2.

AMELIA

Her face twisted in a way it never had as she cleaned off my spit. She was shocked at first by my audacity, but soon fury burst on her face. She kicked me in the face and my mouth bled as she screamed. "How dare you stinky bitch!"

Valerie pulled my hair with her friends pulling my hand towards a toilet cabinet. I panicked and started to struggle knowing exactly what they had in their mind. I fucked up.

The door was pushed open and I was pulled to the toilet. "I am sorry, Valerie, please, anything but this," I begged, but she ignored me and then shoved my head into the water.

She pulled it out, "Never in your freaking life do that again." She snapped then shoved me in again. Her friends held me in place so that I couldn't escape.

I wiggled and kicked my leg, fighting them, but it was no use as I was getting drowned in the toilet. They turned on the water to flush me. My screams were muffled by the water. I cried and screamed but no one came.

I could hear the girl's distant laugh, but it was getting blurry with my consciousness fading. The door burst open, making them jolt, and my head hit against the toilet bowl. The last thing I heard was a familiar male voice scream. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING TO HER, VALERIE!" He came, but it was too late. Blood blurred my eyes, and everything went dark.

A groan left my lips as my eyes opened. My head was killing me. Still disoriented, I reached out to touch my head and was stunned to realize that it was wrapped in bandages.

"What am I doing here?" I murmured trying to sit up on the bed. I was in the nurse's office, but what really happened? I wondered, trying to piece everything together that happened before I lost consciousness.

I slowly recalled Valeria bullying me in the toilet then someone burst in. My eyes sparkled with excitement, and Dylan came. As if answering my questions, I heard a familiar ringtone from the bedside. My eyes are drawn to it.

It was Dylan's phone that was ringing. He had left it there. My curiosity tugged my mind to take a little peek at who was calling. I regretted immediately picking up the phone. It was an unknown caller, but Dylan's wallpaper was what struck a chord in my chest.

It was a strange girl, a curvy girl I hadn't seen before, and she was smiling at the camera. It gave me a bitter feeling. 'So this is the type of girl he loves.' I thought. Dylan had been my best friend since we started high school.

It was weird how a fatso and the beau of the high school could be friends but it started when he realized we were both smart. He was the only one who stood against the bullying, and yes, I was hopelessly crushing on my best friend, but he never saw me as more than a friend and study partner.

My ears caught the sound of approaching footsteps and I quickly dropped the phone back on the table and pretended like nothing happened.

"Amelia," I heard a soft, familiar, baritone voice call out my name, drawing my attention towards the door. There he was, Dylan, my secret crush and best friend. He was over six feet, with chestnut brown hair and grey eyes.

He was the number one heartthrob, and I wasn't even an exception. "Dylan," I answered excitedly, then my eyes dimmed, remembering the girl on his wallpaper. "I can see you are up. You got me scared there when I saw you unconscious bleeding through your head." He said walking towards the bed.

I ignored him and pulled out the sheet to lie on the bed backing the entrance. Bitter jealousy was eating me and I honestly didn't want to talk to him. I could not help but wonder who the girl on his wallpaper was. She was slender and pretty, a far cry from my pathetic self.

He was like everyone else. Who knows if he secretly laughed at me behind my back? "I heard my phone ringing earlier." He mentioned it but I didn't reply or turn over to face him. Dylan sighed, grabbing his phone from the table then sat by the bed. His strong presence behind me was hard to ignore but I was persistent.

"Amelia, are you mad at me?" He asked with a gentle tone that was smooth on the ear. I pressed my eyes together to not cave in. "Why would I be mad at you? I am just tired and prefer to be left alone." I grumbled at him.

"You are mad," he stated the obvious, not that I was going to tell him why. "Why are you mad? If it's because of the Val incident, I am sorry for not coming sooner before things spiralled out of control, but as soon as I heard about what she did in the gym, I ran to help you." He explained but I ignored him.

He didn't like the silent treatment, and there was no way he could guess I was being petty because of his wallpaper. Just remembering how gorgeous the girl with lovely strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes gave me a bitter taste in my mouth. She was even smiling, flashing her lovely dimples.

"Amelia, please talk to me; I have already reported Val to the principal and got my parents involved. This time, she won't avoid punishment." He urged me, walking over to the other side of the bed, but I just flipped over. "It won't make a difference; she is pretty, hot and rich. Who cares if she bullied a fatso. Please, can you just leave me alone?" I sneered at him.

"Come on, don't be like that. I know Val isn't the reason you are mad; you are pretty and just chubby, and that's your charm." Dylan tried to reassure me, but it was hard to believe him. If I was pretty to him, why hasn't anything changed between us all these years?

I was sure he recognized how my eyes sparkled when I saw him but I guess it was a one-sided crush. "Please tell me what's bothering you. I don't like when you are cold. Don't think about Valeria. You have no idea what those girls take, and some of them are just plastic." He persistently asked what was bothering me. I scoffed inward. If he thought of those girls as fake, why did he have one as his wallpaper?

Knowing Dylan's personality, he wouldn't stop bothering me until I gave an answer of a sort. I lied. "But Val has tons of guys at her wait to ask her for prom, and I haven't been asked not even once since we got into high school and by September, will be in our senior year." I snapped at him, it was half true but I just wanted him to leave so that I could be alone.

"Is that what has been bothering you?" He asked, which made me feel defeated. He will never understand what I meant. Dylan didn't need to ask a girl for prom. Even seniors asked him out. He has even won prom king without being a senior.

"Dylan, please leave. I want to be alone." I said tiredly, hoping he would ignore my whining, but to my shock, he smiled at me and then held my hand. "You should have spoken out earlier. I would love to go to prom with you."

I was left dumbfounded, unable to believe my ears. "Please stop joking. Why would you want to go with me." I said, pulling my hand from his hold, but his grip tightened, and he brought it to his lips.

Dylan placed a soft kiss on the back of my palm that sent sparks running through my skin, and with the most stunning smile I had seen before, that left me breathless. His lips parted, and the next words he said felt surreal. "Amelia Reece, please, will you be my prom date?"

My heart skipped a beat, and my lips parted but Dylan was quick to place his fingertips on my lips before adding. "Please say yes, Amelia dear. I really want to attend prom with my sassy bestie who finally decided to leave her shell..."

Was he being serious?