Walking into school felt like stepping into a battlefield where I was the obvious target—whispers, pointed stares, the sound of muffled laughter slicing through the air. I could feel the weight of their eyes on my back, the collective judgment in their hushed tones.
“She really thought Logan liked her.”
“She’s so desperate.”
I clutched my books tightly against my chest, my eyes scanning for an escape. Spotting the bathroom, I ducked inside, my breath hitching as I twisted the lock on a stall door behind me. My hands trembled as I willed myself to breathe, to stay calm, to not let them win.
Not here. Not now. Not where Vanessa might catch even a hint of my weakness.
Sarah was waiting for me outside the bathroom.
“How bad is it?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, though I already knew the answer.
“Worse than it should be,” she admitted. “But it’s just noise, Emma. People will move on, they always do.” She stepped closer and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
“I know what they’re saying, and I know they’re wrong. Don’t let Vanessa win. If you start hiding, if you give in to this, she’ll think she’s beaten you.”
“I don’t know if I can do this,” I confessed, the twisting knot in my stomach.
“Yes, you can. You’ve already fought her once, you can do it again.”
Her words burrowed into a part of me that desperately wanted to believe them, but the embarrassment, the loathe I feel for myself for walking straight right into Vanessa’s trap, that part of me gripped deeper.
***
Logan was in the cafeteria. He tried to catch my eye several times throughout the day, his gaze made my heart clench painfully. Each time, I avoided looking back, keeping my head down and my focus locked on my notes. I couldn’t deal with him—not yet.
Vanessa, of course, seemed to feed off the chaos. She wasn’t content to let the day pass without adding fuel to the fire.
“Maybe next time, you’ll think twice before sending such... personal messages,” Vanessa said to me as I was passing by with my tray. The deliberate pause before “personal” made my skin crawl, and the laughter that followed stabbed me even more.
“Why the hell would you do that, Vanessa?!” Logan growled, approaching us, his jaw set and his hands clenched into fists.
My chest tightening at the raw fury in his voice. Part of me wanted to leave, but something kept me rooted in place.
Vanessa, predictably, didn’t look fazed. She leaned back in her chair, her smirk firmly in place. “Oh, spare me the lecture, Logan. She’s a big girl. If she didn’t want anyone to see those messages, she shouldn’t have sent them.”
Logan leaned in, propping himself up on the desk, a sly grin spreading across his face.
“I know it. You’re jealous of Emma. You’re the one who’s scared, isn’t that right, Vanessa?”