A bullied girl meets the popular new student.
*****
"Still saying that you're perfectly okay?" Max whispers.
I'm surprised to hear that his voice is shaking.
"I'm going to find who did this to you."
*****
One time, I was the most popular girl in sch...
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I stare at Rory in disbelief. Did I hear her right? Did she ask me to break Max's heart?
How can I do that? I won't be able to do it. It will kill my heart. It will kill me.
"What are you talking about?" I rasp, hoping that this is all just a dream.
Rory shoots me a firm look. "You heard me. You have to break Max's heart. Or else, I would leak those pictures. You wouldn't want anybody else to see them, would you?"
My whole body is shaking, with fear as powerful as the anger burning my insides. The thought that those pictures are in Rory's hands, and that she can send them to everybody with just one click, makes me go crazy.
"Why?" I bite out. "Why are you doing this?"
Rory stares at me with a stoic expression, and I can't control my emotions anymore.
"You like Max, huh?" I ask, remembering what happened with Tyler, and the wounds in my heart torture me again. "Why? There are many other guys out there. Why do you have to choose the guys that I have feelings for?" My voice is shaking. "How could you ask me to break Max's heart?"
Rory scoffs, and the next thing she says shatters my heart. "Because I hate you."
My breath catches in my throat.
"Because I hate that you can get everything you want," she hisses, and I can hear how her voice is shaking too. "I hate how those guys fall for you so easily, while they barely throw me a glance. I hate that you're popular and adored. I hate it, and I'm so sick of being your shadow."
Her last sentence makes me taken aback. "My shadow?" My voice is barely a whisper.
Rory's eyes pierce me. They are filled with her anger toward me that she's been building up inside her heart. "I'm so sick of being known as Luna Klein's best friend. I don't want to be your shadow anymore. Why the fuck did you have to take all the spotlight for yourself?"
I'm struggling to keep standing, because what Rory just said makes my head spin even more. "What are you talking about? Rory, we used to be best friends. I thought of you as my best friend. I cared about you. I loved you. I didn't care about being in the spot--"
"I liked Tyler long before you did," Rory snaps, and I notice the unshed tears in her eyes. Angry tears. "I knew about him even before I stepped into this school. How could I not fall for Tyler Gates, the famous star quarterback of Royal Heights? He was everything I wanted. In fact, he was the reason why I chose this school. I liked him. I liked him so much."
I'm stunned. Never have I thought that Rory would reveal something like this now. "Why didn't you tell me anything about this?" I rasp. "I didn't know, Rory. I didn't know. You should have told me--"
"And then what?" Rory shouts in frustration. "So that you could laugh in your heart, knowing that he's out of my league?" She pants, starting to lose her patience.
