“Y-you can’t hit me. T-too many witnesses. You’d lose your position on the team for fighting. Think it through, Stewart.”
Cleo didn’t wait around to see how things played out. She turned her back to the commotion, head bowed, silent tears sliding down her face, and slipped away through the crowd.
***
“Cho-Cho? Where you at? Are you home?”
Cleo rolled over in bed and pulled the quilt over her head. Maybe if she stayed very still Molly wouldn’t find her. A sob caught in her throat. She buried her face in the pillow as another round of body-shaking tears hit her.
“Cleo? Cleo? What’s wrong?”
The door opened, and seconds later, Molly yanked the blanket off her. A warm hand rubbed her back. “Cleo, did he hurt you? Who do I have to kill?”
Sniffing, Cleo rolled onto her side and wiped her eyes and nose with the back of her hand.
“Oh Cho-Cho.” Molly’s sad eyes were almost too much to bear. She held her arms out wide, and Cleo leaned into her, resuming her sobbing before her head hit her friend’s shoulder. “What happened?”
She couldn’t bring herself to speak, words tripped over the grief and self-loathing lodged deep in her chest. She shook her head.
“Okay. It’s all going to be okay. Whatever it is, I’m here and I’ve got you.” Molly’s warm and reassuring arms tightened around Cleo. “I brought your phone from the kitchen. It’s going crazy with notifications. Do you want it?”
She shook her head again.
“No probs.”
For a while, she cried into Molly’s shirt. When she finally came up for air, Molly tucked her hair behind her ear. “Feel better?”
Cleo shook her head. “I don’t think I have any tears left.” She sniffed.
“Will told me what happened while you were crying.” Molly waved her phone, which buzzed in her hand, and she ignored it, tucking it into her pocket. “He texted when you left school to say I should come find you, but I wasn’t sure why. He said you already looked upset before Johnny was a prick in the hallway. What happened?”
“Melissa.”
Molly pushed Cleo back by her shoulders. “Stop that fucking train right now. You’ve been crying for over an hour because of that bitch? Girl. No. Whatever the hell she said, she does not deserve your tears.”
“I feel like I’m in high school again, Mol. Fat girl being bullied. What happened to love yourself? What happened to body positivity? What happened to “it’s who you are on the inside that counts?” I can’t… I…”
Cleo smoothed her hair out of her face. “She said things in the bathroom. I always assumed Melissa gave Lincoln my number by accident, y’know, like a typo or something? Maybe our numbers were the same except for one digit? But she did it on purpose. To fuck with me. Who does that to another person?”
Her voice was laced with an edge of hysteria, and tears threatened to fall again. “There was no guarantee he’d text, so I guess she deliberately left her bra there so he’d make contact? I dunno what the hell she was thinking, but she thought it would be a riot if Linc had to message me. She said the same thing out loud that I’ve been saying since I found out who he is.”
“Don’t say it. It’s not true, Cho-Cho. It is not true.”
“Girls like me, don’t date guys like him, Mol. Itistrue.”
“It’s not true. Cleo, he’s mad about you. It’s clear for anyone to see.”
Cleo pinched her lips between her teeth and shook her head. “And as soon as I composed myself enough to leave the bathroom, Johnny was there being his piece of shit asshole self.”
“We both know Johnny is a proven dickwad who doesn’t deserve to take up space in your brain, your heart, your life, or most of this planet. There’s a special place in hell for dicks like him.”
Molly’s phone buzzed again. “Girl, people are worried about you. Can one of us at least reply and tell everyone you’re alive?”
Cleo scooted back from Molly and picked up her phone from the bedside table. Linc had tried to call her four times and had sent six texts.
Lincoln: I just saw Russ. Where are you?
Lincoln: Cleo?
