Little Peach

Ava was fourteen the first time her brother threw her to the wolves.

It wasn't intentional, at least not in the way you might think. He didn't hate her—at least, not in the way that would make it obvious. But Brian, her older brother, had always been the golden boy. The one everyone loved, admired, and wanted to be around. She, on the other hand, had always been invisible. Quiet. Awkward. The one who stayed in the background while the world revolved around Brian.

That all changed the day she started high school.

Up until then, Ava had lived in the shadows of her older brother’s world, never really seen, never really heard. But Brian, with his charm and his easy smile, decided that the time had come for her to be noticed. And not in the way she had ever hoped for. No, he decided that his little sister—his quiet, awkward little sister—was a perfect target for the game.

He didn’t do it alone. No, he had help. Max, his best friend, and Kai—the one who might as well have been another brother—were more than happy to join in. They had no mercy, no regard for the human being they were tearing apart. For three years, they made Ava their plaything. Her pain was their entertainment.

Max was the one who toyed with her. Sometimes, he would feign a kind of care, pretending to step in when things got too harsh. He’d tell Brian and Kai to lay off, but the very next day, he would shove her right back into the fire with that same charming smile on his face. It was all a game to him. A joke.

And then there was Kai. Kai was different. He didn’t pretend to care. He didn’t hide behind smirks or polite words. He didn’t pull back when things went too far. He was relentless. He called her names, taunted her, humiliated her. Every day, it felt like he pushed her deeper, further into the pit of despair.

She could still hear his voice in the dark corners of her mind, still see the way he’d stand over her after knocking her books to the ground. "Why are you even here, Little Peach?" Kai would sneer, always so confident, so sure that she was nothing more than a joke.

But there was something else, too. Something Ava couldn’t explain. Beneath the cruelty, beneath the taunts, there was a twisted part of her that couldn't help but want him.

She had a crush on him.

It was ridiculous. She was the joke, the weakling, the one who didn’t fit in—and Kai, with his dark eyes and his smirk, made her heart race every time he looked at her. He was the one who made her feel small, worthless... but there were moments, brief and fleeting, where his gaze lingered just a little longer than usual. Moments when she thought he might see her, just for a second. And in those moments, the part of her that had always been invisible imagined that maybe, just maybe, he could feel something too.

But that was before everything went too far.

There was the time they shoved her into her locker, slamming the door so hard she couldn’t breathe, leaving her trapped in a cage of her own shame. Max had stood guard, making sure no one saw while Brian and Kai had fun with her. The cruel words filtered through the thin metal walls. "Little Peach, you look like a loser in there," Kai had mocked. Ava had shut her eyes, trying to block it out, wishing for the earth to swallow her whole.

And it didn’t stop. In gym class, Brian convinced the team to target her during dodgeball. She was the last one standing, frozen with fear, praying she wouldn’t become their main target. But Kai, of course, had to make it worse. He threw the ball with such force it knocked her to the ground, and the laughter that followed was the cruelest part. Max had walked past her, grinning. “Nice aim, Kai,” he had said with a wink.

Ava had been their game, their punching bag. And they had enjoyed every second of it.

The worst had been the Halloween party. Ava had hoped for a night where she could escape the weight of the world, blend in, maybe even laugh. But no. Not when her brother, his friends, and their cruel game awaited. "Look at the little freak," Kai had said, eyeing her with that familiar smugness. Brian had stood there, doing nothing, just watching as they made her the target of their latest round of humiliation.

“Tell her to leave, Brian,” Kai had said, pushing her toward the door.

Ava would never forget the way her brother had looked at her. The way he had shrugged and muttered, “You heard him.”

That was when she knew. Not only was she invisible, she was unwanted. Even by the one person who was supposed to care for her.

But then, things changed.

When Brian, Max, and Kai graduated and left for college, they left Ava behind. They left her broken, but they also left her with a choice. She could either stay broken, clinging to the remnants of who she used to be, or she could rebuild herself.

She chose to rebuild.

College became her escape, her chance to redefine herself. She immersed herself in her studies, focused on herself for the first time, and started working on the person she always wanted to be. No longer the shy, invisible girl, Ava became someone new—someone strong, confident, and determined to never let them ruin her again.

Ava took up boxing. Not for revenge, not for fighting, but to channel the anger, the frustration, the pain they had caused her into something real. Every punch was a strike against the girl they had destroyed. And with every round, she grew stronger, physically and mentally.

Her transformation wasn’t just physical. Her style changed. Her hair was cut shorter, more purposeful. The oversized sweaters were gone, replaced with clothes that made her feel like a woman. She wasn’t the ugly, pathetic girl they had taunted. She was Ava Parker, a woman who stood her ground.

But even with all the changes, something lingered. The ghosts of her past were never far behind, always lurking, reminding her of who she used to be. The girl they had humiliated. The girl they had thrown to the wolves.

As she packed her bags for the summer, ready to return home for the first time in years, Ava couldn’t ignore the flutter of anxiety in her stomach. What would it be like when she saw Brian again? Max and Kai? Would they still treat her like the weak little sister they could push around? Or would they see her for what she had become?

One thing was certain: she wasn’t that girl anymore. And this time, she wasn’t going back to be their punching bag.

This time, Ava was going to ruin them. And maybe—just maybe—she was going to make Kai regret ever making her feel like nothing.