Remember my students. A bully only has power over you for as long as you let them have it. That includes family members who bully you as well. But remember, the only power over you that anyone has, is the power you give them. Believe in yourself, and you'll be able to believe in those who truly care. -- Lessons
It sounded so nice. Believe in yourself and the horrid people would leave you alone. Cordelia's problem was that some of the horrid people were her teachers. They definitely had power over her, and could order her to obey and suffer any torment they devised.
She'd already spent three years in Lithonesse's dungeons for laying on the ground and talking to a dandelion.
The speech from the visitor was meant to be inspiring, to encourage the wallflowers to step out and be a little daring. Cordelia knew it for a falsity. To step out was to become visible. To stand out was to be a target. To complain was to catch the blame.
If only you weren't so... you, they seemed to say, you'd be less of a target.
Cordelia did her best. She followed the rules, obeyed commands, and studied hard. Yet she was still short, stout, and a very plain hue of brown. She was not tall, thin, nor elegant. She could be graceful, she could negotiate peace between the diametrically opposed. What she was not, most of all, was popular.
She was only popular as a target. For the students and teachers alike.
At least she could please her teachers. If she dared retaliate against her fellow students, she would get far worse than she got from them... and they knew her weaknesses.
They'd found all of them with scientific precision. They'd learned how to set her off without disrupting classes - the worst offense possible - and could render her 'unseemly' in a matter of minutes.
Her best effort against their campaigns, so far, was critiquing their technique.
"Hey, bawling Bellarin, got'cha present." The motion was quick, but the spellwork was already prepared.
It was only an illusion, and Cordelia knew what it was before it came to a halt right next to her nose. All she could see at that distance was a yellow blob. It was meant to be a dandelion flower. Aurelia's targeting was abysmal.
Cordelia walked straight through it, dissolving the illusion by doing so. "Your targeting is appalling and I couldn't even tell what it was meant to be. Largely because your timing is abysmal. No wonder you're failing Spellwork Three."
A hit. A palpable hit.
She might not win them all, but she would hold her head higher for winning that one. Further, if Aurelia complained, she would get the same kind of punishments that the Matrons dished out for Cordelia.
She'd never truly beat them and she knew it. All the same, she could believe in one thing. That she would graduate next year, and be free of Lithonesse once and for all.
[Photo by Dmitry Tulupov on Unsplash]
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