Chapter 10: Hidden Ruth

Melissa's POV.

Telling my cousin was going to make things only worse for me. Susanna was always loud and fearless, and if I told her the truth, she would want to do something about it, except that Lex was not the kind of person we could fight. All we both could do was depend on the school management to punish him for what he has done, as we had no money to sue him or handle it in a different manner; doing that would only make Lex provoked. I could see it.

"I am not being bullied, Susan; it's just the school is so big, and it's been difficult for me to find my way around, and no one is going to assist me."

I lied, making a baby face, hoping she would believe me. My cousin was a tough nut to crack.

"I know a bully when I see one, Lisa, and right now I believe you are being bullied by those brats. I am not going to sit back and let that happen to you. I know you are on scholarship there, but you deserve to be treated fairly like every other student."

I was shaking my head in disagreement as she spoke, as I didn't want to give her the impression that she was in any way telling the truth.

"Susan, I am not being bullied; if I were, I would have taken it up. You know I would. It has just not been my lucky day; I keep stumbling and falling. I even rolled down the stairs, and that was why I sustained the injury on my knee.

I lifted my knee, trying to show her the injuries on me.

"Did you at least get it treated at the clinic, or do they not attend to scholarship students over there?"

"Of course, I went to the clinic; how else would I have gotten it cleaned up this way? I know you care about me, and you think they are not treating me right over there; it's kind of different from what you think."

I dragged my weak legs towards the couch as I sank onto it while making up the stories to her.

"Then tell me how exactly it is. I am worried about you, Lisa. I know how much you think you could endure things, but I do not want you to endure any unfair treatments over there."

I couldn't help but smile weakly when she made that statement. Of course I was good at enduring things, and it would have taken me not up to a minute to endure watching Lex treat Anna that way, but I decided to speak up, and it was costing me all the peace I could have.

"It's more like they do not have my time. The teachers and the students are so busy, and all of them are from wealthy families, so you do not expect them to come down to the level of scholarship students. "I only had to speak to one girl, and I've never seen her since then," I said, gradually taking off my shirt.

"They must feel like they own the world over there."

"They actually might own the world, Susan. You remember that latest version of the golden ring purse we saw in the paper? Would you believe that a junior student has it? She's using it like a regular school purse."

"You don't mean it..."

I laughed at her exclamation. It felt relieving to see that we could talk about something else, and I could finally find the space to laugh.

For a second it felt as if I had forgotten everything that I had been through that day. The way they beat me up, the way they forced me to clean the restroom, all the pains I felt in my body – it all vanished for a second as I spoke to Susan and laughed about random things.

We had dinner together that evening, and Susan was the sweetest cousin. I felt like it would be unfair if I should drag her into this mess that I was in, and she had been through hell with me trying to help me secure that scholarship.

"So tell me, is there a person you like in that school?"

I didn't expect that question in the middle of dinner; I suddenly held my spoon in my mouth, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Oh please, Lisa, don't tell me that among all those rich kids there is not even a guy who stands out and is very attractive to you?"

She asked, rolling her eyes, and I knew exactly what that meant: she was in for gossip.

"No, no one; they're all just too rich spoilt kids," I lamented. I was staring at my plate on the table when his face suddenly flashed in my mind.

"You know, Lisa, I heard that all the wealthy people's kids go to that school, and there is not even one person who looks appealing to you?"

"Does it even matter?" My voice sounded slightly offended at this time, and even I could not tell why.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry if I asked the wrong question; I mean, I was just... You know what, never mind, let's eat up."

I nodded my head in agreement as we had dinner and talked about all other things that had nothing to do with my school and the students.

The next morning I woke up quite early, and Susanna was still in bed. I felt like skipping school that day even though I knew it was not acceptable for a scholarship student; I was scared of facing those students again.

And what would I tell Susanna was the reason I wasn't going to school?

The next hour I was already ready to leave, and Susan had made breakfast like a flash. We ate together, and I took a ride directly to school.

As I walked into the school gate, I noticed something was off.

The students kept staring at me and whispering things to their partners; some were even taking pictures of me as I walked past them, and I wondered what was going on until I saw it.

Printed images of me on the school walls were designed with ink that made me look like a monster; some even wrote 'Whore' on them.

"Oh my God, no no no. Lex!!!!" I screamed so loud.