THE TRIO.

DAWN.

"You are a peasant?" Scarlett exclaimed in surprise, her eyes wide open and almost popping out of its sockets.

I gulped down my saliva, butterflies rumbling in my tummy and my hands trembling once again.

"I can't believe this" A girl murmured.

"We sat with a trash can?" Another girl exclaimed in disbelief.

 Whispers spread through the dining hall, and a few girls approached our table. Some of them took out their phones, seizing the opportunity to capture the unfolding drama for the school's group chat.

"What's happening, Scarlett?" asked a girl with auburn hair.

"Just a little drama, Lisa. A peasant trying to pass herself off as a rich girl and fooling every one of us," Scarlett replied, the side of her lips curling up into an evil grin that sent shivers down my spine.

 "N -n -no. I never claimed to be rich," I stuttered, trying to defend myself. Before I could explain, a bucket of paint, which I have no idea where it was gotten from, was grabbed and emptied all over my head, drenching me from head to toe.

I stood there drenched, in shock, my mouth agape, unable to comprehend what had just happened. They hadn't even given me a chance to speak before dousing me in paint.

"How could you, Scarlett?" Charlie exclaimed, coming to my defense as I struggled to find my voice. I looked down at my uniform, now coated in black paint, feeling tears well up in my eyes.

 "She's new here, and I brought her to join you all, but you!" Charlie pointed accusingly at Scarlett, struggling to find the right words. She forced her hand down to her side, shaking her head sideways.

"She never claimed to be rich. She barely even spoke to any of you, and yet you did something so cruel to her?" Charlie's voice remained calm, but I knew she was seething with anger over Scarlett's bullying and humiliation of me in the dining hall.

Scarlett's eyes held no remorse. Instead, she glared at me with contempt, as if I were nothing more than a lowly, undeserving scrap, which, in her eyes, I was.

 I couldn't bring myself to look at her and instead focused on my shoes, feeling unworthy and undeserving of meeting her gaze.

"So, you're the one who brought this commoner to join us for dinner, A low-life who can't afford to pay the bills and instead, got a scholarship from Mr. Jones?" Scarlet sneered, shooting me looks filled with disdain.

Out of nowhere, Lisa poured her drink over me.

I swallowed hard, still reeling from the shock of having paint splattered all over my uniform, and now I was having a drink poured on me?

"How dare you claim to be something important? You are just as low as the maids in our houses who lick our shoes clean", Lisa spat out venomously, stomping her feet, and gritting her teeth against one another.

Charlie was just as shocked as I was, no words coming out of her lips as her mouth fell open with a creased brow. She looked annoyed that they were treating me like a garbage chunk. 

"Learn to stay in your place bitch. The next time you dare breathe the same air as us, I promise, you won't survive breathing in with your lungs ever again!” Lisa spat, pushing my head and causing me to stagger back a few feet. 

Her threatening words sent goosebumps all around my body , and my fingers twitched uncontrollably with fear.

"Correct! If she dared then she would be treated in the worst way ever! Charlie, you better tell her to not cross our paths if she wants to survive her days here,” Another girl standing among the crowd of girls chimed in. 

Charlie let out a sigh, almost facepalming herself as she muttered slowly.

"Really?".

My heart hangs low, quiet tears gushing out of my eyes. Their words and bullying all brought back terrible memories, taking me way, way back to.......

"If your parents perhaps had aborted you, I am sure they wouldn't have died".

"Nothing is more frustrating than seeing a pest breathing the same air as I do" I could hear Brittany's words once again in my ear, and more tears gushed out of my eyes.

"Aww, the countryside bumpkin is in tears, did our words hit a sore spot?" Scarlett mocked, sounding like she wanted to laugh, bringing me out of my reverie and the rest of the girls in the cafeteria giggled.

I, on the other hand, continued to look downwards at my shoes. Shaking and trembling, tears still gushing out of my eyes.

I heard a long bang and stiffened before slowly raising my head to notice Charlie had banged the table loudly.

The next thing I knew, she took my hand and led me out of the dining hall and down to the girls' bathroom, where she handed me a napkin to wipe the paint off my face. I couldn't even muster a response to what had happened, despite knowing I was innocent.

I feared they would escalate their mistreatment of me, especially after Lisa's threat. They were rich, and I was just a poor outsider. I felt insignificant in comparison to them.

Later that day, I discovered they had posted the embarrassing bullying incident online with numerous hashtags, labeling me as a low-life and a burden among the "elite" students. They claimed they had let me into the school out of pity for my miserable life.

I tried to ignore their hurtful words and convince myself that I belonged there and focused on my studies. However, the relentless bullying and mistreatment I endured became too much to bear.

It was like they drew their lifespan in bullying me and never missed a day of tormenting my life. I tried my best to avoid them or to ever appear in their presence but it seems like they do come to find me themselves to use me as a source of amusement for themselves and their school blog.

"Dawn, will you be coming to Gym practice today?" Charlie asked me as we were packing our things into our lockers. 

I stopped in my movement, remembering I could not even attend even if I wanted to for surely Scarlett and her minions would be present and that meant another bullying.

"You can't keep running away from them forever, you know". I heard Charlie's voice next to my ears and turned to see her standing super close to me, with a sad smile.

"Perhaps it's time you stood up for yourself; you can't continue living in fear, love," Charlie added, and I raised my eyebrows at her.

'Was she insane?' I contemplated.

'Who dared go against Scarlett and her minions and lived to tell the tales?' I pondered.

"It's high-time you did" She repeated and patted me on my right shoulder before leaving me all alone in the locker room to decide my fate. I could feel my heart racing again just at the thought of confronting Scarlett.

I breathed out heavily as fear slowly found a way to creep into my heart. I found the nearest bench to sit on and then knew Charlie was right. I had to do something if I wanted to live the only one year I had here in peace.

..............................................................................

I walked in with quiet steps, fidgeting, butterflies in my tummy, hoping no one would notice me and I could just go my rounds and leave, but who was I kidding?

I was in the same room as wolves of high rank and no matter how I tried to hide my steps, they would sniffle it out, and as expected, they did.

"Oh! It's the pretender", Lisa called out with a glare, and I gulped, for the hundredth time.

"Still trying to be among us, I see." I heard a voice from behind me wh, which sent shivers down my spine, and I shuffled around slowly only to see my big-time nemesis. Scarlett throwing me an evil smirk.

'oh no!' I thought within me and started moving back unconsciously but bumped into someone else.

"Going somewhere?" I heard Lisa's voice from behind me and shivers ran down my spine immediately.

"And she is mute again," Scarlett commented sarcastically, and everyone roared into laughter. I clasped my breath, trying to calm myself down, but it was not working. I started heaving, my chest rising and falling at a rapid rate, but no one cared.

"argh," I moaned in pain as I felt my hair being gripped tightly from the back. 

"Does it hurt?" Lisa asked and tightened her grip on my hair making me release another painful sound.

"Urgh". 

"That isn't even supposed to hurt you, considering you are a wolf, or are you not?" Scarlett asked throwing me one of her suspicious gazes once again.

My mind started racing and I knew I mustn't let them figure this out.

"She is a low-life Scarlett, can a low-life have a high-ranking wolf as we do?" Lisa asked and I started shivering.

Scarlett rolled her eyes before crossing her arms around her chest and also looked like she was to say something but we were all distracted instead by a thin girl with big glasses who bolted in like lightning.

"They are here!" She screamed clapping her hands and jumping up and down with a delightful expression, making me confused.

'Who are here?' I wondered.

"The trio" She added and everyone gave a loud piercing shriek.