My glasses were damaged.
My clothes were slightly rumpled.
My hands had finally stopped trembling.
But my understanding of myself had changed.
I had never needed Bryce to believe I was strong.
I had only needed to stop letting his opinion decide how I saw myself.
The teacher held the phone steady.
The background voice came through once more.
And as everyone listened, the truth became impossible to dismiss.
The dodgeball had not been thrown during an active game.
Bryce had continued going after me after the game ended.
Three students had documented what happened.
And somewhere in the background of that first recording, another person had been giving Bryce instructions.
I could not yet identify the voice.
Neither could I know what explanation would follow.
But one thing was certain.
The moment that had begun with a dodgeball striking my face was no longer a story Bryce could control simply by shouting louder than everyone else.
For the first time, the entire gym was listening to what had actually happened.
THE END
