One of the Bullied | ✔

Chapter 50 - One of the Boys

A/N - THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF ONE OF THE BULLIED.

to all the bullies

"So where are you going first, huh?" Seth asks. I shift slightly away, conscious of my mum watching us.

"Uh, to London." I bite my lip. "I'm excited." He smiles slightly. "It's somewhere you definitely need to visit, Seth, it's an amazing place."

"You still have a house there?"

I nod. "Seth, could you... Drive me to the airport?"

I wring my hands together nervously, conscious of what I'm about to do. "Yeah, but I guess you should ask..." He trails off, glancing at the door my mother has just left through.

"Yeah." I bound off excitedly. "MUM!" I shout. She appears in the living room doorway. "I'm going to drive with Seth, okay?" She frowns. "I'll put my case in the trunk, I'll see you at the airport."

"Be safe, Zoe, wear a helmet - we'll be about half an hour."

I nod, waving slightly before darting back out and over to Seth. "Let's go." I tell him. We heave my large suitcase into the trunk of my parents' car, then he hands me my helmet and I climb on behind him.

At least I get to do this one last time.

I cling to him as the wind whips past us. He drives too fast, and not always steadily, but I don't care. I might as well die now, for what I'm about to do.

As we drive, I think back to everything Seth and I have done together these past few weeks. We've been on dates. We've laughed. We've kissed. We've swum. We've been happy.

And I want to ruin that? I must be out of my mind.

I hold back a sigh. I don't have another choice: the year is looming ahead of us, and as soon as school starts, there's no guarantee that things will go well.

After everything Seth has done for me, the last thing I want to do is drag him into this situation. To make him like me. One of the bullied.

Time flies by as we drive, and by the time we arrive at the airport, I'm in such a trance that I barely notice the bike stopping, and him shifting. I quickly let go of him, stumbling off in a haze, pulling my helmet off.

"Okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I reply, smiling slightly. He locks the helmets with the bike, and we head inside. I gulp. It's only three hours until I get on my flight - and say goodbye to everything.

He turns to me with a small smile. "So what will you do in London, like, visit your friends?"

I nod, and he grins. "You don't have to sound shocked that I have friends at all, Seth. I was actually really well-liked in England." I cross my arms. "I'll go and see Jean, too." At this his expression tightens slightly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see my parents hustling in, my dad dragging my suitcase along. Nervously, I take Seth's hand in mine, biting my lip.

"Seth..." I trail off, squeezing his hands gently. "I really appreciate everything you've tried to do for me. Honestly. And I've really loved spending time with you." I sigh. "But this isn't working out, Seth. It was fine for the summer, but when I get back we'll go back to school. People will catch us and things will go wrong."