Victoria

Bursting through the entrance of my house, I let out an ear-splitting screech that disrupted the peace and quiet of my humble abode.

Startled, Olga clumsily stumbled into the room and stood before me, hasty to get to my aid. "M-Ms. Deloris!" She stammered. "How was your day today, why are you screaming, can I assist you in any way?" She hesitantly skimmed my shoulder in an attempt to calm me down.

Now, a normal human being would probably take a deep breath, calm down and explain why they were upset but instead, me being me of course, scraped Olga's chubby little fingers off my shoulder and spat "Get away from me you ugly, fat cow!"

I didn't stop to look at her face when I stormed up the stairs.

I swung my bedroom door open with all my strength, the knob making an extremely loud thud when it collided with the wall (I'm sure I had made a hole but I wasn't worried; father would pay to get it fixed if I asked nice enough and my room did need a makeover anyway), kicked my shoes off my feet aggressively, flopped onto my bed and sobbed into my pillow.

"It's not fair," I repeated incoherently to myself over and over again, my body trembling as my wails rumbled through my throat and escaped my parted lips.

Today had to have been the worst day of my life. Worse than that time when I got a pimple the size of a penny on the tip of my nose right before graduation. Worse than when I broke my leg in 7th grade and couldn't play soccer for 6 months.

Maybe even worse than the first time my parents had to go away without me at the young and innocent age of six years old.

Memories of multiple tears being shed and me begging them to stay filled my head but our of habit, I dismissed them, accidentally making room for the current thoughts that were circling around in my brain. 

Immediately, I regretted it and prayed for those previous thoughts, though they were just as bad, to return but it was too late. My mind couldn't stop replaying the horrible cafeteria scene over and over again in my head.

"It gives me a better reason to break up with you."

"What if I don't need you anymore?"

"I want to date Cassandra."

Sitting up in my bed, I yanked my pillow from underneath me and screamed into it with all my being.

"Better reason to break up with you."

I pressed the pillow into my skull and against my ears hard, attempting to drown out my thoughts. It didn't work. I could still hear them clearer than ever.

"I don't need you anymore."

That was about enough I could take at the moment. Balling up the soft bag of cotton and feather in my hand, I hurled it as hard as I could at my cotton candy pink wall. It dropped to the floor with a soundless plop, which angered me even more.

I wanted, no- needed to punch something, anything that would help me get rid of these terrible, horrid emotions.

They were feelings I had never really felt in-depth before.

Betrayal.

Anger.

Hurt.

Jealousy.

But most importantly, Sadness. A type of sadness that felt like you were just ripped to pieces by everyone you thought you knew. The type that felt like you're entire world had just come tumbling down and that there was no way the sun would ever shine again. The kind of sad that made you want to crawl back into bed and never come back out again.

Humiliation danced circles around my head and I buried it (my head not my humiliation though I wish I could do that with it) in the palm of my hands shaking my head, disappointed in myself and crying even harder.

 I didn't know it was possible for me to go from the most popular girl in school to someone everyone hated, in less than a day.

Then a terrifying idea popped into my head. 'Unless they all hated you in the first place.' My lips began trembling and I was in tears once again.

Andrew left me when I needed him. He should've defended me instead of turning everyone against me. I thought he loved me. Did all our late night calls mean nothing to him? All the moments we shared, all the memories we made? Was it all fake? Was the entire foundation of our relationship, built on a lie?

I was sniffling uncontrollably and wiping the snot dripping from my nose with my arm when my ringtone went off. Picking my phone up, I checked the caller ID and it read 'Kennedy' with an assortment of hearts following after it. I felt the corners of my lips tug up into what could've been, but didn't quite meet the standards of, a smile.

It was actually perfect, her calling me and I felt relief wash away a portion of my negative emotions. I was positive that my closest and longest friend wouldn't abandon me like everyone else did. I was sure she would help me sort out this mess I never asked to be caught up in.

I answered the call but before she could even speak, I began talking a mile a minute.

"Omg-Kennedy-I'm-so-happy-you-called-I've-been-having-the-worst-day-ever-Andrew-broke-up-with-me-everyone's-against-me-and-"

My... passionate rant was cut short when Kennedy interrupted me with a sharp: "Shut up Victoria."

Taken aback, I squeezed out a small nervous chuckle and asked hesitantly, "What?" While twisting my fingers anxiously.

She kept her tone blunt and serious. "You heard me. I said shut up."

"But I-" I started again, still bewildered until Kennedy interposed yet again with her own question.

"Why'd you do it, huh V? Why? I really need you to give me some answers right now because if not..." her voice trailed off and I bit the inside of my cheek, frowning and felt my heart rate double its speed, but not in a good way.

Kennedy was the most down to earth, calm and collected person I knew. She was always just so... perfect and I admired her in every way. While I had to diet to keep my perfect figure and work out a lot to stay fit, she could eat 15 burgers all at once and not gain a pound. Or while I had to cake on layer upon layer of makeup to hide all my imperfections, she never had a single blemish on her face and could go out into the world makeup free and still look flawless. So being able to hear the frustration and annoyance seething out of her voice? It just really threw me off.

"If you want answers," I began slowly. "Then you'll have to elaborate because I'm lost here." I even threw in a tiny laugh to try and liven the mood but it ended up sounding awkward and lame.

There was a long pause until I heard Kennedy breathe out a hearty sigh over the phone.

"There's this video going around with you and Andrew having some huge argument in the cafeteria and..."

Now it was my turn to interject.

"What?!?" I sputtered, a fresh new swell of rage rising in me like an angry tidal wave crashing into a roaring sea.

"Yeah it's all over Instagram; you sound surprised didn't you see it?"

"I'm checking my Insta right now." I pulled the app up on my phone and sure enough, there the video was in all its tea-filled glory, reposted on almost everyone's account.

My face flushed what I was sure was a bright red and I just scoffed, at a loss for words.

Then I began whining again. "See Kenny they're all being so mean! They're bullying me!" I even whimpered a little to make it seem more believable.

She didn't fall for it though.

"Oh, be quiet I know you're faking."

'Dang, I really thought it would work!' I thought to myself, a bit disappointed.

Crossing my arms I grumbled, "I don't understand why you're being so mean to me today when I didn't even do anything. I mean, where's a supporting friend when I need one?"

I think I might've set her off then because she started screaming things through the phone things like, "You didn't do anything?!? How about kissing my boyfriend behind my back??? That's certainly doing something in my mind."

I froze as the memories from that day flashed through my brain. It all came back a bit hazy but mostly, I remembered little bits and pieces of that day strung together on an imaginary string and tucked away in my head. Or, to put it simply, I only remembered the key moments.

I fiddled with my nails as a distraction and mumbled "Oh."

"Oh? That's all you have to say for yourself?" Kennedy's tone softened a tiny bit and sounded more disappointed than angry now.

I was silent for a few seconds before I finally spoke. "Sorry, I guess..." I muttered again. Apologizing to people was always difficult for me. It made me feel weak and helpless so I never did it, even when an apology was due on my end.

I knew Kennedy knew this which is probably why she didn't go off at me again and instead inhaled sharply and asked, "At least answer me this: Why'd you do it?"

Staring down at my dark pink duvet, I realized no answer would be a good enough one so instead, I dumbly said, "'cause I was drunk."

"And?" Kennedy shot back. "So? That's not an excuse."

"I know," I whispered.

A heavy silence lingered above us for a few moments until she cleared her throat and concluded, "Well I've heard enough; I should really call Hunter now and sort things out with him."

I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Um... ok. But are we still friends?" I asked hopefully. I desperately needed her to answer yes. I don't think I could handle two of the most important people in my life leaving me the same day.

Silence ensued and I could literally feel my heart shatter into a billion pieces.

"I think our friendship needs to take a break from a while, ok?" I stayed quiet.

When she didn't hear a response, Kennedy sighed and finished with, "Goodbye, Victoria." And I heard the line go dead.

Still in shock, I stared at my blank phone screen for some time before finally putting it down.

Suddenly, my vision went blurry and I could feel the warm tears racing down the side of my cheek again; except this time there were no screams, cries, whines or whimpers to follow after it. Just the sound of my soft, ragged and uneven breathing.

As if I wasn't in control of my own body anymore, my legs led me to my vanity mirror and I surveilled my reflection.

My mascara tears had stained my face leaving trails of crusty black goop around my eyes and more.

My hair, instead of being it's usually silky smooth curls, was now a frizzy, greasy mess. Strands were flying everywhere and it looked terrible.

I looked like garbage.

I felt like garbage.

My life had turned into garbage.

So not knowing what else I could really do about it, I fell to the floor in a dishevelled heap and cried gut-wrenching sobs that rippled through my chest. My shoulders sagged with defeat as I covered my face with trembling fingers.

There has to be a reason for all my misfortune. There must've been something that I was missing.

And with some deep and intense thinking, I came to a stark realization. All of this bad luck wasn't at all my fault. There was only one person who could be blamed for all this chaos.

Cassandra.

Just thinking about it as it all clicked together, I could practically feel my blood boiling in my veins. I told her to stay away from my boyfriend that day in the bathroom. I told her something bad would happen if she didn't listen. But here we were. Me being alone and her stealing and manipulating my ex-boyfriend into liking her. But actions have consequences. And I was about to take revenge.

Turning on my phone, I aggressively slammed my fingers against its keyboard as the clicking noise of the keys echoed throughout my room.

When I had finished typing, my finger hovered over the 'post' button, hesitating as I really took in the gravity of the situation and the impact it would have on everyone.

My lips tightened into a thin line.

I had made up my mind.

Quickly, I hit 'post' and shut off my phone, placing it down on the ground in front of me.

For the first time all day a smile emerged from my lips, so wide it stretched from ear to ear. After tonight, my perfect plan would've been put to action and I'd get the privilege of watching the pandemonium I had created unfold without having to lift a single finger.

Just then, I heard an apprehensive knock on my bedroom door.

"Um, come in!" I called to whoever was out there and Olga opened it, poking her head in and saying "After all your screaming, I heard it get quiet and I wanted to make sure your ok, Ms, Deloris?" She looked on edge like she was afraid I would scream at her again.

But instead of doing that, I gave her my most sweet and angelic smile and hummed, "Oh no, I'm perfectly fine now Olga!"

"I've never felt better."