Denise walked to the soccer field. It was her first lesson, and she was kind of nervous. The trainer walked towards her: 'Hey! You must be Denisabella.'

Denise nodded: 'I prefer to be called Denise, sir.'

He laughed: 'No need to call me sir, Denise! My name is Marc.'

'Okay,' Denise said, 'Marc.'

'Come with me,' Marc said, 'Then I'll introduce you to the other girls.'

Marc brought Denise to a dressing room filled with girls.

'Girls!' Marc said, 'This is Denise. She will be joining the team. Make her feel welcome.'

Denise's eyes fell on a girl sitting alone in a corner. Her long, dark hair fell before her eyes, but Denise recognised her immediately. Odessa. Denise walked over to her. 'Hey,' she said awkwardly. Odessa didn't reply, but the glare she sent Denise was clear enough. "Leave me alone, bitch" it said. Denise sighed. She really felt bad about her mean behaviour.

During the lesson, Denise kind of stayed out of the group. She only watched. She saw that the girls were really close one group, even though she could still see subgroups. The only leftover was Odessa. She wasn't bullied or anything, she just wasn't really a part of the group. People would easily work with her, but she didn't really fit in. Denise felt kind of sorry for her: didn't that girl have ány friends?

During soccer practice, Odessa was thinking about Denise. That girl popped up everywhere and ruined everything! First, she had come to her school around the same time the bullying started. Odessa knew that it was not fair, but she saw Denise as the face of the bullying. Then that same girl was adopted by Lin freaking Miranda. Odessa couldn't do anything musical theatre related without having the person that bullied her for over a year shoved into her face. And last but not least, she also joined her soccer team. Like Odessa needed any more Denise in her life!

After the practice was over, Denise walked up to Odessa. 'Uhm, can we talk?' she asked nervously.

Odessa turned around: 'What do you want?' she asked harshly.

'Well,' Denise hesitated, 'I wanted to say-' She stopped, insecure of herself. Odessa just waited, her arms crossed.

Denise continued: 'I wanted to say that I- I'm sorry!'

'Sorry for what?' Odessa asked.

'For everything!' Denise answered.

'Well,' Odessa said, 'That's a bit too late, isn't it?'

Denise bowed her head: 'I know. I'm sorry.'

Odessa looked at her, stone-faced. 'It's too late.' Then she turned around and walked away, leaving Denise alone on the empty field.