Miss me?

What happens when you bully someone (probably, based on my imagination)

Thea’s school years had been a private hell, an endless gauntlet of misery orchestrated by the golden girl everyone adored: Liana. To the rest of the world, Liana was perfect, pretty, clever, with a charm that seemed effortless and a smile that could dazzle even the strictest teachers. But to Thea, Liana was a nightmare given form, a cruel shadow that hunted her through hallways and classrooms.
Each day brought a new torment. Sometimes it was the sharp yank of her hair, the strands falling silently to the gym floor as Liana’s laugh burned in her ears. Other times, it was the humiliation of her head shoved into a toilet bowl, cold water streaming down her face while Liana’s mocking voice echoed around her. Each cruelty left a scar no one could see, buried beneath Thea’s quiet, steely silence.
No one would believe her, of course. The teachers, blind to Liana’s cruelty, saw only the charming girl who lit up their classrooms. The few times Thea gathered the courage to tell, her voice shaking in the quiet of an office, Liana would appear at the door, wide-eyed, blinking as if she’d been wounded. “What?,” she’d say softly, her voice dripping with innocence. “After all, we are friends.”
And the teachers, pitying poor, sweet Liana, would remind Thea of the importance of “getting along.” Helpless, humiliated, Thea learned to swallow her pain, her bruises invisible to a world that refused to see.
Years passed. Thea finally escaped that school, leaving behind the memories of Liana’s twisted games, or so she thought. She told herself it was over, that she’d left Liana in the past. But sometimes, small moments, a hand clapped too hard on her shoulder, a laugh that sounded just a little too familiar, dragged her back, shadows of Liana’s cruelty curling around her mind like smoke.
Then, one night, Thea found herself at a crowded party, mingling with old friends and strangers. It was supposed to be a night of celebration, a chance to let loose and forget. She’d almost begun to relax when, across the room, she spotted a familiar figure.
The years had barely touched Liana. Her hair was still perfectly styled, her laughter sparkling in the air as if she owned it. A knot twisted in Thea’s stomach, memories she’d buried clawing their way to the surface. She looked away, but a dark impulse gnawed at her, a pull she could neither resist nor ignore.
She waited, watching as Liana drifted away from the group, disappearing down a hallway to the bathroom. Moving almost without thought, Thea followed, her pulse quickening with every step as she slipped down the dim corridor, each footfall echoing with years of unspoken words, of hidden pain.
Thea stepped into the bathroom. There, in front of the mirror, Liana was touching up her lipstick, oblivious. She looked perfect, as always. Thea’s reflection appeared behind her, her gaze hard, her mouth a faint, cruel smile. Slowly, Liana glanced up, her hand hesitating mid-air as she caught sight of Thea’s reflection.
“Miss me?” Thea’s voice was soft, almost playful. She took a step forward, her eyes fixed on Liana’s in the mirror. For the first time, she saw a flicker of something in Liana’s face. Uncertainty, maybe even fear.
Silence stretched thick and heavy between them. Then, without breaking eye contact, Thea slipped a small, gleaming knife from her coat pocket. The blade caught the light, glinting in the mirror. “How I crave revenge…” she whispered, her voice barely audible, each word soaked with years of buried pain.
Moments later, a scream ripped through the silence. Thea stumbled back into the hallway, eyes wide, her voice trembling as she cried for help. People flooded toward her, crowding around as they glanced from her to the bloody scene in the bathroom.
“Oh my god,” Thea gasped, hands covering her mouth, her eyes filled with feigned horror. “I just found her like this. Someone call an ambulance, please!”
The crowd surged around her, murmurs of confusion filling the air as they struggled to make sense of what they were seeing. In the center of the chaos, Liana lay sprawled on the cold, tile floor, her body twisted, blood slick on her skin from a dozen small wounds. Thea had been meticulous, cutting her in places that hurt the most but would keep her alive, wounds that left her writhing in helpless agony.
Through her haze of pain, Liana’s gaze flickered up, catching sight of Thea’s face just beyond the door. A chill ran through her as she saw it, the same innocent, horrified look Liana herself had worn so many times when Thea had tried to tell the teachers. That look, that expression of perfect innocence, was all too familiar.
The realization struck her with terrifying clarity. The way Thea held herself, the gentle touch on her shoulder as she pretended to comfort her, the subtle smile hidden behind a mask of concern, it was the exact expression Liana had worn every time she erased her cruelty with sweetness, every time she whispered to the teachers, “After all, we are friends.”
Thea leaned down, close enough that only Liana could hear her. She brushed a strand of Liana’s blood-streaked hair from her face with a tenderness that was mockingly gentle, and whispered, “After all, we are friends, aren’t we?”
The words, a bitter echo of her own, sent a tremor through Liana’s shattered body. She tried to speak, to beg, but her strength was gone, her voice barely a whisper.
As Liana lay there, helpless, surrounded by people who would never see Thea for what she truly was, trapped in a horror of her own creation, she felt the final, bitter twist of her own cruelty coming full circle.

Author's Note

I didn’t know what to do so I wrote this. Seriously short, and no ending. Don’t know why I like this kind

Reviews

[LisaCarol]

There is an ending to the story. Your author’s note made me think how you could improve the ending. That, in itself, is what makes the story works . . . it makes the reader think. Good job.