Perfect

Someone inside my head was playing the drums and man I wish they’d stop. I groaned when Claire had woken me up even if she'd done it gently. I was just so sore, tired and exhausted. I’d done nothing the past two days and I couldn’t even muster the energy to swing my legs off the bed.

“Come on Bella.” I heard her whisper to me, but in my head, it sounded like someone was screaming right in my ear. I needed to get up for school though, I’d missed out on too much work and if it had been my choice I would’ve gone back the day after it happened.

“Okay Claire but don’t turn any lights on or make any noise, I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“Sure Bella, take as long as you need.” And with that she walked out the door to go wait for me downstairs. It was times like these I was so grateful to have found her and be her best friend. I walked to the bathroom turning on the shower and started washing myself. I hadn’t realized I’d spent almost half an hour in there until I got out to look at the time. I wrapped the towel around me, glanced towards the mirror and was surprised to see myself there, considering I resembled a ghost. I looked pale in the face and the bruise on my head had turned a purplish green.

I placed a bit of concealer and foundation over the bruise but it only did minimal. It stuck out on my head like a huge egg. I winced every time I touched it and my head became worse after fiddling around with my face. Some peach lip gloss and mascara was added to enhance my features a little bit. My hair was left to dry on its own naturally since putting it up would make my headache worse.

I had no desire to dress stylish today so I chose tight white Victoria Secret sweats and an expensive hoodie with a crop top. I didn’t even care if anyone knew I was wealthy, I just wanted to be comfortable. I grabbed my white Nikes and a few other clothes in case it got hot but today was gloomy, much like my attitude. I finished packing up my bag and walked downstairs to where Claire was waiting with a cup of soup since it was the only thing I could stomach lately.

“Here you go.” She passed the cup to me and I gave her a grateful smile. I picked up one of my designer glasses from the bench and placed them over my eyes.

“Going for the comfortable but expensive look are we today Bella?” She asked as her eyes roamed my outfit. “I am just so not in the mood to impress anyone and I wanted a hoodie to cover the bruise.” I said to her pointing at my face.

“Well you covered it a little bit with the makeup and the sunglasses along with the hoodie help but I guess that’s all you can do.” She said as a worried look crossed her face and I loved that she cared. “Anything I should know about before stepping foot into that school Claire?” I asked as we started walking towards the car.

“Nothing other than the fact that you’ve been the school’s topic for the past two days. People are trying to figure out where you’ve gone and Katherine is absolutely basking in it making up rumours left, right and centre.” An inhumane growl emitted from my chest, “Of course she would be.”

“It’s okay Bella we can get through it together, I’ll be there every step of the way.”

I pulled her into a tight hug just before we were about to get in the car and she hugged back with just as much force.

“I love you Claire.”

“I love you too Isabella.”

We’d arrived at school not long after leaving the house considering we thought we were running late, even though we weren’t. As usual Michael parked a few minutes’ walk away from the school so Claire and I could both get out of the car and not be seen.

“Have a good day Princess Isabella and Miss Claire.”

“I’ll try Michael, thank you.” I nodded before getting out of the sleek black car and walking off after Claire. She slipped her hand into mine and I knew it was just to show me support. I squeezed it gently and she smiled warmly at me, I always knew that she had my back no matter what happened.

We rounded the corner passing the gates and neared the entrance of the school. I froze when I saw the mob of students surrounding the doors and lounging in the car parks on their cars waiting for classes to start. What would they think of the bruise? What rumours were going around? I didn’t want to bump into Cameron or Katherine. Claire obviously felt me stop and turned around to face me. She shook her head with a sad smile, clearly seeing the distress all over my face.

She took my now dry wavy hair and pulled it up into a loose bun, flattening it down with bobby pins she’d had in her pocket. Organised as always. Reaching into my bag she pulled out the light brown wig and placed it over my head positioning it so the front bangs would cover the bruise showing through visibly on the side of my face and the rest of the long wavy hair fell down the front of my chest. She grabbed my contacts out from my bag and I took them from her putting them in to disguise my natural eye colour. Finishing off she pulled the hood of my jumper over my head and around my face, the designer glasses were already going back on since the light was too bright.

“Keep your head down and avoid eye contact Princess, we’ll get through this day, together.” She said putting some final touches in on the wig to make sure it was in place before grabbing my hand again and looking at me for confirmation, I nodded and started walking towards the doors focusing on breathing in and out. I was looking at the ground as Claire guided me through the mob of students. It was loud and my head was pounding, it was like someone was hitting me over the head with a baseball bat numerous times.

I could feel everyone’s stares and I knew Claire could feel them too since she kept tensing and squeezing my hand. I still hadn’t bothered to look up, since I didn’t want anyone to see the bruise on my face. I knew we were almost near my locker when we came to the turn in the hall but we abruptly stopped and I ran into Claire’s back.

“Claire!” I whined quietly rubbing my nose where it’d met her back. She turned around and looked at me, distress running through her tan features. “We have a problem.” She exclaimed pointing around the corner and towards our lockers. I peeked around the corner just enough to see Cameron with his friends across from our lockers.

I groaned, “Shit Claire, what are we going to do now?” There was absolutely no way I was in any type of mood to face the person who had given me a concussion for two days and probably didn’t give a single shit about it. His friends were just as bad. ‘You won’t get hurt’, what a load of bullshit.

“Lucky for you Princess I somehow happen to have Seth’s mobile number.”

“Would you like to tell me how you got that?” I asked cocking an eyebrow, forgetting about my own interesting mental conversation. She gave me a stern look and I had to hold back my laughter, “Not important now Bella, let’s just send him a text and tell him to keep Cameron occupied!”

“Okay, fine.”

I think we sat there for about ten minutes trying to put together a message to send across to him, not even being sure that he would listen. She passed me the phone and I started typing the text,

Hey Seth, its Bella. So, this is awkward but I’m around the corner with Claire and I need to get to my locker before first period but you’re all standing there. Can you keep Cameron occupied along with the other boys so I can get my stuff please? - B

Staring at the screen waiting for a response I let out a sigh, I know it wasn’t the best text and there was a very high chance that he’d show Cameron. We were still waiting a few minutes later when I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Bella?” A silky-smooth voice addressed me, I already knew it was Seth considering he was the only one I’d told that we were there. I continued looking down at the ground just because no one had seen my bruise yet and I know that it wasn’t that big of a deal or anything but the whole thing was meant to be a joke and he was the one that promised I wouldn’t get hurt so I just didn’t want him to see it.

I felt a hand under my chin and a hand on my hoodie and before I could protest I was looking Seth right in the eyes. I’d taken my sunglasses off a while ago considering where we were standing wasn’t so bright. His face was stonic and a flash of anger crossed through his eyes as he looked over my injury. He lowered his chin to his chest shaking his head and let out a sad sigh, “This happened when Cameron tripped you didn’t it? I shouldn’t have let it happen.” I grabbed his hands and lowered them back to his sides.

I nodded, “Yes it did but there’s no need to worry about it Seth, I just had a concussion for a few days.”

Seth looked at me with eyes as wide as saucers, “You had what?” He asked, raising his voice a little bit higher then I would’ve liked considering my head was already throbbing. “Sh, I still have a headache ya nut job. Yes, I had a concussion and I’m fine. Can you just please, go and distract Cameron while I get my books?”

“Okay fine, if that’s what you want me to do. But you totally owe me big time.” He said as the mischievous glint appeared back in his eye and a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

I laughed nervously, glad that his original self was back. I agreed none the less just before he scurried off and joined the group again. Before I knew it, they were walking down the hallway and out the door.

“Well that was easier than I thought it would be.” Claire’s voice came from behind me. I laughed at her abrupt comment, “Yes, yes it was.”

We quickly ran to our respected lockers grabbed our books and were off to our first class.

It passed by quicker than I thought when second lunch was already upon us. Claire nudged me as we walked towards the cafeteria. “Would you like me to go get your lunch and we’ll sit near the huge oak at the parking lot?”

I smiled warmly at her, “Sounds good Claire, I’ll wait for you just here.”

“Okay,” she chirped running off towards the cafeteria. She’d been so good to me today and I hadn’t had any run ins so far with Katherine or Cameron. I shivered at the thought of being pushed to the ground again. Yeah, I’ll stand up to them one day but first I want the bruise to go away and the headache’s, along with the sensitivity to noise and light.

A few people had pointed out the bruise today but I had ignored them just wanting to catch up with work that I’d missed out on in the past two days. The teachers had already known what happened so I didn’t get any questions from them but I did get a scowl from my chemistry teacher which was normal. I still had my hoodie on covering my face and I had put my glasses back on as well since I was back outside. I didn’t want anyone to see the full bruise yet.

Although much to my distaste I heard an all too familiar voice from behind me while I was lost in thought. “Nerd,” He sneered at me.

I didn’t turn around but I felt myself tense up, every part of me screamed to walk away but I acknowledged him anyway. “Cameron.” I identified in a dull tone keeping my head towards the ground and my back towards however many people were behind me. I couldn’t see Claire anywhere yet which meant she was still getting our lunches, so I was alone so far in this battle.

“Oh, look at who’s finally made an effort to show after the past two days.” A shrill voice spoke up through the silence that followed Cameron and I’s acknowledgement, I looked towards the ceiling and internally groaned. I shifted my feet a little before replying, “Hello Katherine.”

“We’d assumed you were pregnant or transferred schools.” She said with a high-pitched laugh. I scowled at her choice in rumours, “Well I’m clearly not pregnant and I’m here so that cancels out two of your bloody useless rumours.” I tried saying more to myself then her but she’d obviously caught on. “Turn to face me Evans or I’ll make you.”

As Katherine threatened me I caught a glimpse of Claire walking towards me quickly with mixed emotions, mainly anger and worry. Her eyes were flickering to every single one of the people behind me and her eyes finally settled on me. She was coming to help. I assumed that probably the entire group was behind me, which meant Ash as well from Claire’s look. The whole debacle had caught the cafeteria’s attention. I felt a strong hand on my arm and before I could stop what was happening, I was whipped around to face Cameron and Katherine who were standing right beside each other. Cameron had an emotionless face while Katherine had her hands on her hips with a full-blown smirk on her face. I’d love to fly kick it off the bitch’s face.

I kept my eyes settled on the space between Cameron and Katherine fully aware of what Cameron was looking for. His hand lingered on my arm for another moment before he placed his fingers under my chin and forced me to look up while taking my hoodie down revealing the large bruise on my face. I took my glasses off and almost fell to the ground laughing when I saw a look of regret flash through Cameron’s eyes. I didn’t bother too much with Katherine because there was a smile on her face. Ash along with Seth both had stonic expressions but Seth kept his cool while Ash glared at Cameron; the rest of the boys all had their heads towards the ground, looking anywhere but me.

“Do you like your handy work Cameron?” I asked rhetorically, already on my way to answering the question, “Because I do, thanks.”

“Look I’m sorry Bella but it was just meant to b-”

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sorry excuse of a sentence since my hand had a mind of its own and slapped him fair across the face. The sound echoed throughout the cafeteria and I heard multiple gasps coming from students behind me. I grabbed my hand as the shock from the hit started to make it sting. Claire had already shown up beside me and was urging me to start walking, “Let’s go Bella. Now!” She said sternly grabbing my hand and dragging me away.

The boys were all staring at me with surprised looks, Ash was nodding at me as if what I did was right and I blushed, he smiled warmly at me and my insides melted, girly I know. Catherine’s mouth was opening and closing, there were no words coming out and I laughed, she looked just like a guppy.

I turned around to follow Claire who was already dragging me away from Cameron when I heard a low furious voice, “You’ll regret that you little bitch, I’m going to make your life a living hell.”

I stopped cold in my tracks and took a second to process what he’d said, I was shocked at the sentence, the effect it had over me just reminded me of another time I didn’t want to remember. I had no idea what that meant for me and it was terrifying. I shook my head and continued walking with Claire leaning on her for support since my legs were threatening to give way. I knew she’d want to discuss what happened with me as soon as we sat down and to be dead honest my brain just shut down right then and there.