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After the insanity of the week, I just wanted a normal day. I didn’t know how impossible that was until I put on a black leather skirt, a pink jacket, and a black T-shirt that spelled out A Little Bit Dramatic in rhinestones. I paired it with a pair of low black heels and a pink purse that couldn’t fit any of my books.
It amazed me how much I’d changed since Jake kissed me. Pink was my least favorite color. Worse than crap brown. And now, I was wearing a pink jacket and a pink purse. I looked in the mirror at my outfit. How much more would I have to change before Jake was through with me?
I glanced at the clock. My train would be here soon.
By the time I finished doing my make-up and flat ironing my hair, I was exhausted. I didn’t know how the popular girls did this every day. I walked out of my bedroom, fanning my shirt against myself.
“Hey, pumpkin,” Dad called from the kitchen. He was eating his standard toast and eggs. The newspaper was folded up in front of him.
“Hey, Daddy.”
I kissed him on the cheek then reached over and grabbed an apple.
“Heading to school?”
“Yup.”
“Then back home?”
“Yup.”
“Nowhere else?”
Three questions in a row? He was digging for information.
“No, Daddy. Nowhere else.”
He nodded slowly.
“Just, text me when you get home, okay?”
“Yeah. Sure.” My brows furrowed. “Are you worrying? Because there really isn’t anything to worry about. I’m not in any trouble.”
He squeezed his lips together, let out air through his nose, and pushed the newspaper in front of me.
The headline read: Two dead in drug related shootings.
I put my hands over my lips.
“Please tell me that you broke up with that boy,” Dad said. “I don’t want to read your name in the paper.”
I felt Daddy’s anguish in his words, and put my arms around him, holding him tight. Was Jake involved in this? Was his father? I shook my head, trying to clear it from millions of questions that ran through it.
“It’s fine, Daddy. I broke up with him.”
His shoulders sagged in relief.
Mine tensed with the ease of my lies.
His hug around me tightened.
“Good girl,” he said. “Very, very good.”
He pulled away, brushing the hair out of my face.
“Just be careful, okay? Keep an eye out. You see anyone running or screaming, get to a safe place and stay there. And if you ever feel unsafe, call the police, then call me, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
My steps were heavy with guilt; my mind full. I felt almost zombie like as I walked to the door. I’d lied to my father about Jake. Every lie I had to tell over the last few days had been about Jake. But they came from my mouth, I reminded myself. No one told me to lie. I did it on my own. That was who I was now. Popular, well dressed, and a liar.
I gulped in a breath of air. Was this really the life that I wanted? Did I want to be a liar? A fraud?
“Hey, kid!”
I turned back to my father, my breathing still uneven.
“I love you.”
I nodded, putting my hand on the door handle.
“Love you, too, Daddy.”
The words came out quietly. Or, at least, I thought they did. I couldn’t hear them. I could only hear the voices in my head.
You. Are. A. Liar.
My guilt grew heavier on my back. I felt so bad that I barely heard Ariel and Jasmine as we walked to the train station.
“Bella, are you okay?” Jasmine asked, her eyes filling with concern. “You’re all pale and splotchy.”
I cleared my throat, as if that would help my complexion.
“Nothing,” I said. “I’m fine. Just tired.”
“Well, don’t be tired,” Ariel said. Her happiness was usually infectious. Now, with my mood in the toilet, I found it annoying. “Eric invited me to the Stamford Club on Friday, so take your B-12 because we are going to rock the dance floor.”
I halfheartedly nodded. I didn’t want to rock anyone’s dance floor. I wanted this Jake business to be over. I wanted him out of my life. I wanted to tell Ariel the truth. I wanted ... something. Someone. Someone that I shouldn’t have wanted at all.
Cole’s face came in to my mind, and I crushed it. I couldn’t like Cole. Not only was he my nemesis, but he was my fake boyfriend’s brother. It was dangerous. Too dangerous. Especially with what Detective Harding had told me about his family. I pasted a smile on my face and pretended not to care, but it was all another lie.
The train ride to school was a blur, and before I knew it, we were passing through the front doors. I turned to my friends.
“I have to meet Jake at first period,” I said. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
Ariel and Jasmine said their goodbyes, and I went to put my heavy books in my locker.
I froze.
Someone had taken a picture of me from my Facebook page, printed it out, and written WHORE in big, red letters across it.
I read the word again. Slower this time. It was like it was written in Mandarin. My mind couldn’t process what was happening. I looked at the surrounding lockers, verifying that this was mine. Slowly, reality caught up with me. Overtook me.
It was my locker. And someone had written whore on it. Someone had just called me a whore.
I was angry. So angry that I saw red.
Several students stopped, whispered, and laughed at the picture. The same students who had called my name and complimented me on my clothes when I walked in this morning.
Vultures. The second they smelled blood in the water, they turned on me.
My body felt hot with rage. My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for the culprit.
“Who did this?” I whispered.
I wanted to punch something. I wanted to punch someone.
“Who did this?” I demanded again.
More students approached, laughed, and pointed at me, sending my rage into orbit.
“Who?!”
Cole appeared by my side, ripping the pictures down, tearing them to shreds, and scowling at the laughing kids.
They quickly moved along.
My heart was racing, my breathing quick, my hands formed into claws.
I wanted to scream at something. I wanted to yell and cry out. I wanted justice.
Cole put his hand on the small of my back, and bent down to whisper in my ear.
“It’s okay. Just breathe.”
A small bit of my anger seeped out of me, but not enough. I felt like it would never be enough.
“Oh my God, Bella. Are you okay?”
Regina approached me, her hand over her heart, her pink lips turned down into a worried frown.
She resembled Cole, with her jet-black hair and blue eyes, but her personality held the meanness and domineering that I’d recently seen in Jake.
I was immediately on high alert.
“I can’t believe that someone would deface your locker like that. I’m so sorry.”
“What do you want, Regina?”
“Just to show solidarity to my brother’s girlfriend.” She pulled me in to a tight hug, and held it for a moment before letting go and taking my hands. “I know that we’ve had our differences in the past, but I want you to know I’m here for you. I’ve realized the error of my ways. You are a good girl. Not like that tramp, Dana. I can’t believe she would do this to you.”
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.
“How do you know that Dana did this?” I asked.
Regina nodded. “Don’t forget, Dana and I tend to run in the same circles. She’s practically on a one-woman crusade against you and Jake. Yesterday at The Center, she was going on and on about organizing something big on social media. I guess this was her plan.” Regina looked at the papers scattered around my feet. “If there is anything that you need, anything at all, please let me know.”
I shouldn’t have believed her, but she sounded so genuine. Maybe she had turned over a new leaf.
“Why are you being nice to me?” I asked.
“Yeah, Regina,” Cole interjected. “Why are you being nice to her?”
Regina looked hurt at our accusation. “Can’t a girl change for the better? Bella is a good girl, and, no matter what happened in our past, she doesn’t deserve this.” She squeezed my hands. “I suggest that you march over to that brother of mine and let him know that he needs to get Dana in check, pronto.”
Though I didn’t completely trust Regina—after all she had threatened me twice this week—I couldn’t fault her logic. Dana was responsible for this. She had to be. And, with Dana being Jake’s ex-girlfriend, he should be the one to tell her to lay off me.
I was going to put a stop to it, once and for all.
I threw my bag in my locker, and marched down the hall to where Jake waited for me. I somehow knew that Regina and Cole were hot on my heels, but I didn’t stop or turn around.
When Jake saw me, he gave me a big smile.
“Hey, babe,” he said.
“Don’t babe me!” I cried out.
I knew that he wasn’t the one who put the mean things on my Facebook wall or who put the picture on my locker, but somehow, it still felt like he was responsible.
He frowned at me, and stepped forward.
“What’s the matter?”
“You know what’s the matter. Someone put horrible things on my Facebook wall and on my locker this morning, and I want you to put a stop to it.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You.”
He looked incensed that I would even ask him to step in and defend me. Well, if he wanted my help, he was going to have to work for it.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“What are you supposed to do? Stop her.”
“Her who?”
“Dana. She’s behind this. She’s behind all of it.”
“Dana? Why would she-”
“Don’t be stupid. You know why!”
He frowned, and I could tell that he was warring within himself.
“Look,” he said, shoving his hands in to his pockets. “I-”
“Just fix it, or I’m gone.” I whipped around, and stomped away.
“Don’t forget why you’re here,” he shot back.
And just like that, any confidence I had that Jake was going to do the right thing was gone. I stared at him, good and hard. In that moment, I hated him. I hated him for putting me in this situation. I hated him for manipulating me at every turn. I hated everything about him. And I hated myself for letting him do this to me.
I was so angry and frustrated that my throat choked up. God. I hated that. Why did I cry when I got too emotional? It made me feel weak and stupid. I wiped my nose and walked away, forgetting about our good morning kiss on the cheek and hug. I didn’t have to look behind me to know that Dana was somewhere, listening, with a smile on her face.