Love, Selfish Love (Part 16)
“Look out, it’s the Plague Girl!”
“Run! Before she coughs on you and you get so sick you’ll never be able to hold anything down except bran flakes!”
“Forget her disease, she’s a witch! Don’t look at her funny or she’s going to cast a spell on you!”
“She’s not a witch, dum-dum, they don’t exist! She’s a ninja though so don’t let her get her hands on you—especially her pinkie!”
Some were meant as harsh jokes by bullies, some were said seriously by gullible students, some were just students following everyone else.
The things they all had in common, however, was that they were all perfectly willing to say it while Valerie was within earshot, and no one wanted to get within three feet of her.
Pretty much everyone had stopped trying to dismiss the rumours—Valerie, Neala, the school staff, the Harrises, and the Kobayashis, especially Sashi who was no longer allowed on campus without a security guard escorting her.
Dedicated as the school was to their anti-bullying and anti-discrimination initiatives, there was only so much you could do against the force of nature that was grade school students with easy access to social media.
Valerie didn’t mind. It meant that few ever dared to really bother her these days for all of the superstition around her.
It also meant that no one wanted to even speak to her, which made it almost impossible to make friends, but that was okay.
She already had one, and Neala was friend enough.
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