Tears of a Withered Flower

“Amusing little plans this person has…” 

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Beep Beep.

The soft beeps of the alarm clock woke me up pleasantly. I wake up to the sound of the fire roaring to life and the eggs sizzling like tiny sparks. I walk towards my wardrobe, and throw on some clothes. Pink top and White pants. 

“Perfect.” I whisper to myself. “Surely they're going to accept me now. Right?”

“Marly, breakfast’s ready! Come down here now, the bacon’s getting cold.”

Right… You should know who I am. I’m Marly Hayes, or do you want my full name? Well, my full name is Marly Rose Hayes. I’m a transfer student entering 10th grade, well to be fair its the 1st quarter right now and its my 2nd week. That woman that called my name? That' s my mom, Aliyah Hayes. My dad is Seth Hayes. He’s still sleeping ‘Like the pig he is.”  

“Marly Rose Hayes, get down here NOW. Quit the chit-chatting with yourself and get your butt to the table in 10 seconds. 

I heave my socks up my legs and sprint down, nearly tripping over our seal ragdoll cat, Choco Munchkin, but we call him Choco because it’s shorter. 

Choco yowled and scurried away, while I also tripped down the stairs. 

“Marly? Are you ok?” My mom asked from the kitchen.

“Yep! Totally fine. Although you should check up on Choco, saw a splinter in his paw while trying to get away from me.” I replied.

“Oh the Poor thing. Seth will bring him to the Vet today, it’s his appointment today.” She gazed at me intensely. “Marly, you look like you crawled out of a grave, are you sure you're ok? I can call the school and tell them you're taking a Wellness Check day off if you want.”

I grinned at mom. “I would like that but my education is far too important to miss school on.” I said solemnly. 

“All right.” Mom said. She glanced at my breakfast plate and sighed. “Now look at that. The bacon’s all cold. I’m not in the mood to cook anymore, so just eat breakfast in school ok? Seth should be waking up anytime soon now.”

As fate would have had it, my dad bounced down the stairs, taking Choco with him.

“Good morning Honey,” he said to my mom, then turned to me. “And hello to you Barley Bread.” He said it trying to vex me. He knew I hated that name.

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t call me that dad, or should I call you Seth?” I asked jokingly.  

Dad narrowed his eyes. Then laughed. “Ha. You can try me, Barley Bread. But I will remain the leader and king of nicknames!” He thrust his arms forward, yanking me off the ground and spinning me around. 

Mom shot dad a look of derision. He put me down. “Now, you are going to be late to school, so hurry up.” She then turned to dad. “And you. Start the car and get Marly to school. I don’t want the school calling that she’s late. Again.” She gestured towards the door, waiting for me and dad to go through.

My dad and I grabbed our coats and headed outside. No one wanted to question the authority and power my mom has over the household, especially since she’s the breadwinner in the marriage. Dad started Haliey the Honda Civic. Dad liked to name cars, and I didn’t know why, just knew he had a frightening obsession with cars…and apparently he likes Hailey the best.  But, now dad looked panicked. “Marly. Did you bring your lunch?”

I freeze. “I forgot it.” I managed to mumble out after a while.

Dad sighed. Then he reached into his pocket at a red light and handed me $5.  “Please, just try and have the lunch lady give you food. I know it’s $10 but it's all I have right now.”

Think that’s weird?

.

Can I tell you a secret? One that you will keep?

…Sigh

My dad lost his job last month.

Yeah, he did. He worked at the warehouse making $47k a year, and they fired him. For just having back surgery a few weeks prior. The thought, or just thinking about it, makes me livid and mad. 

“It’s not fair.” I muttered to myself as I walked the steps to the grand entrance of Willowsbrook Academy. The outstanding design of it all still amazed me. It was a Private School, though I'm still surprised how my family was able to afford this. Although, I’m also not very surprised, as my mom makes more money as a CEO. 

I walk in and get greeted by my best friends Calliope and Freya. Calliope has light pink hair and is short.. She almost looks like a fairy. She’s fearless, which I do admire, though she often puts feelings first than critical thinking. Freya has long black hair and has a slender frame. She’s in the screened class and very smart. We (as in me and Calliope) often force her to help us study. She’s pretty introverted, but Calliope has been pushing her out of her comfort zone, and Freya seems to like it. She’s a bit cold sometimes though, giving brutal honesty and blunt responses.

Calliope bounced to hug me while Freya silently walked towards us. “Hii Marly, how are you doing?” Calliope asked.

“I’m fine.” I replied.

“Help why was that reply so flipping dry??” Freya said. 

I gave Freya a little push. “I didn’t have any other way to answerrrrr.” I replied back.

Calliope gave us a look, “C’mon guys, cut it out. We have 15 minutes to get to homeroom. We’re going to be late if you guys keep this up.”

‘She is right,” I thought to myself. Our homeroom was on the 6th floor, and we were on the first. The elevator was closed and shut down temporarily, so we had to climb flights of stairs.

“Why did you have to remind us about that? I doubt Ms. Kantor will even care. She marks people late even if they’re 5 minutes early. But sure, let's walk up to homeroom and face her wrath.” Freya replied back. 

Calliope looked fake-hurt. “Well ok then Freya, what should we do then?” she asked, in a sweet, condescending tone. She tried to tower over Freya, but she was just too short.

Freya looked down at her and intensified her grin, making it wider. “Maybe drink some more milk before you act like someone superior.”

Calliope rolled her eyes. “Fine. Fine. You win.”

“Guys please, Ms. Kantor may be strict as hell, but we still have to go. The school is going to call our parents.” I pleaded. 

They both didn’t look convinced or moved, so I pulled out my secret weapon. My very very cute puppy eyes. No one can resist. 

At once, they instantly melted like ice cream on a hot sunny day. Calliope was about to burst with happiness, and Freya cracked a small smile, something so rare to see coming from Freya herself. I kept staring however, until they cracked, and they eventually did.

“Ok Ok, we’ll go to homeroom alright? Are you happy?” They said at the same time.

I smiled. “Yes, extremely happy.”

“Well off we go then.” Freya said.

We walked like it was a death sentence. The hallways, once buzzing with energy, now fell silent.

Calliope leaned towards us. “Why did it go so quiet all of a sudden? It feels like a parallel dimension of our school, don;t you think?”

Me and Freya groaned at the same time. “It's them.” Freya said flatly.

“Who?” Calliope asked, as clueless as a mouse.

“The Seashores…” I said, voice dropping to a whisper.

“Oh.” Calliope said, realizing what we just said. 

The “Seashores,” or Tiffany, Alexa, Melody, and Alina strutted into the school like they always owned the place, which was semi-true, considering that Alina, the most ruthless of them all, had her grandfather build this place a few decades back. And apparently that gave her the excuse to bully everyone around her, and I was her newest target.

Tiffany saw me with Calliope and Freya and motioned Alina to look. Alina smirked and walked over, stepping a few feet away from me, with her crew following her from behind.

“Well, well, well, isn’t this a surprise. Barely Bread decided to show up.” She glanced down at my clothes and grimaced.  “Aw, she thought she could impress us with that outfit of hers. Where did you get it from? The dollar tree?” From behind, her friends snickered. 

“Well,” Alina said, “you wouldn’t mind if I just…” she fumbled around in her bright pink backpack and took out her water bottle. She was turning more  presumptuous by the second.

Freya quickly saw through the act and motioned me to step away. 

“Marly,” she hissed silently, “Move out of the way, she's going too…”

Too late, Alina vehemently flung the water bottle at me and it splashed all over me. I was drenched. Her minions tried to stifle a laugh but failed miserably. The crowd erupted in giggles and laughter. Calliope helped me up while Freya glared at Alina so intently it looked like she could break anything. Before anyone could say something, Freya shoved Alina back into her sad pile of her so-called minions and she stumbled. Her mouth gaped open like a fish out of water. Freya broke out of her death stare and gave an apathetic expression as she and Calliope followed me to the main office, knowing they wouldn’t do anything and would only just call my mom for compensation for new clothes. 

“You will regret that.” Alina muttered under her breath as she and her minions strutted away into the depths of the school.

Behind, in the crowd, I stealthily heard someone mutter under their breath say:

“Amusing little plans this person has…” a voice whispered so deep that it felt like he didn’t say anything at all.

‘What did they mean by that?’ I thought to myself, as me and my friends entered the main office, only to find my mom, Calliope’s dad, and both sets of parents of Freya sitting there. Waiting for us. A cloud of suspense covered the entire office.

“Oh no.” we whispered to each other.

“Oh my god of course they reported us.”

“I guess we have to quickly conceive a plan or else we are cooked.”

We stood there, ready to see what the principal and our parents were going to say, as my mom shot me a condoling look.’ 

Empathy eugh.

“They already justified our “supposed actions”. We were guilty.” I thought.

“Now then girls, care to explain?”

“I don’t know what you mean?” Calliope said, voice wavering.

“We received a report that you’ve harassed ALina and her friends.”

“Not true.” Calliope said suddenly. She stood abruptly.  “They harassed us first! They threw a water bottle at us. Look at Marly! She's drenched.

The principal tossed a quick glance towards us. “Still… a report is a report, we have to take it seriously.

“Just check the security camera! Don’t believe us? Just CHECK.” Freya said, slamming her palms onto the table. “Just take our word…please.” she said, more softly this time.”

The principal gave a sympathetic look. “Unfortunately, we don’t have cameras that cover that area.

‘Of course they don’t.’ I thought. ‘It's always like this. They don’t even have proof and they are still trying to convict us like murderers just because someone high and mighty reported us. Just great.”

“Alright, so what I’m thinking is a 1 day suspension and a week of detention. Sounds fair?” the principal asked.

Silence. You could hear the lights above humming so clearly.

Then Calliopes’ dad nodded, followed by my mom and both parents of Freya. “Sounds fair, my mom said.”

“Mom, you can’t be serious right now. Look at me. LOOK AT ME. I'm drenched in someone's drinking water, and you're agreeing to a 1 day suspension and a week of detention??.”

“Marly. You and your friends harassed a poor girl, I think this is for the best. Me and your dad taught you better than this.”

“Mom STOP. She harassed us first, why won’t you believe me??” My voice rose higher and higher until-

“MARLY ROSE HAYES. Quiet down will you? This is unacceptable and once you get home, we are taking your phone. For a month.”

“Mom you can’t do this please.” I pleaded.

“Ah-ah-ah, no excuses. However, let me get some new pairs of clothes.” my mom said as she walked out of the office.

The silence stretched thin throughout the office. My mom returned with a new set of clothes and I changed.

“Now then, I’ll have to ask you 3 girls to leave the school to play out your suspension.”

Not even a single word came out of our mouths as we sulked behind our parents. I sent a text to both Calliope and Freya. “Meet at the front entrance tmw at 6:50.” That was 1 hour and 40 minutes early.

As I sent it, I bumped into someone.

“Ah whoops, sorry about that.” I said

“Don’t worry about it.” A boys’ voice replied back.

“I don’t think I caught your name,” I said, as I heard my mom shouting my name from the parked car.

‘Brian,” he replied back. “Brian Mills.” 

“Thanks.” I said. “I’ll be heading out now. Uh… see you tomorrow I guess.” We had ELA together. 

“You too, Marly.”

I sprinted as fast as I could. I didn’t have a good feeling about Brian. I reached the car and my mom was still standing there, hands crossed. 

“What took you so long? I still have to pick up your brother later. Get in the car.”

As I was about to enter the car, my mom’s voice filled the lot. “Oh right. Phone. Now.”

I mumbled and she said “Do not give me attitude young lady.”

“Mom I’m 16, I'm not a kid.” I said flatly.

“Well you're still a minor no?” my mom replied back.

I smiled a little. “Yeah ok you're right. I’m still a kid in your eyes, I get it. Can we get moving though? I need to take a shower. 

“Alright then, but seriously give me the phone.” she said.

“Fine, fine.” I replied back. I hand the phone over to her and she puts my phone in the cup holder. 

“Although you should probably reflect on what you have done right now.” my mom said, starting the car.

“But I-” I began.

“Nope, I don't want to hear it. I want total silence.

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Part 2 soon… :>