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Attested to by multiple students?
The rumors.
Aliyah was saying how everyone was talking about how Anna snapped at Kaitlyn for no reason the other day. The rumor mill works fast, and in this case, against us.
Annalisa’s nostrils flare, and her eyes are doing nothing to hide her outrage. “I am not lying! You and your daughter are both giant fucking cu—”
“Anna!” I interrupt, stepping forward to grab her arm. “We’ll fix this, don’t make it worse,” I whisper to her.
How? I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure calling the principal and her daughter the C-word isn’t going to make anything better.
“Fine,” she says, straightening her black sweater and composing herself. “I’m going. Can you guys get my stuff in my locker for me?”
Aiden and I tell her we will.
“Great. I’ll see you guys after.” She turns to Principal Anderson and shoots her a sinister smile. “I don’t need the escort off of school property, I’m leaving. Fuck you, and have a nice day.”
With that, she pivots on her heel and struts down the hall, the officers following her anyway, her head held high despite the stares and murmurs about her following in her brother’s footsteps.
Aiden and I stand there staring after her, trying to process everything we’ve just learned.
Principal Anderson tugs on the sleeves of her blazer. “Get to class, Mr. Parker,” she directs at both of us, I’m assuming leaving me out since she probably doesn’t remember my name, and then she turns to leave.
News about Annalisa’s expulsion spreads fast. Aiden and I barely get to calculus before we get texts from our friends about what happened. Some people are even brave enough to come right up to Aiden and ask him before scurrying away in fear from the warning look he shoots them.
By the time lunch period rolls around, it’s all anyone is talking about. The usually calm and levelheaded Julian had to walk out of school in the middle of third period to stop himself from punching a kid in the face.
I haven’t seen Kaitlyn yet, but I’m sure she’s lapping up the attention. No one’s stopped to wonder whether Kaitlyn is full of shit or not. Hell, even I thought Annalisa did it for a second there. It’s only when I’m walking to class after lunch that I run into Kaitlyn. I skip all the preamble and jump right to the point.
“Anna didn’t touch you. Why in the world would you say she did?”
I’m almost tempted to pull a She’s Faking It! and rip the sling off her arm and wipe the FX bruising makeup off of her face. I wouldn’t put it past her to make this up just to screw with us. But I’ve been injured enough to know that her face really is bruised, and her lip really is split.
She studies me with her piercing eyes, the bruise doing nothing to hide the animosity within them.
“What are you talking about?”
The arm in the sling isn’t in a cast, and I can see the very faintest reminiscence of a bruise in the shape of finger imprints, identical to the one currently on my wrist, even though they’re both almost completely gone.
How did I not make the connection sooner?
“Kaitlyn.” I move closer to her and lower my voice. “You and I both know Ryan’s the one who did this to you.” I gesture to my wrist to make a point. “You need to tell someon—”
She steps away from me like I threw ice water all over her.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she insists, her voice hard and final.
But I hear it. The very slight waver in her voice that tells me I’m right. Even though we’re enemies and she just got my best friend expelled, I feel for her.
“You don’t need to go through this alone,” I persist. “Ryan can’t keep hurting you—”
“You have no idea what you’re saying.” She cuts me off, then projects her voice so the people walking around us can hear. “Annalisa White did this to me! She’s psychotic. You can spin whatever lies you want but the truth is she attacked me out of nowhere and was rightly expelled for it.”
“Kaitlyn—”
“You and your friends need to leave me alone,” she sneers, leaning in threateningly toward me. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed your hair. You’re trying so hard to be me it’s pathetic.”
And with that, she spins on her heel and struts down the hallway, leaving me no room to protest.
How do you help someone who doesn’t want to be helped? Especially when that person hates you with a burning passion.
