Ever since she was little, she was alone. Her mother was one of her father's long list of mistresses. Her father had never spared her a glance ever since she was born, until he saw her playing the Chinese traditional music instrument, pipa. And she was in love with the momentarily peace of mind that she would get whenever she played the instrument. She would forget about all the bullies, all the stress she had gotten from them and studying. Growing up alone in an empty house, there was nothing much she could do except studying and pick up an extra skill or two. Her mother was always busy with whatever it was that she did, never really bothered what little Jieqiong was up to as long as she attended school and never caused any trouble.

But she didn't know, or maybe she just never cared, that Jie was bullied in school, all the way through elementary school and middle school, for being a kid born out of wedlock, and for not having a father figure in her life. Kids can be quite scary when it comes to bullying one of their own. They would make fun of her during every sports day, field trips, school report card day when no one ever showed up for her. They would call her with rude nicknames, ostracize her, spread rumors. She had no idea what she did that was so wrong, and she knew it wasn't her fault. And she knew there was no one that she could turn to for help. 

Some words and actions could stay with you forever.

When she was 8, little Jie had took it upon herself to learn the instrument in school, in hope she would be able to gain his attention, knowing that her father was exceptionally in love with classical music. And he did. But not in the way that she wanted. He had asked for her to play him a song every year during his birthday. She didn't like it, she wasn't satisfied, but she took what she could.

A little something was better than nothing right?

So she did, playing him a song every year and enjoying the brief and no-longer-than ten minutes interation she would have with him during his birthday event for every year until she was 14. Her mother had died that year, and Jie had been extremely disappointed to find that her father never even bothered to show up to the funeral, though she had already somewhat expected it.

TW: brief mention of depression, suicide and overdose for this following paragraph. Skip to the next if you wish to ! 

Jie had been the one who discovered her mother's suicide. Apparently she had overdosed on sleeping pills. Jie was never really that close with her mother, the woman had been busy with her own life, trying to find enough money for both of them all the while still being hopelessly in love with Jie's father. That was probably where all the problem had started. Her mother's unrequited love had resulted in her depression in which she had had for years, and at the end, she had chose to take her own life. Coming home from school and seeing her mother's lifeless body had been traumatic for Jie, she still has nightmares from it, but it is something that she never liked to talk about.

Jie's middle school life was basically just a whole ball of confusion. At 14, she was left all alone in this world. Having no idea what to do with her life, she had quickly gave up on studying and her beloved pipa, while spending the whole year mixed up with a bunch of bad kids. That had made the bullies stay away from her for a while, but she had resolved to doing things that she shouldn't be doing. Smoking, drinking, vandalism, she had done it all. She had wanted to fit in, somewhere. Even if it meant with the wrong companions. When she had ended up at the police station for getting caught under-aged drinking, her father's lawyer had then contacted her, with news and promises that he would support her education and daily expenses until she graduates from college, though the reasons her father would suddenly decide to support her still remain unknown to her. Deep down still enraged at the man for everything, for her mother's death, she had wanted to just straight up rejuect. But she knew she would need the money, if she wanted to change her life for the better. 

So she did. 

And when it was time for high school, she came all the way to Royal High. She had passed her high school entrance exam with flying colors, and even managed to survive the next few years being the good sweet girl that she was always expected to be. She had always been good at studying since she was little, and her pretty looks and her carefree yet easy-going personality seemed to draw people in, which probably was the reason behind her curent position in the school as the leader of the popular kids' clique. She hadn't expected all of this, but she would be lying if she said she hadn't been enjoying the attention that she had been receiving through her high school years.

But deep down, the sweet personality that she had shown to people was all fake and dishonest. As much as she tries to hide it, a part of her old self still delve into her current self. She resolves to smoking and drinking every now and then, especially when she's stressed or anxious, even doing it in the school premises. Maybe it's her own way of dealing with her stress, or maybe she is just that traumatized by her old life of getting bullied and losing her mother, she somehow find herself changing into the bully that she once hated so much. Name-callings, her so called friendly pranks, the way how she would manipulate others to stay away from those that didn't get on her good side, sometimes even getting physical if she was alone with her victim. She's the perfect definiton of the popular but mean bully in school. Not a good idea, but she isn't all that scared about the consequences.

Come on, who would believe it when you say the smartest, one of the prettest, teachers' pet, and definitely the most popular girl in school smokes and drinks in school, all the while being a huge bully?  

She knows she would get away with it, and she's getting bolder each time.