- 7.
“Sure, no problem,” I replied. I would keep my
promise. I wouldn’t tell my dad, mom, or Jack.
After school, I went to the swimming pool. All
the students had gone home, and the teachers.
had all finished their day. For some reason, the
door to the swimming pool was unlocked.
I looked at my phone and checked my texts.
with Sarah.
I asked: “What time are you getting here?”
She said: “Don’t worry, I’ll be there soon.”
“You are on time,” Sarah’s voice was behind.
- me. I turned around. “Lily, did you know I’m
<
turning eighteen next month?”
“So?” I replied, looking at my phone, getting
impatient. “Get to the point. I want to go home.
for dinner, I’m hungry.”
Sarah’s face turned ugly. She came closer to
me and shouted, “Home? You think that is your
home?!”
She took a deep breath, “My dad told me that
he will stop taking care of me when I turn
eighteen, and he won’t give me anything from
his will.”
“Why do you think that is? Why does everything
change as soon as you appear?”
“My dad used to love me so much, but he has
taken all his love away because of you. He
doesn’t come to see me anymore, and when I
call him, he’s cold and doesn’t have time for
me! It’s all your fault! It is all your fault!”
<
I looked at her coldly. “You lived a life of luxury,
and you are not even grateful? You bully
others!”
“Sarah, you’ve enjoyed a life of privilege for
eighteen years. Mrs. Sutton will take care of
you. You really think Mr. Sutton would stop
her?”
“Don’t talk about her! She promised that she
loved me, and now, because of you, everything
has changed. Even she doesn’t care about me
anymore! Lily, you have stolen everything!”
Sarah’s voice was hysterical as she got closer
to me.
Then she suddenly stopped, smiling wickedly.
“It’s okay, I’ve figured out what I’m going to
do.” Three girls suddenly appeared around the
swimming pool, coming closer to me.
“Sarah, what are you doing?” I asked, feeling a
warning bell go off in my head. Sarah suddenly
<
I fell into the water, my feet not reaching the
bottom. Luckily, I knew how to swim. But ast
soon as I got my head above the water, I was
forced back down. Every few seconds, they
pulled me up to gasp for air and pushed me.
back in the water.
I was trying to fight, I could see Sarah’s face. She was yelling, and I was out of breath. Then I
started hearing voices…
…From nowhere, these girls kept coming out of
the corners and they beat me up, burning me
with cigarette butts, and cut my hair off. I was
always dragged into the bathroom, where I was
stripped naked and someone poured cold water
on me and took pictures.
I was followed everywhere by random people. I
could hear them laughing at me. And I couldn’t
take it anymore. So, I jumped into the river.
But then, Jay was one step ahead of me. He
had an unhappy family, his father cheated on
his mother, and his mother left him. He just
wanted to die. He thought his death would
prove that he was in control.
I was a good swimmer. So, I saved him.
We became friends. But I never told him why I
was there. Jay never asked. He just kept
appearing by my side.
Slowly, we became closer. He was incredibly
generous, renting an apartment for me and
paying three years in advance. He paid my living.
expenses. And he bought me many clothes.
Later, I found out that those clothes were worth
more than everything I had worn in the past
fifteen years. My life, for a moment, felt normal.
But the evil always finds you.
Because I was wearing Jay’s clothes, a teacher
had said I looked elegant. After that, pictures of
me from the bathroom appeared in the group
chat with my face blurred out. The students.
were laughing, saying I had come from a porn
site.
My blood turned to ice. I felt something in me.
wake up, something ugly.
That day, I wanted to die again.
