Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 51243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Somewhere between one blink and the next, the seat beside me wasn’t empty anymore.
Taylor was suddenly there—silent, steady—and before I could stop myself, I was in his arms, crying against his chest like I had years ago.
He held me tighter, one hand tracing slow circles down my back.
“You don’t have to do this alone anymore,” he murmured, and I nodded.
For the first time in years, the night’s silence didn’t feel empty—it felt like healing.
BULLY YEARS: SENIOR YEAR (SUMMER)
AUDREY
Subject: Come See Me Before Enrolling in Makeup Classes
Isat in the senior principal’s office, waiting for him to say whatever rhetoric he needed to say. I knew that missing months of school meant summer classes—personal mourning or not—and most of the colleges that had accepted me early would still want a transcript that reflected the spring semester.
Tapping my shoe against the floor, I took out my phone and scrolled to Taylor’s name, but I hesitated.
As “nice” as he’d been to me for the first few months since the tragedy, lately he’d been sporadic, most of his time spent getting ready to play college football.
That asshole didn’t even tell me what college he picked…
“Did you say asshole, Miss Parker?” Principal Owen’s voice made me look up.
“Not at all, sir.” I stood quickly. “Sorry.”
“Follow me.” He gestured for me to step inside his office and offered me a chair.
“So… I assume you know what this is about, right?” He sat across from me.
“Yes, and I swear I can handle whatever course load I have to complete this summer. I’ll get everything done.”
“Ha!” He laughed. “You don’t have to take any summer classes, not with your level of work ethic.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your teachers were so impressed with the depth of your writing and attention to detail that they wrote on your behalf to all the colleges where you applied.”
I blinked a few times, softly pinched myself under the table to make sure I was still in reality.
“With all due respect,” I said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Okay.” He winked. “You can continue being modest. You’ll go really far in life with that attitude.”
He kept talking—waxing poetic about my work ethic, my supposed resilience, how “inspiring” I was.
When he finally finished, he handed me a huge binder with my name on it.
It was full of typed essays and analyses I’d never written, completed assignments I’d never seen.
The handwriting looked like mine at first glance, but the extra slant on every l and b looked like someone trying too hard to throw off suspicion.
This was Taylor’s…
Tears pricked my eyes, and my heart swelled.
All I could do was tell the principal thank you and rush back to my car before I broke down completely.
Hey Taylor…
I’m not sure why you did that for me, given our last conversation, but… thank you.
Thank you very much, and best of luck in the real world.
Take care, Audrey
P.S. Your forging skills will take you far in life if college or football doesn’t work out.
P.P.S. Are you majoring in writing, or just focusing on football? (You should try to do both, if you can.)
He didn’t text me back.
BULLY YEARS: FRESHMAN YEAR OF COLLEGE
Several Months Later
Subject: Not Really, But Just So You Know
Dear Taylor,
I sent you a text a few months ago, but I’m not sure if you received it. Everything since—well, you know—has been a bit of a blur, and I’ve done the best I can to get back to some sense of normalcy.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I’m really grateful for what you did for me regarding AP English. I don’t think I ever thanked you properly. (I tried to reach out to you at graduation, but everyone was swarming you as usual, so…)
Best of luck with whatever you choose to do with your life.
Take care,
Audrey
P.S. Please don’t become a guidance counselor or anti-bullying director. I will OUT the fuck out of you.
P.P.S. I don’t expect you to respond to this.
Subject: Re: Not Really, But Just So You Know
I did receive your text, but my phone broke, so I lost a lot of messages.
I sent you a physical letter in the mail, but I also meant to write back, “You’re welcome.”
Take care,
Taylor
P.S. That’s my backup career choice, if my first plan doesn’t work out.
P.P.S. How are you?
Subject: Re: Re: Not Really, But Just So You Know
I guess my aunt forgot to forward it somehow.
I’m fine.
I like college a lot more than high school. I have a lot more FRIENDS, NO BULLIES, and, as if the stars have finally aligned, everyone actually likes me for a change.
I would ask you how you are, but
A) I don’t want this thread to go on longer, and
B) I don’t care.
Take care,
Audrey
Subject: A New Thread
Good idea to start a new thread.
I’ll assume you asked how I’m doing. I, too, have made more friends without bullies, and I’m majoring in Creative Writing in hopes of using it for media someday. (I do have the face for it, after all.)