A Letter.

Hello there,

You just gulped, didn't you ? You are scared now. Of course you should, one time isn't enough for you. Izza, I told you, no I warned you to stay away from him. Well, guess thats never going to happen. So I'm going to make sure that you stay away from him. You know what ?, You are worthless. You were born a burden to your family and you are an ugly bitch. I don't understand why Zeeshan wants to even hang with you.

I crumpled the paper and threw it in my locker. I couldn't breath and my hands started to shake. My legs went numb so I leaned my forehead against the locker door for sometime and composed myself.

"Its just a prank" I told myself.

I was already sad and weak after an amazing dinner with the Harris family especially with Zeeshan freaking Harris and when I saw this note inside my locker, I couldn't have been more happier. Note my sarcasm level.

What was I going to do ?

For me days in Bloom Woods are just like the climate, when it's sunny it means everything is going to be all right but when it's too cloudy it means everything happening is terrible and still I like the cloudy one. As I leaned there a terrifying memory flashed through my mind and I cringed with pain.

I was supposed to go for practice.

I remember, I was only twelve. As I headed for the dressing room, someone gripped my hands and dragged me away. She was older, my senior. She hated me and I don't know why. There's never a good reason for bullying. And then she pushed me in front of a group of girls in the bathroom. They were all giggling because they had finally found their prey and they were all hungry.

"Here she is. The 'football freak'" she snarled.

And they all nodded their heads approvingly. They circled around me and started moving around. They were whispering to each other and laughing at how pathetic I was. One girl spat at me and kicked my back with her shoes. I flinched with pain.

"You are a looser", one said

"A burden"

"You are so ugly with those Harry Potter glasses"

"You'll never succeed" they said and I started crying, my tears slowly spilling out.

"Aww baby are you crying ?".

They pulled my hair band, making my hair fall loosely. A girl took a fistful of my hair and pulled it hard, I screamed. Then one came and knelt in front of me. She gave me a devilish smile and asked,

"Does it hurt darling ?".

I cringed when she said darling. I hate people calling me darling. I cried more but she muffled my voice by keeping her hand on my mouth and nose. It was hard to breath.

"No, no we don't want them to hear. Do we ?"

I shook my head and she gave me a small smile. Again she spat right in my face and laughed like a drunken guy. She looked at me again. Her laugh, her eyes were all devil like and then she started tugging my uniform skirt. I gasped as she pulled it again. I slapped her hands. I shouldn't have, because she got furious. She signalled two of her friends and they knelt beside me. They tied my hands behind me. I cried and wept. But it was of no use. And then she continued to do her job. She pulled my skirt and threw it to one of her friends. Then I heard the flush sound.

"Noooooo.."

She smiled again. I was now in my panties. I cried again and again. Who was there to help me ? No one. She dragged me to the toilet and took a tape.

"Please no...please"

I begged. My voice was so weak. This only urged her to do more. She taped me fully from my chest to my toe. It was suffocating. When she was satisfied, she was going to get out of the toilet but she turned towards me smirking and took one last strip of the tape and pasted it on my mouth.

The school bell rang and snapped me out of the nightmare. I sighed, composed myself and slowly started walking towards my classroom. It was English period. In this class Dan, Seth, Justin, Marissa, Ally, Fathima, Mehara and myself are together. When I reached for the door and pulled it open, I was met by happy faces. They were all talking and laughing at each other.

They were happy but me ?

Dan was talking to Seth and Justin was on top of his desk, flirting with Marissa. But Marissa wasn't even paying any attention to him as she continued to look at her nails.

"Every girl in the campus wants to hangout with Justin Anderson" I heard him say.

Marissa scoffed and said, "Well I'm not that every girl "

But of course Justin didn't even budge and he continued annoying her until she gave him a hard glare and he fell from the desk, groaning. No one can escape Marissa's glare. That's her super power.

Dan laughed at something Seth said and his eyes casually found mine. His smile just widened when he met me and I just gave him a small smile walking inside my class but I knew he was staring at me. I share seats with Justin and its just so fudging unbearable because Justin would never let me listen to the class. So to Justin's right, sat Seth and Dan and to our left Marissa and Mehara. Behind us sat Fathima and Ally. I walked towards Justin and saw that He was rubbing his back. When he saw me standing, he smirked and said,

"I like this position even more". I kicked on his foot and he yelped with pain. I chuckled and gave him my hand. He took it and I lifted him.

"My princess is always caring"

"Whatever prince charming" I snorted and sat on my seat, He also took his seat next to mine.

"Izza !" I turned to my girls and they were all smiling at me. I instead narrowed my eyes giving them a bored look.

"What ?" All the smiles dropped when I said that and Mehara smacked my head with her notebook. I groaned with pain.

"Hey, no harming my princess" Justin said and Marissa rolled her eyes.

"We should hangout. A girls day out" Fathima said.

"Uh..ok ?" I said. I've never had a girls day.

"You are going to come".

I nodded my head and unfortunately my eyes met Mehara and she was narrowing her eyes at me. She knows something has happened. Mehara is such an observant girl, especially about me well I guess only about me. Mrs. Ann Heather ford comes into the class and I saw Dan glancing at me and then looking away. What is wrong with him ?

"I think he likes you". I remember Zee's words. No way. That's not happening and then Justin nudges me. Here we go again.

"What ?" I asked annoyingly.

"Another pun for the day ?"

"Go on". I muttered under my breath. Because if I don't allow him then I'll probably sleep in the class.

"I'd tell you a chemistry joke, but I don't think I'd get a reaction" I silently groaned inside my head.

"Ok next one, what do we call a bear without teeth ?"

"I don't know ?"

"Gummy bear !" He exclaimed cheerfully. He snaps his fingers again and his eyes widens as he remembers another one,

"Oh oh and where did the cat go after losing its tail ?"

"Uh..the vet ?" I said sounding unsure since its a pun after all.

"No princess, to the retail store" That's when I had enough of him,

"Charming ?"

"Yes Princess ?"

"Shut up !".

"What ? You want me to lift my shirt up ?" He shut his mouth when I kicked him under the table and he groaned.

•••••••••

Today on the field I was immersed in working very hard. I dribbled the ball past Justin and passed it up to Seth in the right wing. We had won two matches for now for the tournament. Just one more left to make it to the final. But in the last match I couldn't score any, cause it was all about Zeeshan freaking Harris making goals. So I'm practising hard for the coming match so that I can score a goal.

I had been ignoring Zee's eyes on me the entire time during practise. Because I was still pissed off. We were all working on our play in this game of scrimmage. I was aching from the amount of suicides and push-ups coach made me do, but I still stayed focus.

Seth passed the ball to me and I took it up and passed it back to him before Liam could touch it. Seth ran up close to the side of the net and swiftly passed it to me. I tipped the ball in and it went through the goalies leg. I smiled in relief. We've been practicing this play for a long time. But of course, coach still didn't find it perfect.

"Khalid, Rogers and Anderson. Over here !" Coach Daven Keith yelled at us. We jogged towards our coach who threw towels and bottles of water.

"You all are almost perfect. But not enough to beat the Wild Cats. I must say Cooper is far better than you people. You three have to work harder."

Daniel was good at football. But that does not mean coach has to underestimate us. We are trying our best. Wild Cats is the most winning team until now. They always win the finals. No one has ever beat them. Bloom Woods football team has always reached the semi-finals, but never the finals and once in finals. If we beat the Enormous Wolves then we'll face the Wild Cats in the final.

"But nobody has ever tried to beat up Harris over there" He looked at Zee. Both Seth and Justin turned. I didn't and I never wanted to face him again.

"So coach if Harris was so better. Then why didn't we win last years final ?" I asked smirking. Coach's face turned into sad expression and said very slowly,

"Something came in the way. He couldn't be there for the match".

I didn't get to know the full reason because the jerk came and stood by us. He looked at us, well mostly at me. I didn't even glance at him and kept looking forward.

"Coach can I show them how to play ?"

I snarled at him inside my head. He was clearly showing off. Seth and Justin were cool with that because for them he was like a God so they followed him. I thought of leaving but coach motioned me to go. He took the ball and swirled with his finger and then put it down. He gestured Seth and Justin to attack him. Meaning I have to watch this.

Zee didn't seem to mind at all. He fluently played with the ball as if it was made for him. He kicked the ball upwards and then again hiked it down. He dodged Seth and moved forward with the ball. Justin came in front of him focusing on Zee's moves but he tricked him. He rainbowed over him and kicked it up in the air. He turned and did a bicycle, the ball soared quickly past the goalies hand and hit the back of the net.

He stood, dusting himself off and walked over to us, everyone shocked by the scene. I even heard whistles. Obviously, the girls who always want attention from the jerk captain. My mouth dropped agape. Zee stood in front of me and put a hand on my cheek, his hand trailing on my chin. He pushed my chin up.

"Sapphire" he warned jokingly. He paused and gave me a look of confusion. My brain started working and I glared at him so hard. I swatted his hands away from my chin and started to walk away. But he grabbed my hand and made me turn around.

"What ?!" I snapped at him.

"Izza, I'm sorry"

"For what ?"

"Making you leave. She was sad and angry at me" he said, of course he should get nicely from Ayesha.

"Then why did you have to do it in the first place ?"

"Look, I just got mad when I saw you with her".

"Who is she ? I didn't know it was a rule not to go in to that room."

"I can't say that. Its complicated"

"Yes everything is complicated for you. You know what ? I should leave. Cause you are not worth my time"

Then I left him and walked over to the dressing room. I breathed in hard, I was keeping it in for a long time. I took my phone which was in my locker and unlocked it. A message popped up.

Jerk - The cake was yum. We do make a good team, Sapphire.

Of course I didn't reply back. So he ate the cake he threw ? That was heart warming. I took my clothes and went inside to take a shower. After a long shower, I took my duffel bag and slung it on my shoulders and went to my locker. That's when I felt it, I had a sense of something bad going to happen.

I ignored the thoughts and opened my locker, took my books and a folded paper caught my attention. Why have I been getting these messages ? I remembered the first one I got in morning. So something said, 'don't open'. But I was curious, I wanted to know what it was. So I opened and read.

'Meet me at the pool. I need to clear things. Please I will tell you everything you need to hear.'

~Zeeshan

Nope, never. We have everything cleared and there's no more to talk about. But still someone inside my head which is me myself, bugged me and said,

"Everybody wants to be his girl. But he talks to you. He has never said sorry to anyone, but he did apologise to you. Whats better than that ? He needs you. That's all"

So I huffed annoyingly and walked towards the pool stadium. I got there and opened the doors. It was empty. Usually at this time there used to be kids who practicing swimming. Bloom Woods swimming team is more famous than the football team because they have won each and every competition. We have strong and mighty competitors.

But today there wasn't even a single person and I didn't know why. Maybe that's why Zee wanted to talk here. Whats more surprising is that he was the one who wanted to meet me and he is not even here. Looks like I have to wait.

Five minutes Zee. Or else I'm going and never coming back.

I sat on the tiles and dipped my toes inside the water. I shivered as it was so cold. But then I slowly relaxed. I moved my legs forwards and backwards. Enjoying the coldness on my toes. A cool breeze struck my body.

I was so in the moment that I didn't notice someone opening the doors carefully and without a noise closing them back. I didn't know that person was walking, more like tip toeing towards me. But before I could process it that person kicked me with a foot and I went into the pool.

But the best part was, I didn't know how to swim.

I was drowning in the pool. I looked up and saw the same hooded figure.

Jennifer ?

The water was so cold. I gasped and water went inside my mouth. But I quickly shut my mouth and tried to block my nose so that it doesn't get difficult. Instead of floating upwards I was going down and down. I tried hard to swim, moving my legs and hands as I recalled people swimming in movies. I swayed, flexed and stretched but it was of no use.

My throat hurts. My vision turned blurry because my contacts were lost. I couldn't even feel my legs and hands. Maybe this was the way death is going to capture me. This is how it feels. Hopeless and defeated. Then with one last kick in my body, darkness surrounded me.

••••••••••

"Izza ?" Someone called me. Such a delicate voice. So mesmerising. He clasped his hands with mine. Those hands... Those hands were soft and warm.

"Wake up Izza, please" He was begging. Why do you want me wake up ? Everyone wished death for me. Then why do you care ? Would Zee also wish death for me ?

Then he put his hands on my stomach and pressed. Stop, that tickles.

"Izza ? Come on. You have to wake up".

Again he pressed and I coughed water from inside. I shot opened my eyes. I stayed there for a while adjusting to the brightness and coughing up. Out of no where he hugged me hard.

"Oh God Izza. I thought I lost you !".

"Huh ? Then who will score a goal for the coming match ?".

Even though he couldn't see my face I was smiling and he was chuckling probably thinking how a girl can joke at this time. Then he unwrapped his arms and turned my face to look at him. Those blue eyes were concerned for me. He was so sad and the reason was me, I smiled at him. Then his eyes changed so fast showing his rage.

"What the hell were you thinking by getting into the pool ?"

I flinched at the sudden tone of his sound. Oh my. I thought he would never ask but no I can't tell him. I stood up so quickly that I almost tumbled back down. I was swaying back and forth and my head was spinning. I balanced myself, my teeth was clattering and I was literally shivering.

"Look this stays between us okay ?"

"Huh ?"

"Promise me you won't tell anyone".

"Why ?" he asked with a frown.

"Promise me Dan" He frowned again and looked deeply into my eyes.

"Only if you say what was that".

"Oh its just, I thought I knew how to swim. So I took a dip but looks like I forgot" I said biting my tongue.

I lied and I didn't care if he believed me or not. So he nodded his head slowly giving me that half smile, disbelief written all over his face. I didn't wait for him as I dashed out of the building and ran towards the gate. Once again the hoodie became useful but this wasn't enough to cover all of my drenched clothes.

Thats when I saw Zee getting into his car. He never had the intention of seeing me. Of course he knows I'm still mad. So the note, actually both the notes were send by Jennifer. I couldn't control myself. I had to reach home before he notice. I ran and reached the road.

I hailed a cab and told the driver to put the heater on high temperature. He looked at me doubtfully so I glared at him and he quickly increased the temperature , drying my clothes before I reached home.

When I reached home, I looked through the window to check if anyone was there and It was clear. So I carefully opened the door and without making any noise, I closed it. When I reached the stairs I saw mom was in the kitchen making dinner. So I tip toed and went towards my room. But if someone were that observant they would have heard the squelching noise coming from my socks. I opened my bedroom door and locked it.

There was a pink bag on my table. Looks like Yussa bought a new one for herself. I can see that my room is slowly turning pink with the transfer of Yusra Khalid. Why isn't dad even fixing her room ? I know why he isn't, he is just trying to bond us.

Then I removed my wet clothes and washed them. I hung them on the clothes line in my balcony. Because I didn't want mom asking me why are my clothes were wet. I really didn't want to listen to her lecture when I tell her, "I was just trying to learn swimming"

I showered again in hot water, relaxing my body. Then I took my towel and dried myself. I wasn't properly looking, I was immersed in my thoughts. It was like I saw something under me but I ignored it. I took the dryer and stood in front of the bathroom mirror and started drying my hair. I recalled what she said in the letter.

"You are worthless. You were born a burden to your family".

"Ugly bitch".

Why Jennifer ? What have I done ? Zee broke up with you. Not me. Take revenge on your ex. Spare me.

As I was drying my hair, my eyes welled up with tears but I didn't let them out. I switched off the dryer and combed my hair into a pony tail. Then I put on my pajamas and T shirt. Thats when I saw the hair under the basin. I thought I had hair fall so I knelt down on the bathroom floor and started picking them one by one. But I guess it was never ending and then, I screamed.

Because there weren't just few hair strands but a lot of dark brown hair in my bathroom. In the tub, on her towel, under the basin and many on the floor. I quickly opened the door of the bathroom. There was a knock on my bedroom door so I unlocked the door and she came inside. Her hair had lost its thickness now it looks like a horses tail.

"What happened to your hair ?"

She looked at me and sighed. She threw some bottles of shampoo and medicines on her table and plopped on her couch.

"Guess I'm suffering from hair fall".

"Huh ? Is that some kind of disease ?"

"No. My friend said by using these I'll have my hair back into its natural way".

"Ok " I said not sounding convinced. She was tired and here were patches of red marks on her skin, maybe the allergy again. She looked at me suddenly and "looking" means 'looking very carefully'. Oh my... she is thinking, "What's wrong with me". Even if I hide my face in a mask she would understand me. So I cleared my throat and turned around.

"Uh uh... you better clean up the bathroom".

"Yeah sure" she said.

Even if she can't see my face she knows something has happened. And I know she isn't convinced. It's like whatever I say she wouldn't give me a thing, just like Justin's pun,

"I'd tell you a chemistry joke, but I don't think I'd get a reaction"

________________________

Greetings ladies,

I tried so hard in writing that drowning part because I really don't know how that part comes as. I hope you all loved the chap. And remember,me and you are against bullying ok ?