CH 8: Bullying

Anya Ford’s POV

“Bye, Mia.”

“Bye, my angel. Looks like I’ll be a little late picking you up. Wait for me in the teacher’s lounge, ok?” Mia replied as she hugged and kissed my cheek.

I nodded as I returned her hug. Huft, I didn’t want to go to school even though I have a father, but I wasn’t sure if they would stop bothering me.

I hate school!

“Anya, let’s go,” Mommy said as she waved her hand at me repeatedly.

Mommy and I walked out of the apartment, waving goodbye to Mia. As usual, Mommy would take me to school every morning, then she would go to work afterward and it was Mia who picked me up from school.

My school was near to our apartment. Within fifteen minutes, I arrived at the front of the school. Four teachers were standing in front of the entrance to welcome the students.

After getting out of the car, I waved goodbye to mommy with a smile. I loved Mommy and Mia and it felt so sad to know that I was going to meet the bullies again.

“Bye, Mommy. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” Mom replied, and she drove away.

When I got to class, I saw the bullies were waiting for me. They were sitting at the end of the room. Their eyes gazed at me. Even though my other friends had arrived by then, they couldn’t do anything to defend me because the four bad guys had powerful strength, loud voices, and scary faces. Better, I ignored them.

“Anya, the illegitimate child, is here!” Daniel yelled, the leader of the four bad guys. When he laughed, he showed his rows of black teeth. Disgusting.

“Illegitimate child!” the other three yelled.

“I’m not an Illegitimate child!” I retorted in an equally loud voice. The intention to ignore them was finally lost.

“Yes, you are! Because you don’t have and don’t know your dad,” they yelled in loud voices as they burst out laughing. This was what I didn’t like about school. I wanted to go home and didn’t want to see them.

Mommy. Mia.

“I said I am not an illegitimate child!” I retorted in a much louder voice. Finally, the four of them fell silent, including all my other classmates. Their eyes stared at me as if waiting for the next explanation.

“My mom said if you don’t have a dad and even your mom doesn’t know who your dad is, then you’re an illegitimate child,” Daniel said with a sly grin.

“I have a dad. He works far away. My mom told me that.”

“Then during next month’s on Father’s Day celebration, bring your dad here so we can believe you. But if you can’t do that, then you are a liar. Your nickname will change to Anya, the liar,” Daisy said, one of the four bullies.

Father’s Day. Why did I forget about that? How was this? I haven’t even met my dad since I was a baby.

“Why are you quiet? Are you scared?” Daisy asked with a big smile.

“She doesn’t have a dad. She is lying to us or her mom is a liar,” Daniel retorted.

“You guys are evil! My mom is not a liar!”

Their words were like knives that stabbed my feelings repeatedly until I couldn’t take it anymore. I had been silent because I wanted to be an excellent student at school and I was afraid the teacher would punish me if I retaliated against them, but their words this morning made me unable to hold back my emotions anymore.

I put the bag that was still hanging on my back to the side of the table, along with the lunch bag. Then, I walked toward the four of them who were standing at the end of the room. They were laughing loudly while looking at me.

Without warning, I pushed Daniel’s body backward until his body hit the wall, after which I pulled Daisy’s hair as hard as I could until the sound of her screaming was so loud that it echoed throughout the room.

Everything happened so fast that I could faintly hear the screams of my friends and I didn’t know when the teacher came up behind me and I felt my body float away from Daisy, who was grimacing in pain.

My favorite teacher was carrying me out of the classroom. More precisely, she was taking me to her private room. Along the way, I struggled, trying to break free.

“Miss, please let me go. They’re bad! I have to punish them,” I begged.

Ms. Forger didn’t budge. She gripped my body. Arriving at her room, she lowered my body and asked me to sit in a chair.

“Calm down and sit down,” she pleaded gently.

“I won’t,” I replied irritably, with a frown on my face.

“Anya Ford. You have been one of the best students in this school. Do you think your attitude is good? Sit down and explain what you did just now,” Ms. Forger pleaded.

Although reluctant, with a sullen look on my face and a feeling of annoyance, I sat down in front of Ms. Forger. With both hands folded in front of my chest, I was silent and my eyes stared at the floor.

“Anya, look at me. Come on,” Ms. Forger pleaded.

I slowly looked up and stared into her beautiful blue eyes. My eyes were also blue, while Mom’s eyes were brown. Are my father’s eyes blue and beautiful like the sea? I wish Dad had the same eye color as me.

“Please explain what happened.”

Holding back my feelings of annoyance and anger, I told her everything Daniel, Daisy, Tom, and Greg had done. The four of them started bullying and taunting me as an illegitimate child and mom as a liar a long time ago, more precisely since I entered Ms. Forger’s class. Not a day goes by without them bullying me.

Since I didn’t want to worry Mom and Mia, I kept quiet and said nothing about them. However, the longer I went, the more lazy I became about going to school. There was no one to defend me there. I was all alone.

Finally, I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore. I cried in front of Ms. Forger. She immediately came over and hugged me. She stroked my back gently as she said, “Anya, you are not alone. Your other friends say you are quiet, so they are afraid to approach you. Try to play with your classmates. I’m sure they are good kids. Then, about Daniel and his friends, I will call their parents and your mother. I have to talk to them. Now let’s go to class and study. How about it?”

I nodded twice while wiping the tears from my eyes. Ms. Forger took a cup of mineral water and gave it to me.

“Please, drink it. If you’ve calmed down, we’ll go to class. Don’t do it again. Promise me?” she asked.

“Ok.”

After finishing the mineral water, I gave the glass to Ms. Forger. “Thank you for the mineral water. I’m sorry for making a mess. Do the other students still want to play with me?”

“Sure. You can start and see how they react,” she replied. The look in her eyes made me feel a little calm, and her soft voice made me feel safe. I was lucky to be Ms. Forger’s student.

“Okay. Let’s go to class,” I said.

The day went smoothly and unexpectedly, the four annoying guys didn’t dare to bully and mock me anymore. The look on their faces was one of fear. That meant my actions that day had scared them.

I felt a little proud.

Sorry, you guys were the ones who made me do that. However, another problem came. Ms. Forger called Mom to come to school the next day. While at home, I didn’t dare tell Mom and Mia anything. Luckily, they didn’t ask me anything.