Bully Years Twelfth Grade （First Semester） – Taylor
BULLY YEARS: TWELFTH GRADE (FIRST SEMESTER)
TAYLOR
I’m all for the silent treatment, but you need to answer my last text.
I know it was YOU who told Jessica I had an STD. (That’s LOW AF. Even for you.)
How the hell did you get nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award and not me when we turned in our shit on the same day?
Audrey?
Audrey WTF. I can see your car in your driveway and I know you’ve read my messages.
Text me back.
No response.
For some odd reason, Audrey wasn’t at school today, and she’d left early yesterday. That was usually a sign of her parents booking a random “inspiration” trip—where they spent more time on their manuscripts than on Audrey.
I drove back to school, unsure why I even gave a damn about the lack of nomination at all.
I stopped at the flower lot around the corner and bought a bouquet of white tulips for our assistant principal.
I was determined to suck it up in every way possible to get to the bottom of this.
We were tied in English class again, and we should’ve both been nominated.
She must’ve tossed out my application somehow…
“Good afternoon, Mr. Wolff.” Mrs. Gordon smiled when I entered her office. “Is there a reason you’re back on campus?”
“Yeah, I, uh…” I extended the flowers. “I need to discuss something regarding me and Audrey.”
“Oh wow.” She held a hand over her heart. “I’m sure those will brighten her day, even if only for a little while, given the situation.”
“Yes, the situation,” I said carefully. “How exactly should I address it?”
“I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to do it,” she said, lowering her voice. “There’s nothing anyone can say when someone loses both their parents.”
WHAT? My jaw dropped.
The room tilted, and the tulips slipped from my hand, hitting the tile with a soft thud.
“It’s truly awful, isn’t it?” She shook her head. “They were sideswiped on their way to pick her up yesterday…”
I stared straight ahead, completely speechless.
“I know you two have your moments, but…” She patted my shoulder. “I’m sure she appreciates your sentiment. Did you bring a card for me and the other teachers to sign?”
“I left it in my car…” I scooped up the flowers and rushed outside, my mind racing a mile a minute.
I sped back to our neighborhood and pulled into Audrey’s driveway. Jumping out, I rang the doorbell, but there was no answer. I knocked as hard as I could, and there was still no sign of life.
Oh my God, Audrey…
I pulled out my phone to call her, but the door slowly opened and she poked her head out. Her puffy red eyes met mine.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I heard what happened,” I said, holding up the flowers. “I was wondering if—”
“If what?” she hissed. “If I wanted to see you right now? Of all people?”
I said nothing.
“Why do you hate me so much, Taylor?” Her voice cracked. “Why can’t you just…” Her sentence dissolved into sobs, and I pulled her against my chest.
“My parents are gone. Gone!”
Her tears soaked my shirt. “Why the fuck does my life have to suck so bad? What did I fucking do, Taylor? What did I fucking do?”
“I’m sorry.” I felt her losing her balance and held her tighter. “I’m so sorry.”
For once, I didn’t have a single cruel word left in me. All the noise in my head went silent.
I rubbed my palms up and down her back as she cried for hours. We stood like that until the sun set, and she didn’t fight me when I volunteered to stay the night with her.
And for the first time, I realized hating her had never really been the point.