Day... After Day... Solo

8th of October
2015
In a Primary School

The bell rang. Another school day passed. Nico carefully packed her things into her blue schoolbag. Or so she tried. One of her classmates, who was a little bit taller than her, shoved her bag off her desk. 'Oh.. woops? Sorry.' He grinned and threw his hands up before walking out. It happened more and more that this boy couldn't leave her be. But why? What did she ever do to him? She just came to class like he did. She wanted to learn, just like he did. Nico barely talked with him. Actually she never said a word to him unless she wanted to say 'goodmorning'. Should she not do that? But her mother told her that it was polite to do so. The last thing the little dhampir wanted to be, was rude.

Confused and annoyed, Nico kneeled down, collecting her belongings. The teacher didn't notice what was going on. She was too busy texting her new boyfriend. There was one time, however, where she did caught Nico being bullied. Left alone in a cold shed behind the schoolbuilding. Her knees were slightly bleeding and her face was covered with blood. She wasn't badly hurt physically. Mentally however... that was a whole different story. The teacher had called her parents and they came as soon as they could.

It's been a few days since then. Nico had tried to act normal. To just move on. Bullies fed on tears and whimpers. She couldn't give them what they wanted. But she was scared. She used to have friends, but ever since they discovered what kind of weird quirks she had, they rather just... stay away from her. Why would she need friends? Because she didn't want to feel alone. To battle these peers that took notice of her weakness and easy to pester nature.

Nico threw her bag on her back.'See you tomorrow, Ms. Johnson.'A shy grin on her face. There was no real happiness in her voice. Just a façade. Pretend. Just blend in and they won't hurt you. They won't take notice. They'll just forget you were ever weird or ever there. You'll turn into the colours of your surroundings. Forgotten and invisible.

For such a horrible day, the weather was nice out. The sun was already setting, almost scraping the horizon with its burning rays. Nico liked the sun, ironic for a Dhampir girl. It must be the human side of hers that loved it. It was warm. Comforting. The sun didn't care what she was. It was always there. Gently caressing her cheeks with its coziness.

'Hey!'''Hm?'' Nico was already outside, ready to walk away - to travel home. 'You owe me something, bloodeyes.' It was the same douchey kid from earlier. His eyes looked down at her, as he approached her, keeping a smug face on. ''Owe you? I-I don't know..what you mean..'' Don't engage. Just walk away. Don't pay mind to him. Just go home. To Mommy and Daddy. But she didn't move. She was nailed to the floor. She needed something to make her move. But what... PUSH

There it was. Even though it wasn't exactly the push she hoped for, it did pull her out of her prey like state. Clumsily, she set a few steps back.

'You owe me an apology for earlier, freak. You know. For throwing down my bag from my desk. That was really rude of you.' Huh? But... it was HE who pushed HER bag. Nico was confused. She had been kind, polite. She was quiet. Always trying to be a wallflower. To mind her own business. No one in her class liked her. She knew. It was fine. Who would want to be around her anyway. She was worthless. Just half. Not fully anything.

''B-But it was YOU who push-'' He didn't let her talk back. Again, he pushed her. This time the dhampir wasn't fast enough to stay on her feet, tripping and falling onto her back. 'You OWE ME AN APOLOGY, FREAK.' He didn't touch her, he just loomed over her, blocking out the golden rays of the setting sun. Nico had to stay strong. In her head she was already fighting back. Waving her arms at him, keeping him in a headlock. Pulling on his hair.

Yet here... She was just whimpering and quietly crying on the floor. A small stream of blood ran down her cheeks once again. Exactly - what he wanted. The boy started to laugh and step away from her. 'See you tomorrow, bloodeyes.' And off he went. And there she was. By herself. Sniffling.