One of the Bullied | ✔

Chapter 5 - Blame It On The Nerd

Thankfully, Ms Laurentis didn't mention the incident any further. But there was still the ones in my class to face, not to mention Caitlyn and Luke. They were fuming. Well, I guess they were because they were both sent home by Mr Sivan.

There are plentiful mutters of 'stupid nerd' as I make my way down the corridor down to my locker. Obviously, everyone is blaming me for the accident, even though it was actually Luke. And, I still have three copies of notes to write out. Life sucks sometimes.

Since it's lunch already, I grab the necessary books and make my way to the music room. But someone's blocking my way.

"Hiding again, Zerd?" Caleb and Seth stand in front of me, crossed-armed. I roll my eyes inwardly - I don't dare to do it normally.

"No. Let me past. I have work to do."

"What did you do to Luke and Kate, you little bitch?" Caleb says, taking a step forward. "Is it because they're something you'll never be? Is it because they'll get somewhere in life and you had one tiny chance" He holds two fingers millimeters from each other in front of my face, then snaps them together. "And you fucking blew them up."

"Sodium and water doesn't blow up, actually, it sets on fire and creates a small-" I'm interrupted by a palm slapping across my face. I take a few steps back, looking at my new aggressor.

It's Nate. "My girlfriend. What did you do to her, you fucking good for nothing nerd?" His speaking is monosyllabic and curt, and this can never be a good thing.

"I didn't do anything to her. It was her brother who did it." I say. I get shoved back, by Caleb this time.

"Luke would never do anything like that." He snarls at me. I shrug.

"You might want to re-check that confidence you have in him. He pushed me down onto the sodium."

"I will always trust Luke more than any little viper like you."

"Do as you please." Another hand slaps across my cheek and I shriek in pain, moving further back. Behind I see Seth glaring at me before leaving. Nate comes closer though.

"Use your fucking nerd powers and tell me whether she's going to be alright." He snarls.

"She'll be fine. The reaction wasn't on her and from what I saw none of the sodium came in contact with her skin." My lips curve slowly into a miniscule smile. "Her hair may be a bit singed."

"AND THAT'S REASON FOR LAUGHING?" Nate shouts in my face, shoving me backwards. I crash against the lockers, groaning in pain. He kicks out towards me and I try to protect myself with my hands but it just makes it worse.

There's murmurs and gasps as he leaves, since more people seem to be finding out about what's happened. He didn't kick me too bad, so I can still walk. I just have to make sure my face doesn't bruise.

Someone trips me up in the corridor but I keep pressing forward, making my way to the music room. A book has been lost in the whole process, which is not good, but remediable.

The summum is that the music room is taken. The school band, a group of "nerds and losers", according to Luke and his cronies, are practising inside. So I can't go in there. So I have to go outside to avoid the cafeteria.

I take a shortcut to avoid the chants, insults and kicks aimed in my general direction. The sun is glaring down fiercely on the field but I find a bench under a sycamore tree, setting my books down next to me. If I was one of the "cool kids" right now I'd be on my phone but I never, ever use my phone in school.

Mostly, because I have no social media, and no one to text.

With a small sigh I take a blank piece of paper, balancing it on my binder and starting to write. If at least I make the notes for the chemistry lesson maybe it won't be so bad when Luke and Caitlyn get back to school.

What I don't notice is the hive of wasps hanging near the tree. So when this fly-type insect flies near me and I swat it away, not wanting to mess up the notes, I don't think about it too much.

Then it flies back with a wish for revenge, landing on my arm and stinging. Fucking wasp.

If I'd seen the wasps I would have made a run for it, because I'm allergic to wasps, and I swell up like a helium balloon when I get stung. The pain at first is soft, and it slowly intensifies, as my arm starts slowly swelling.

There's some shouts and laughs over from the football pitch where some of the team are practising instead of being in the cafeteria. Nate is amongst them.

"Aw, is Zerd allergic to wasps?" He calls as he comes closer. I wrap a hand protectively around my arm.

"How very observant of you." I call back, the sarcasm obvious in my voice. I hear him chuckling as he makes his way further away from me.

I need to get to a first aid kit - otherwise this can get really bad. So I gather my papers in my good arm and run like the hounds of hell are after me. People part in my way, not even realising who it is.

"Move!" I exclaim to a bunch of girls blocking the way, and before they see who I am I dart inside the infirmary. Mr Sivan is still there from dealing with Luke and Caitlyn, but Ms Lopez is who comes over to me first. She adores me, thank god.

Carefully she washes it and uses a bit of soap to get the venom off, then hands me an ibuprofen and a glass of water. I take it and the pain goes does, but the swelling doesn't.

"Do you want a plaster?" She asks me. She's Mexican, as are surprising amounts of the staff in this school, and I'm fluent in Spanish. So it's a good way for me to practise and keep it up and for her to communicate in her language.

"Please." I say simply and she hands me a bandage, just big enough to cover the swelling. "Could I stay here a while? I have some notes I need to finish." I ask her.

She shrugs, nodding towards the office and I go through, setting up in an armchair I normally stay in. Basically, if I get kicked out or I can't go to the music room, I either go outside or come here. Back up plan.

Finally I'm able to finish everything I had to do, then almost run to Calculus. I'm just on time, which is good. I just need a quiet, practical calculus class right now. This day has gone too wrong already.

I get drugged to fall asleep. I blow up the Chemistry lab, and because of that get beaten up. I get stung by a bee, and I'm almost late to calculus. Great. Welcome to my life. 

A/N - These chapters are mostly to give some insight into Zoe's life. About three chapters from now the real story will start, so brace yourselves. Feedback? Next chapter up on Saturday or Sunday.