"What the hell is this?" Courtney sneers at the whimpering girl before her. Her eyes that are wide with fear stare up at Courtney pleadingly.

"What's... what's wrong?" She stutters and Courtney holds up a piece of paper in front of the girl's face, her hands gripping it tightly.

"My assignment topic was on gene therapy, not medicinal plants." Courtney hisses lowly. The rest of us stand by the lockers, waiting for Courtney to finish attacking her victim so we can actually head to first period. After the freshman handed Courtney her assignment which was completed for her, she dragged the girl to the quieter part of the school to... well, do exactly what she's doing right now. There's no point in all of us being here but Courtney did it to intimidate and scare the girl.

It's working quite well.

The freshman's face pales as she stares at the paper in Courtney's hand.

"Yeah. That's what I thought." Courtney snaps before crumpling the paper up and throwing it on the floor. She then turns back to the girl.

"Next time I ask you to do something, do it right the first time."

"I'm so... so sorry. It won't... won't happen again," she apologizes and Courtney cocks her head with a pout.

"You bet it won't." Courtney shrugs. She stares at the girl for a second too long, making her squirm, before she turns and sashays over to us.

"C'mon, lets go." She says and we all make our way to the main hallway. I'm walking with a frown, knowing that that girl is not going to be let off the hook so easily. Courtney has something up her sleeve.

"What? Are you just going to let her get away with that?" Ashleigh asks incredulously and Courtney stops dead in her tracks, looking at Ashleigh in annoyance.

"Have I ever being one to let people humiliate me like that without bearing consequences?" Courtney asks rhetorically and Ashleigh purses her lips. Courtney smiles sweetly.
"Exactly Ash." She begins walking again and I suddenly have dread pulling at my stomach knowing that the freshman is going to regret ever agreeing to do Courtney Smith's homework.

You don't play with a snake if you don't know how to treat a bite.

****

Alex doesn't glance my way when I see him in English. I didn't tell anyone that we'll be working at the same place to avoid drama that is unnecessary. I'm not going to let high school drama interfere with my future. It would have been good gossip for the Elite to start though: Alex misses school to work at a children's home... but I didn't tell them.

Now that we sit in English, I can't help but cast a look over at him. He chews on the end of his pen, lying back in his chair in a typical I-don't-care-or-want-to-be-here fashion. Martin mumbles something under his breath and Alex's mouth twists into a smile. I immediately look away from that, knowing that if one of the Elite see me staring at him, they can quite possibly figure out what I'm keeping quiet about.

Miss Rosely turns around, writing something about euphemisms on the blackboard when I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pull it out and look at as discreetly as possible under the desk.

Courtney: Forward this to all your contacts. xoxo

The message from Courtney has a PDF document attached to it. I look up at my English teacher briefly to see her still writing on the board.  I whisper to Kelcy, "Did Courtney text you?" I ask and she frowns, pulling out her phone and checking her notifications. She nods and I give her a confused look.

"What do you think it is?" I ask and Kelcy shrugs, already making a broadcast list. I sigh, doing the same while looking up when Miss Rosely is looking at all of us. If she catches me, my phone will definitely be confiscated.

Unlike in all those chick flicks, none of us have the number of everyone in the school on our phone. However, if you combine all of our numbers together, it still makes up a pretty big percentage of the student body and it's almost guaranteed that people will pass the message on because let's be honest, any gossip spreads like wildlife in a high school.

Kelcy sends the message, a few phones going off in the class and I follow shortly after.

"Switch off your phones before I confiscate them." My teacher scolds us just as murmurs are heard through the class and then laughter. People are looking down at their phones laughing while Miss Rosely hits a ruler on the board in an attempt to grab everyone's attention.

I frown before looking at Kelcy who is also looking down at her phone, a hand clamped over her hand to contain her giggles.

"Look," she tells me, showing me her phone. I look at the screen, my eyebrows drawing together. It's a video at a nearby pizza shop. The voices of boys can be heard and the footage shakes a little before it focuses on a waitress a few feet away from their table. My breath hitches in my throat when I recognize who it is.

The freshman walks towards their table holding two pizzas balanced on both hands until one of the boys do something you can't see on the video. She's suddenly sent to the floor, the food flying up into the air until it lands on her. Laughter is heard in the video as she shrieks, now covered in different toppings. The boys fist pump on the video as another waiter tries to help her up only for the freshman to fall back on the floor again. By now, Kelcy has tears streaming down her face although I can't seem to even muster a small laugh.

I look away from her phone, watching the class who are now uncontrollable while Miss Rosely starts walking around and taking phones away. Guilt floods over me like a massive wave and I feel tears spring to my eyes even though they don't have a right to. The freshman is completely humiliated now, something that shouldn't have being shared completely spreading around the school. All because I sent a broadcast. A door can be heard opening and closing from outside followed by laughter and the sounds of footsteps hitting the floor so I assume she left her class. I look down at my desk in shame, tucking my hair behind my ear only to feel a gaze on me.

When I look up it belongs to Alex.

And he looks pretty annoyed with me.

****

I run a hand through my tangled hair and sigh, resting my head against the back of my seat and closing my eyes.

I let the guilt bubble inside me again before I open my eyes and grab my bag, climbing out of my car and making my way into Sunny Smiles. It's my first day here and I've already had such a bad day. After the video was sent around the whole school, the freshman- who goes by the name of Andrea- was laughed at for the rest of the day before she went home in tears. Of course Courtney was satisfied with her work and didn't once thank me for going against what I believe in just to hurt Andrea.

My mother would be disgusted in me if she knew what I did.

However, I can't worry about that now when I need to perform well at my job and do it properly. I inhale deeply before pushing the door open as I exhale.

"Hey Kathy." I greet her as I step inside. Kathy looks up from her computer and smiles at me.

"Hello Sophie. How are you?" She asks me.

"Fine thanks and you?" I respond while walking into the passage.

"I'm great! Renaé is currently inside so you can just head in." She grins and I return the gesture. There's something I like about Kathy. She just seems so carefree and kind, like she's a bottle of bubbly champagne.

"Thanks Kathy." I say, opening the door to reveal about twelve children sitting on a carpet and reading a storybook. A short girl with thick black hair and dark skin looks up at me.

I give her a nervous smile and she stands up before coming over to me.

"Hi, are you Sarah?" She asks and I shake my head.

"Sophie." I correct her and she gives me a sheepish smile.

"Sorry. Anyway, let me introduce you to the kids." She responds and I follow her to the front where the kids look up at me with confused faces.

It's adorable.

"This is going to be your new teacher: Sophie. You have to be nice and behave okay? Sophie will help you if you need anything."

They all let out a sing-song response of "Yes Renaé."

She smiles brightly before grabbing her handbag. "Okay, bye guys!" She calls. They all give her a quick hug before she leaves the classroom with me and the kids all in it.

They all turn to me and I smile nervously.

Why am I so nervous around children?

"Hello everyone, how are you?" I ask and they all let out a chain of responses. "Can you tell me all of your names?" I ask and one by one they each tell me.

A small girl with blonde hair and a toothless smile tells me it's Leah, another is Layla and an African girl is named Zenzi. They all seem adorable and they ask me questions since they don't know me. It seems that there is a bit more girls than boys. After they finish interrogating me, I stand up and dust myself off just as a girl with fiery red hair makes her way inside. The children all rush towards her while squealing "Sarah!" and hug at her legs and waist while they giggle. She laughs as she looks down at them before they release her. She then looks up at me, giving me a very enthusiastic smile.

"Hi, I'm Sarah!" She chirps, sticking her hand out to me. I shake it.

"Sophie." I tell her and she grins before turning back to the children.

"Okay everyone! Grab a seat at the table." She instructs and they amble to it while she grabs three boxes of crayons and a stack of paper. As she starts handing it out, I hear the door close behind me to see Alex with a box of tools.

He doesn't acknowledge me but rather smiles at Sarah. "Hey Sarah." He greets and she grins in response just as the kids run and tackle him this time. He chuckles at them, bending down to their level and asking them how they are. I'm suddenly taken back by how much the children like him and by how good he is with them.

"Alright guys, come along." Sarah says to them and they all run back to the table. Alex's eyes suddenly connect with mine and he looks at me blankly before opening his mouth.

"So, do you feel better about yourself after spreading the video?" He asks rhetorically before turning his back on me and placing his toolbox back down on the floor. I sigh and run a hand through my hair.

"I didn't know what was on the video." I mutter and he snorts.

"Sure." He laughs in disbelief and I let out an aggravated sigh. "I just don't understand your warped idea of dragging people down."

"Look," I snap, making him turn around to face me. "I feel guilty enough on my own. I don't need you to make me feel worse."

He stares at me for a second too long before he turns around and continues fixing the bookcase. I roll my eyes and look away.

"Sophie!" Sarah calls me over and I walk towards her with slumped shoulders, wondering how the hell I'm going to survive this with Alex.

I hope you all know that bullying is NOT okay and that if you're going through it, or have been through it, I'm sorry 💗 PM me, I don't bite;)

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Q Question: what are your thoughts on Courtney so far?

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