Trapped (Bullied Book 4) (Bullied Series) Vera Hollins (best large ereader txt) 📖

to the door and out into the cold. Only then did I succumb to the tears, regretting leaving my room in the first place.

I went back home and locked myself in my room, where I spent the most of my Saturday evening and Sunday. Following my earlier spurt of inspiration, I created the lyrics and melody for “The Chains of Fears” and recorded myself performing it, which I later uploaded on my YouTube channel, Valerie.

It was my pseudonym since I didn’t want to use my real name on my channel. Hiding my identity worked in my favor since people were intrigued to meet the face behind the voice, and it was thrilling but also intimidating. The incident from five years earlier had scarred me, and the best I could do at the moment was make music anonymously.

Sunday passed too quickly, and another Monday morning rolled around. I almost stayed home, tucked safely under the covers in my room, but I didn’t forget the argument I’d had with my parents the last time I had decided to cut school and stay home. They had been furious with me, and I feared their reaction if I ever skipped again.

Having managed to convince myself I would survive today’s detention with Blake, I quickly ate leftover Chinese and got ready for school.

Luckily, I didn’t see Blake before lunchtime, but I was met with a few “Fats” and “Fatty” from some students in the hallways, which already made me regret showing up. One girl called me a “Food Slut” in French class and almost brought me to tears because it felt like that nickname was going to haunt me for the rest of my senior year. Students never forgot. They enjoyed picking on those who displayed weakness, and boy did I display it in more ways than one.

One part of me wished I could transfer to another school, but Sarah was right—if I ran away, they won, and I was supposed to overcome my weakness.

I met Kevin at his locker, and then we went to join Mel and Sar in the cafeteria.

“Hayden is also th-there.” Kevin pointed at our table, and I followed his gaze.

Hayden sat next to Sarah, his arm around her waist as he said something to her, and I felt a familiar pang of envy at seeing them so in love. Hayden never missed the opportunity to show how smitten he was with Sarah, looking at her like she was his reason for existing. He smiled most brightly when he was with her. I wanted an all-consuming love like theirs, but at this point it felt like a pipe dream.

“Is something wrong with that?” I asked Kevin.

He blushed. “Nope.” He didn’t look at me even once as we made our way to the lunch line.

I tucked my hair behind my ears and pulled in my belly. I regretted wearing these jeans. They were too tight, and the high waistline cut deep into my skin. I sneaked a glance at Blake’s table and saw him talking to a girl sitting next to him. The girl laughed at something he said, looking even more beautiful with a smile, and my chest clenched. I tore my gaze away from them.

She was another skinny girl, of course. Where did he find them? They all looked like they came straight from a runway.

Suddenly, chicken nuggets didn’t look as appealing as they had seconds earlier. My stomach growled when I glanced at the roasted veggies, as if begging me to take the former. My scale had said I’d gained extra weight recently and should go on a diet ASAP, so it would be best to take only veggies…

Oh, darn it! Absolutely no one could resist those delicious-looking chicken nuggets.

Pushing my regret and guilt aside, I took my food and followed Kev to our table.

“Hey,” I said as I sat down next to Mel.

Kev stood contemplating where to sit. There was an available place next to Hayden, but he opted for the seat on Mel’s other side, his cheeks two red blotches.

“You look like you’re going to shit yourself, Burks,” Hayden told him in an amused tone. “Relax. Breathe.”

“Hayden!” Sarah said sharply.

He raised his brow at her. “What? I’m just trying to help the guy. He always looks constipated around me.”

Mel smacked her forehead. “We’re all going to look constipated around you if you don’t stop,” she told him.

If Hayden’s looks could have killed, Melissa would have already been a ghost. “You look constipated all the time,” he said.

“And you—” Mel started, but Sarah interrupted.

“Okay, enough. Can we please eat without you two bickering?” She looked at Hayden with a plea in her eyes and kissed him on the cheek. “Please.”

Hayden clenched his jaw, clearly battling with his emotions as he looked at Sar. Hayden had borderline personality disorder, which manifested in moments like this, when each little thing could provoke him and lead to an immense and uncontrollable anger. It was connected with his extremely low self-esteem and severe trust issues he’d had basically his whole life. Mel and Hayden hadn’t gotten along until recently, but even now they had a spat every once in a while. I could only imagine how hard it was for him to simmer down, and I admired that he tried his best to control himself.

His face was taut as he reached for his Coke. “She should learn when to shut it,” he muttered.

“Mel,” I mouthed at her when she parted her lips to respond, telling her with my gaze to drop it.

Melissa was temperamental, fiery, and occasionally aggressive, and she never failed to give others a taste of their own medicine. It was no wonder she aspired to be a social activist, already working her butt off as vice president of the student council to root out bullying from this school. She was passionate and brave, but she had a thing or two to learn about controlling her aggressive impulses.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” She shoved