She is not bad

Chapter 62 : Revenge

The atmosphere during the meal was morose. The group of friends was at their usual table with their trays in front of them. None of them was talking. They were still shocked by the situation. Bev was still furious. They didn't give a chance to Jane to defend herself. All this story was unfair. But she was glad to see this story was touching her friends as much as her. Well, some of them. There were still some tensions between them, especially with Mike and Will who have doubted about Jane's innocence. The redhead rolled her eyes when she saw Gary joining them. The boy kissed Max's temple before sitting next to her.

- "Damn, did someone die?" Gary asked with a joking tone.

- "Jane is in prison, in case you missed it!" Bev angrily answered.

- "I know, but she is a rapist, right? I won't be sad for a rapist."

- "She is not a rapist!"

- "They even condemned her for Derek, it doesn't make sense! She was gone before it happened!" Gabrielle added.

- "Maybe she did it, who knows! Nobody saw her leave," Gary stated.

- "It doesn't matter anyway..." Clara intervened with a sad tone. "She'll stay in prison for fifteen years. We won't see her again..."

- "You all really think she is innocent? After all the proofs we saw?"

- "You mean, all the fake proofs we saw!" Bev said. "And nobody asked your opinion, dummy!"

- "Well, I'm glad Jane is not here anymore! She had a bad influence on you!"

- "She opened my eyes on you. I'm done here. See you."

The redhead grabbed her bag and left the cafeteria to take some air as quick as possible. Gary shook her head and made a movement with his hand next to his head to tell she was crazy, which didn't please the others. The boy turned to Max who was staring into space and waved his hand in front of her eyes, catching her attention.

- "You're here?"

- "Uh, yeah," she weakly said.

- "Don't tell me you miss Jane too!? She bullied you, don't forget that!"

- "She did, yeah...But she became my friend too."

- "Well, let's say she is skipping class! It wouldn't be the first time!" Gary joked.

- "She is in prison, Gary. Nothing about that is funny. You don't know what they are doing to her."

- "Probably something she deserves."

- "If you have nothing better to say, you can leave."

- "What? She raped seven girls and assaulted Derek for nothing! She is a monster!"

- "She didn't do anything!"

- "Are you sure?"

- "I...I don't know, but I know Jane. I'm sure she didn't do anything. And Alban is so twisted that he could have invented the entire story just to get rid of her!" Max stated with an upset tone.

Gary didn't insist. He rolled his eyes and sighed of annoyance. It had been complicated between Max and him lately. The redhead was always avoiding him or blaming him for everything, even when he didn't do anything. He could tell she wasn't okay, but it was driving him crazy that she was more worried about Jane than him. He was her boyfriend, and Jane was just a creepy junkie in prison for rape. It was a topsy-turvy world!

Max preferred leaving the table, wanting to be alone. Gary looked at her going away before dropping his arms and grumbling. He stopped when he met Gabrielle's angry eyes on him.

- "What!?" he snapped.

- "Nothing. Your girlfriend is depressed by Jane's absence, and the only thing you find to cheer her up is to insult her friend!? You're a fucking idiot."

- "Yeah, I get that! You're all mad at me because I've already known that Jane was not a sane person! But none of you want to accept that! This is not my fault if she brainwashed you!"

- "Maybe we should stop talking about her. It just creates useless tensions," Mike intervened.

- "Or maybe we should just stop talking together. You chose your side, and I chose mine. I guess we've nothing to say to each other anymore."

Gabrielle took her tray and went to another table. Lucas, not wanting to let her alone and wanting to support her, did the same thing and sat next to her. While the group of friends was separating, Max was in the girls bathroom, hiding in a toilet. She was sitting in the lid of the toilet, her legs crossed, looking at her phone. She was scrolling all the pictures of Jane she took when they were "together" this summer. As she was watching them, she was feeling her heart breaking and the tears coming to her eyes. She stopped fighting and let go her tears, holding tight her phone against her like if she was hugging the brunette. But the door of the girls bathroom opening made her start. She quickly wiped her eyes and took deep breathing to calm down. There was only one person who was grumbling and repeating "shit" and "fuck". The redhead recognized her voice and decided to join her.

- "Bev? What happened?" Max frowned, seeing Bev above the sink with blood running from her nose.

- "I tried to punch Alexandra!" Bev angrily answered.

- "What? Why?"

- "Because Jane is in prison because of her!"

Max felt a pinch in her heart. She grabbed some toilet papers and placed it under Bev's nose to press it. Bev turned to Max and noticed her red puffy eyes. She frowned, but Max looked away, knowing she understood she cried. When the blood stop running, Max took Bev to the nurse office. Joyce was sitting at her desk when they entered.

- "Bev! What happened?" the woman asked with a concerned tone. "Come here."

Joyce took Bev to the bed and began to check her nose while Max went to the sink to wash her hands. The woman placed some ice on Bev's nose and looked at the two redheads who were both lost in their thoughts.

- "Are you gonna tell me what happened?" Joyce asked softly.

- "I wanted to avenge Jane..." Bev sniffed. "But Alban punched me before I could reach her..."

- "Oh, sweetie...Why did you do that?"

- "Because they look so proud of them that it made me boil! I...she saved me, and I didn't do anything for her..."

- "Bev, you became her friend, it helped her more than you think."

- "But she still finished in prison...And I didn't even have the opportunity to help her..." Bev cried.

- "This is not your fault. This trial wasn't fair at all. It was...a big joke," Joyce said with an upset tone.

- "You think she is innocent too?"

- "Yes. Jane doesn't have the profile of a rapist."

- "Thank you..."

Joyce placed a bandage on Bev's nose and warmly smiled to her, trying to cheer her up. The redhead had a weak smile, but she was still feeling sad. Max stayed in a corner, not wanting her pain to interfere with Bev's. Max was still on her phone, choosing a new wallpaper for her screen in the amounts of pictures of Jane. She loved all of them, Jane seemed so happy in them. And Max was happy too. She was feeling so stupid for not taking the opportunity to date her when it was possible.