Selene turned to her daughter and asked gently, “Daph, do you still want to go to Charteris Academy?”
Daph’s gaze drifted over to Monica and Penelope, who stood among a cluster of onlookers by the school gates, both staring at her with anxious, hopeful eyes
A few minutes ago, they’d already gone inside, but after the morning’s chaos–the principal led away by police, the Disciplinary Committee searching the grounds, half the staff called in for questioning–no one was thinking about classes anymore. Especially the youngest students; they lingered at the entrance, craning their necks to see what was happening, more curious than afraid, eager just to be part of the commotion.
Daph took a deep breath and faced the group of mothers lingering nearby “If you want me and my mom to come back to Charteris Academy, she announced, you have to give us a proper apology. That’s the only way I’ll even consider returning.”
She was only five, but ever since she’d started using her real name–Dafina–she’d felt the change. The teachers, the students, even the parents, looked at her differently now, with a coldness she hadn’t deserved.
Especially these mothers. She remembered how quick they’d been to agree with Principal Zachary, how eager to see her expelled. It hurt. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Why did being Dafina make her someone they all looked down on?
One of the mothers tried to soften her tone. “Sweetheart, Daphne-”
“My name is Dafina,” Daph interrupted, her voice steady.
The mothers exchanged uneasy glances. They looked at Selene, who stood tall, unwavering beside her daughter, radiating total support. One mother looked like she wanted to scold Daph, but the others quickly nudged her to keep quiet.
At last, forcing polite smiles, the mothers bowed slightly and spoke. “Dafina, Mrs. Thompson–what we said earlier was wrong. We’re truly sorry.”
“I hope you’ll stay at Charteris Academy,” one added quickly. “My daughter loves being your friend–surely you wouldn’t want to lose her, would you
Daph’s heart twisted. The thing she wanted most, the thing she couldn’t let go of, was the friends she’d made at Charteris Academy.
She turned to Selene. “Mommy, is there any way to make sure they really
understand what they did wrong? So they’ll actually mean their apology?”
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Selene thought for a moment. “If I remember correctly, each of these ladies has quite a popular social media account. If you truly want Dafina to be treated with respect at Charteris, you should each use your own account to publicly explain the bullying that happened, and apologize.”
One mother’s face darkened. “But I have hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram…”
She didn’t even finish before another mother nudged her sharply with an elbow. How foolish! They could just make a throwaway account to post the apology, sparing their carefully curated socialite profiles any embarrassment.
But Selene’s smile was cool and unwavering. “I know exactly which account belongs to which of you. Mrs. Brown, please use your Instagram. Mrs. Walters, your Tik Tok will do nicely. And Mrs. Griffith, you can use your Twitter.”
A fourth mother scowled. “Miss Thompson, you want us to make these grand apologies online, for everyone to see? Aren’t you afraid the internet will turn on you instead? That you’ll get drowned in backlash?”
She was clearly fuming, humiliated to be forced into submission.
“You think people will say I’m overreacting,” Selene replied calmly. “That Daph was just ganged up on by a few parents, asked to leave school, nothing more. That I’m making a scene out of nothing?”
“Exactly!” the other mothers chimed in, seizing on the idea. “Even if we apologize, our followers won’t let you off easy! Don’t come crying to Director White if you end up getting trolled online!”
Selene’s voice was clear and unwavering. “I’m not afraid of gossip. I want your actions–bullying a child–to be held up for everyone to see. And I trust-” she drew a steady breath, meeting each mother’s eyes in turn, “that most people out there have a sense of decency.”
Grudgingly, the mothers pulled out their phones and started typing. When their apologies were done, they handed them to Selene for inspection. Only when she was satisfied did she make them read each apology, word for word, aloud to Daph. Seething with resentment, the women posted their statements ine. If they couldn’t take on Selene, not with Director White behind her, then maybe the crowd online would do it instead.
But as the apologies went live and Selene refreshed the pages, the comments were unanimous. The internet was outraged–furious at these wealthy women for
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bullying a five–year–old.
The mothers stared at the flood of angry messages and watched their follower counts plummet with every refresh. Their hands trembled as they held their phones.
Monica ran up to Daph, eyes shining with hope. “Daph, can we still be best friends? I shouldn’t have listened to Damien. You’re my best friend in the whole world.”
“And you’re mine!” Daph grinned, pulling Monica into a hug and spinning her around and around.
Penelope hurried over, shy and soft–voiced. “Daph! I’m your best friend too!”
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