CHAPTER TWO: UGLY THING

When she got home, Brielle wasn’t around,  she had probably gone to the hospital for a night shift. Her thighs hurt, and she limped a little as she walked.

She was thankful Brielle wasn’t home. She would immediately know what was going on, that she had slept with a man, that she let herself be fooled by false promises.

Her eyes were puffy from crying, but she couldn’t let anyone notice. For the first time, she was thankful for her large glasses, they would cover her swollen eyes up.

She took painkillers from her sister’s room and dressed up for school like she would on any normal day.

Today would be like every other day,  she reassured herself, no one would know what happened between her and Roman last night.

Or so she had thought.

Somehow, everyone in school found out what happened between her and Roman. They were looking down on her, someone threw a pen at her. 

“Slut,” someone else called, throwing a paper ball at her, it hit her face, making her shaky large glasses fall off. 

“She was eyeing Roman all along, wasn’t she? 'Cause he’s so rich and handsome,” another person glared at her with irritation.

Reyna ignored them and tried to walk faster, but her thighs still hurt. She didn’t want them to notice that.

“Did Roman really sleep with you? I mean, seriously?” There was a burst of giggles.

Reyna hid her face, ashamed. She hated the comments they were making about her. Before she could respond–

Roman appeared, striding down the hallway with that familiar swagger. She avoided looking at him, thoughts of last night and that morning rushing through her head.

“Keep quiet! I could get any girl I wanted and you think that I would go for this ugly thing? I'm not that desperate." Roman pointed at Reyna, and she cowered. “Stop spreading false rumors about what never happened, girl.” he snapped at her before walking away.

“Can't believe she started spreading all these rumors just to get attention,” Suzy shouted, throwing a pencil at her.

“Absolutely pathetic.”

“Some people are so desperate. I knew Roman was too classy to stoop so low as to sleep with her.”

Reyna couldn't defend herself. Throughout the whole day at school, people kept calling her names and looking down on her.

She was heartbroken and humiliated. Whenever she tried to speak, no words came out. No one wanted to hear her side of the story like she didn't matter at all. 

When she got home that evening, she knew she couldn't keep going to school.

Today was unbearable. People had treated her badly before, but today was worse. She couldn't live like this, and worst of all, Roman had denied her publicly.

“I don’t want to live anymore,” Reyna sobbed, stumbling into the kitchen.

Tears blurred her vision as she searched frantically for something, anything to end the ache tearing her apart. Her eyes locked onto the knife board.

Without thinking, she rushed over and grabbed the sharpest blade.

“I can’t live like this,” she cried, pressing the cold steel to her wrist.

Her hand trembled violently. She wanted to end it, to silence the pain, but she couldn’t. Not yet. Something in her still hesitated.

Then Roman’s voice echoed in her head. "Keep quiet! You think I would go for this ugly thing?"

The humiliation, the shame, the whispers, the constant stares. There was no way she could keep living like that.

She pressed the sharp blade harder against her skin.

Just as she was about to slit her wrist with knife, the kitchen door flew open.

“Reyna! What are you doing?!” Brielle’s voice cracked as she ran in, yanking the knife from her hand.

“Bri…” Reyna collapsed into her sister’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

“I’ve got you. It’s okay, baby sis,” Brielle whispered, holding her tight, one hand gently cradling the back of her head.

Reyna broke down completely, her cries showed how sad and broken she felt, as Brielle rocked her in silence.

When Reyna had calmed down, Brielle prepared a hot chocolate for her to drink.

“Are you ready to tell me why you almost ended your life there?” she asked Reyna, who was now wrapped in a blanket and sipping the hot chocolate.

“Last night at the party…” Reyna began, her voice low, sniffling as she wiped her

“I and this boy… we had s*x.” She avoided her sister’s eyes as she whispered brokenly it.

Brielle gasped, eyes wide in shock. She hadn’t expected her sister to do something like that.

“Reyna,” Brielle croaked, her voice was filled with hurt and concern. She pulled her sister into a hug again, just as Reyna burst into tears.

“He insulted me… and said I wasn’t worth him. Said it was a mistake that should never have happened,” Reyna sobbed harder, her voice muffled against her sister’s shoulder.

“It hurts, Bri… it hurts so much,” she kept crying.

“My life is over.”

“No, don't ever say that, Reyna. You are a bright young woman, the top of your class. There’s no way your life is over,” Brielle tried to encourage her, seeing Reyna in her present condition made her heart ache.

“No, I can't go back to school. Everyone thinks I’m a slut and a liar. I don't want to… please, don't make me,” Reyna kept crying. She was now shivering against Brielle, who was fighting the urge to cry along with her sister.

“You won’t go back, Reyna. I promise, you’ll get through this,” Brielle said softly, kissing her sister’s cheek and hugging her tighter.

Reyna cried until her throat hurt, her heart aching with pain, and the wounds inflicted on her still fresh. Her eyes continued shedding tears until she had no more left.

Through it all, her sister never let her go, not even once comforting her the best she could.

And for the first time that day, she felt the smallest flicker of safety, being wrapped in her sister's arms, away from the world.

She still hurt, but she was alive. And she would survive this.

And maybe, just maybe, she would find a way to fight back. She had to overcome this.

And she would.