assaultbullying

no

An eight-year-old Jennie squealed loudly as she ran into her bedroom with a children's book clutched in her tiny hands. She leapt into her bed where her father was sitting, a soft smile on his face as Jennie handed him the book.

"Cinderella again, little one?" He asked with raised eyebrows and Jennie enthusiastically nodded in response, nestling herself in the covers, a hand fiddling with her golden necklace.

"It's my favouritest story on the whole planet!" Jennie cried, waving her arms about, accidentally hitting her night light which startled her.

"Silly girl." Her father shook his head in disbelief, fixing the lamp in its place as he held the book in his lap. "We read this yesterday though, don't you want to read something different?"

Jennie paused for a moment, blinking her big eyes before she shook her head. "No! I wanna read Cinderella again!" She demanded, a pout forming on her face which faded when her father petted her hair.

"Fine, but this is the last time I'm reading it to you, okay?" He sighed, giving in to his daughter's plea but Jennie let out a mischievous giggle, knowing that was a lie because that's what her father said yesterday.

He finally opened to the first page, sighing out. "Once upon a time-"

Jennie snuggled into her covers with a stuffed animal in her arms as she listened to the story, eyes shimmering. Bedtime was her favourite part of the day if it meant she could listen to her father's calming voice narrate her favourite fairytale. Cinderella.

Like any other little girl, Jennie loved the rags to riches classic. There was no particular reason, she just adored the story and practically begged her father to read it to her every night before she went to sleep. She dreamed of finding her own prince charming like in the story, going to sleep with those thoughts in mind with a warm smile on her face.

The girl soon felt her eyes drooping with fatigue once they reached the end of the story, yawning slightly. Her father seemed to notice this and placed the book down after he finished reading the story, tucking Jennie in properly.

"Are you comfy?" He smiled, a hand travelling to Jennie's necklace where he held the golden encrusted jewel gently. Jennie nodded wearily, rubbing her eyes.

"Papa, will I ever find my own prince?" Jennie asked with her eyelids heavy. Her father was taken aback by the question but he chuckled, letting go of Jennie's necklace.

"Of course you will, sweetheart." He reassured, caressing the little girl's cheek. "Whether it's a prince or princess, you'll find someone who'll love you for who you are. They'll be the ones to protect you, to care for you. Just you wait."

Jennie's eyes shimmered before she yawned once more, hugging her stuffed animal tighter. "W-what if I don't?"

"You will, you'll have your happy ever after." He whispered. "Everyone will, little one, everyone will. Look at me! I found your mother who brought our baby into this world. Isn't that great?"

Jennie frowned in confusion. "Who?"

"You, silly."

Jennie let out a sound of realisation and drowsily giggled, nodding but then her brows furrowed. "Where do babies come from?" She asked innocently.

Her father pursed his lips before he shook his head in disbelief. "That's something I'll tell you when you're grown up enough." He pecked Jennie's forehead. "Goodnight, Jennie."

Jennie turned to her side, curling up comfortably. "Goodnight, Papa." She mumbled, closing her eyes as she heard the sound of her night light turning off, darkness surrounding the room before her father slowly got up and closed the door behind him.

The little girl subconsciously giggled to herself, her mind filled with hopes of finding her prince charming one day as she slowly drifted away from consciousness.

One day.

A sixteen-year-old Jennie sat on her bed as she gazed deeply at her family photo with a look of melancholy on her face. She let out a soft sigh as she traced her thumb over her father's face in the picture.

Today was the one year anniversary of his death.

The girl gently placed the photo back on her bedside table, blinking back the tears as she clenched her fist on her lap. She had to be strong. Sniffling, Jennie lifted herself from her bed to take a look at her reflection.

After all these years, she was still wearing the gold necklace she received as a gift from her father when she was younger, watching the jewel sparkle in the morning light coming from the window. The necklace held a lot of importance to her, it was one of the few things that reminded her of her father.

The girl shook off her thoughts before she went to change into her school uniform, struggling to wriggle into her beige skirt before doing the buttons of her dark blazer. When she had successfully changed into her uniform, Jennie took one last look of herself in the mirror before she stepped out of her bedroom and hopped downstairs where she was greeted by her mother, who was cooking breakfast in the kitchen.

"Morning, dear." She gave a sad smile, knowing what day it was today as she scrambled some eggs in a pan. Jennie didn't say anything and rushed over to hug her mother, tucking her chin into her shoulder.

Jennie's mother blinked in shock before she let go of the pan to hug her daughter back, stroking her ebony locks. "I know today's going to be difficult, sweetie. It's okay." She whispered, feeling Jennie wrap her arms around her tighter.

"Why did he have to go?" Jennie finally mumbled, eyelashes brimming with tears, messily wiping them away which caused them to smear all over her cheeks. Jennie's mother sighed, pulling away to wipe off Jennie's tears.

"Life's cruel, Jennie. It's cruel." She admitted, reached over to turn the stove on low heat so the eggs wouldn't burn as quickly. "Lives of the innocent can be taken without a second thought, dear. That's how the world works, unfortunately."

Jennie backed away a little, nodding slowly as she glanced on the ground, gulping down the lump present in her throat. She couldn't agree more with her mother. The girl was trying to prevent any of her tears to stream down however her mind just couldn't stop thinking about how her father was brutally taken away from her and her family.

He was murdered during a robbery. Murdered whilst trying to protect somebody else.

Life really was fucking cruel, that was the harsh reality of it all. Jennie's father was nothing but a pure soul who only gave, that being his downfall as he received a stab to the chest when he tried to shield the person behind him.

Jennie could only imagine what his last thoughts were, how it must've felt like to be in such excruciating pain as he bled out, his life slowly slipping away from his grasp. She didn't doubt that he would've definitely been thinking about her and her mother, silently uttering out his goodbyes before life finally left his reach. Jennie would never forgive the world for that.

"-Jennie? Jennie!" She heard the faded calls of her name which brought her back from her thoughts. Jennie glanced up with a blank face, eyes glassy with tears.

Her mother smiled warmly at her, placing her hands on Jennie's shoulders. "Try not to think about it, love. Your father wouldn't want us to be sad, now would he?"

Jennie loved her mother so, she was just as sweet and loving as her father. They were the perfect family. However, she was always a bit more strict with her as opposed to her father who always used to spoil her.

Jennie let out a dull laugh at the comment, nodding but then paused when she felt her mother hold her necklace, running her thumb over the smooth surface of the encrusted jewel. "Your father went crazy trying to search for the perfect necklace for you. He'll be proud to see that after all these years, you're still wearing it."

Looking down to see her necklace in her mother's grasp, Jennie gave a small smile but this time it was genuine. "D-did he?" She let out, voice small.

Her mother nodded, letting go of Jennie's necklace before she went back to cooking the eggs. "He loved you so much and wanted it to be absolutely perfect, we spent a whole two hours in the store." She muttered in disbelief as she recalled the memory.

Jennie just smiled in response as her gaze never left her necklace, in fact, her grin grew wider now that she knew the story behind it. Her mother continued. "Although, his love got a bit too much at times, didn't it? He spoiled you rotten and always read to you during bedtime."

A couple of giggles escaped the girl's lips. "Cinderella." She off-handedly mumbled. "He always told me that I'd find my prince charming just like in the story, he wouldn't lie to me, would he?" Jennie asked with big eyes, seeing her mother shake her head.

"He loved you too much to." She muttered, occasionally glancing at her daughter. "Now put out some plates for breakfast, you need to be energised for the day."

Jennie silently nodded and obeyed, getting two plates out from the cabinet before she walked over to the dining room to set them out. She felt a bit better from before but that didn't mean she didn't stop thinking about her father. She loved him to bits.

-

"Have you seen her? God, she tries too hard."

"I know right! What a slut, a whore even."

"Wait, what's the difference-?"

Jennie scrunched her fists around her scalp, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears from falling, her head pressed against a desk as she heard the snarky remarks about her from a group of girls. This was a usual occurrence, the girls never said these directly things to her face but they said it sneakily, talking shit about Jennie knowing damn well that she could hear them.

"-Like seriously, why does she bother rolling her skirt up? Doesn't she know that no boy would ever want her?" A girl snarled, getting a couple of giggles from her peers, a tone of mockery masked within which was obviously aimed at Jennie.

Jennie bit the inside of her cheek to suppress her emotions, her thoughts, she was hoping that the universe would be a bit more merciful on her considering what day it was but, of course, it had to be worse than usual.

The class was still waiting for the teacher to stroll in the room to start the lesson but, of course, they had to be taking their sweet time which gave the girls more time to pick at things they didn't like about Jennie, snickering quietly to themselves. Jennie didn't have any friends, she was basically ostracised from any friendship group because of all the rumours about her being a slut. It made her feel like shit.

"Ugh, but can she not though? Nobody wants to see her-"

"Hey," a deep voice called out, and Jennie heard a couple of footsteps walking up to where she heard the girls. "Don't say these things about someone. You wouldn't like it if someone said those things about you, would you?"

Jennie widened her eyes at that and shot her head up to see who was the mad fool that was defending her. Her eyes remained like that when she recognised their bright blue hair. It was the crazy hair dye kid.

"Taehyung?" One of the girls let out, slightly intimidated as everyone knew how Taehyung was. "We- we weren't saying anything bad about her, we were just saying that stuff because everyone else was." She tried to defend, a hand on her hip but Taehyung didn't seem to be buying it.

"So you're just gonna go with the flow? Do whatever everyone else does?" Taehyung cocked up a brow, glaring at the girls with his piercing eyes while Jennie just gulped at the mere tension.

"N-no, but-"

"Have some originality for god's sake. Talking shit about someone isn't gonna help you in future." Taehyung scoffed, a slight smirk on his face when he saw the girls nod so helplessly, scurrying away with their cheeks flushed with the embarrassment of getting called out.

Jennie was still staring at the boy with utter shock, forgetting to blink for a few moments before she saw him walk over to her desk with a gentle grin, his blue fringe falling over his forehead. "You okay?" He asked, a hand on Jennie's shoulder.

Jennie blinked a couple of times, looking at the boy with shimmering eyes for a few moments before she quickly nodded, looking down at her lap. "Th-thank you." She mumbled.

See, Taehyung was known as the kid with the crazy hair colours amongst the many students in the school. It was almost a monthly occurrence where the boy would walk in with a brand new hair colour, dazzling many from how much he suited it. Jennie never spoke to him or anyone for that matter so it felt like a fresh breath of air to have someone not only talk to her, but act kindly.

Taehyung gave a half-laugh, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I was only being decent to you. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, do they pick on you often?"

The girl nodded slowly, fiddling with her fingers as she still stared down. "Yeah," she muttered before looking up to meet Taehyung's intimidating gaze which made her heart rate quicken. "B-but it's fine! I'm used to it."

Taehyung frowned, crossing his arms. "You shouldn't have to be though. It's just plain nasty how those girls were treating you back then and to hear that you're used to it is worse." He sighed, leaning a palm onto Jennie's desk and the girl gulped again, averting her gaze.

"Just tell me when they're bothering you and I'll make sure they won't do it ever again, yeah?" Taehyung chuckled, and Jennie felt a faint warmth rise to her cheeks from the boy's words but then her eyes went big.

"But then everyone would start bothering you! Haven't you heard the rumours?" Jennie cried with a panicked look in her eyes but saw how Taehyung nonchalantly shrugged, drumming his fingers along the wooden desk.

"So? High school popularity won't matter in the long run so what's the point?" He grumbled, and Jennie's eyes flickered with hope for a quick second. "And besides, I don't believe in those stupid rumours."

Jennie scratched her temple with a shy smile. "You don't have to though."

Shaking his head in disbelief, Taehyung grinned at the girl. "Don't be ridiculous, Jennie. I'll keep an eye on those girls from now on but if they ever bother you tell me, okay?"

Jennie pursed her lips and mumbled a few words of agreement before Taehyung smiled at her and left, going back to talking with his friends who then teased him about talking to a girl. Jennie giggled at that, cheeks still warm.

Maybe, just maybe this day wasn't going to be so bad after all.

Jennie's feet dragged along the pavement as she stared at the ground beneath her. Before she knew it, school was over and it was time for her to walk home. Luckily for Jennie, nobody bothered her for the rest of the day because of what Taehyung said to those girls, that made Jennie feel warm inside for an unknown reason, a smile spreading across her cheeks.

Although, she was a bit hesitant with going back home. Since it was the anniversary of her father's death, that was on the girl's mind all day and going home would only remind her of the tragedy even more.

Jennie sighed, holding onto the straps of her backpack tightly as she passed a convenience store, taking a sharp turn to the left. It was practically night outside with how it was fairly early in the year. There was no moon that night, the sky looking like a dark abyss with the streetlights providing the only light amongst the darkness, showing the silhouette of the utility poles.

It was nights like these where Jennie wished she had friends who she could walk home with, walking alone at night always made her feel uneasy, a small pit of panic forming in her stomach but she had to suck it up. It was fine.

However, not even a minute after having that thought, Jennie felt a chilling presence behind her, the pit growing bigger. Jennie abruptly turned around, to see a small figure behind her. Were they following her? Jennie's pace quickened, arms wrapped around herself.

Jennie sometimes wished she could take the bus instead, that would mean she wouldn't have to deal with the constant fear that came with walking home at night. Turning back around, Jennie's heart rate increased when she saw that the figure was even closer, her breath hitched.

Jennie walked even quicker, her legs struggling to carry the girl's body at such a pace as her breath grew ragged, fear coursing through her entire body. She was silently begging that whoever they were, they weren't following her but Jennie knew that would've been a lie because she then heard their unsettling voice followed by the person slotting themselves right next to her.

"Hey there, babe." A male voice spoke, sending chills down Jennie's spine. Jennie ignored them and tried walking away from them, but her body refused to move. She was frozen in fear, her hands still wrapped around herself.

"It isn't nice to ignore somebody, sweet." They continued, and Jennie's breath only quickened, her words stuck in her throat. Jennie then felt their cold hands trail up her chest to wrap their fingers around her necklace. "What're you doing out here all alone?"

Jennie merely blinked her wide eyes, slightly trembling before she found herself glancing up to the man, panic growing from his sickening stare. "I- I'm nearly home." She tried to reason, legs then managing to move as she tried to walk away but she immediately froze again when she felt them grab her arm.

"Woah, why are you trying to go so quickly?" He smirked, clearly enjoying Jennie's terrified state. "I just wanna talk. Be a bit polite, will you?"

Jennie felt her eyes lining with tears, her insides horribly twisting. She so badly wanted to run for the fucking hills but her body was far too occupied with the fear to even think about moving. "M-my mother's waiting for me at h-home, she's worried sick-" she stammered which turned into a yelp when she felt herself get dragged into an alleyway. Jennie was slammed against the wall.

Jennie's fear worsened, sweat trickling down her neck as tears began falling down. No, this wasn't happening. She opened her mouth to scream, letting out a shriek before a hand was clasped over her mouth, her eyes meeting the man's disgusting smirk.