The night stretched deep and heavy.
Susan and Jackim walked side by side, away from the stadium lights, into the darker parts of the school grounds where only the cracked pavement and half-broken lamps bore witness.
Neither spoke.
Silence wasn't uncomfortable between them — it was safer than words that could crumble too easily.
---
Susan clutched the frayed sleeves of her jacket, feeling the night's bite on her skin.
She stole glances at Jackim — his hands stuffed in his hoodie pocket, his strides slow and deliberate, his face unreadable.
"Thanks," she finally whispered.
Jackim shrugged, his mouth twitching at the corner. "Didn't do much."
"You didn't join them."
That alone was everything.
He glanced at her, his dark eyes glinting. "Most people around here are too afraid to stand alone."
Susan gave a hollow laugh. "I don't even remember what it's like… to belong anywhere."
Jackim didn't respond.
He didn't need to.
---
They reached the old art building, abandoned after a fire years ago — the one place students avoided because of rumors about it being haunted.
Susan paused, looking up at the broken windows, the peeling paint.
It reminded her of herself.
Worn out.
Crumbling.
Still standing.
"Come on," Jackim said, motioning toward the shadows. "Better here than out there."
They slipped inside.
The hallway was a graveyard of forgotten lockers and burned trophies.
Susan exhaled slowly.
Here, in the ruin, she felt safe.
---
They sat against the wall.
Jackim leaned back, arms stretched lazily across the cold floor.
Susan pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin atop them.
"You don't talk much," she said after a while.
"Words are cheap."
She smiled faintly. "Then why are you here?"
Jackim turned his head toward her, studying her carefully.
"Because when you walked down those stands tonight," he said quietly, "you reminded me that not everything that looks broken is worthless."
Susan blinked hard against the sting in her eyes.
No one had ever said that to her.
Ever.
---
A sharp buzz cut through the stillness.
Susan fumbled with her cracked phone.
A new message.
From Jess_Lover99.
Her blood ran cold.
It wasn't just a text.
It was a photo.
Her, tonight, frozen mid-step on the bleachers — looking small, pitiful, hunted — plastered with cruel words written over it:
"Campus' New Circus Freak."
Posted.
Shared.
Trending.
Already over 400 comments.
Some laughing.
Some mocking.
Some fake sympathies.
She bit her lip hard until she tasted blood.
---
Jackim saw her face twist.
He didn't need to ask.
He knew.
"They don't get to define you," he said quietly.
But it was too late.
Her world was on fire — again.
No matter how brave she was, no matter how strong she pretended to be, she couldn't outrun their cruelty.
Tears welled up despite herself.
She hated crying.
She hated giving them the satisfaction.
Jackim shifted closer, his knee brushing hers.
"Let them laugh now," he said.
"One day, they'll choke on it."
---
Susan wanted to believe him.
She wanted to wrap herself in his words and forget the world outside.
But reality was crueler.
Faster.
Brutal.
---
The door of the abandoned building slammed open.
Laughter echoed through the hollow halls.
Jessica's voice — cold and cutting — carried easily.
"Well, well, well. Look what we found."
Susan's stomach dropped.
She turned slowly.
Jessica, Tanya, Amanda, and half the football team stood in the doorway, holding phones, cameras blinking.
They had followed her.
They had planned this.
And now they would destroy what little was left of her.
---
Jackim rose to his feet smoothly, blocking their view of Susan.
His face, normally so relaxed, was sharp now — deadly.
But Susan knew.
There were too many of them.
They were trapped.
And this time… she didn't know if she could survive it.
Not without losing whatever was still left of her heart.
---