A week later...

Trinity

I sat outside of Nya's house in my car. I was starting to get annoyed with her.

She called me at least twenty minutes ago. She was screaming into the phone, telling me to quickly come to her house. I came as soon as I can. I was sitting outside for at least a few minutes now.

The way she was screaming made me think it was serious. If she came out of her house talking about, "Can we go to Chick-Fil-A?" I'll hurt her.

Finally, she came outside with a large bag. It was the one we took to the beach a few years ago. She only pulled out that bag for two reasons; we were going to the beach, or she was about to kill somebody.

The look on her face told what the reason was.

As she approached the car, I could see more of the grim look on her face. She had her phone in her hand and was typing furiously.

"Nya,"I called, "What happened?"

It was nearing 11:30 at night, and the last thing I needed was to not get any sleep. I'd been so sleep deprived, I was using today to sleep. Needless to say, that wasn't happening.

"We gotta pick up Kim,"She said as she got into the car.

"Nya?"I said again. "What is going on?"

"If I tell you, you gon turn this car back around and cry. You'll find out real soon,"She said as she buckled her seat belt. "Now hurry up. My hand itching to hurt somebody, and you don't want it to be you."

With that being said, I pulled out of her driveway. The ride to Kim's house was silent. Occasionally, I'd hear Nya's acrylics tap tap across her screen. She'd cuss under her breath, but remain silent.

As I pulled into Kim's neighborhood, I already spotted her walking down the street. I stopped the car, and she got in as fast as she could.

She had a crowbar in her hands. She looked very upset as well. At that point, I was confused as to what was going on

"What is going on?"I asked. "Tell me, or this car is not moving."

"Tell her bitch,"Nya said. "Cause if I say it, it's not gon be nice."

"Why Ima be nice about it?"Kim asked. "I told her a long time ago to leave that f-"

"What the fuck is happening?"I asked a little louder.

"Yo raggedy ass boyfriend got exposed,"Nya responded. "We on his way to beat his ass."

My face fell at those words. I looked at Nya, worried. She shook her head, knowing I'd act like this.

Kim sighed in the back seat. She knew it wasn't her place to try and console me. Nya always did that. Nya was much better at it though. At times, she can seem brutal, but she helps.

"Apparently he had a another girlfriend that goes to a school nearby. When she found out that you existed, she was talking a lot of shit. Don't worry though, Kim and I already handled that bitch. Now we on our way to handle Eli,"She said.

Tears fell from my eyes as I watched her anger grow.

"Stop fucking crying. I told you he wasn't shit. You wanted to date him because he was different. You need to be angr-"

"Girl, we about to fuck him up. If you not angry enough to do that, you can get in this backseat and cry. Nya and I will do it for you,"Kim interrupted. "You know Nya right though."

I put the car in drive, and drove as fast as I could to Eli's house. He didn't live close, but he didn't live far either.

Nya and Kim talked in the background, but I wasn't listening to their conversation. I wasn't worried about them. I was only worried about Eli. He was my main concern right now.

As we approached his apartment complex, Nya grabbed her bag. She handed me the baseball bat inside of it. Reluctantly, I took it.

This was something I'd never do. I didn't want to hurt Eli, or any of his things. I just wanted to talk to him, and that's what I planned on doing.

We talked earlier. He kept asking me if I was okay. I finally put the pieces together, and I realized he was trying to find out if I knew.

"Stay here,"I told them.

"What?"Nya and Kim asked at the same time.

"I know you not about to tell m-"

"I'm going to fucking handle this!"I shouted. "Just stay the fuck here."

I got out of the car, and walked as fast as I could to his apartment. The bat felt heavy in my hands. Once I was far away from my car, I could ditch it.

When I approached his door, I felt the tears starting to swell in my eyes again. I didn't want to believe Nya and Kim. I couldn't believe them. I loved Eli more than I loved myself. I trusted him with everything.

I knocked softly. A few seconds later, he opened the door. When he saw my face, he immediately knew what was going on.

"Eli,"I cried. "Please tell me it's not true..."

"I love you, Trinity. I really love-"

The thoughts of him loving someone else started to race in my mind. I felt myself getting heavy. The weight of the world was on my shoulders.

My perfect image was scarred at this point. Eli and I were the school's perfect couple, and now that's not true anymore.

The rumors would start eventually, and my perfect image would disintegrate with everything this relationship was.

All of the years of work I put into my image. I was perfect. No one could say otherwise. I had the perfect family, the perfect grades, the perfect life...the perfect boyfriend.

When one of those things fell apart, everything else fell apart. I would be pitied by everyone else. My perfect life was already at an end.

The more I thought, the heavier the world got. My breaths started to shorten as I looked at him.

"Trinity,"Eli said. "Are you alright?"

My chest started to get tight as I felt myself collapsing. Eli caught me in his arms.

"I know she n-"Nya started, but quickly stopped once she realized what was going on.

They came after me. They knew I couldn't handle it, but they wanted to give me the benefit of the doubt.

"What the fuck did you do?"Nya asked. "Trinity? Trinity, I need you to breathe alright?"

"I can't,"I managed to choke out.

Nya placed her hand in my hand, and that was the last thing I remembered.

***

"Thank you,"I whispered softly. "I don't know what I'd do without you guys..."

Nya gave me a soft smile as she looked at me in my bed. After my panic attack, she brought me home. She told my parents what had happened. They didn't take it too seriously.

Kim sat beside me on my bed. She ran her finger across my arm, making me feel a slight tingle.

"That was the worse one yet,"Nya respond. "I've never seen one of your panic attacks like that before."

"I didn't even know you had panic attacks,"Kim added.

"I've started having them ever since freshman year,"I said softly.

"You know....I told your parents. They said you'd be okay."

I nodded slowly, "I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine. Stop saying that, Trinity. You just had a panic attack. You have a problem, and brushing it off isn't okay,"Nya said sternly. "I wish you'd just get he-"

The door to my room opened. Mommy walked in with a bottle of water.

"I'm sorry girls, but it is a school night. I'm going to have to ask you guys to leave,"Mommy said nicely. "Do you need a ride?"

"Royal is here,"Nya responded.

She walked over to my bed, and placed her hand on top of mine. She gave me a soft smile, but I could tell it was forced.

"Don't think about it too much, alright?"

I nodded in response. I watched them leave as fast as they could.

Mommy sat on the edge of my bed. She gave me a smile, but I didn't want it. She didn't care.

"You know, you have a image to uphold?"She said to break the silence. "You could deny all of this. It wouldn't hurt you as much as it would if you broke up with him."

I stared at her as she continued to talk.

"When I was younger, your father did the same thing. He cheated on me with multiple girls, but I didn't leave. I loved him a lot, but I loved myself more. I couldn't taint my image, so we stayed together. He denied it, and I stood by his side."

"You're saying I should stay with Eli?"I asked.

"Women are strongest when they have a man to support them. I know Eli pays for your cheer. You can't break up with him, Trin. It would only hurt you."

I nodded. As much as I hated what she said, I knew it was true.

She kissed my forehead before she left out of my room. I looked over at my phone on my dresser. Eli was texting me nonstop. My social media was exploding from the drama.

At the top, something very interesting stood out. I picked up my phone to inspect it even more.

New message from Unknown
Received at 12:49 AM

You alright?