I've had the pleasure of working with TELUS again, this time for their brilliant TELUS WISE initiative! I loved working on 'The Bystander' last time and I'm very excited to share 'Winona' with you this time around. Both stories are based on cyberbullying, this one a little bit of a different take. 

Cyberbullying is always there, the majority of us turn a blind eye and pretend like it doesn't happen but it does. And looking away solves nothing and staying silent helps no one, especially yourself. The best thing you can do for yourself, and others, is to speak up.

One

The house was quiet as I walked down the stairs, bag slung over my shoulder. Every creak and groan fell from the house and echoed around the blank space, ricocheting off the walls. Walking towards the kitchen, I stopped in the entrance way. My dad sat at the dining table, his laptop perched on the edge of the surface and his hands filled with papers.

One of them fell to the floor and he made a hazardous attempt to reach down and grab it, almost knocking the laptop off the table in the process. I rushed forward, holding my hand out for him to stop, and picked up the paper, sitting it gently down beside the laptop.

My dad looked up, his hair greying and his face strained but even so, he gave me a grateful yet almost sheepish smile.

"Thanks, Winona," he said.

"No problem," I replied and looked down at the papers, raising an eyebrow at the number of bills there were. "Paying bills, are we?"

"I'm better than this usually, I promise," Dad said with a sigh. "I usually do a Money Monday."

"Money Monday?" I laughed.

"Every Monday I would go online and check all the bills but it seems this month, I've been putting it off for a while. It's my fault. I should have been keeping track of things better."

"I think you're doing fine," I shrugged. "All things considered."

My dad stood up and put a hand on my shoulder, rubbing gently. "Well thanks kid, you're easy to look after."

I rolled my eyes and patted my dad's hand gently before going to grab a glass of water. The house didn't always feel this empty. There was a time where the windows would be open, the sound of birds would carry through, the television would play on or the beat-up boom box now stashed away in the garage would play from its position on the corner table. But the regular noise that came from the Prescott household faded away when my mom left. She swept out of the house with a teary face, a short wave and the sound of birds following her.

I visited her but my home was still the house that she had once lived in. I stood in the kitchen she once used. I did my makeup in the mirror she once used. I sat in the passenger seat of the car she once sat in. Her absence wasn't forgotten easily and my dad and I attempted to forge the perfect family with the white picket fence and the sun shining down on us. I looked over at the stacks of bills on the dining table and remembered that the white picket fences were for some, but not all.

"Are you excited about tonight?" dad asked as I leaned against the counter, leisurely sipping on my drink.

I shrugged. "I suppose."

"Oh, come on, it's the first football game of the season. It'll be fun," he said. "You'll have a good time, just stick with your friends."

"I'm sure it will be fine," I muttered.

"When are you coming home after the game?" dad asked.

"Uh, eleven, maybe?" I winced.

My dad stopped for a moment and I could tell the look on his face immediately. He rubbed the back of his neck and tried to recall every parenting book he had ever seen in the hopes that they would somehow help in this situation. My dad looked at me, opening his mouth, ready to say something but the total torment on his face made me realize that I was the one that had to step in.

"I'll call you at ten," I offered. "If that helps. Riley's driving me anyway."

"She is?" dad perked up and I nodded, a smile pulling at the corners of my lips.

"Yes, she's my ride there and back. Happier?"

Dad nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's fine. I know, I know, you're nearly eighteen so this stuff should be normal to do but, you know me. I worry a little too much."

I placed my empty glass in the sink and turned to my dad. "I get it. Don't worry. You're not overbearing or anything. I know parents that are worse."

Dad gave me a grateful look and then glanced down at the time on his locked computer screen. "I suppose you'll be heading off soon."

"Yeah, I'm just going to get changed then Riley should be here. You can grill her at the doorway if you want."

Dad chuckled lowly and I huffed a short laugh with him. "You're a good kid, Winona."

I didn't really know how to answer so I just gave an awkward wave and backed out of the room, a fond look on my face as I got ready to leave.

***

Football games were a hit and miss for me.

Our school's team wasn't exactly the best at winning so it was a given that the game would consist of less cheering from our side of the bleachers and more from the winning team's side. Football games had become more of an outlet for the cheerleaders (or as they referred to themselves, 'The Professional Dance Team') to practise their skills, the marching band to provide a mildly off-key performance, and everyone else to socialize.

As the game played on in the background, mostly ignored by everyone, I stood beside my friends, caged in against the top bleacher and in the very corner. If anyone so much as knocked me I was sure that I would flip over the edge and fall to the terrifying drop of two feet. I gripped the metal banister and clutched my fountain drink in the other. Riley was rattling on about how Jamie was going to host a party after the game and Maddie was soaking up the information like an eager sponge.

My eyes wandered around the bleachers where people stood socializing in small groups. I briefly looked over at the football game but nothing was looking promising so I glanced away, accidentally catching someone's eyes. I didn't look away immediately and felt suffocating heat creep up my neck when I had been staring a bit too long. Drew looked amused, her long blonde hair pulled up into a tight ponytail and her body covered in a football jersey.

Riley said something from beside me but I was only focused on Drew who lifted her drink and tilted her head, motioning towards the area away from the bleachers where the food was being sold. Is she motioning to me? Should I go looking for her? I thought, suddenly panicked. I turned my head back to Riley and Maddie, and cut in when Riley took a breath.

"I'm just going to get a refill," I told them.

Maddie nodded and Riley just waved her hand flippantly, still in the middle of her captivating story. I gripped my drink tighter and slipped past my friends, carefully climbing over each bleacher until I got to the bottom. The sun set and now the night was filled with a clear, dark sky and a few scattered stars. The food area was busy – if not a little rowdy. I walked through lines of people until finally stopping at the edge of the parking lot that was surrounded by a small wooded area.

I squinted my eyes into the darkness looking for Drew but nothing was there. The cold began to creep up my arms and I wrapped them around myself. I began to turn, ready to head back, when a hand clamping down on my shoulder jolted me upright. I gasped in surprise and jumped away, throwing a glare at Drew who was trying to stifle a laugh.

"Gosh, don't do that!" I gasped.

"You seemed to be in your own world," Drew commented.

I took in a long breath and slowly relaxed, knowing that tonight was not the night that I would be killed unexpectedly in a parking lot.

"Hi," I said.

The amusement was back on Drew's face. "Hi."

A loud hollering from the bleachers made me jump in surprise and I realized how quiet it was in the empty parking lot. I sighed, wondering what I was even doing there. 

"You want a refill?" Drew asked.

"What?" I blinked.

She tapped her drink with mine.

"Oh," I said stupidly. "Right, yeah."

"Then we could maybe go for a walk," she said.

"A walk?" I frowned.

"You know, one foot in front of the other..."

"Funny," I muttered and Drew smirked. "Don't old people take walks?"

"Are you being ageist?" she asked, a smile on her lips.

I rolled my eyes but a smile was on my face. "Where would we take a walk?"

"I don't know," she said. "Anywhere."

"Why do you want to take a walk?"

"I'm sorry, I forgot to wear my I'm-an-interrogator-outfit today," Drew said and I huffed.

"You're funny," I sighed. "Real funny."

"As I'm told," Drew said. "So, you want a refill?"

I nodded and Drew slipped the cup out of my hands and I let the beverage fall from my fingers as my arm fell back down to my side.

"And then a creepy, moonlit walk around the parking lot," I said.

Drew grinned. "Now you're getting the hang of it."

We both got refills of our drinks and began to wander aimlessly around the parking lot, hearing the hollers and shouts from the bleachers behind us. I sipped on the straw of my drink idly and placed my other hand in my pocket.

"I'm Winona, by the way," I greeted.

Drew nodded. "I'm Drew."

"I know," I mumbled around my straw.

"Oh, do you?" she asked. "Am I that infamous?"

"We have period two together," I said.

Drew slowed down, her brows drawing close in confusion. "Wait, we do?"

I hid my laughter by taking a sip of my drink and nodded. "Yep. Period two, history, Mr. Karson."

"Where do you sit?" Drew asked.

"Right behind you," I said.

Drew blinked her wide eyes at me and a laugh fell from her lips. "You're kidding me."

"Nope," I smiled. 

"Man, I'm sorry," Drew winced and rubbed her arm.

"It's okay," I shrugged. "I find it more humorous than insulting."

"Well you can take a joke."

I hadn't noticed that we'd walked off the path of the parking lot and were a few feet into the small forest. A couple of pesky twigs scratched my ankles and dug into the canvas of my shoes as we walked. Drew almost tripped over a log and stumbled forward, nearly falling on top of me. I caught her upper body messily and burst out laughing with her as we finally balanced ourselves. I looked up at her as the hair in my face slowly slid away. Her face was extremely close and a part of me wasn't even bothered by it. Another part was nervous – very nervous. I felt my hands get sweaty but I didn't move from where I was. I just stood there, waiting, as I heard an owl close by.

Drew didn't make any move to come closer or pull away. I took the latter as a good sign and felt the rapid beating of my heart increase. Fear gripped me. I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't be this close. I shouldn't feel so comfortable. My brain continued to scream at me but my body moved on its own accord.

I leaned forward towards her. Then I kept leaning forward until I had nowhere else to go. Until there was nowhere else to hide. Nowhere to back away to. For a moment, I was terrified. But then I relaxed and for a single second, I felt completely at ease. And everything felt right.

Too bad I didn't see the phone, hidden behind the trees, recording us.

________________

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Winona, commissioned by TELUS! The next chapter will be up soon!

- Tahlie x