Second Life Living Up to Being the REAL Bully

It was the kind of cold that seeped into your bones.

In my past life, I was locked in the abandoned freezer beneath St. Jude Preparatory Academy.

Outside the door stood my biological brother Spencer Kendrick, along with Landon Pierce—my boyfriend of three years. And between them, wearing Landon's oversized football jacket, was my stepsister Lacey.

"Blythe, just admit you bullied me. Post an apology video to the whole school, and Spencer will let you out." Lacey's voice trembled, fake tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.

Spencer's voice cut through the metal door like ice:

"Blythe, you brought this on yourself. You've been terrorizing Lacey at school, pushed her to the edge. Maybe some time in there will teach you what decency looks like."

Landon's voice dripped with disappointment: "Jesus, Blythe. I thought I knew you. This isn't who you are."

I pounded on the iron door until my fists were raw, screaming until my voice gave out.

I told them the truth—that I never touched Lacey. That she was the one forcing girls to their knees in the bathroom. That she stole my exam. That every shred of "evidence" was manufactured.

No one believed me.

I froze to death in that sub-zero hellhole.

As the cold claimed me, staring at my blue-purple fingers, all I felt was pure, burning hate.

"BANG—!"

The crash jolted me awake.

My eyes flew open. I gasped for air, my lungs still burning with phantom ice.

My vision cleared. Harsh fluorescent lights. Cheap perfume hanging in the air. Rows of navy lockers stretching before me.

The girls' locker room. St. Jude Prep.

I looked down at my hands—warm, alive, unmarked.

Time travel. Hallucination. A gift from hell itself. I didn't care which. I was done playing nice.

"I-I'm sorry, Blythe... I didn't mean to... why did you throw water on me?"

That voice. That sickeningly sweet, lying voice.

I turned. Ten feet away, Lacey sat collapsed on wet tile. Soaking wet, white uniform shirt plastered to her skin, pink bra showing through. The perfect victim.

A crowd had already formed, phones out, faces twisted with righteous anger.

"Oh my God, Blythe, that's so messed up! She's your sister!"

"Right? Just because you're a Kendrick doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. She's such a bitch."

"I got it all on video. Student council's gonna suspend her ass."

I stared at the scene, memory flooding back.

First week of senior year. The beginning of my downfall.

In my past life, Lacey knocked over the bucket herself, drenched herself on purpose, then played victim. Back then, I'd been desperate to explain, crying as I tried to prove my innocence.

The result? Total isolation. Spencer's hand across my face. Landon's cold shoulder.

"Blythe, just say you're sorry... I won't tell Spencer, I promise..." Lacey looked up at me, those doe eyes flashing with triumph only I could see.

She thought she had me cornered.

I laughed. Laughed until my sides hurt.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" one of Lacey's friends snapped, jabbing a finger at me.

I ignored her. Instead, I walked forward, heels clicking against wet tile with each deliberate step.

Lacey watched me approach, fear creeping into her expression. "Blythe... what are you—"

"What am I doing?"

I looked down at her like she was garbage.

"A little water and you think you can frame me? Your schemes are pathetic." I crouched slowly, voice dropping to a whisper that made her flinch.

Then I grabbed a fistful of her carefully curled blonde hair and yanked.

"OW—! Stop! Let GO!" Lacey's scream was real this time, face contorting in genuine pain.

Gasps erupted around us. No one expected me to actually touch her.

"You said I threw water on you, right?"

I dragged her across the floor by her hair like a rag doll, hauling her toward the sinks.

"Blythe! What the hell! Someone stop her!" Girls shrieked, some moving forward.

I whipped around, eyes wild: "Touch me and she's going under next."

They froze. No one dared come closer.

I turned back and kicked the sensor faucet. Icy water gushed out, filling the basin.

"Listen up, Lacey," I hissed in her ear. "Let me show you what bullying actually looks like."

I shoved her face into the water.

Hard.

"MMPH—GLUG—" Water exploded everywhere. Lacey thrashed, hands clawing at the sink, nails scraping porcelain.

I held her under, expressionless, counting seconds. Just before she drowned, I yanked her up by the hair.

"Cough—hack—help—" She gasped and sputtered, makeup running, snot streaming. Not so pretty now.

"Fun, isn't it?" I asked pleasantly.

She stared at me like I'd crawled out of hell, too terrified to speak.

"Since you love playing victim, I'm doing you a favor. Giving you the real experience."

I released her and wiped my hands on paper towels like I'd touched something diseased.

"You psycho! You're insane!" The girl with the phone's voice shook, but she tried to sound brave. "I'm sending this to Spencer! To Landon! They'll finally see what you really are!"

At those names, I paused.

Everyone thought I'd crumbled. Hope flickered in Lacey's swollen eyes.

I slowly turned around and started laughing again. The sound echoed off tile walls, unhinged and mocking.

"What's so funny?" the girl stammered.

"Send it. Right now." I walked up to her, towering over them all. "Tell Spencer. Tell Landon. You think I give a single damn about what those idiots think anymore?"

I ripped the phone from her hand and hurled it against the wall. The screen shattered.

"Think you can threaten me with that? Here's a message for the whole school: I don't care about suspension, reputation, or whether anyone 'sees the real me.' Starting today, anyone who tries this fake-victim bullshit in front of me—"

I ground my heel over broken glass. It crunched and shrieked.

"—will learn what it means to have nothing left to lose."

I stepped over Lacey's shaking form and walked out without looking back.

Second chance at life. I was done being the good girl.