Pride

Melissa used to be invisible. Nobody used to pay attention to her because everybody looked down on her. She was the only poor student on St. Bernard, a private school only the richest could afford to go to, and that was all she was seen as. People just saw her as the girl who wore clothes without a name attached to them and was plain in the looks department. Nobody thought she was worth their time.

And she had liked it that way. She didn’t want to fit in. She didn’t want to be part of the crowd of mindless sheep who did everything four of the riches students at the school wanted it too. Her fellow students were like that, not she.

The four richest students are another reason why Melissa is happy people don’t pay attention to her. You see, people who get noticed by those four rich heirs in a bad way tend to get hurt. People who stay clear away from them, however, don’t have to worry about getting on their bad side and go through their school year relatively unscattered.

Not all students were awful, fortunately. Ashley was quite nice and didn’t look down his nose at Melissa, the way the others did. She was a very kind and warm person and Melissa had been friends with her almost ever since Melissa came to the school. She had always thought the friendship could only do her good, she was a little less only. She didn’t know the friendship would cause her life to take a turn for the worst.

Or maybe Melissa should put the blame on herself. Maybe her change of attitude had caused all the drama. Her decision to finally stand up for what she believed in may have set everything in motion.

The change didn’t occur suddenly, obviously. It had started before the incident, even though Melissa didn’t know exactly how long ago. Maybe seeing so many people get hurt was bound to make her snap at some point.

The first crack in her carefully constructed armor of nonchalance appeared two days before the incident. A person too many got hurt by the F4 again it caused something to fester inside Melissa.

He was her favorite teacher. He used to be enthusiastic and young and every student loved him. He had been new to the school and not yet corrupted by the school. Maybe that’s why he got hurt.

Melissa and Ashley are sitting in the classroom, along with the rest of the students when Mr. Grey walks in and Melissa can tell immediately that something’s wrong. He used to be so full of energy but now he looks exhausted and worn out. It is as if he hasn’t slept in days. What has happened to him?

The room falls silent as the teacher walks up to his desk. Every pair of eyes are on him as he turns to the class but doesn’t lift his head to look at them.

“I will not be teaching you the rest of this year.”Mr. Grey tells the class with a voice that sounds beaten. “I’ve resigned. There will be another teacher to replace me. Please, be kind to them.”

The class didn’t hear what the teacher has said because as soon as he started to talk, they started talking as well. Why are they suddenly treating him like this?

Dread pools at Melissa’s stomach as she realizes Mr. Grey must have gotten a red notice. It must have happened when she was ill for a couple of days because she can’t remember Mr. Grey doing anything that warrants a retaliation from the F4.

The F4 is a group of four boys whose parents are filthy rich and they practically run the school. Everybody adores them because of their money but also because of their good looks. They are outrageously gorgeous and everybody falls at their feet.

Everybody except Melissa, that is. She doesn’t like them at all. She thinks they’re spoiled brats who didn’t have to work one day in their lives. They think they can get away with everything because they have money and it pisses Melissa off to no end.

But their attitude isn’t even the worst, it’s what they do when their ego is hurt. Whenever someone does something they don’t like, they put a red notice in their locker. After someone has found it in their locker, their life is hell.

But what did Mr. Grey do to have the mark of death put on his forehead? Maybe Ashley knows.

“What happened,” Melissa asks her friend in a hushed voice.

Ashley turns her head away from the teacher, who is putting his things in his briefcase, and gives Melissa a sad smile. “He stood up for a student Louis was bullying.”

From the four members of F4, Louis Tomlinson is the worst. He is their leader and is also the richest of them. His mother owns the Tomlinson Company, a financial group with a lot of power, and he’s the only heir. He will inherit the number four in the top ten companies in England when his mother deems him ready.

“It really sucks that there’s nothing we can do.”

“But Ashley, we can do something. If nobody started to bully everybody who gets a red notice, they wouldn’t hold so much power.” Melissa refers to both the red piece of paper as the people who distribute them. “We should just stand up to the F4 but people don’t want to. They are either too afraid or after the F4’s money.”

Melissa tries to keep the guilt she feels out of her voice. She herself belongs in the first category. She doesn’t stand up for the people who get bullied because she’s afraid of the consequences

“Do you want to go to Disco Inferno with us tonight?” someone next to Melissa suddenly asks and she turns her head to look at the blonde girl who is sitting next to her who has posed the question. The girl is smiling at her, so she smiles back.

“I can’t come, sorry. I need to work.” She hopes she sounds polite even though she feels uncomfortable talking to the girl.

“Are doing work for extra credit.” The blonde asks puzzled, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“No, I need the money.” Unlike all the other people in the school, her parents need her money to provide for their family. She doesn’t have time to work for extra credit.

“Maybe I should do the same. I run out of my monthly allowance so quickly.”

Melissa doesn’t really understand why her classmate should need extra money. The blonde girl’s monthly allowance most likely consist of 1000 pounds in contrast to Melissa’s 40 pounds monthly allowance.

Being the only poor person in a crowd of extremely rich people can at times be suffocating and now is one of those times.

The room is suddenly too small and Melissa has suddenly difficulty with breathing. She needs to get out of the classroom.

The brunette jumps to her feet in a flash and without giving Ashley an explanation she runs out of the classroom. She will explain to Ashley later.

Melissa’s destination is the stairwell and she’s running to get there. She goes the stairwell outside every day to escape her classmates and to think. She needs time for herself and she goes to the stairwell to find it.

She doesn’t have to run long to reach the stairwell and within five minutes, she bursts through the door. With her heart jackhammering in her chest, she stands still on the top of the stairs. Her whole body is shaking when she faces the beautiful view in front of her and she screams.

“You assholes. I hope you die of over nutrition.”

Yelling really feels good. It gets rid of the tension that’s thrumming throughout her whole body. Now that she has screamed out her frustration she can feel the tension leave her chest and shoulders.

But it doesn’t get rid of the nagging feeling of guilt that’s still lodged in her throat. Whatever she does, she doesn’t seem to be able to get rid of it.

With a sigh Melissa to head back to class. She may not be able to get rid of bullies but she can be able to get good grades and make her parents proud if she returns to the class. They have paid a lot of money to get her into this school and she doesn’t want for it to have been a waste.

The rest of the school day isn’t too eventful. There is nobody who has gotten a red notice after the teacher left, so there wasn’t a chase or students disturbing the lessons to bully one of their own. It was as if Melissa was at a regular school.

When she comes home from school, she’s greeted by the delicious smells coming from the kitchen. Her mother must be cooking one of her delicious dinners. Her mother always manages to prepare a delicious male even with what little she has to work with because they’re poor.

“Hope you had a good day today.” Melissa’s mother Betty asks as she walks into the kitchen. She smiles at her daughter in excitement because she’s so proud that her daughter attends St. Bernard. Her father greets her as well from behind the paper he´s reading, his hair the only visible because he´s small.

It had been the idea of Melissa´s mother to go to St. Bernard. She thought it would both good for her future as good for the family image.

“It was bearable,” Melissa tells her mother. She joins her mother at the stove because she wants to know what they´re going to have for dinner.

“Your father didn’t get the promotion again,” Betty tells her daughter with a sigh while she stirs sauce that´s in the pan in front if her. “He just told me.”

Marissa can hear the rustling of paper as her dad puts his paper down, making her turn around to give her father a sympathetic look. She knows how badly he wants that promotion and he always fails to get it.

“The boss just doesn’t like me,” her dad declares with a frustrated huff. “No matter what I do, it’s never good enough, he always gives the promotion to someone else.”

This isn’t the first time her father has raised this point. He always does it when the promotion slips through his fingers.

“We’ll just have to scrap and save. The St. Bernard bill is due in a few days.”

“I can quit St. Bernard.” Melissa tries to offer, trying not to sound too eager.

“Nonsense, that’s not necessary,” Betty protests. She almost looks offended. “ We’ll find a way like we always do.”

Melissa’s mother sounds convinced, so she doesn’t try to press further. It’s clear her mother isn’t worried about the money and really wants her to continue attending St. Bernard, so she’ll just have to suck it up.

She just needs to blend in for two more years, which shouldn’t be much of a problem. She has been very successful at hiding herself in the crowd for the past few years. She’s not a noticeable person at her school and as long as no incidents will occur, she’s going to be alright.

Notes

Please, let me know what you think about the first chapter.