on the short trimmed grasses.

It was now so close to me, that I could feel it breathing on me. Both I and the wolf stayed like that for a few minutes which felt like a whole lifetime to me.

My quivering hands raised itself without me thinking about it and softly brushed the mane of the wolf.

Then, I experienced the impossible. My body was glowing and so was the wolf. The light which emanated from both our bodies became brighter but not hurtful to our eyes. I lost vision of everything except myself and the glowing wolf. Then, the light became brighter and brighter and so did our glow. I felt so excited like alI the adrenaline in my body was being pumped, I got more and more excited, and...I BLACKED OUT.

I struggled to open my eyes as  bright headlights were beaming on me. It was still raining so my eyelashes were soaked with rain.

I heard a vehicle door open and I heard footsteps. Lo and behold, it was my stepfather, Steve. He stood right above me and watched me on the ground for a while before he said with his calm but wicked voice."So what are you doing outside, Hillary? Playing in the rain at your age?"

He bent and reached out to the collar of my jacket and violently raised me up to my feet. "Answer me, scumbag."

I tried to wriggle my way out of his tight hold but he was too strong for me. I finally gave in to tears, and cried out. "It's not what you think, something else happened?"

"You better have some good and believable story to tell me, if not, you're toast." He released his grip and pushed me down to the wet grass.

My mum hurried from the car and picked me up from the grass. She had some new bruises on her face and no one needed to tell me how she had gotten them. "Are you alright, honey?"

"Yes."

"Perfect. After your explanation to your father..."

"You mean Steve." I backfired. I never referred to Steve as my father. Although I didn't know who my real father was, I always imagined him as some superhero who must have loved and cherished me—unlike my mum and Steve.

"Whatever, Hill. I have some good news to break out to you."

She smiled and guided me back to the house. I wondered how she could still manage to smile despite the level of suffering and pain she received and rendered.

My mother wasn't as nice as she displayed herself to be. She was a cold-hearted demented person who had a crazy view of life, that was one reason why i never pitied her whenever she got beaten by Steve. She was just like him, an insane person.

The warmth of the house made me feel a lot better. Steve was in the dining room with a bottle of rum in his hand. My mum dragged me to the dinning, pulled out a seat and forcefully pushed me down to sit.

He turned around and gave me a deadly look with his eyes glaring. "What is your explanation, Hillary?"

I cleared my throat loudly and fabricated a lie. "After I had received mum's phone call, i... I went to...my room to shut the windows because of the rain. As I was shutting it, my wrist watch got hooked by the window and as I attempted to free it, it fell off outside. So, I went outside with a torch to search for it."

"Okay, that makes sense, but... how does that explain why you were sleeping on the grass while it was raining."

I thought of how to continue my lies but nothing came into my mind. I knew that for Steve to believe me I had to tell him some part of the truth. Because if he found out about the party, I was sure that I wouldn't  see another sunrise. "While I was still searching for the watch, I heard a howl in the woods, very close to me. I ran for the house but I dislocated my knee, so I couldn't walk...."

Wait, what! But how on earth was I able to walk back inside the house? I reached out to my left knee and to my surprise there was no dislocation or pain. I looked at them but it was obvious that they hadn't noticed that error in my story.

Steve looked at my mum then back to me. "Did the wolf get you?"

"Did it see you?" My mum said with her voice quivering.

The sudden fear in their faces was striking. "Yes, it saw me."

"What happened?" They both asked simultaneously.

"Nothing." I lied.

"What do you mean by nothing, did it just see you and leave you alone." Steve asked with frustration and fear written all over him.

"I don't know. I blacked out, and the next thing I saw was your vehicle headlights."

He stared at me for a long while and then turned around, went to the small cabinet which held many of our pictures then he angrily wiped them off the table. "Impossible, this can't be happening." He walked up the stairs, yelling curse words on no one in particular.

My mum was shaking and mumbling inaudible words.

"Mum, what's wrong?"

She didn't respond.

"Is everything alright?" I asked again but still got no response. "Mum, please talk to me, I..."

"Shut the fuck up!" She yelled. "You have no idea, do you?"

"No idea of what? Is it the wolf?"

She held her head with her two hands. "Too many questions, you ask way too many questions, Hill. Questions which I'll never answer, even if you put my neck on a goddamn blade."

I didn't get it, why were they behaving like this? "Mum.."

"Don't call me!! You are the one who called them, you want revenge, don't you?"

I didn't know what she was talking about, what revenge was she talking about? For sure, i knew i couldn't tell them about what happened between the wolf and i, the strong connection we had, the fact that I had witnessed it before. They'll go gaga, if they ever found out.

"Did you see only one wolf or was it a pack?" My mum asked with fright in her voice.

"Just one."

"Did you...feel connected to it?" Steve said from the staircase with a shotgun in his hands.

My eyes were fixed on the gun for some seconds and then moved up to Steve's red face.

"Answer me!!!" He said cocking the gun.

I didn't know what to say, my head had gone blank after Steve had appeared with the gun. Several horrible memories came back to my mind. Memories of the times I've been tortured with the gun, memories that date back to when I was very little then to latest ones.

The charming golden lights in the dinning became blurry, my ears rang and the room began to swirl around. I felt lost and alone for a while before I was knocked out of that by the sound of a gun cocking close to my face.

Gradually the blur vanished and I regained my sight, only to find a shotgun directed to my forehead.

I staggered backwards until I was resting on the mahogany dining table.

My mum was trembling with annoyance as she pointed the gun at me. "Answer the goddamn question or I'll blast your brains."

"Please don't shoot! Don't shoot!" I pleaded.

She gave out a short laugh. "Hill, I think you should know better by now. I don't care if you die or not, seeing your dead body will be nothing else but pleasure."

I stared at her shaking eyes and deep down I knew she really meant it, so I did what was best for me. I spoke out. "No. I didn't feel anything."

Steve threw one of our glass vases away and yelled; "Why did it take you so much time to spit that out, Hillary."

"I don't know...I...guess I was just...frightened, you know? By the gun." I said.

My mum pressed the gun on my forehead with so much force that gave me an immediate headache. "If I find out that you're lying to me, you will be truly sorry."

She dropped the gun on the floor and fell to the ground. She suddenly began to cry and yell out loud. Steve went over to her and comforted her.

"She wants me dead." My mum cried. "She hates me just like her sister does."

I watched her cry and yell curses at me. She cried louder and louder and accused me of certain things I had no idea of.

"What are you looking at?" Steve spat out. "Get out of our sight, before I use the gun on you?"

I quickly ran out of the dinning room and up the spiral stairs. I started from up until Steve's wicked eyes caught me. I ran into my room and slammed the door shut.

I climbed my bed, covered myself with a soft blanket and awaited the worst.

I laid there, trembling and weeping until it was dawn. After I heard the first cock crow by 5:45a.m, I decided to give sleep a try, and in a few minutes I found myself in dream land.

The next day was a Sunday. I woke up with my alarm blaring madly. To my surprise it was 11:32a.m, and my alarm had been blaring since 6:30a.m, some minutes after I had decided to sleep.

At first, I hurried out of bed and into the shower. In a couple of minutes I was out. I got into one of my large Cinderella ball gowns which were oversized and with a big scarf, I tied my hair like I was a Saudi.

I didn't look at the mirror like most girls do, mainly because I didn't care about my looks, I couldn't recall the last time I had looked at myself in the mirror—it was uncalled for. By the way, I was extremely late to church, and that was something my mum never tolerated.

I dashed out of my bedroom and hopped down the steps to the sitting room, but they weren't there. I went outside to check the patio, but they still weren't there. I returned back inside and checked their room and still nobody, but they had slept there as their scent was still very sharp.

Yes! That was another strange thing about me, I had an awkward sense of smell; I could even trace a person if I got a good sniff of that person. The last time I had told Steve and my mum, I had regretted it as they took offense in it and banished me into the dark, old basement for two days without eating. From that time I had learned to keep my lips sealed concerning myself.

In defeat, I walked down the spiral steps and into the kitchen. Damn! They must have gone without me.

As I was about to open the fridge to get something to eat, I noticed a small piece of paper pasted on the fridge. In it were boldly written words which said;

Hill, I want to apologize about Yesterday, I was really boiled up and out of my mind which led to me saying a lot of things I didn't mean. Hope you forgive me and get it out of your head.

Anyways, your dad and I are going out to someplace far away and will be away for two weeks. We wish you the best and we pray that God bless you and that you remain the responsible and good child that you are.

Stay safe and know that mummy loves you.

I scoffed irritatedly as I read the last paragraph. Mummy loves me? Love? Love and I had nothing to do with each other. All my life I had known nothing but hatred and insanity from my two guardians. The only person who I had loved and cherished was my twin sister, Maribel, but she had also betrayed me and had left me for dead in this house.

According to what my mum told me, she had committed suicide but deep down I felt that was a lie. I felt a connection to her. Somehow I knew she wasn't dead, it was either she had escaped from this hellhole, leaving me behind to rot, or she had been captured by my parents and taken away to a faraway place—maybe the same place where they always went to every now and then.

I had cried for months until I realized that she was never coming back again. Though I still cried occasionally it wasn't as tedious as it once was but it was still hurtful. She had gone almost three years ago when I had just clocked fifteen.

I gave a sigh of relief and joy as the thought of them not being around for two weeks sweetened my heart. I opened the fridge and picked as much junk food as I could get, and I felt good, at least I was breaking the first rule of being responsible.

Sunday passed quickly but not without me doing a lot of fun stuff. I even drove out in one of my dad's trucks—he had quite a number—to the supermarket to get more junk food and red wine, which was something I secretly enjoyed.

I slept happily and woke up to a sunny Monday morning. Today, I woke up immediately the alarm blared. I brushed and got into the cold shower. I enjoyed how the cold water sprayed on my soft, even toned skin. It made me forget about my problems for that moment.

Dressing up wasn't a problem for me, I opened my wardrobe and picked out the first thing I saw, which was a baggy straight jean with a pale white top with no design on it. I picked up my backpack from my room and went to the kitchen to take some food and snacks which I take in school. Then, I took a few dollar bills and stormed outside.

I took my time locking the house before taking off on my bicycle. I didn't take a truck because I wanted to enjoy the beautiful morning. I wanted to feel the mild morning sun on my skin and also feel the mild breeze blow through my long, wavy ebony hair which I let loose for the first time ever.

The journey to school was quite long and I could have gotten there with the truck in 25 minutes instead I used almost an hour to arrive.

The first two periods of school went well. Then I had a free period.

I went outside to the school compound, sat down on one of the benches and I watched the morning birds chirp excitedly, until... I got pied in the face.

I stood up in shock and frantically cleared the cold pie off my face.

"Look at her." Janette laughed.

I got really pissed off, I was having a really good day before she and Clarissa just had to come to ruin it for me.

As it was also a free period for most senior school students, I had a lot of prying eyes on me. Most of the students were laughing and taking pictures of me, they were probably going to post it on their socials, with the caption "pied in the face." Or "Summer Pied face."

After clearing the pie off my face, I glared at Janette and Clarissa. "Why did you do that?"

Clarissa chuckled and said babishly. "Oh sweetheart, as your bestie, I wanted to knock you out of your daydream. What better way to do that than blessing you with a frozen pie."

The others laughed along with them, making me feel like an idiot. "I hate you." I murmured under my voice.

"You said what?" Janette asked.

I didn't respond, I just stood there helplessly.

Clarissa walked around me and toyed with my hair. "You have such nice hair, Hillary. Why do you always braid and pack it like a stupid lunatic."

I didn't respond. I just wished the ground would open and swallow—not me—them up, all of them.

Janette chuckled wickedly. "Hold on, how are we sure it isn't a wig?"

"Let me see." Clarissa grabbed my hair and pulled it roughly, making me yelp in pain and embarrassment.

"Oh sorry." Clarissa said. "It isn't a wig, it's truly your hair. Do you think it's pretty, Hillary? I'm sure you think it's pretty, don't you?"

Janette giggled. "Of course she thinks it's pretty. Maybe next Sunday, she could leave it loose and put on some of her pretty princess dresses and then she could look like Rapunzel."

An uproar of laughter burst out, giving them more encouragement to make ridicule of me.

Clarissa still wasn't satisfied. "Honestly Hillary, your hair is really...really pretty." She signaled to some of the girls behind her, who came beside me and forcefully held me down. "But the issue is....I think your hair is too pretty for a loser like you." She looked at Janette and whispered to her, and to my surprise, Janette brought out a pair of scissors from her backpack and handed it over to Clarissa who delightfully collected it. "Now, princess Hillary, let me give you the hairstyle that befits you."

I tried to wriggle myself out of their hold but that came out futile and left me with some bruises from their sharp pointed fingernails.

I shut my eyes and gave in to defeat but to my surprise, I heard a loud thud and screams following it. I opened my eyes as the grip on me was released and I was really shocked.

On the ground was Clarissa, yelling and holding her face, the rest were far away and were running as far as their feet could take them.

Before me, was the blonde girl I had seen in my party two days ago.

She held out her hand, and I had no other choice than to grab it. She pulled me up and hugged me. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. Thank you...again."I managed to say. I didn't want to let go of her as I clung onto her. Apart from the fact that she had saved me again from being bullied by Clarissa and Janette, she smelled great...like Lavender.

At last we separated from each other's arms and she graced me with a smile. "Hope they didn't hurt you?"

"No, you came just in time."

Her smile faded and her face became tamed. "I really want to tell you something."

"What?"I asked curiously.

"Hmm..about what I said on Friday...I'm sorry."

"Oh." I remembered the death threat. "It's okay. I'm sure you didn't mean it."

She frowned. "I do."

"What!!!" I said out loud, blinking my eyes more times than I needed to in a whole day.

"I meant it, Hillary. But I hope we won't be in that situation where I'll be forced to inflict harm on you."

My eyes were fixed on her. She had really meant what she had said. Oh my! What the hell is she? A savior or a killer?

She added. "But as long as you never say anything about what you saw, then we will be cool...we could even become friends. So what do you say, Friends?"

"Of course...friends." I smiled sheepishly.

She gave me a brief hug. "OK, Hillary...I'll see you later, I really have to go back home...I only came to register my...younger brother. So ciao." She turned around and began walking away.

I watched her walk away, her hips swaying beautifully. Then I remembered something. I shouted. "Hey, hey."

She turned around.

I cleared my throat. "I never got your name."

"I'm Ava."