HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU READ THIS STORY?

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I watched as the trees on the side of the road blurred to a dark green. The bus window was down and I leaned outside, smelling the fresh air and the scent of the eucalyptus trees.

The beauty of the scenery in front of me almost made me forget that I was on my way to summer school camp, something that I had been dreading since the permission slips were handed out in class all those months ago. Key word - almost.

"Mum, please don't make me go," I had begged, grasping onto my mothers arms and holding tightly.

"Scarlet, it says on the note that universities favour entries from people who have attended this camp!" my mother had responded, and I knew then to just give up.

My mother had been set on me getting into a prestigious university ever since I came out of the womb. She herself had gone to the best university in Australia, and wanted the same for her only daughter. The thought of telling my mother that I didn't even want to go to University was terrifying, and something I was not willing to do.

So here I was, on the bus with most of my classmates, heading to Woodwick Bay Summer Camp. It wasn't the camp itself that I was dreading, it was the people I would be with. When I found out that Lauren Knight would be going to the camp, I begged my mother one last time, asking not to go. My pleas fell on deaf ears just as I had expected them to.

Lauren and I have never seen eye to eye, and I never knew why. I moved to Stone Creek High School in eighth grade, and since then Lauren has made it her mission to make my life a living hell. I never knew why though, I had never done anything to upset her.

I was sitting next to my best friend Dakota, whose head was lulling sleepily on my shoulder as we bumped along the winding road towards the camp. Dakota wasn't going to come to camp, but I had begged her to come to save me from Lauren's harassment, so Dakota agreed.

I turned around, eyeing Lauren sitting at the back of the bus with her group of friends. As much as I disliked the girl, I couldn't deny that she was extremely attractive. Her tan skin was smooth and flawless, her brunette hair always in a messy bun or ponytail on top of her head. She had brown eyes that almost glowed in the sunlight, specks of gold peppered through her chocolate orbs. Her smile was contagious, except for when it was brought to her face by bullying me.

I despised that someone so horrible could be so beautiful. Compared to Lauren, I was plain. I didn't have any outstanding features that made me different from anyone else.

"Oi, Harlot, what are you staring at?" Lauren called out, snapping me from my gaze.

I quickly whipped my head around, sliding down into my bus seat to remain unseen for the duration of the trip.

'Harlot' was a nickname that Lauren had given me last year in tenth grade after a rumour spread that I had fooled around with Lachlan Golding's nineteen year old brother Nicholas. Nobody knew that in reality, Nicholas had forced himself onto me and I had barely gotten away intact. If Lauren's friend Emily hadn't come into the room, things would've turned out a lot worse.

"Mmm, why are you sitting like that?" Dakota whined as she woke up from her sleep.

"Lauren..." I mumbled back, and Dakota looked at me sympathetically.

"Don't let her ruin camp for you, Scar, okay?" Dakota said kindly, taking hold of my hand and squeezing it tightly.

"Easier said than done..." I muttered, and Dakota nodded understandingly.

We both stayed silent the rest of the drive, listening to the rest of our classmates chatting excitedly around us. Soon enough, the bus slowed significantly, passing under a large wooden sign that read 'Woodwick Bay Summer Camp'.

Once the bus has pulled to a stop everyone began shuffling around in their seats, grabbing their bags and moving towards the aisle to get off the bus. Dakota and I waited until everyone had gotten off before standing up and grabbing our bags.

"Scarlet the harlot," I heard someone jeer, before a foot stuck out from one of the seats and tripped me over.

"Lauren, what the fuck?" I heard Dakota growl, as Lauren chuckled heartily while walking off the bus.

I pulled myself from the floor, wiping the dirt and grime off my hands and knees.

"Are you okay?" Dakota asked me, and I nodded slightly.

"Yeah, I'll survive," I said softly, smiling at Dakota before walking off the bus.

When I first moved to this school in eighth grade, I thought that Lauren's teasing would eventually subside, but three years later it still remained. For so long I had wanted to ask her what I had ever done to make her hate me, but I never did. Lauren was so intimidating, and standing up to her was something I couldn't bring myself to do.

"Scarlet James," a voice called out.

I looked up to see our eleventh grade year advisor, Mrs Cade, holding up my suitcase. I quickly made my way over to her, muttering a small 'sorry' and grabbing my bag from her.

"Come on, Harlot, pay attention!" Lauren sneered, earning a ripple of laughter from her group of friends.

"That's enough!" Mrs Cade snapped.

I wasn't necessarily disliked in our grade. No one actually had a problem with me except for Lauren and her group of followers, but Lauren was popular, so most people tended to stay away from me in fear of Lauren's reprisal.

"Ignore her," Dakota whispered to me, and I nodded back.

After years of torment from Lauren, I had sort of gotten used to it. It didn't make her comments hurt any less, but I had gotten a lot better at hiding my pain. People always said to me 'ignore her and she'll give up', but that clearly hadn't worked. I didn't speak a word to her, but she still continued to treat me like I'd killed her cat and nailed it to her front door.

"Okay, cabins! Listen up!" Mrs Cade yelled out, and we all turned to her to pay attention.

"Cabin One is Sofia McDonald, Ella Rainley, Coralie Walter, Meghan Daley, Eleanor Spielberg and Chantelle Corea!" Mrs Cade yelled out, and the girls ran together and squealed like children, obviously excited to be in a cabin together.

"Cabin Two is Emily Davis, Lauren Knight, Abigail Cander, Louise Jarvis, Taylor King and Grace Harper!" Mrs Cade called, and I watched as Lauren walked forward, grabbing her suitcase and began strutting towards her cabin, her friends following eagerly behind her.

Dakota and I were put into a cabin with our friends Ellen Jansen, Karina Ramos and Alyssa & Bella Tate. We dragged our suitcases along the dirt path, winding in and out of tall pine trees and bushland. In the distance was a small cabin, a fair way away from the rest of the campground.

"I hope that isn't our cabin..." Ellen said jokingly.

"It's not, we're right here!" Dakota said cheerfully, reaching our door and unlocking it with the key Mrs Cade has given us.

We settled comfortably into our beds, chatting animatedly about the two weeks ahead of us.

"I heard they are planning some sort of scavenger hunt!" Alyssa said excitedly, "The winners gets to meet with the Dean of Federation Square University!"

"Winners?" I asked curiously.

"I overheard Mrs Cade telling the bus driver that we will be working in pairs," Alyssa stayed simply.

The dinner bell rang through the campground and the six of us made our way out of the cabin, following the signs that led us to the dining hall.

"Hey, Harlot!" I heard someone yell, followed by a yelp.

I turned around to see the source of the noise, seeing Lauren glaring angrily at her friend Louise as Louise held her arm gingerly.

"Only I'm allowed to call her that..." I heard Lauren growl.

I turned forwards again, curious as to why Lauren has gotten so angry at Louise calling me the nickname that she had created. Imitation was a form of flattery, right?

I ignored the insults and continued to walk with my friends towards the dining hall. Once we were inside the six of us joined a table with Karina's boyfriend and his friends. Most of them were decent guys, except for Lachlan Golding. He only perpetuated the rumours that I had fooled around with his brother, even though I knew he knew the truth. He was one of the guys that were pining after Lauren so I knew he would never take my side.

Dinner that night consisted of mashed potatoes, peas, chicken and gravy. As far as camp food goes, it was pretty decent, but definitely not the best meal I've ever had. After I had finished, I sat at the table with my friends as we discussed tomorrow's activities. I was sitting across from Ellen, discussing the high ropes course and how excited we were when her eyes flickered upwards. Before I had the chance to turn and see what she was looking at, I felt a hot, mushy substance land on the top of my head, dripping down onto my shoulders and down the back of my shirt.

I didn't need to turn around to see who had done it. I heard a loud snicker before a light hearted 'oops', and that was the final straw.

"What is your problem, Lauren?" I raised my voice, standing up off my chair and facing her.

She was taller than me by a few centimetres, and her face hardened as I got closer to her. She was extremely intimidating, but I refused to back down.

"You are my problem, Harlot!" she sneered at me.

"Would it kill you to leave me alone for once?" I asked angrily, and a smirk graced her face.

Before she could open her mouth to respond, Mrs Cage's heeled shoes could be heard storming across the wooden floor. She stood in front of us, pulling us apart from each other and glaring angrily at both of us.

"I have had it with both of you. If you can't get along I'll be punishing the both of you!" she said sternly, and my jaw dropped.

"Scarlet didn't do anything!" Ellen said, but Mrs Cade shushed her immediately.

"This is your first strike, ladies. Three strikes, and you'll both be punished!" she said angrily, turning on her heel and storming away.

Lauren smirked at me before turning and walking back to her friends, all of whom were pointing and laughing at me. I sighed loudly, desperately trying to push back the tears that were threatening to spill from my eyes.

"Come on, lets go get you in the shower," Bella said, throwing her arm comfortingly around my potato covered shoulders and walking out of the hall with me.

In the shower I ran my hands over my body, washing away all the food that Lauren had dumped on me. As my hands trailed down to my legs, my fingers traced over the self inflicted scars on my thighs. My tears mixed with the shower water as I sobbed quietly, not wanting any of my friends to hear me in my weakest moments. My oldest scars were white against my skin, my newest ones still healing from a few days before. I succumbed to the temptation, watching as the blood swirled across the shower floor before going down the drain. I never thought I would be the type of person who would resort to self harm, but that was before I met Lauren Knight.

That night I lay awake wondering what on earth I had done to Lauren to make her despise me as much as she did. The thought of the sun rising and tomorrow beginning terrified me, knowing that I would have to deal with Lauren all over again.