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To the brave: who stand up for what’s right even when they’re afraid.
Ashley Howard is to Zachariah Prince what Bellatrix Lestrange was to Lord Voldemort.
Lol
Blue is still the same. Loud, spunky… bright. Brimming with so much life that it’s hard to look at her. But still I looked.
I’m obsessed with him, with the way I hate him, with the way he makes me feel.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Getting serious, he continues, “And Blue? A town can handle only one bully and this town’s already got one.” Something flashes on his face quick like lightning. “Don’t be a bully, Blue. Don’t be like me.”
In love, you bleed forever. I wonder if in hate, you bleed forever too.
I jerk when he says my name. Well, the name he gave to me. The name that I’ve always, always loved in secret. In fact, I never even acknowledged it to myself.
“You never look at me anymore,” I blurt out. “Because it hurts.”
His jaw ticks. “You smile at me. Then, you invite me to have dinner with you. I eat the food. It was fucking delicious so I eat some more. Meanwhile, you’re blushing. You can’t look at me. But every time I try to leave, you stop me. So I’m asking you why the fuck are you acting like a bad rash I can’t get rid of?” He liked the food.
Zach’s eyes rove over my face. “You are obsessed with me.” “No.” I flinch, then, “Kinda.”
It’s regret. I can’t believe it took me so long to figure it out. He’s regretful. Probably of all the things he did to me and put me through.
“It’s kissing because I’m gonna put my lips on your lips.”
“I knew the moment I tasted your lips I’d become a fiend for them. And now you’ve fucked up,” he keeps growling, jacking up my heartbeats. “Because you’re mine now, Blue. Mine. And you’ve got no idea what I’m gonna do to you.”
I’ve known him nine years and this is the first time I’ve known his mouth. It’s a tragedy. It’s a travesty. It’s outrageous. We should’ve been kissing the very first moment we met. We should’ve been kissing for years, for ages, for eons. We were made for kissing, he and I.
Bullying has consequences. It creates ripples that span for years. Sometimes for an entire life. They call you fat and so you stop eating. You watch what you eat until you die. They call you a nerd and so you stop reading in public. You still look over your shoulder when you read on a park bench. It destroys you, a vital part of you. It fucks with your mind, with your heart, with your soul even. It changes your beliefs, your lifestyle. It makes you anxious. It causes panic. It won’t let you sleep.
Facts
“But maybe I’m watching you because I can’t stop. Because you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. And because your blue hair reminds me of the sky and the ocean. Freedom.”
Him and me. Two lonely people who belong to each other and no one else.
So, I pick up a pencil. The strand of her hair’s still wound around the finger of my right hand as I open a fresh page and write: Cleopatra Marie Paige.
I love the guy who hates love. Nothing could be more tragic.
I realize what I feel for him is too intense, too passionate, too heartbreaking and sad to be called love. Maybe it’s a tragedy. Or maybe it’s the blues.
Yeah, it’s the blues. Because I love a guy like him.
They say love is the most powerful thing in the world. But even love dies when you stomp on it enough. I don’t think it is capable of living through something this toxic and dysfunctional. Something this violent.
I can’t stop my tears then. Technically, Art’s nothing to me. We don’t share a blood relationship. I didn’t even know him before last year, but I feel like I’ve known him forever. He’s my little brother. My baby. Orphaned and bullied like me. And like me, totally enamored with Zach.
I see a boy, a tired but handsome boy, who’s staring at me like I’m his world.
The Dark Prince I’m going after her. Not because she’s mine but because I’m hers. Because she knew that even before I knew it myself.
What the fuck happened? Why are we standing so far apart? Right. Because I told him I loved him and he told me that I was pathetic.
I thought nothing could harm my love, only to realize one thing could. Him. He could hurt it. The guy I’m in love with.
The town is small, smaller than Princetown, but I like it. It’s cold here. Winter is in full force. There’s wind. Oh, and there’s a lake, too. It’s so blue that I fall in love with it the first moment I see it. Kinda like I fell in love with Zach.
“You’re my life.” His words have more of an impact this time. Maybe because now I can see what he means by it. He’s showing me by re-arranging his life around me.
I forgave him a long time ago for everything. He didn’t need to apologize but I’ll forever carry his words in my heart. I’ll accept them and keep them safe, just as I’ll keep him safe inside my chest.
Bullying, as we all know, is a sociological problem. It’s a disease, really – a rampant one at that. And my aim in writing this book is to make people aware of its effects. Bullying has consequences and repercussions that can last a lifetime. Even one thoughtless, cruel comment can break someone’s spirit to a degree that it takes years for them to put it back together. Not to mention, bullying is not confined to a school or a classroom or a playground. You can find it at your workplace, at your dining table and in this social media age, definitely on the internet.
Author’s Note
