Three Years Ago....
The room hummed with a kind of silence that wasn't peaceful. It was heavy, mean.
Lana sat in the middle of the class, head bowed, hair covering her face. Her hoodie swallowed her small frame, sleeves pulled down to hide the bruises on her hands. A thin streak of blood traced the corner of her mouth. She was shaking, barely, but enough to notice if you were looking.
Laughter broke out behind her. Soft at first, then louder, echoing off the walls. It wasn't funny, whatever they were laughing at, it was just cruel.
A cold splash hit her head. The bottle bounced off her shoulder and hit the floor, rolling under a desk. Water slid down her neck, soaking into her hoodie. Nobody moved. Nobody said a word.
The footsteps came next, heels clicking against the tiles. One of the girls stopped beside her desk. She grabbed Lana by the hair, yanking her head back just enough to make her wince. Then she leaned in close, her perfume sharp and sugary.
"You still think you're better than us?" she whispered. "You're not. You're just poor. Always will be."
The laughter came again, closer this time. Lana's fingers tightened around the edge of her desk. Her breath hitched. She didn't lift her head, she didn't give them that satisfaction.
---
Lana hugged herself as she walked home, each step slow and careful. Her hoodie couldn't hide the bruises, and her hands still shook from what had happened in class. She'd been walking this path since her first year, bullied the same way, by the same girls, over and over. They thought she was weak because her dad never came back, leaving her and her mom to struggle alone. Her mother worked herself to exhaustion with four jobs just to keep food on the table. Lana was an only child, which at least kept the torment from spreading to a sibling, but it didn't make it any easier.
The sound of tires squealing made her heart jump. A car screeched to a stop in front of her, blocking the sidewalk. Her stomach sank. The same girls. Only this time, they weren't alone. Their boyfriends were in the car, leaning against the doors, smirking.
The girl who had yanked her hair in class stepped out first, holding a half-full bottle of whiskey. Her grin was sharp, cruel, like she couldn't wait to watch Lana break. Her friends laughed behind her, loud while the guys joined in, their amusement making Lana's stomach twist.
"Look at you," the girl sneered, tilting the bottle, testing Lana's reaction. "Still pathetic, huh?"
Lana's body trembled, but she tried to stand straight. Her fists clenched, knuckles white through the fabric of her sleeves. She wanted to run. She wanted to disappear.
Then the whiskey poured. Cold and burning, it soaked her hoodie, dripping down her arms and soaking her hair. She gasped, her knees almost giving out. The girls laughed, the boys laughed, and Lana felt every second of humiliation press down on her .
Her mind screamed to fight back, but fear kept her frozen. Her chest heaved, a mix of anger, shame, and helplessness all together. She wanted to cry, but even that felt impossible, her tears had been spent long ago.
The whiskey kept pouring, cold and sharp against Lana's skin. Her body trembled so violently that she almost couldn't stand, but something inside her pushed past the fear.
"Avery… stop." Her voice was small at first, shaky, almost swallowed by the laughter and shouting around her.
Avery froze mid-motion, the bottle half-tilted in her hand. For a moment, she blinked like she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Even her friends and the guys in the car went quiet, exchanging surprised looks.
"What did you just say?" Avery snapped, disbelief and irritation twisting her voice.
Lana's chest heaved, and for the first time, she lifted her head. Her hair fell back just enough to reveal her eyes—warm, brown, and steady. She looked Avery directly in the face, voice firmer this time:
"I said… stop."
Avery's face twisted with anger, her eyes narrowing like she couldn't believe Lana dared to look at her. Her pride was stung, her control slipping. "How dare you?" she spat under her breath.
Before anyone could stop her, her hand shot out and slapped Lana across the face. The impact sent Lana falling to the ground, her cheek burning and tears threatening to fall again. Avery's friends erupted into laughter, cruel and loud, the kind of laughter that had haunted Lana for years. They had beaten her, humiliated her, and pushed her to her knees countless times.
Avery stood over her, voice sharp and dripping with hatredt. "You think you can just stand up to me? You're nothing, Lana! A pathetic little poor slut who will end up using her cunt to pay for everything!" She spat the words out, each one meant to wound. "A bitch who thinks she's better than everyone. Do you hear me? Better than me?"
She raised the bottle again, swinging it toward Lana, the threat clear in the tight line of her jaw, the flare of her nostrils and the wild tilt of her head.
But Lana wasn't trembling anymore. She was furious. Instinct and years of pain sharpened her movements. With a surge of strength, she grabbed Avery's wrist, stopping the bottle mid-air. The metal cap pressed cold against her palm as Avery struggled violently, eyes wide with disbelief.
"You—let—go!" Avery hissed, jerking against Lana's grip. Her breathing was heavy, sharp, rage twisting every line of her face.
"No," Lana growled, fury roaring through her chest. Every memory of the past years, every insult, every humiliation, fueled her. In a swift, decisive move, she yanked the bottle from Avery's hand. Time seemed to stretch for a second, Avery's jaw dropped, eyes widening in panic.
Before Avery could react, Lana smashed the bottle down hard on the side of her head. The glass shattered with a sickening crack, sharp edges biting into Avery's scalp. A scream tore from Avery's throat, half shock, half pain. Blood ran down her hairline, and she staggered back, clutching at the wound, her rage instantly colliding with fear and disbelief.
A hush fell over the group. Avery's friends froze, unsure if this was real. The guys who had laughed seconds ago now looked at Lana like she had just turned into someone unrecognizable, someone dangerous.
"Enough! You bitch!" Lana yelled. She had enough already. Since her first day of school, it had been hell.
Lana's chest heaved, eyes blazing, fists still tight. Her body trembled, not with fear, but with the raw power of every year she had been beaten, mocked, and humiliated finally erupting.