Chapter 1
Rosabelle
Running
It seems like it's all I do.
The sound of the soles of my shoes slamming onto the wet pavement, the burning sting in my legs with every push forward, the odd stares from the people around me.
It was all normal for me.
I hear their laughs, their sick laughs as they run ahead of me, throwing around my backpack like it was a toy.
" Come and get it Hart!" He yells, excitement laces his rough voice from all the cigarettes he smokes.
That was Ryan Nathaniel. He's been smoking since he was six years old and found enjoyment in my pain. Along with his other minions, George Peterstone, Emily Henry, and Brooks Flowsky they had only one goal.
To make my life a living hell.
I could feel my heart drumming through my chest
I don't know how long I've been running for, but I couldn't let them have my backpack, the one thing I treasured most.
It was the last piece of my father I had left with me, the last item he gifted me before he died. I was only 9, and didn't understand the idea he would never come back.
Until my mother. She'd been so sad, I don't think I've ever seen anyone as heartbroken as her, mainly because she would cope with drugs. Drugs we couldn't afford to be getting.
And when she overdosed, all that debt came onto me.
I feel the pain in my throat, the one right before I can't stop controlling my tears. My hair was wet from the rain, my clothes soaked, and my voice nearly gone as I screamed and begged for them to give it back.
They wouldn't.
This was only the beginning after all.
They turn into an alleyway, laughing like a pack of hyenas and I, like the i***t I am, follow them in.
I was trying to catch up with my breath, my wet hair sticking to my face and the rain only getting heavier by now.
They look at me, hold the backpack out for my reach, and watch me in hilarity as I move closer, thinking I could just grab it and run.
" Go on, don't be so scared." Brooks Flowsky utters, moving the backpack closer to my reach.
I look at them standing around me in a circle now as I feel my hand on the old backpack that had been with me since elementary.
I try taking it, but Brooks has a strong grip on it, a wicked smirk on his face as he looks at his friends.
" Don't you want the backpack? Take. It." He shouts in my face, and I stumble back at his voice, feeling my throat closing and my heart racing when I realize what was about to come.
I hear their camera turn on, and a laugh leave Emily's mouth before Evans fist lands straight on my face.
I couldn't feel anything as I got pushed into a dirty puddle, their voices only turning into mumbles.
It sounded like hell.
I get kicked in the ribs, the legs, the head, everywhere.
A scream of pain I've only gotten used to by now rumbles through my body when they blow one last kick to my stomach before victoriously running away.
I was out, until I felt like I was choking. My body on instinct slowly moves up as I try choking out the water from the puddle.
My body was on alert, telling me not to move from the pain but I had no choice. Slowly, I crawl to my backpack that had been thrown into another puddle.
I pick it up, watching as the dirty water drips off from the sides, and I cry.
I cry as I put on the backpack, like nothing happened, I cry as I wipe the dirt and mud off of my face, I cry the entire way towards Francina's, the place I'd been working for 3 years now.
And just before walking in I wipe away my tears, put a smile on my face and open the door.
The place always smelled of grease and sweat, covered up by Ms. Tilsky's obsession of incense. She never liked me, no one ever did really, so coming in late would not help her dislike towards me.
I recognize her aging face, big glasses, bright makeup, and hair pulled into a swirl of blonde locks as she rushes around, getting the work of two people done.
The work I was supposed to be doing.
If it weren't for Ryan taking my backpack at school this would've never happened, but here I was, trying to speak to Ms. Tilsky who wouldn't acknowledge my presence.
" Ms. Tilsky, sorry I'm late I had to stay after school a bit for a test." I say as she moves to the back of the small restaurant.
She sits down on a chair, heaving a heavy breath as she wipes the sweat off of her forehead from the rush.
" You're fired." She spits, and I feel my world freeze at those words.
" N..no Ms. Tilsky you don't understand! I need this job please don't do this to m-" I don't finish when she aggressively points her finger to the door, her forehead wrinkles coming together in anger.