Maybe I should just stay here until they leave. I could call for help—I’m sure someone would come back to the school and unlock the door.
“Amy, at least go out in the hallway if you’re going to use that thing. I don’t want to smell strawberries and cream—it just makes me hungry.” It was Jillian’s voice—and she sounded agitated.
“Right, because Bianca’s cigarette smells better than my vape?” Amy lodged a protest, but she still walked out into the hallway—and blew a cloud into the PE locker room.
“Her cigarette doesn’t make me hungry!” Jillian growled like an angry lioness.
“Hey…” Amy’s voice echoed a hint of confusion. “I think someone is in the girl’s locker room.”
Oh no!
“What?” Bianca’s tone was panicked. “I thought Mrs. Smith left—shit! I can’t get caught smoking again. Jillian, take this!”
“No, she left.” Amy’s voice got closer. “One of the lockers is open, and there are clothes on the floor—it was definitely closed earlier today when I came in here to use my vape before we went down to the field.”
No, please no—God, remember that miracle? This isn’t it!
“Is anyone in here?” Bianca stormed into the locker room. “It was probably just someone fucking around. They had all those people at the school for the craft show.”
Yep, that’s it—no reason to investigate! That’s my miracle, God. Thank you!
My plan about staying out of sight until they left and calling for help suddenly sounded like the best plan in the world. I didn’t dare to breathe—I pressed my back against the locker and planned to hold my breath as long as possible. Bianca and Amy started to leave the room, and suddenly there was a loud ringing—the ringing was coming from my hand. I looked down at the screen and realized that I had accidentally turned on the ringer instead of silencing it. I hit the correct button immediately, but it was too late—the footsteps were coming my way.
“Oh my god! It’s Hannah Lawson!” Amy giggled when she turned the corner and saw me.
“No fucking way.” Bianca ran to the opposite side of the locker—trapping me between them.
“What are you talking about?” Jillian’s voice echoed from the doorway.
“Where are your shorts?” Bianca stepped forward and pushed into Amy, who immediately pushed me back towards her queen. “Are you hiding in the locker room to play with yourself?”
“Leave me alone!” I ducked past Bianca, but she grabbed my hair from behind.
“I bet she was down here spying on us.” Amy grabbed my arm, and the two of them dragged me around the lockers.
“Is that what you were doing?” Jillian stepped forward and pushed me. “Were you watching us shower and playing with your dirty little cunt?’
“No!” I yanked myself free from Amy grasp, but that just made Bianca pull my hair harder.
I can’t fight them—there’s no way I would win. We’re down here alone in the locker room. They might even try to kill me…
“What should we do with this dirty little pervert?” Bianca let go of my hair and shoved me towards Jillian.
“I think she needs a shower.” Jillian pushed me towards Amy. “A cold one.”
“Turn on the water.” Bianca grabbed my arm and pointed to the shower.
Of all the things they could do to me—throwing me in a cold shower certainly isn’t the worst.
“Oh yeah, that’s fucking freezing.” Amy turned on the water and yanked her arm away.
“Take off your clothes.” Bianca pushed me forward.
“What? No, I’ll just get in it. I won’t fight you…” I held up my hands—a sign of surrender—I didn’t have much choice.
“Either take off your fucking clothes, or we’ll tear them off!” Bianca’s face twisted into an angry scowl.
“Yeah.” Amy nodded. “You were spying on us—we should get a show too.”
“Do it!” Jillian stepped forward and punched me so hard in the stomach that I doubled over.
I realized that compliance was the only choice I had. The Bradford Elite were cruel, and they weren’t used to peasants resisting. There was light in my tunnel—somewhere near the end—I hoped. I kicked off my shoes and reached for my t-shirt. That light was extinguished when I pulled my t-shirt over my head and saw that Bianca had started to record me with her phone. I thought they were going to settle for humiliation, but that wasn’t good enough to feed their cruel cravings. I resisted the urge to cry, even when my bra and panties hit the floor. Amy pushed me towards the shower, and I didn’t try to resist it. I just stepped into the cold water and let it freeze me from head to toe.
“What should we do with these filthy clothes?” Amy leaned forward and picked up my t-shirt—then used it to grab my panties. “They probably need to be washed too.”
“No.” Bianca smiled and shook her head. “We’re going to burn them.”
“What? You can’t do that!” I lunged at Bianca, but Jillian grabbed my hair before I could reach her. “Please!”
“Let’s burn the ones in her locker too.” Amy grinned and skipped across the room.
“Good idea.” Bianca nodded.
I fought against Jillian and was willing to lose a little hair if I could stop the other two members of the Bradford Elite from burning my clothes. Unfortunately, Jillian was bigger than me and a lot stronger. She held my hands behind my back and squeezed my wrists so hard they ached. Bianca pulled a lighter out of her pocket and lit my t-shirt on fire. I screamed at her, but that just made her laugh. I watched in horror as every single piece of clothing I wore to school that day, and the ones I kept in my gym locker, were reduced to smoldering piles of fabric on the floor. Then she grabbed my purse and emptied it on the floor—she quickly smashed everything she could with her heel and then tossed it into the shower.
At least it wasn’t expensive—not that I have anything expensive.
“Now what are we going to do with her?” Jillian squeezed my wrists.
“Hold onto her. Amy, go get our stuff.” Bianca motioned to her friend.
“Bianca, please…” It was getting really hard to fight the tears, and my throat was hoarse from screaming while she burnt my clothes in front of me.
“Since you decided to fuck with us earlier…” Bianca took a step forward. “I think you should walk home like this.”
“A good old-fashioned Walk of Shame!” Jillian laughed. “I love it! You’re so smart, Bianca.”
“I know but thank you.” Bianca tilted her head and grinned.
“Come on—you can’t do this!” I felt tears welling up in my eyes.
“Oh, we’re doing it.” Bianca picked up my cell phone. “Let’s make sure you can’t call for help…”
“No!” I stared in horror as she walked past the shower and tossed my cell phone into one of the toilets.
“Let’s go.” Jasmine twisted my wrists and pushed me towards the door.
This is the officially the worst day of my entire existence…
The three members of the Bradford Elite took me to the door and then shoved me outside into the parking lot—they shoved me so hard that I nearly fell to the ground, but I caught myself before I tasted the pavement. Bianca pushed the key into the door and locked it. Up until that moment, I had a little hope—maybe that was entirely pointless when dealing with entitled bitches like them, but I thought there had to be some shred of humanity in their bitter black hearts. I hoped it was going to be nothing more than a cruel prank—they were going to keep it going until the last second, then make me walk home in a cheerleader outfit or something. Once they started walking towards their cars, it was clear that wasn’t the case—they were literally going to leave me naked from head to toe standing in the parking lot of Bradford Academy.
“Bianca! You can’t do this!” I ran after them and caught Bianca’s arm with enough force to spin her around.
“Back off you little bitch!” Bianca shoved me—then Jillian slapped me so hard I s
aw stars.
“One your knees, whore!” Amy hit my shoulder with so much force that I couldn’t keep my balance, and I landed elbow first and felt the skin shred as it skidded against the pavement.
“You are going to walk home like this.” Bianca leaned forward. “If you get up off the ground before our cars leave the parking lot, then I’ll tie you to my bumper and drag your pathetic ass home.”
“Now say you’re sorry for fucking with us!” Amy leaned forward and jammed her finger into the side of my head.
“Let’s hear those words, bitch.” Jillian nudged me with her shoe. “Say you’re sorry for being a little cunt!”
“I’m…” My words got caught in my throat, and Amy jammed her finger into my skull again. “I’m sorry…”
“I’m sorry for…” Bianca narrowed her eyes.
“I’m sorry I fucked with you…” I squeezed my eyes shut.
“And?” Jillian kicked my arm.
“And…” I exhaled sharply. “For being a little cunt.”
“There.” Bianca’s voice immediately went from sinister to sick-sugar. “Now, of course if you tell anyone about all of this, we’ll be forced to share the video we filmed with the entire school on Monday.”
They left me there on the ground, and I watched their cars until they were out of sight. The Bradford Elite didn’t realize just how bad they had screwed me over—maybe they would have gotten more pleasure out of it if they had. My mother wasn’t home. They locked my car keys—along with the only key that could get me into my house—in the locker room. I didn’t have my cell phone to call for help. I had no family around, even if I could get to a phone. Candice was the only person I could feasibly call, but I didn’t have her number memorized. If I had realized how my day was going to end, I would have just slept through the entire day and never gotten out of bed.
God, you screwed me on that miracle. How about a time machine? Is that easier for you?
I walked over to my car and peered through the glass. I had nothing inside of it that would help my situation—I would have even settled for an empty McDonalds bag that I could have fashioned into makeshift panties. It was locked, but I seriously considered just smashing my window and hiding in there until some form of help arrived. I wasn’t sure how long that would be. Bradford Academy was pretty far from all of the main roads—which was not going to be a fun walk if it came to that. Candice might check on me—or she might not. There was no guarantee. My mother would be worried, but she wouldn’t fly back unless she knew something was wrong. I went around to all of the doors of the gym, the school, and even the annex building that was used for the freshman students—every door was locked.
The police might come if I smash one of the school windows…
I gave it some thought but decided that I didn’t want to explain my situation to the police—they would definitely call the Principal—and I would probably get suspended when I couldn’t explain my situation with any real clarity. Bianca had the video of me which pretty much guaranteed my silence. I wasn’t sure if she would actually go through with her threat, but after everything she had done, I couldn’t risk it. The Bradford Elite pretty much owned me as long as they had that video—the queen had turned me into a pawn that could do nothing but bend the knee to her for the rest of my miserable existence.
I really hope Mom nails that interview so we can get the hell away from this place.
I worked out a plan in my head. There was a small forest with trails nearby—it was supposed to be for hiking, but a lot of students just hung out there to smoke weed or cigarettes when they were skipping classes. I had never been all of the way through it, but I saw the other side when I drove to school. That would allow me to avoid the main road, and I would be pretty close to some houses. It was fairly common for people to hang laundry outside since rain was rare in southern California. If I could just steal some clothes, the rest of the way home would suck on bare feet, but it wasn’t impossible.
Mom will just have to forgive me for the broken window when she gets home—that’s the only way I can get into my house.
I put my plan in motion. I walked to the woods and carefully made my way along the trail. It was worn, and I was able to avoid stepping on anything that would hurt my feet. My elbow had stopped bleeding, but I was definitely going to have a few scabs when it healed. After walking for a little bit, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye—it appeared to be a picnic blanket, hanging over a branch. I risked the damage to my feet and left the trail so I could grab it. The blanket was old, tattered, and dirty, but it was better than walking around naked. I cleaned it off the best that I could and wrapped the checkered cloth around my body. I wasn’t going to be able to walk home in it, but at least I wouldn’t be running through someone’s backyard naked as the day I was born.
God, this doesn’t count as a miracle—if you were wondering.
After I got to the edge of the woods, I realized that I had been mistaken—it wasn’t a clear shot to the area near the main road and the neighborhoods. There was a stretch of road that led to a denser forested area. It wasn’t like I could turn back at that point, so I started walking. Dusk was starting to settle in, and I really wasn’t looking forward to walking up and raiding people’s clotheslines for clothes at night—it was probably a good way to get shot. A heard a sound behind me and saw a car approaching. I immediately scurried towards the side of the road to try and get out of sight. The car was moving fast—it looked to be a sports car of some sort. I ducked into the edge of the woods—but then it rolled to a stop a few feet ahead of me. A second later, it rolled backwards, and the window rolled down.
Damn it, they saw me…
“Are you okay?” An older man leaned his head out of the window.
“Yeah…” I stepped forward and pulled the blanket tight around my shoulders. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.” He raised an eyebrow. “Do you need a ride somewhere?”
This is probably how victims of serial killers end up dead—I’ve already lived out one horror movie today. I’d prefer not to start a second one.
“No, I’m just walking…” I realized that sounded stupid the moment I said it.
“Right…” He nodded. “Is there someone I could possibly call? The police maybe?”
“What?” I felt the color drain out of my face. “No. It’s okay—really.”
“Either I’m giving you a ride somewhere, or I’m calling the police. I’m not leaving you out here on the side of the road wrapped in—whatever that is.” He narrowed his eyes. “Your choice.”
I guess he wouldn’t call the police if he was a serial killer. He seems—okay. He’s certainly attractive. That car isn’t cheap—I’m pretty sure that’s a Maserati.
“Okay.” I nodded and took a step forward. “You can give me a ride home. Thank you…”
“Get in.” He leaned over and opened the passenger side door. “My name is Justin.”
“I’m Hannah.” I swallowed hard and carefully stepped into his car while keeping the blanket wrapped around me.
“You look kinda young.” He turned his head towards me. “High school? Are you sure we don’t need to call the police? Did someone hurt you?”
I really don’t want to talk to the cops right now…
“Nobody hurt me.” I quickly shook my head back and forth. “I’m in college. This was—hazing.”
Well God, you didn’t send me a miracle, so now I’ve resorted to lying.
“Oh,” he chuckled. “I get it now.”
My lie seemed to ease some of Justin’s concerns. I guess hazing did sound better than bullying—hazing would explain a girl on the side of the road wearing nothing but an old, tattered picnic blanket. I felt a little better about my situation at least. I didn’t have to steal clothes from a stranger, and I didn’t have to walk the rest of the way home barefooted. Justin’s Maserati was a much better alternative to that. That man driving it wasn’t bad either—even if he was o
lder than me. He had short black hair and a neatly trimmed beard—both had a hint of gray, but not enough to notice unless you were up close. He was dressed in a gray button-up shirt that looked expensive and was wearing a tie that had been loosened.
Maybe I was wrong—maybe this is my miracle after all.
Three
Justin
I was having the shittiest day of my shittiest week—and that was no exaggeration. I found out my ex-wife had been having an affair for years—one day after I signed the papers to give her half of everything I owned. To make matters worse, she was fucking the man I used to call my best friend. I was fairly sure I broke his jaw with my right hook, and if his threat was true, I was going to need my lawyer’s services again real soon. I didn’t try to fight the divorce, because we had both had enough of each other’s shit, but I might have raised an objection to the settlement her lawyer offered if I knew the truth about the affair. Our bedroom had been dead for years, and the love died long before that. The only reason I hung around for so long was because of our daughter, but she didn’t want me there either—not anymore.
I almost drove past the young woman I saw trying to hide on the side of the road, but my conscious just wouldn’t let me just keep going, especially when I realized she was wrapped in an old blanket. I would want a kind stranger to help if it was someone I cared about in a tight spot. Despite the blanket, she didn’t look like some of homeless vagrants I saw downtown. She was actually very pretty, even though it looked like whatever makeup she had been wearing at some point in the day had been blasted to pieces by a thunderstorm—which we didn’t get very often in southern California. I put serious thought into just calling the police, especially when I realized she was fairly young—but she said that she was a college student and a victim of hazing. That didn’t surprise me. I had been the victim and the perpetrator of both in my college days, but we never left a pretty young girl on the side of the road—that was just cruel.
My Bully’s Daddy Page 2