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DAPHNE’S POV

The door slamming shut behind me caused me to flinch before I even saw who it was. Her too strong lavender perfume wafted through the bathroom, meeting me where I washed my hand in the sink. I froze, the water washing off the last of the soap as three figures appeared behind me in the mirror.

“Daphne,” Eleanor said in a sing-song voice, chuckling while she twirled her blond hair between her fingers.

I turned, my hands shaking. I was avoiding something like this. The school day was over and I hid in the bathroom until everyone was gone. “I don’t want any trouble,” I managed to get out. My heart was ramming against my chest and I was sure that these wolves surrounding me could hear it. They could smell my fear.

One of her side kicks, Bridget, grabbed one of my arms. “Don’t be so boring. We’re only here to play, right, Carla?” she asked, smiling over my shoulder at the other girl.

They were far taller than me, prettier even. They had long, toned legs; the kind of legs that looked like they went for miles and miles. And they were skinny— painfully so that they spent every waking hour in school making me miserable about that fact. They were total bimbos; shiny blond hair, beautiful red lips and gorgeous eyes.

I was nothing like them. Where they had long legs, I had thicker ones. I had black curly hair while theirs was mostly pin straight. I was plus size and my uniform was bigger than most of the other girls. And in Bateview Academy, your looks determined your standing among the wolves. Me? I was a nobody.

Carla slipped her hands under my arm and held on to me. “Yeah, just a little fun.”

I knew what was coming. My heart was racing in my chest, almost uncontrollably. “Let me go,” I said, looking at Eleanor. She was the only one who could stop them.

“Oh? Did you guys hear something?” Eleanor asked, looking everywhere but me. “I almost thought I heard a little fat girl begging.”

There it was again, that word: fat. Like it was a crime to be plus sized, to be different. They made me hate my own skin.

“Must be the wind,” Bridget replied. She and Carla began to pull me towards one of the stalls.

I struggled to free myself but their manicured fingers only dug deeper to hold me tight. Somehow, all three of us squeezed into a stall. I was pushed to my knees, the toilet basin rising up in front of me.

I tried to beg but the words were stuck in my mouth. Somehow, I didn’t want to plead, it would mean admitting defeat. They could try to break down my body but certainly not my resilience.

I noticed that Eleanor was recording with her phone. “Look, everyone, I have our little school friend – Daphne Browne – with us. She wants to play a game.”

I didn’t even notice the bag she had been holding. She dropped it to the floor, fishing out a carton of milk. “Today’s episode, we’re going to be making a farewell cake. Here’s the milk!” she let out an excited squeal as she poured the bottle of milk on me.

I felt detached, my body still here but my mind someplace else. I had learnt the hard way that when dealing with people like this, it was better not to fight.

But, goddess, it broke me. To be embarrassed like this in front of a live audience. 

“Next up?” Eleanor asked and the girls chorused, “Eggs!”

I wished that I could fight. I wished that I wasn't this powerless. That I wasn't a nobody omega.

“And a special addition to the recipe,” she did a little happy dance before pouring the bottle of fish oil over me. It stunk, stunk so badly that I retched.

 “The omega stinks,” Bridget pouted, pegging her nose with her fingers.

“We should help her clean up,” Eleanor said. She leaned down and grabbed a fistful of my hair, trying to push me closer to the toilet.

Her phone began to ring and she stopped, checking the caller ID. She shrieked excitedly, letting me go and turning to take the call. I couldn’t hear the voice on the other side over my coughing as I struggled to drink in the air fighting my panic attack.

“Um, yeah, I’ll be flying out with my family for Christmas,” Eleanor replied, twirling her hair in her finger. “I’m sure Daddy wouldn’t mind if you came over.” There was a pause, “I was just having a little fun before returning.” Pause. “Fine, okay.”

She hung up and rolled her eyes but smiled sweetly when she saw me watching. “I think she’s clean, right?” She looked at Carla and Bridget for confirmation.

“Clean and nice,” Carla chuckled.

“Right where she belongs— filth ,” Eleanor spat out. “See you next semester, little b!tch.”

They began to laugh, walking out of the stall and leaving me there with a torn and stained uniform, toilet water dripping down my face.

A sob tore through my mouth and I slapped a palm over my mouth to strangle the sound. Tears rolled down my cheeks as my body shook with sobs. I couldn’t let them hear me, they would bully me for that too.

My phone rang in my bag. I stumbled out of the stall to grab the bag I had left on the sink. Thankfully, they hadn’t taken it away like last time and ‘mistakenly’ thrown it in a pond. I had to lie to my mom that my phone fell in the toilet.

“Hey, Dad,” I answered, forcing a smile into my voice.

“Cupcake,” Dad replied, his voice loud on the other side. Despite how terrible I felt, his voice always made me feel better. But, right now, I couldn’t hold myself together long enough to have a conversation with him. “How are you?”

“Great,” I lied. “Um, Dad, I can’t talk right now. I need to head back to the dorms.”

“Okay, okay, I just wanted to make sure you were still on the flight for tomorrow,” he said in that tone that sounded like a question rather than a statement. “I heard someone say you Bateview kids like to hang around for a few days and party.”

I would rather die than hang out with any one of those monsters.

“Yes, Dad. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said and quickly hung up. He would tell my mother and she would lecture me about hanging up on them whenever we called.

I would choose that any day, sitting in her kitchen while she cooked and lectured. I looked up at the mirror, barely recognizing who the girl in the mirror was. This quiet, secluded, and bullied girl. I couldn't look at myself anymore.

By tomorrow, I would be on a plane, hundreds of miles away from this hell hole of an academy. And most of all, I’ll be away from my number one bully: Zachary Ackerman – the student President who made my life what it was today.

But most importantly, I was going home for Christmas. I looked forward to all the adventures, all the new people I would meet. Maybe I will finally make a real friend.

It was Christmas after all, this was the season of change.

I checked the door and realized that it was locked. I tried it again, thinking that there must be a mistake. It was no mistake.

My breath caught in my throat and tears started to roll down my cheeks again as I realized what just happened. Notifications started to come in on my phone.

Eleanor had locked me in. And I was going viral.