Your POV

I can't remember why I decided to watch anime.

Why fifteen year old me decided to watch anime when one of my best friends despised it is beyond my understanding. Maybe it was curiosity, because anime surely couldn't be that bad as Chanel described it to be. 

And the thing was, I was right. It wasn't bad. It wasn't bad at all. It was extremely addicting, the tropes and the story lines and character writing and how some characters seemed realer than most actors.

I admit that back then, I cared too much what people thought about me. I kept it hidden away from my image, the seemingly perfect stereotypical Elite. I was just so scared that Chanel would hate me that the fear blinded me of logic.

Our friendship was toxic, I know that. Now? It's not. If I watch anime, then I know now that people should just deal with it.

Take me as I am, or watch me as I go.

I realized this when I was panting against the ice cold stairs, the metal edges pressing harshly into my cheek. And that newfound acceptance lead me to grab the megaphone, lean over the railed edge and yell down to the entire dance floor of Claritate, Venuste, St. Catherine's and Amare.

"My name is (y/n) (l/n). I like anime. A few months ago I started watching Beyblade Burst. And as crazy as it sounds, I fell in love with Shu Kurenai as a 2D fictional character." 

Relief is all I feel when I finish. 

I'm never going to hide again.

I pause, wondering if I should add something on. But then I glance down at everyone's reactions, a blur of gaping mouths and wide eyes and I know that I don't need to add anything. It was as clear and as concise as what Caprice did, bluntly delivering secrets.

Speaking of Caprice, she raises the microphone to speak again. I can barely see her face from here, but I don't need extreme vision to know that she's smiling maniacally. "Woah. You actually did it. Though, that secret was rather anti-climatic. Wouldn't it have been more juicier if it was something like releasing a sex tape? Or bribing adults for drugs? Shame."

When I remain quiet, Caprice talks again. "But fortunately there's still one dangerous secret. And lucky for you (y/n), it isn't any one of your friends. I think you know what I'm talking about."

Caprice is right. I know exactly what she's talking about, her side eye to her close friend making it even more obvious.

My breath hitches at how far Caprice is willing to go to humiliate people just for the sake of her own entertainment. Even if those 'people' are her friends. 

"So while you're up there, posing all high and mighty, would you like to be so kind and share the secret that everyone deserves to know?"

I open my mouth to say no, but anger jumps in. Anger at Ashley, who's been a bitch to me for the past months for such a stupid reason. After all, she's the reason why all of my friends got exposed. 

My hands clench and jaw tightens. 

She is the reason and root of my problems. 

I nearly tell all, from how she lied about her wealth to stealing money.

And only now when I have something I can use against her does she pale and drops the arrogance, her lips moving as she repeats the same thing over and over again.

Please.

It's the same thing that I was thinking over and over again as I ran up all those stairs, desperate to run away from the rich and their controlling hierarchy.

"No," I finally decide. With no purpose left to serve on the rooftop, I start making my way down the stairs, this time going more slowly and keeping an eye out for the puddle of blood. 

Through the window, I see Caprice face twitch into a thunderous expression, her make-up and the lighting making her facial features more sharp and pointy than it should be. "Fine. Be as philanthropic as you want, (y/n). We all know that you're too much of a goody-two-shoes at heart.

"Some of us aren't like that, though," Caprice continues flippantly before ripping open an envelope. "Ashley Holdfar."

I marvel how Caprice can say Ashley's name so coldly, as if they weren't close friends a month ago who pulled all-nighters and skipped school just to talk to her. 

But then again, anything can happen in a month.

Now, Caprice just regards Ashley as one of my friends though the opposite is true, her tone harsh and sly like the blonde is a stranger to her.

Which is rather fitting, actually, considering how this is exactly how Ashley has been recently treating Chanel. 

But Caprice seems even more distanced than Ashley ever did, sounding disinterested as she reads Ashley's secret out.

"Ashley Holdfar has been lying about everything. Her parents are not the wealthy people you think they are. They work under (y/n) (l/n)'s parents, in a very low rank compared to them. Thus they barely get any pay. 

"Ashley lied to everyone about her status and her wealth. The only way she could afford expensive things like her birthday party was through hacking into back accounts, including the (l/n)'s."

Caprice finishes, and I stop walking to catch a glimpse out the window at the crowd's reactions. I hoped that there would be at least some kind of remorse for me as they figure out that that was the reason why Ashley was so harsh towards me.

But nobody really cares about me, instead focusing on the fact that one of the highest Elites lied to them.

"And there's more," Caprice continues. "Ashley has begun letting people who are poor like you infiltrate the Elite ranks, in hope of overrunning the wealthy."

This sparks an outrage, because after all, the rich think the best of themselves. The poor is beneath them so having not one but a few of the poor come to the higher ranks of the rich's system seemed, to most, utterly atrocious.

Hell runs loose, pure chaos as the Elites with a short temper or those who had started to get drunk start yelling at Ashley and her best friend Andrea, screaming at those two and anyone else from Claritate really, to get out of their sight.

It's even worse when I arrive at the dance floor again and by now Ashley's make-up is beyond ruined as she doesn't even try to fight back, accepting the insults of 'money whore' and 'street rat' as tears silently run down her face. 

To my surprise, Jack is with her. Both him and Hayden had the Elite Eight, Hayden currently whispering urgently to Hannah Mitchell and Jack holding Ashley's hand as he gets insulted too.

Ashley is fixated on Jack, her blue eyes interlocked with his until she sees me. Then it's like all her fight and anger as been breathed right back into her.

She storms up to me, pushing aside even Jack until we're less than a meter apart. "What was going on up there?"

Before I can answer, she yells at me wildly, "You should've everyone about my secret. Instead you let it come out from the mouth of someone who I really thought was my best friend. If you had just said it, it would've made sense. But instead you had to keep your mouth shut so Caprice was forced to say the secret!"

She's losing it.

Ashley stops for a moment, breathing heavily. "Did you think that you were doing me a favor? I don't need your pity!"

"Who said I was giving you pity?" I grit my teeth. "I was doing it for myself. I didn't want to stoop as low as you and Caprice. Believe or not, you two are on the same level."

"Woah, break it up you two," Jack comes over, pulling Ashley back. 

"Don't look at him in that way," Ashley glares at me.

I scoff. "I wasn't even-"

"Please," Ashley rolls her eyes. "We all know how you would spread your legs for anyone, even an alien. You...you whore."

"That's enough!" Jack tightens his grip on her wrist as he leads him away to some place secluded like the toilets.

Even though I know what Ashley said isn't true, it still stings and manages to prick my eyes with hot tears. I glance around, looking for my friends before realizing that they're all here. They're all here, surrounding me.

Except none of them make an effort to come up to me, tell me that Ashley's words aren't true and associate themselves with me.

Some of them, especially Layla, just look shocked and numb. Georgia and Esme are both crying silently, yet they remain apart from each other because of their current friendship state. I don't blame any of them.

But then there's those like Hannah (Hayden now gone from sight) whose eyes are only bright with anger at me. That includes Chanel.

"You didn't have to drag me into your stupid little Elite drama!" Hannah yells, as though it was my choice to read out her feelings. "I continuously bitch about how Elites are so dumb yet here I am, having feelings for one. Look at how hypocritical I seem to my friends!"

"Nobody cares about your feelings Hannah!" Chanel suddenly shouts before jabbing a manicured nail in Hannah's direction. "At least your entire family wasn't dragged into it! And (y/n)."

She glares at me sharply, throwing daggers with her acid eyes. "You had some idea what was happening tonight, didn't you?"

I swallow and choosing not to lie, I admit, "Yes. I did think that secrets were going to be exposed tonight."

"So why didn't you stop me?" Chanel screeches, on the verge of going insane. I can only stand there and watch and take all the shouts and anger directed towards me from my best friend.

Not anymore, though.

"You should've stopped me from saying it on the bus!" Chanel continues to scream, her mascara dripping down her face and lip gloss smudging. I'm dimly aware of the surrounding students pulling out their phones and whispering to each other, judging us without knowing the full story.

From the outside, I know that they see me as that whore who seduced Jack while we were both in a relationship. And Chanel just seems like a money-crazed girl, so desperate for attention that she's beginning to lose reason. 

"Chanel, calm down," I plead, willing for her to stop and listen to herself.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Chanel takes a threatening step forward towards me and though I know she can't really do anything dangerous, I still feel unsafe. I feel extremely uncomfortable, but I can't run from the situation.

My legs lock into place by an unknown force so I just have to hear her insults and bear it. But even though Chanel's screaming is getting more and more out of control by the minute, my mind wanders somewhere else.

I wish you were here, Shu.

With all my heart, I do wish that Shu is right now, besides me, holding my hand and squeezing it at the perfect times. Because nobody else is besides me right now. Nobody else bothers to come next to me and tell me reassuringly that it wasn't my fault.

Because I'm beginning to think it is.

"Why were we even best friends?" Chanel continues. "Why would I even be friends with someone like you? Such a goody-two-shoes. Such a pain in the ass. Such...such an anime freak."

Before she said that, I wasn't angry at her. At all. I didn't blame her for yelling at me when it was obvious that her emotions were blinding her mind.

But the last insult ignites something in me that too makes me begin to lose reason for anger. I was so ready to believe that my friends would accept me. I believed that we truly were friends.

And here Chanel is, letting something as stupid as TV show preferences interfere with our friendship. 

How petty. 

Even though I'm beyond mad at her right now, the disappointment and sadness is even more. So I turn on my heel and run. 

I run through students lingering around the crowd, the teachers rushing everywhere but the social center to fix the blackout, the several facilities before I reach the car park. 

Knowing Blair is still in the vicinity of St. Catherine's, I shoot her a quick text telling me to pick her up. Her phone must be buzzing nonstop and she must be in hot water with her secret being leaked.

But if there's one person beside Shu that I still have faith in, it's Blair. She had her secret revealed too, but she's more mature. At least, I hope so. Because anger can do anything to drive a person against their morals and kin.

I only have to hope that blood truly is thicker than water.

I check my phone for the time. It's exactly eight o'clock. In one hour, Shu will be on the Oculi Aircraft heading home through the endless galaxies.

In one hour, I will be by his side.

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