Fragment 4 : Trigger
Soon after, everything happened at a crazy speed. Stacy had to leave for England because her grandfather was dying. Her mother, very attached to him, insisted that the whole family (composed only of Stacy and her mother) go to offer their support. Stacy then continued her studies there. Ironically, although she was aware of the gravity of the situation, she felt more relieved by the thought of traveling. She had little connection to her grandparents, whom she had almost never met, and she saw this situation as an opportunity for a vacation.
Emilie, who had found herself alone at school, failed all of her class tests, except for those in history and geography, of course. Without Stacy and Maddy's help, she no longer knew how to move forward. She had become far too dependent on both of them.
Madeline, still holed up at home, was studying in her room. She needed time before returning to school and seeing her friends again. Emilie had told her about the answer Stacy had given her, but it hadn't changed the situation. Maddy had simply responded, "It doesn't matter, even if she doesn't love you back, you still love her. And I can't stand that." That day, Emilie hadn't understood what Maddy meant.
When Maddy finally returned to school, she was horrified to find Emilie's bench covered in insults engraved and written with a marker, such as: "dirty lesbian, you disgust me, stop looking at girls, you pervert, degenerate, slut, bitch..." Didn't the teacher notice ? It was French class, and he hated Emilie. So, in the end, it wasn't that surprising. Her chair was covered in red liquid, and on the back of the chair was written, "It's her time of the month !!"
Everyone feared Maddy at school, but apparently, her absence had given the others the courage to act. They must have taken advantage of her month away to attack her best friend. On the other hand, their inseparable trio fuelled a lot of jealousy : they were the best in every subject, and on top of that, they were all beautiful. That was enough to breed resentment and envy. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that everyone hated them.
This time, it had been the perfect opportunity for them to take their revenge on Emilie and harass her freely, without her friends there to defend her. If her bench was in that state, who knew what she had endured ?
Maddy couldn't contain her anger. She closed the door and pushed a table to block the exit. All the students looked at her, nervous.
What happened in that classroom ? No one knew for sure. As if a dark veil had covered their memories, none of them could precisely recount what had occurred. What nightmare had played out behind those walls ?
The psychologists detected no issues among the students, no signs of bullying or apparent trauma. Maybe blackmail ? A threat ? We may never know. Only Maddy holds that answer.
In any case, the state of the classroom was appalling. Every single student was severely injured. Many had suffered permanent damage and had been left crippled for life. Both girls and boys were affected, no one had been spared.
The incident spread throughout the town. As a result, Maddy was expelled from school and sentenced to only four months in prison. The sentence was deemed far too lenient, sparking heated controversy. But her psychological distress worked in her favor, not to mention that she was still a minor. But the main reason was the lack of testimonies. No victim had come forward, neither to complain nor to testify. It was unheard of ! She then received appropriate follow-up care and had to undergo regular medical treatment.
The case was closed. No one ever spoke of it again.
Or rather… no one dared to speak of it.
However, Emilie didn't know any of this. She had stayed locked in her room and hadn't left since she had been severely harassed. She had held on for three weeks, but after that, she finally broke down.
She barely ate and didn't even leave her bed anymore. More than ever, she needed her two friends, but because of their recent argument, she couldn't even contact Maddy. As for Stacy, she was on the other side of the world. Isolated, she had shut herself off and fallen into depression.
Her mother, very understanding, did everything she could to help her. But the diagnosis of her husband's cancer soon took up all her attention. It was yet another shock for Emilie… and it only worsened her state.
Her mind became lost in an abyss of dark thoughts, trapped in an incessant flow of destructive ideas.
Stacy had rejected her. Her friendship with Maddy had broken. One had left, the other had locked herself in her world. At school, she was enduring constant bullying, and without her friends, she couldn't even imagine a future. Everything was swirling in her head, haunting her day after day.