Everyone was stunned. My dad’s face turned
red, and he looked ready to explode. But Mr.
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དདདུངད
སྤུས་
just grinned, revealing yellowed teeth. “What?
Am I wrong? Why’s it all my boy’s fault? It takes two to tango. She must have been leading him
on.”
“Shut your filthy mouth!” my dad roared. “I
don’t want to hit you in front of your son’s
teachers, but like father, like son. You’re both disgusting!” He was trembling with rage, but he kept himself under control. My earlier warnings had clearly had an effect. Otherwise, he would
have already lunged at Mr. Miller.
ow I understood how my normally calm and
ional father had ended up being stabbed to
death by this man. Mark’s father was even
more dangerous than Mark himself.
“Dad, don’t,” I said, placing a hand on his arm. “It’s not worth it. I’m fine. He tried to assault
me, he extorted money from other students. If
the school won’t do anything, we’ll call the
police.”
At the mention of the police, Mark’s head
snapped up. He scrambled to his feet and
grabbed his father’s arm. “No! It’s all my fault! My dad… he’s not… he’s sick. Don’t listen to him. Please! Please, don’t… don’t ruin our lives. We’re… we’re disabled… have mercy…” He knelt before us, a masterclass in manipulative pleading.
Mr. Henderson wavered. “Sarah, I know you’re
a good student, but… Mark’s family situation is… complicated. Do we really need to involve the police? Teenagers… hormones… it’s understandable. Nothing serious happened, let’s just… let it go.”
“It’s too late,” I said firmly. “I already called the
police. He tried to assault me. He extorted
money from other students. If you won’t deal with it, the police will.”
This was exactly what I wanted. Police
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involvement. Public exposure. I nat would snut Mark down, prevent him from spreading his lies. Everyone knew now that he’d conspired with thugs and tried to assault a classmate. If he dared to breathe a word against me now, I’d
sue him for slander. And if he was expelled?
Even better. His lies wouldn’t matter anymore.
My parents would be safe.
Mark, realizing I wasn’t backing down, dropped
the act. He glared at me, his eyes blazing.
“You’re vicious, Sarah! You want to destroy
me! Just because I liked you? You have to ruin
my life? I didn’t even touch you! How is that
assault?”
Destroy him? I was simply returning the favor.
And he couldn’t even handle this?
“Your liking‘ me is disgusting,” I said. “And
you didn’t succeed, so it’s attempted assault. You’re welcome.”
I didn’t say another word My dad had calmed
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down. The police were already here. Mark, because of his repeated failures, was nineteen.
I was seventeen. He’d tried to assault a minor.
Even if he hadn’t succeeded, it was still a crime. Most girls wouldn’t go this far, preferring to suffer in silence to avoid the stigma, the judgment. It was easier to be the victim than to fight back in a society that rarely believed.
women. Rumors were easy to spread, the truth
much harder to prove. I knew that firsthand.
I wasn’t the one who did anything wrong. Why should I pay the price?
Mark, Kevin, and Ashley were publicly
reprimanded and given serious demerits.
However, Kevin’s family had connections, and
Ashley was a good student, so the school went
easy on them. Mark, though… his punishment
was delayed. He was a special case, a transfer
student admitted under special circumstances.
He and his family had always been given the
benefit of the doubt.
34
And the families of the students he’d extorted, Intimidated by his father and swayed by Mark’s disability, decided not to press charges. They were afraid of the backlash, the bad publicity.
Mark, with the police involved, shifted most of the blame onto Kevin, including the initial bullying he’d endured. Since this part was true, the teachers were inclined to believe him.
The final verdict was… suspension. One month. I was stunned. In my past life, they’d expelled me on the spot.
Shortly after the suspension, a video appeared online. Mark and his father, sitting in their dilapidated home, a bare mattress and some threadbare blankets their only furniture, were giving an interview. His father, tears streaming down his face, sobbed, “The school’s
punishment is too harsh. My boy… his face… he’s been bullied his whole life. But I never
thought they’d try to expel him. What did we do
<
དདཅ་
wrong? All we want is to live a normal life. Is that too much to ask? My Mark… he’s a good boy. He works so hard. Look at all his awards. He would never do something like that. There must be a misunderstanding. I hope that girl….. I hope she sees this… and helps us.
دو
The camera panned to the peeling wall behind them, plastered with awards, mostly from elementary school.
Mark, looking down at the camera, mumbled, “I don’t know why she hates me so much. But…
she’s kind of… flirty. I just looked at
and maybe she thought… I don’t know… | just… I admired her. She’s a good student. I hope she tells the truth.”
The video went viral. Millions of views, likes, and shares. The internet was on the hunt for the girl who had “falsely accused” Mark. And, predictably, the finger pointed at me. They
conveniently left out the extortion part.
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He hadn’t accused me of sleeping with him this time, but the implication of “flirty” was enough
to ignite the online outrage machine. Public
opinion is a powerful, terrifying force.
By then, I was already at my new school. This was the plan all along, regardless of what happened to Mark. I needed to get away from that toxic environment.
I thought I’d escaped him, but I underestimated their willingness to use social media as a weapon. My personal information was leaked. I was branded a liar, a bully. People argued that someone from Mark’s background could never do such a thing. Society, sometimes, is incredibly forgiving of those perceived as disadvantaged. They didn’t consider that disabled people can be bad people too. And Mark and his father were experts at
weaponizing their perceived vulnerability.
My parents were furious, ready to post their
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own video, defend me. I stopped them. Fighting
fire with fire wouldn’t work. We needed a
bigger fire. The internet was convinced Mark
was a poor, disabled, but inspiring student.
But what if his perfect image cracked? Mark,
trying to ingratiate himself with Kevin, hadn’t
exactly been a saint.
