26. She reminds me of someone.

Elena.

I had been running around, looking for Mia for over thirty minutes now and I still couldn't find her. After she ran out of her school due to what had happened with the twins and the Alpha, we were still yet to see her come back and I couldn't help but panic, hoping that she was perfectly okay and just hiding out somewhere.

Black clouds began to sprawl across the sky, billowing in from the west. They drain colour from houses, trees and parked cars, leaving neighbourhoods tinted bronze in the dense light. The air grew heavy and the humidity pressed down, suffocating. The scent of rain was dark and heady.

Soon, there was absolute stillness. No air stirred the grass or leaves. No clouds drifted in the sea of blue above. No water dripped or flowed. Not a sound could be heard either close at hand or in the far off distance. Even my own breath seemed to die as soon as it left my mouth. In the silence came a low crackle of thunder, rolling across rooftops to the pattering of tiny raindrops. For a moment, everything stops. Even the wind held its breath. A streak of hot silver split the sky, and the downpour began.

I didn't stop running around in the rain, looking for Mia as I got even more scared due to the fact that it was starting to get dark. I soon ran into Mr. Deangelo who was also as wet from head to toe as I was.

"Alpha, do you have any idea where she likes to hangout?" I ask him while the rain continued to do its job of falling.

"I... I don't know, Elena. I already looked everywhere I think she might be?" He said, his voice shaking and it was obvious that he was panicking too.

"What about her friends? Do you know any of them? Do you have their numbers, maybe? Or that of their parents?" I asked further, desperate for an answer, any answer at all.

"Friends? I don't know any friends of Mia, neither do I have their contacts." He said again and I was ultimately pissed.

"Alpha, what kind of father are you? You don't know any of your daughter's friends, much more have their numbers, you don't even know one place, just one place you think she might be at? You don't know her favourite places to hang out and you even believe other people's kids over your own? Seriously?" I yelled at him and then took to my heels away from him as I resumed searching for Mia.

I was pissed and irritated. For some reason, Mr. Deangelo just reminded me of my father, of how nonchalant and non caring he is. Of how he never cared to know anything about me or even get to know his own daughter. Of how he would believe other people over me and scold me instead of them. Of how he thinks I'm always deserving of anything I get from my peers because he thinks I'm too weak. Of how he'd even witness my suffering firsthand and instead of standing up for me, he'd turn away and act like he had not seen anything.

Right then, Mr. Deangelo reminded me of all of that and it irked me.

I kept looking around and then after walking around under the rain some more, I finally found a familiar figure seated on the edge of a slide in the park almost close to home even. I rushed towards her and appeared in her front instantly.

She noticed me and looked away in a blank stare. Her shoulders dropped and her big eyes glossed over with tears. Her cheeks, lips and eyebrows drooped slowly as everything disappeared from her presence. The only existence she exhibited was that of pure sadness and loneliness. I have never witnessed nor felt such a connection and understanding of a non verbal emotional moment like that. All I could do was catch and hold her up as the deepest feeling of empathy and nostalgia rushed over me.

She reminded me of someone.

Someone who was once always bright, bubbly, and ambitious, even. She had dreams, and wants. Her smile would brighten up the room. But instead she had foggy, misty eyes. She gazed not look. She had thick, silky soft red hair instead of the golden curly ones. But she was fragile, delicate even.

She used to be so carefree until she started to walk through the halls of her elementary school after her mother's dissappearance and hearing the bullies call out these words: “Why are you on this earth? You don’t deserve to be alive.”

"Your mother must hate you so much that she had to kill herself to escape from you."

The bullying followed her every day. Weeks into the school year, the harassment and intimidation escalated and turned physical. It even started in her own pack, under her own roof, whilst her father watched.

So one day, she stopped smiling. Smiles ceased to happen, or if they did, they looked so dead. There wasn't any shine in her eyes when she smiled. It was like a plastic doll, eyes in a daze, distant. It was as if she was always somewhere else. Her head, perhaps? Or maybe a whole different world.

She didn't talk much anymore, either. She gradually became more reserved, distancing herself from others, fumbling for her words. It was as if she was afraid to utter a word. As if doing so would lead to punishment. She always seemed unsure of herself, insecure. Her body radiated the exact opposite of confidence in its aura.

She preferred to be alone, isolating herself in her room. She didn't talk to her friends much anymore, not that she had them anymore. She didn't dream her dreams anymore. She didn't want anything anymore. She didn't participate in her old hobbies anymore.

Nothing mattered, because she felt hopeless. And the shine in her eyes never returned, the smiles never alive.

She reminded me of myself.

Despite being under the rain, I took my seat beside Mia as I drew her closer to me in a side hug so that her head rests on my shoulder. We stay in silence for a few seconds before Mia started to speak, all of her own volition.

"I feel their eyes on me anytime I walk into class. Everyone had seen the pictures, and since they looked real, no one believed that they that are digital creations. I could hear people whispering and snickering whenever I walk into a room. Text messages taunt me every day, and I know who is sending them, but without proof I feel helpless. The latest text said that I should expect more of the same if I don't do whatever they tell me to do.

I'm scared to tell daddy because he might think the pictures are real, and I'm ashamed for him to find out what the other kids think of me. I'm scared of all of my classmates. Of the friends I once had but turned on me because of a boy who we all liked. I'm scared of the boy even more because I think he photoshopped the pictures, I'm scared of letting anyone know about all of this because I'm supposed to be the Alpha's daughter, and be strong like my mom. But I'm tired of hiding, Elena, I want someone to ask if I'm okay and actually mean it but they never do, at least not in the way I want them to. Not even dad."

I didn't know that I was crying until I felt something salty in my mouth, I pulled Mia into a hug just before ei started to speak, "you might not believe it, Mia but I once once exactly like you so trust me when I say I understand, I understand how you feel deeply. But I want you to know that the fact that you're being treated like this doesn't mean that you're weak while they're strong. Darling, it is a myth that the strong bully the weak. It is those who cannot handle their stress with grace, who attack the gentle natured.

You are being attacked and targeted because you have self restraint, a trait often only seen in adults. You are mature beyond your years, although you are still a child. Those bullied are often the "too much" children; they are too clever, too pretty, too kind...

With every choice to be unkind, they build themselves to be unkind. You're different. That's good. With every choice you make to be kind, you build yourself into a kinder person. Every great person I know was bullied as a child. That which makes you a target now, will make you great in your lifetime. Thank you so much for telling me this, because only now that I know can I help you." I said to her as we hugged.

"Are you guys okay?" I heard the Alpha's voice ask and only until then did I also realize that the rain had stopped.

We both disentangle from the hug as Mia looked in her dad's direction and said to my relieve, "No."