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Lenore sucked in a breath, before releasing it in a gasp. She wasn't very athletic, so running tired her. Her hair was windblown, dark strands blowing about until Lenore patted her hair down to calm the craze. She straightened, catching her breath and turned around, hearing Nicholas' voice behind her. Her blue eyes quickly located him at the door. She bit her lip and sighed, deciding that whatever this guy wanted, he must really think it was important. She scrunched her shoulders, before turning completely to face Nicholas.

Blonde, blue-eyed, friendly personality, and likable, Lenore found Nicholas an puppy in a fools world. He's probably blind like the rest, and she prepared herself for the worst. Bitter remarks. Hurtful insults. Maybe he'd even slap her back. She didn't know. Lenore pulled a lock of her hair behind her ear, her eyes piercing into his eyes. It was rather intimidating. She let out a whistled breath, low and slow, until she grit her teeth.

"Say what you want now. I would hate to have you go out of your way to talk to me," she murmured in a dull, indifferent voice. Her appearance was grim. Her hair was bland and black, having done nothing to it, and it hung long and messily to her hip. Her sweater was black and her bag was also a dark color. Her eyes held ice, and her lips formed a line. At least she wasn't scowling. She looked like she didn't try hard, there wasn't a reason to, and seemed to be sort of depressing to look at.

What was he trying to achieve, acting so sweet to her? Lenore fidgeted, hesitating upon taking the charm back, but held out her hand for the small cat face. He returned the object to her without a single word of meanness, and Lenore didn't know how to react to that. She lowered her eyes, releasing him from her horrid gaze before closing her hand around the charm. She was glad to have had the charm back and quickly looked up at him only to see him walking away.

She watched his back for a little, feeling a little stupid, before hiking her bag up her shoulder and giving a pout. He was only trying to be nice, returning her belonging, and all she'd done to him was yell at him and slap his cheek. Knowing well that she'd both have to apologize and give him thanks, she glanced back up to catch him.

"Lenore Winterborne."
The voice was not her own. Lenore turned, towards the door, to see someone from her class saunter up. His eyes held mischief, his lazy grin a little crooked as he stopped in front of Nicholas and Lenore. "This little nugget's name is Lenore Winterborne." The boy laughed a little before putting his hand on Lenore's head and rubbing his palm around, messing up her hair. She frowned, finding this unpleasant.

"It's unlike you to be talking to little miss ghost girl, here, Nicholas. How about you spend your time else where? A couple buddies and I are going to have a little party tomorrow. Gonna be lots of fun. You should come," the boy invited, liking the idea of inviting Mr.Popular over. He glanced over to Lenore, who's head he was still playing with before laughing at her unhappy expression. "Even though you're stupid looking, I guess you can come too. You'll be our entertainment. You'll come..." He gave a threatening look. "Won't you?"

Lenore shuddered, her eyes lifting. Her eyes held defiance, but the guy didn't seem to pick that up. She bit her lip, lowering her eyes. The guy took that as a yes and let go before turning over to Nicholas. "Come tomorrow. You won't regret it," he uttered before he chuckled to himself and left the two.

It grew quiet and Lenore still stared at the ground well after he was gone. She fixed her hair, which was messy and knotted now, attempting to tame the beast before lifting her gaze timidly to Nicholas. How embarrassing for him to have to watch all that. She looked away, down at her hand which still held the charm. Her expression wore slight defeat but she managed to look up again, back at Nicholas with that gaze of hers.

Lenore watched him go silently, as he said his farewell. She turned slightly, as if to face her back to him. She was blushing! She could feel it just by how hot her cheeks were getting.
He was very observant, she understood now, and he seemed...odd for being popular. He was, well, different. As if he were very genuine and sincere. Lenore couldn't help but believe him, whether he was honest or not. She frowned, finding this fact bitter.

She was actually thinking about him! Lenore shook her head to herself, her eyes desolate as Lenore turned back around, seeing the lot empty. She sighed softly before heading on to the store.

But what he said about masks intrigued her. As if he felt that he didn't belong with the other socialites. Surely, she found it odd that he felt that way about himself, curious even, but decided that he probably meant nothing by it. Lenore didn't think he could feel outcasted when he fit in so well. And what he said about herself, well, she didn't know what to make out of that either. She fiddled with her sweater, thinking about how confusing Nicholas was.
She bothered herself with thinking it over as she bought ingredients for the cake tomorrow, and she thought it over again as she bought the toy for her cat.

It wasn't like he cared, or t least she didn't think he did, about how her day was. He was probably only be courteous. He was probably just...trying to soften her up. She was cynical and felt rather distrusting towards him. But then why did he bother her so much?

Lenore arrived home, unlocking the apartment her mother and herself lived in. Rosco immediately welcomed her inside by purring against her legs. He was a fat cat, all black except the end of his fluffy tail and one of his feet, which she insisted was a 'sock'. Lenore bent to pick him up before putting stuff in the kitchen and retreating to her room. Yeah, it shouldn't bother her so much.
Lenore finally decided to move away from it and snuggled her cat, who liked the attention. Tomorrow was Rosco's birthday, so Lenore felt that she shouldn't be thinking of Nicholas of all people. She leapt from her bed and stretched before going back to the kitchen to prepare a cake for tomorrow.

TIMESKIPPETH!

As per usual, Lenore woke up alone. Her mom never came back home last night, which only slightly concerned her; her mom had this habit of slinking back whenever she wanted. She went to the kitchen, preparing her breakfast as ritual every Saturday. Rosco was busy sleeping, which she was fine with. She had left his toy on the table, for him to play with later, while she finished her breakfast and morning rituals without a rush. And there, Lenore went about her day catching up on her television shows and finished decorating a cake that probably no one would eat. It was only when the sun started setting that Lenore began to get dressed in clothes to go outside with. She pulled on a plain shirt and then a jacket, slipping on pants and shoes as well before grabbing her cell and locking up the house.

The house party was magnificent. High school students went crazy at these occasions and this party was no different than the rest. Lenore walked up to the door, which was wide open, and walked inside without giving anyone a glance.
It was crowded. People were busy doing things, whether it be dancing, talking, drinking, etc. and many didn't recognize Lenore until she moved to the living room area. People sat about, making out and talking loudly until many of them stopped to look at her. Shocking. They were surprised to see Lenore there, awestruck that she actually dared to arrive.
She stood there, looking a tad out of place.

It was only until a certain so-and-so sent out a mass text telling everyone that ghost girl had arrived, did people actually begin to go up to her. They approached her with horrid intentions as Lenore stood there, and finally the house erupted in gossip. The texts reached those up stairs and outside, even to those who didn't even come to the party. To see ghost girl, especially not in school and out in the open, was mind blowing. And many found it the perfect opportunity to truly see what this ghost girl was about and just what made her tick.

Someone howled in laughter far off into the house. They managed to get Lenore out back by pushing her. She let them, her indifferent face making them want to hurt her more. She staggered outside, trying to catch her balance. She turned to face the crowd, who yelled anything and everything they've always wanted to tell her. So many leering faces, Lenore couldn't count how many there were.

"Strip," said the guy who hosted the party, the guy who initially invited her. He was drunk and slurred his words, his eyes slightly crazed as he looked at her.

Lenore stared back, her blue eyes unrelenting. Yet she remained tight jawed through it all. A couple boys started towards her and finally pounced on her small figure. They managed to rip off her jacket and pull at her hair. And while the boys began to pull off Lenore's clothes, everyone watched, either in horror or amusement. And Lenore let them. Sure, it was mortifying and degrading. But after they could do their worst to her, she assumed they would eventually leave her alone.
It was her true intention all along as to why she was go to this party. To let those who liked to torture her have their last hurrah with her and leave her alone in the end. It's all she ever wanted and if she had to humiliate herself to do it, then so be it.

The guy raised his red cup filled with the cheapest alcohol he could find, and cheered the entertainment on. Lenore's shoulders were bare, her stomach showing as her shirt was pulled off. She stood there, knowing the crowd was enjoying her suffering. She looked to the grass, unable to look any in the eyes. Her eyes were emotionless, lost, as the boys pushed her around amongst themselves. One decided it was high time to unbutton those jeans of hers and took her into his grasp.

The yelling was surprising. It didn't mix with the jeering crowd but rather it was angry and demanding. Lenore looked up, watching Nicholas as he strode over to her, his eyes full of disappointment. She bit her lip and looked away, feeling ashamed. The boy who held her let go and stepped back, a bit intimidated in seeing Nicholas so angry. He handed Lenore her clothes, which she took and glanced back up at the crowd, who looked a tad of loss of words. Even Lenore couldn't say anything but listen to Nicholas. She managed to slip on her shirt over her head quickly and followed Nicholas to his car.
It wasn't like she had a choice in the matter, with him holding her hand and all. And now that she sat in his car, did she finally formulate any sense in what happened.

Lenore didn't look at him. She refused to and stared out the window, squeezing her fist and then releasing it before repeating the process. She didn't know why she felt so ashamed in front of Nicholas. But after he seeing her like that, she felt embarrassed being next to him. She shifted in her seat, unsettled, but remained quiet. Why did he think so highly of her? Being isolated and alone was not something Nicholas should be commending.

"You," she murmured, pausing as she looked down into her lap. "Don't understand anything." She glanced at him then, her eyes showing solemnity and slight hurt. Why was she talking to him even? Lenore bit her lip, sort of mentally fighting with herself. Nicholas didn't know how difficult it was for her. "I just want to be left alone," Lenore stated. She took a deep breath. "And if I let them have their fun now, they might just get tired and leave me alone."
Lenore sighed and pulled her hair behind her ear, still looking unsettled. "I could've handled myself. Why did you help me?" She stared at him hard, feeling rather cynical right about now.

Lenore looked at him a bit dumbfounded, staring at him with her mouth slightly ajar. "Don't act like you know me. You think you're any different from them? You try to deny that you are the same as them, calling them masks, but in fact, it is you who has a mask. If you dislike them so much, why are you constantly around them? You hide the fact that you hate all of them so much behind a happy and smiling face. Why don't you try to express your true emotions? Are you that scared that they might be disappointed in you? If that's the case, then you are definitely no better than them."

She stopped, eyes searching his face to find some kind of understanding that she could comprehend. "So did you think by helping me, they'd stop?" Lenore frowned, putting her hands on the dashboard. "I went to that party to finish all this torture they put me through. You don't know. The hate mail. The abusement. The name calling! It's horrible! And if they finally get what they want out of me, then they'll move onto the next slightly different person! It's more humiliating having to go to school everyday only to be pushed and teased and insulted! I just want to be left alone!" Lenore's voice had heightened by now and her face looked strained.
"But you wouldn't know what it's like. Being mortified everyday." She then turned to open the door of the car.

She was hurt inside. She didn't know why. All she wanted to do was to scream. To scream to being alone.To stop the ridicule. In her head, she knew she was right. She knew that if she could just let them have at it once, they'd leave her alone and she'd be done with it all. But then why was she so horribly emotional at the moment? Nicholas was concerned, she knew, and it made her feel bad she was yelling at him even though he had good intentions. But she could no longer handle it.

Lenore reached home, by this time tearing up. She wiped at her eyes, angry with herself for getting angry at Nicholas, and angry that she couldn't accomplish even the simplest of feat of standing up for herself. Rosco comforted her, who rubbed his feline body against. "I'm sorry Rosco, I'm ruining your birthday," she noted, patting the cat who didn't seem to mind much. She wished she herself wouldn't care as much as the cat.

Hmm...Timeskips then, cause this needs to get rolling.

It was quiet the first day back. No one bothered Lenore, too afraid that Nicholas would be around to snap at them, but until they figured that Lenore was collectively alone, the week had gotten progressively worse. Rumors spread fast of exaggerated horrors about her and about what happened Saturday night. The mail in her locker increased ten fold and more people seemed to target her. She found it unbearable at this point, and had to retreat to eating her lunch in the reference room, where no one could bother her.
Lenore suffered like that for several days, and by the fourth, she was battered and worn.

(Care to meet her at work?)

She wiped her forehead, tired and weary. She showed up to work though, making it an effort to be sincere in her job. At least the students from school didn't know about this bakery and Lenore could work in peace. She cut a slice of cake from the whole and boxed it up prettily for her customer, who tipped her and went about her way.

Lenore had to deal with a lot of bullying, yes, but she somehow expected it. Since Nicholas made a huge scene, she was sure this would circulate for some time. It made things especially difficult and Lenore could not help but deal with it.

"Can I help you?" She asked, tightened her apron. Her hair was tied back, her eyes watching NIcholas who entered the small bakery. She gave a small pout, finding it unpleasant to again see his face again. Lenore also felt guilty, knowing he was only trying to help her and give advice. But Lenore didn't need someone to help her cope with her troubles. That was like asking for a friend, which Lenore strictly told herself she didn't need. She could handle her own problems, and they shouldn't be a concern to Nicholas, who was probably only concerned about her because he wanted to look like such a nice guy.
"The finger sandwiches are on sale today for twenty five percent off. And all drinks have been marked down one dollar," she added, not looking at Nicholas directly.