Chapter 2 001

"Leila, you have such pretty hair, are you ever going to dye it or cut it?"

Leila twisted her hair in her fingers as she thought hard about that question. She was never going to cut it off, this was her identity. This was what made her even way prettier that she could be said to be the prettiest girl in the entire school. Her pearl blonde hair which was quite rare, always sparkled and made her stand out. She looked just like royalty. Like a princess from a faraway kingdom, so unreal, so magical and beautiful.

"I don't think I will ever do that. My hair is perfect just the way it is." She finally replied the person with a huge smile imprinted on her face.

*******

"Hold her down. Don't let her escape."

She ran as fast as she could, even though she was running out of breath, even though she was about to collapse, she ran and ran just so she could avoid them.

"Get out of the way, you lowlifes!" Her pursuers screamed at the people blocking their path. Leila was getting further away from them. She was almost there, even though she was aware she couldn't escape them the next day, or the day after that, if she escaped her bullies today, she could consider herself victorious.

"Hey, no running in the hallway." A teacher shouted at them but this didn't make them stop. Instead, they ran faster. They were catching up to her as she struggled to keep a distance between them.

Leila was almost there, just a little further and she will be free for the day. Just one more step to go. She smiled broadly as the ray of sunlight hit her face. Her smile turned into disappointment as she hit her leg and eventually lost balance. She fell on the floor and when she tried to get up to continue running, she crouched down from the sharp pain she felt in her ankle. She couldn't run anymore, and neither could she escape what was about to happen next.

She stood up slowly as soon as she saw the bullies. She ran like her life depended on it because it actually did. She limped her way forward with her broken leg, but she was no match for them as they eventually outran her. They were four in number, and they all surrounded her preventing her from escaping. They were all breathing fast, including Leila as she plotted a new way to escape them.

"You fucking bitch..." Lucy said amidst her heavy breathing.

"There is nowhere you can run to now, you have been fucking surrounded by the four of us." Tasha said as she walked to her with a smirk on her face. Tasha grabbed Leila and pulled her hair painfully which caused Leila to scream.

"Oh my gosh. The princess is in danger."

They laughed at Leila as Tasha tortured her the more.

"You look pathetic, disgusting even. What hair? What royalty? YOU ARE JUST A FUCKING LOSER!"

They all snickered.

"I don't think I will ever do that. My hair is perfect just the way it is." Tracey mimicked Leila. "Perfect indeed. Let's see what happens when I cut off your perfect hair, miss Royalty."

"Tasha you are hurting me. Please let me go. I didn't do anything." Leila pleaded.

"Oh shut up. You don't have to do anything, you just merely existing is enough for me to despise you. Why don't you just die already? You sicken me." Tasha said as she stared down at her with pure disgust and hatred.

"Here you go, Tasha." Mei said as she handed Tasha a pair of scissors.

"Hold her down." Tasha commanded and her "minions" obeyed as they lunged forward and held the struggling Leila. Even after all the pleading and tears, they refused to let her go.

"Stay still or you will get hurt. Well, it's not like I care if you do." Tasha said to the teary Leila as she took a handful of her hair and she chopped it with the scissors. She felt happy as she did, not even caring about the weeping Leila in front of her.

After she was done, she threw the scissors at her and they all laughed, mocking Leila. Leila stared at them, anger written all over her face. She couldn't do anything to them. She was too cowardly to even raise her voice at them. Her words were lumped in her throat as she stared down at her hair that was once on her head.

"Do you know my aunt is an hairdresser?" Mei said to Leila. "Of course you didn't know. We are not done here." She brought out what looked like a hair dye from her pocket and they proceeded to holding her again.

"No, let me go. Let me go. I'm begging you let me go. Helppppp! HELPPPPP ME! Let me go." Leila screamed for her life but no one was there to help her. Even though anyone was there, they wouldn't dare mess with those quartet. No one likes being bullied.

"No one is coming to help you, princess. So shut your fucking mouth up."

"No, let me go. Let me go. Tasha, please let me go. Please Tasha. I'll do anything, anything you ask me to do. I'll scrub your shoes, lick your feet but don't touch my hair. Not the hair." Leila pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"Ewwwww. I don't want you licking my feet, that is just disgusting and creepy as fuck." Tasha said as she gagged at the idea. "Anything? Hmmm, let's see. Why don't you just fucking die? Kill yourself right now."

Leila gasped. It was impossible. She couldn't do it, she could grow out her hair back or even change the hair color back to normal, but she wouldn't be able to do any of that if she was dead.

"No, Tasha. I can't do that." She cried and begged for her life.

"Do something. I can't stand her pathetic noise." Tasha said and Lucy gave her a chop on her neck which rendered her quiet and unconscious.

"Finally. Some silence. Nice job, black belt Lucy." Tracey praised her.

"I shouldn't really misuse my skills but we had no choice." Lucy said as she felt proud about what she had just done.

"Now then, time to get to work."

They sat the unconscious Leila on the floor as Lucy poured the hair dye on her hair. It was messy, but that didn't stop her pearl blonde hair from changing colour. She was eventually waking up and when she opened her eyes, she was met with a mirror in front of her and she stared at her reflection. Her once long and perfect hair was now gone. She now had a black hair and she looked absolutely terrible. She didn't know how to react to this sudden change, she just stared at her reflection in disbelief and silence.

"Now you look like what you are. A perfect LOSER." Tasha sang and her minions laughed with her. There was silence all of a sudden as they all looked serious. "If anyone asks you what happened, I am sure you know what to say, don't you LOSER?!" Tasha said in a hushed tone which was intimidating.

Leila looked away from the mirror and stared at them, tears forming in her eyes.

"Yes, Tasha. No one must know what happened here." She agreed. She was drained, she felt hopeless and weak.

"Good. The fool understands. Enjoy your day or not, loser." Tasha laughed. "And don't you even dare try to grow it longer or dye it. The time you do, you will go bald." She cackled and left with her minions.

Leila remained on the floor, as she held her hair in her hands. Her pearl blonde hair were a complete contrast to the black hair she has now. She wept silently, unable to voice out her emotions. What has she done to deserve this?

The next day when she came to school with a perfectly trimmed hair, the entire school was left speechless. Didn't she say she was never going to cut or dye her hair? So why did she do that now?

She could hear their whispers, but no one was bold enough to ask her what happened.

"What happened to your hair, Leila?" Someone finally asked.

"Oh this? I-i..." she stuttered. "...I have been wearing a wig this whole time. Sorry guys, this is my real hair." She held back her tears as she faked a smile. Everyone gasped from the shocking news.

Every since that day, they all hated her. The girl they once adored was now whom they despised. A liar, a jerk, a fraud, a nobody, and a ugly piece of shit. It was going exactly as how Tasha and her minions wanted.

******

She came back to reality as she stared at her hair in the mirror. She picked up her face cap and put it on. That was a very bad memory she wished to forget, but any time she looks into the mirror, that memory of them cutting her hair and destroying her highschool life always resurfaced. How pathetic she was, and how she let it just happen.

"LEILA. COME DOWN FOR BREAKFAST." Her mother screamed. "No amount of makeup will be able to fix that face of yours, so just get down here and eat, you godforsaken child."

She was already used to this kind of treatment. Hated by her mother, and hated in school. She could swear that almost everyone hated her. She was already used to this kind of treatment, so why was she crying?

She wiped her tears and went out of her room and was met with her angry mother.

"Morning, mama." Leila greeted.

"How can you take so long to freshen up but you still come out looking like a rotten potato? The irony." Her mother said.

She forced a smile as she sat on the dining table for breakfast.

"Where is your sister? Go call her down to eat."

Leila rolled her eyes. Her mother scolded her for taking too long, while "her favourite daughter" wasn't even here. Even if she was, she wouldn't have said anything terrible to her.

"She went to school early." Leila replied.

"I see. That is very good of her. Unlike someone else that I know of."

It was obvious her mother was referring to her. She picked up her school bag and stood up hurriedly from the dining chair.

"I'm going to be late for school. Thanks for the food."

She didn't even wait for her mother's reply before she slammed the door and left for school. She had had enough of this. The name calling, the body shaming, everything happened because of them. Ever since that day, her manageable life turned upside down. Her own mother has always scorned her all her life, she had always made her life miserable. Her school was her solace, her friends were her peace of mind but ever since that incident, she knew better that she was wrong.

Leila felt a sharp pain in her heart. She could sense the incoming danger. Her sister left for school quite early today, something was definitely not right. What was she planning on doing now? Should she turn back home? Or go to the bookstore to clear her head? That wasn't possible, her teachers were going to call her mom and she wasn't prepared for what was going to happen when she gets back home.

She let out a big sigh as she took a bus to school reluctantly.