Still Breathing

Trigger Warning: This chapter contains scenes of intense emotional bullying, verbal abuse, social isolation, and mild physical harassment. Read with care.

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Lucia's POV

The cold water dripped down her spine as she stood under the cracked showerhead of the dorm’s common bathroom. It was supposed to be fixed weeks ago. No one cared. Of course, no one cared.

She scrubbed the faint cola stain from her work shirt, the one that still smelled faintly like cleaning liquid and something burnt. She’d be late again if she didn’t hurry.

Her phone buzzed once on the sink.

“Double shift today if you can. Maggie called in sick.”--Mr. Junaid

Lucia typed a quick reply:

“On my way, sir.”

She slipped into her faded jeans and tucked in her uniform shirt. Her shoes were worn-out, soles splitting slightly, but she cleaned them every night. Just because she was invisible didn’t mean she had to look like trash.

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Part-Time Job | Campus Supply Mart

"Lucia! There you are." Mr. Junaid’s warm voice cut through the buzz of the store.

He was in his late fifties, thick moustache and tired eyes, but the only adult on campus who treated her like a person.

"Morning, sir."

"You alright?" he asked, looking at the band-aid on her finger. Yesterday someone had pushed her in the hallway. She'd caught her hand on a metal edge.

"I'm okay. Just clumsy."

He didn’t believe it, but he didn’t push. Instead, he handed her a price gun. "Restock the notebooks near aisle four, and check on the drinks fridge after that. Good girl."

Lucia nodded. Work was easier than class. No one shoved her here. No one laughed when she tripped or whispered loud enough for her to hear.

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Lunch Break | Behind the Store

She sat on a crate, eating her packed sandwich...two slices of bread, butter, and a thin layer of cucumber. Nothing more. That’s all they could afford after tuition.

"Why don't you ever buy anything from the store, huh?"

Lucia stiffened.

It was her.

Brittany...one of Oliver’s favorite people. Blonde, fake smile, always walking like the hallway belonged to her.

Brittany leaned against the crate. "Oh right, I forgot. You’re saving your paycheck to buy a new face.”

Laughter behind her. Two other girls from the group...Tania and Meryl,joined in.

Lucia looked down. "Can you leave me alone?"

"Aww, did the charity kid just talk back?" Meryl said, leaning close.

"You should smile more, Lucia. Or maybe get your teeth fixed. Ugh, do they not have dentists where you're from?"

Tania pulled out her phone. “Wait...hold still. I wanna post your ‘natural’ look. #janitor-core.”

Lucia slapped the phone away before it could snap a photo.

The silence was sharp.

"You're dead." Brittany hissed.

She felt the sharp grip on her wrist before she could even stand. Brittany yanked her up, nails digging into her skin.

Then...

CRACK.

Her head slammed against the concrete wall behind her.

"Ah-!"

She let out a strangled cry, instinctively grabbing her head. Stars danced in her vision. Her knees buckled, but Brittany didn’t let go.

Meryl chuckled, circling around like a predator.

"You really don’t know your place, huh?" Meryl hissed.

Lucia was breathing fast now, lips trembling but not saying a word.

"You think you can slap my phone away?" Tania growled. "You think people actually care what you want?"

Suddenly, fingers knotted in her hair..tight, brutal. They yanked her head back. Her neck strained.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

But she didn’t let them fall.

No.

She never cried.

Not in front of them.

"Maybe you need a lesson."

They dragged her, by her hair, by her shirt..through the back hallway of the store. Lucia’s feet scraped against the concrete as she stumbled after them, head reeling.

Past the crates.

Past the cleaning mop.

To the locked supply storeroom,a dark, forgotten space no one ever walked into unless absolutely necessary.

The door creaked open. Lucia was shoved inside.

She staggered against a metal shelf.

SLAP.

Her head turned violently to the side.

Another.

This time harder.

She tasted blood.

She touched the corner of her lips. Wet. Metallic.

She looked down. It dripped onto her collar.

A sharp kick to her stomach had her falling to the floor.

Her breath punched out of her lungs. Pain bloomed in her ribs.

"You’ll keep your eyes down when Oliver’s around, slut."

Brittany’s voice was low, cruel.

Lucia didn’t speak.

She didn’t beg.

She curled her fingers into the dust-covered floor and held her breath.

"You don’t exist to people like us."

They towered above her like wolves. Laughing. One of them snapped a blurry photo.

Lucia tried to stand, her knees shaking.

They pushed her back down with their feet.

Then,

They walked out.

The door clicked shut behind them.

Her lip was bleeding. Her ribs ached. The floor was cold.

Lucia lay still.

Staring at the metal shelf above her.

She hated how familiar this felt.

Like this wasn’t even new anymore.

Her voice, if she’d tried to speak, would’ve cracked.

But she didn’t speak.

She just counted her breaths.

One. Two. Three.

Don’t cry.

Don’t cry.

Don’t cry.

This was Gravemont.

Where blood was easier to ignore than poverty.

Where silence was safer than screaming.

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Back in the Dorm

Lucia sat on the floor.

Her lip was split from where Brittany had shoved her against a wall.

No one saw. Or they pretended not to.

She opened her little first-aid pouch. Her hands trembled. She cleaned the wound, pressing a tissue to stop the bleeding.

Her breath caught. Her vision blurred.

“I can’t break. I can’t break. I can’t.”

She curled up on the thin mattress. The room was quiet...hers alone, as always.

No one wanted to room with the “smelly scholarship rat.”

They called her that often.

Still, Lucia opened her textbook. Highlighted three lines.

The notes were her world. Her only weapon.

Because while they laughed, she studied.

While they pushed, she remembered.

While they partied, she listened.

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Author's POV

Some pain is silent.

It doesn’t scream or bleed.

It walks through hallways with its head down, doing its job, paying its dues.

Lucia wasn’t born for vengeance.

She was born for survival.

And in Gravemont University..survival is an act of war.

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Elsewhere in Campus

A boy from the literature department hadn’t shown up in three days.

Posters started going up.

Another girl had disappeared last week, they whispered...one of the ones who partied with Oliver’s group.

Campus security said nothing.

But Lucia heard things. From the back aisle of the store. From the bathrooms. From whispers.

And once--

She caught Oliver staring at her from across the hallway.

Not laughing.

Just... staring....

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