Sunlight sliced through the window, but my scalp stung first, green dye streaking my pillow from their nighttime prank.
I bolted up, clutching matted strands, their giggles already echoing from the bathroom.
Diamond Studs smirked over her toothbrush: "Freak's gone full swamp monster now."
Her minions cackled, toothpaste foaming at their lips like rabid cheerleaders.
I lunged for the mirror, green streaks clashing with my tear-streaked face.
My stomach churned, today's uniform would clash like vomit on velvet.
I yanked on the stiff uniform anyway, green hair screaming target louder than yesterday's snap.
They slammed the bathroom door on my pleas for a shower, locking me out with swamp-swamp-which hair.
Their laughter chased me down the hall, a siren song of doom.
Every head in the corridor swiveled, eyes widened at the green-haired freak sprinting to class.
Whispers erupted like gunfire, phones already snapping my humiliation.
I ducked into Lit class, green hair glowing like toxic waste under the fluorescents.
Diamond Studs called from the back row: "Swamp freak's late, hope the dye's permanent."
Jaxon leaned back in the prime desk, dark eyes raking my green disaster, his smirk pure venom.
"Nature's calling back it's trash."
My cheeks burned red, shamefully flooding hot as the class erupted in snickers.
I sank into the front-row seat, the only one left, praying the floor would swallow me whole.
The teacher swept in, eyes bulging at my green mop.
"Good, Lord, child, what swamp did you crawl from? Who turned you into this?"
The class exploded in laughter, pointing fingers like I was the punchline to their private joke.
I hunched lower, green strands curtaining my burning face from the chaos.
Ms. Harrow droned on about The Cruel Prince, oblivious to my private hell.
Notes crumpled at my feet, each one a venomous swamp freak or dye suicide.
Diamond Studs leaned forward, her whisper carrying like a blade: "Wait until lunch, swamp thing."
My pulse hammered, dread pooling cold in my gut.
I caught Jaxon smirking at me from the back, his dark eyes glinting with cruel amusement.
His smirk widened, promising lunch would be my next battlefield.
The bell rang like a death knell, unleashing the pack.
I bolted for the door, green hair trailing whispers and flashes like a comet of shame.
I veered toward the bathroom instead of lunch, desperate for a sink to scrub the green away.
Diamon Studs blocked my path with her minions flanking tight, their smirks promising fresh hell.
Jaxon sauntered up, towering over the circle with a lazy grin, his presence turning their threat nuclear.
"Going somewhere, swamp queen?" he drawled, flicking a green strand from my shoulder like toxic waste.
"None of your business," I snapped, chin lifting despite the tremor in my voice.
"Oh, feisty," Diamond Studs purred, eyes flinting wicked. "Not sure if that's a good thing… care to find out the hard way?"
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, voice barely above a whisper, dread coiling tight in my chest.
They exchanged glances, a silent pact flashing between them, then grabbed my arms with bruising force, not letting me twist free, as they lured me toward the bathroom.
"You want your green hair gone?" they squealed, their grip tightening like iron as they dragged me closer to the bathroom door.
Jaxon hung back with the pack, arms crossed, dark eyes glinting with twisted amusement as he watched my struggle, like a king savoring the show.
"Let me go!" I yelled, thrashing against their vise-like grip, my voice echoing uselessly off the tiled walls.
"Not until we've had our fun," Diamond Studs said, her smile sharpening into something feral.
"I'm not your toy," I snapped, yanking harder against their claws, voice raw with fury.
"You've given us every reason to," Diamond Studs said, her voice dripping with menace, "since you set foot here, and by just existing."
I was kind of aware of what they'd do to me, as we were crammed in the bathroom, right in front of the toilet stall, the air thick with threat and stale disinfectant.
"Say goodbye to your green hair, and your face," Diamond Studs said, dunking me hard into the toilet, my head slamming against the porcelain as filthy water rushed in.
They held me under as long as they could, until I couldn't breathe, black spots exploding behind my eyes, just barely lifting my head before I passed out, gasping for air as blood dripped from the gash on my scalp.
They laughed, savoring the show like it was their favorite twisted entertainment, then left without a word, slamming the bathroom door behind them, abandoning me there in the reeking stall, soaked and broken.
I should have expected this, I was poor, not rich like them, different in every way that mattered, handing them every reason to target me like prey.
But I didn't expect it, this betrayal hit like a sucker punch. I'd naively hoped to make friends here at Saint Verena, yet here I am, the laughingstock of the school, dripping and humiliated in a filthy bathroom stall.
I curled up on the cold floor, tears mixed with toilet water and blood, wondering if I'd ever fit in at Saint Verena, or if I even wanted to anymore.