The party was in full swing when Hannah and the girls got there. Hannah gazed around looking for the bar, when she spotted Chris in a corner with his friends. When he saw her he smiled and came over. “Hello sunshine” he said with a grin. “Hello ya self” replied Hannah. Chris dragged her to the dance floor, while they were dancing he blurted out that he was only chatting up Sara to get to her. Hannah was a bit confused by his explanation. Chris gazed deeply into her eyes and kissed her. Hannah knew that Sara wasn’t going to be pleased about this, so she broke away. Chris ran his fingers through her blonde hair, and whispered that she didn’t have to, if she didn’t want to. He was so sweet and romantic that Hannah couldn’t stop herself. “I want to” she said wrapping her arms around his neck.
Next day Hannah and Chris went out on a date to the cinema, and they ended up kissing again. In the dark with Chris Hannah felt a small tear fall down her cheek, a tear of happiness but also sadness. No one was allowed to know about them especially Sara. Hannah and Chris didn’t realize that Sara was at the back of the cinema with a group of girls, witnessing it all. She felt her heart tearing apart with anger, betrayal and jealousy.
Over the next few days Hannah and Chris spent more and more time together in secret. In school Hannah noticed that her friends were a bit off with her. As the days progressed, Hannah felt more like an outcast, because none of her friends were talking to her anymore. Hannah would always call them to check on them but they wouldn’t call her back. Hannah got hold of Steph, a girl from their gang, who told her that Sara knew about Chris and her were seeing each other secretly.
Steph suggested that Hannah should apologize to Sara and dump Chris, so things could get back to normal. Steph didn’t want to see their group split up.
All that made Hannah feel guilty, so she gasped for breath, and picked up her phone and dialed Sara’s number. She was ringing to explain that she and Chris were in love and that she was sorry if they hurt her feelings. When Sara answered the phone she yelled “Slag! Who do you think you are? I saw you kissing and cuddling Chris in front of me at the cinema.” “Sorry we didn’t know you were there, we didn’t do it to make you jealous” replied Hannah. “You knew I liked him, and was going to make a move on him at the school disco,” continued Sara. “I’m sorry”, apologized Hannah. “Oh! You’re sorry for dating him behind my back?” Hannah paused because she wasn’t sorry that she went out with Chris. “Yeah! I thought so, our friendship was meaningless to you” Sara shouted.
Then she angrily screamed, “You bitch! You betrayed me,” and hung up the phone. Hannah thought that Sara was being unreasonable, because Sara wasn’t actually going out with Chris when Hannah asked him out. Hannah couldn’t understand why she was being blamed for her crush’s behavior. He was the one chatting them both up and he came on to her.
Back at school Hannah was treated as if she was invisible by her friends. Steph would sometimes say hello but the other girls would whisper, “Don’t talk to her.”
In school Sara had turned all the girls in their class against her. She also made up horrible rumours about Hannah. Hannah became centre of attention and everyone was gossiping about her. No one stood up for her everyone clung to Sara out of fear. Hannah was left feeling miserable and lonely. She would cry herself to sleep at night dreading another day in school.
Hannah was angry and confused, how could she have gone from having loads of friends to having none in just two weeks. Hannah spent most of her time in school alone. She stopped seeing Chris in school to avoid any further tension with Sara.
One day Hannah was attacked in the toilet by Sara and the girls from their gang. One minute Sara said, “Hello”, and the next she was pulling Hannah’s hair, while the other girls kicked her in the stomach. “We’ll make you pretty for your next big date with Chris,” laughed Sara. When Hannah eventually got free she was shaking terribly. Her shins were black and blue and clumps of her hair were falling out. “Let’s go,” said Sara “just leave the freak to calm down.”
Things got even worse when Chris ended it with Hannah. He told her he’d been seeing someone else. Hannah felt betrayed. “Who is she?” Hannah asked. Chris sighed and said “it’s Sara.” Hannah froze. Silently crying she went off without saying anything. She was upset and angry. She felt like he’d made a fool out of her. In school Hannah saw them together kissing and cuddling. She felt like he was taunting her. To make matter worse Sara kept texting her cruel and mean things like she was a loser and that Chris never really liked her.
In break times at school Hannah got bullied by Sara and the gang everyday. On day they followed her after school throwing stones at her. Hannah was pushed over and punched in the face by Sara. The gang held Hannah down while Sara stamped on her. Hannah slowly felt two years of friendship turn into disgust and hatred. Suddenly Steph yelled “Stop! Enough, Hannah don’t deserve this. She used to be our friend, remember!” Sara stopped and then they all ran away, leaving her bruised, all over her body. She lay there wishing she were dead. When Hannah got home that day she burst out in tears and told her mother what had happened. Her mother was shocked to hear what her daughter had been through.
Hannah’s parents contacted the school, but the school didn’t take any action. They said it was Hannah’s word against the bullies, even though Hannah had all the bruises to show for it. Hannah’s parents withdrew her from the school, and a few months later she started a new school. It went well for Hannah at her new school. She made new friends, but she never let anyone get too close to her.
