For the past few weeks, August trudged on through the mundane world with dulled senses. She had frequent episodes when her hearing seemed disconnected, her eyes barely registering the man seated across the table. These episodes were lonely and claustrophobic, in stark contrast to when her imaginary friends whisked her away on whimsical adventures. Her only enjoyment not originating from the mundane world came from Emily, her best human friend, and her father, who fought tooth and nail to gain her full custody.

“Augie.” The man’s hand rested on her hand.

She flinched, blinking rapidly, then gasped once she realized who it was.

“Sorry, Dad,” she mumbled.

“It’s okay, Sweetie,” he said. “No need to apologize. Eat up. We’ll soon leave.”

She nodded, peering down at her untouched plate. Lately, sausages and bacon looked unappetizing. Despite that, remembering the lunch served at the school cafeteria, she forced her breakfast down.

“Woah! Slow down, Alligator.” Her father chuckled. “We still have time.”

She showed him the chewed food still in her mouth.

“Ugh. Disgusting.” In response, he poured some water into his cupped hand and doused her in it.

“Ah! Dad! What gives?”

“You know what you did. You want me to lose my appetite?”

She feigned a mean frown, then glanced at her half-filled cup of juice.

Her father followed her eye line. “Don’t you dear, Sweetie. You won’t win this arm’s race.”

He reached for the jug of juice as his gaze locked with August, daring her to make the first move.

Seconds later, she only beamed a wide smile. “I love you, Dad.”

Then she went right back to eating.

After many minutes of staring at her dumbfounded, he replied. “Love you too. Never forget that.”

Her heart warmed as he voiced those words, the emotional scars inflicted by Tom healing ever so slowly. Her mother’s insistence that she honor the judge’s split custody decision intensified after August stopped answering her calls. The last time she talked with Grace was after she fled to Emily’s house. Her father had picked her up the next day after school, and upon hearing her troubled recounting of what happened, he redoubled his efforts at acquiring her full custody, aided by the new evidence. Grace, in her combative nature, was fighting back vehemently, so the case was dragging on. Her mother dropped by to persuade August to follow her, going as far as shouting from the front yard into her room. That nerve-racking incident only stopped when her father called the police.

“I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I should’ve taken you out of that situation sooner. I truly—”

“It’s okay, Dad. I wasn’t exactly sharing what happened at that house. So you couldn’t have known.”

“Still…” Her father held his head in his hands, ruffling his black hair.

❊ ❊ ❊

At school, her somber mood returned in full force with a statement she made that she had all but forgotten. It had been after Emily’s bullying episode when Lily and herself had a conversation about the prospects of seeking revenge and giving those who wronged her what they deserved. She had disagreed with the fairy, saying, ‘We leave those things to the authorities. That’s what my dad taught me and that’s the way we run things.’

She truly loved her father and everything he stood for. However, the cracks in his once ironclad philosophy were starting to show. From what she heard, Tom got off scot-free for all the hurt and violence he inflicted on her. If she didn’t have imaginary friends, would she be alive? No! Tom would have strangled the life out of her. Only then would the authorities take notice. Only then would her mother see the error of her ways.

She sat in the cafeteria alone, her food untouched, waiting for Emily to join her. After sleeping over at Emily’s house, they grew fond of each other, filling the social void they both harbored.

That reminds me, she thought. Where is Emily? Break’s almost over.

Snapping out of her sulking mood, she scanned the cafeteria for her only friend. The activities about were the usual; students talking, laughing, eating, and tapping their phones. Yet Emily was nowhere to be found. Naturally, her friend might have been occupied with something else, such as meeting that boy she liked. It was when August noticed Betty’s clique missing from their usual table that she knew something was amiss.

She rushed out of the cafeteria. “Zephyr, come out and search for Emily.”

Her fairy hummingbird shot out in all her colorful glory, singing in acknowledgement and zooming down the corridor. Since Zephyr took the right turn down the hallway, she ran left. A professor accosted her for running on the school premises, but she was too preoccupied to care about such a rule. She checked Emily’s homeroom, other classrooms, and the girl’s restrooms. She even went as far as asking a boy to check the male restrooms. Her heart pounded with exhaustion, yet Emily’s whereabouts remained unknown.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

When hope seemed lost, Zephyr shined like the light down a dark tunnel. The hummingbird reappeared, zipping around her and chirping in her sing-songy tunes. She understood those calls. Zephyr had beckoned her to follow, and she did so as fast as she could muster. Soon, they were out of the main building and heading to the bridge over the Hermos River that cut through the sprawling campus. On this side, the high school was located. Zephyr led her through the well-manicured lawns, past the high school buildings, and the sports fields, to a lone storage building.

The door was locked, but she could hear voices in the small building, female voices. And one sounded like Betty. The other distinct sound she could gather came from someone crying. Her blood boiled. So much for letting the authorities handle her issues. Yes, Betty had been suspended for all of two weeks for the first incident. But it seemed the first thing the bully craved after coming back was to go right at her friend again. She stepped back.

“Harry, bust down that door,” she said.

“As you wish, Augie.”

The towering sasquatch reared his hand back and punched through the lock of the door. The door snapped open, swung on its hinge, and cracked into the side wall. Like a deer caught in headlights, everyone in the room turned and froze, halting their activities. August stepped into the room, her brows arching downward when she saw. The girls, amongst a messy pile of sports equipment, stood in a circle. Emily, their center of attention, shivered with no clothes on, her face red from intense crying. Betty loomed over her friend with a pistol in hand while another girl recorded them with a phone.

The premier bully scowled at August. “The fuck are you doing here?” Betty came forward, raising her gun, her lips spreading into a sneer. “Well, since you’ve decided to show up, I don’t see any issue with killing two birds with one stone. Close the door and strip if you know what’s good for you. We’ll see which one of you prefers the taste of feces.”

The girls broke into mocking laughs.

Outwardly, her demeanor remained angry. However, internally, something broke. A rage erupted.

August looked at Harry Tophat. “Break her hand.”

The sasquatch was taken aback by her request and looked at her to determine if she was being serious.

“Do it,” she commanded.

Betty chuckled. “Can you believe this? The freak show is still talking with her made-up friends.”

Betty continued to laugh with her friends, waving her gun wildly, right up to the moment Harry Tophat wrapped his hand around hers and squeezed hard, breaking her fingers against the gun’s metal. As the bully screamed and dropped to the ground, rolling in agony, Harry Tophat retrieved the pistol.

Everyone present regarded August with shock and fear now, even Emily. She noticed that not only were Emily’s clothes removed; the losers went ahead and tore them to tatters.

“Please, I didn’t wanna be here,” a tall girl cried. “Betty made me. She’s got a gun.”

“Please let us go,” two other girls pleaded.

She saw through the crocodile tears. “No one leaves.”

The tall girl had none of it and made a dash for the door. But Harry Tophat yanked her collar and pulled her back. The other girls stood frozen in absolute terror as they watched their friend being manipulated by a ghost.

“If anyone wants to leave,” August announced, “remove your clothes. All of it down to your underwear and I won’t stop you.”

No one attempted to leave anymore. They all huddled close to the back wall, away from Emily, who stood in the middle, her hands shielding her privates. Betty still cried below, clutching her broken fingers.

August was having none of it. No one was getting off scot-free. “You’ll have two options. You can either remove all your clothes and get out of my sight, or I’ll have my good friend, Harry, break each and every one of your fingers.” Her cold gaze swept down at the lead culprit. “Starting with you, Betty.”

“You’ve already broken my fucking fingers,” Betty cried. “Are you blind?”

“You have another hand.”

“No!” Betty cried, scooting away from her. “Okay, I’ll do it. Please, let me go.”

Betty fidgeted, taking off her blouse and pleated skirt. The bully then raised her arms, showing she had done it.

August shook her head. “Nope. I said everything. Even your fucking hair tie stays back.”

Betty gulped, then reluctantly removed her last clothing items. Even her hair tie. Faced against an insurmountable foe, the bully had become docile. She let Betty leave, turning to the other girls.

In the end, Harry Tophat had to break a few more fingers to get the girls moving. A mountain of school uniforms piled up before her as the storage room cleared, spilling red-faced girls onto the school’s premises.

“Wow,” Emily said, her tears long dry, her tone back to the usual meekness she used at school. “Thanks?”

She recognized the sarcasm bottled up in a monotone facade. “Stop that. I did it for you.”

“I know. And thank you… really. It’s just…”

“Let me guess, I should’ve told you they were real.”

“No. I understand why you didn’t. It’s just…” Emily shook her head and raised her shoulders, taking a breath of relief. “I feel like I’ve experienced enough shenanigans for a lifetime. Doesn’t matter, anyway. What do we do now?”

She pointed at the pile of clothes. “You can start by putting something on.”

“Oh, yeah.” Emily blushed, covering herself up.

Silence reigned as Emily found the right-sized clothes to wear.

“You’re taking it well,” she noted.

“Well, I’m trying,” Emily said. “I’ve already cried enough for today, don’t you think?” After tucking her button-up blouse into her skirt, Emily grabbed her hand. “Let’s split before—”

They turned to bump into Mrs. Harrison, who stood in the doorway, her distinct scowl on display. “Mind telling me why a bunch of my students have suddenly misplaced their uniforms?”

August shrugged nonchalantly. It was Emily who tried to diffuse the situation.

“They started it first, Mrs. Harrison,” Emily said. “If we can tell our side of the story—”

“Oh, you will, Miss Evans” Mrs. Harrison interrupted her, wagging an angry finger in their faces. “To my office.”

“But the fifth period’s on,” August said.

“Which you missed of your own volition. To my office. I will not repeat myself, young ladies.”

After exchanging glances, they followed the stern and round vice principal, who shuffled past some security personnel on the soccer field. A few high school students, mainly boys, cheered from their classroom windows as they passed by. Evidently, the girls had put on quite a spectacle. Mrs. Harrison’s stern gaze promptly silenced the rowdy boys.