Hide and Secret (Wattys2015)

(23) Jill's POV

I was staring at my cell phone in amazement when Taylor walked by. I hadn't spoken to her since our big blow-up a few days ago. Had her hair gotten longer since we'd last spoken? Was it possible that she was a little taller? I couldn't be sure, but one thing I was sure of was that I needed to talk to her.

I grabbed Taylor by her thin wrist as she passed by. God, she was so skinny.

That's your fault.

I tried to block out my thoughts of guilt as I yanked Taylor closer to me. Right now I didn't care about anybody seeing us together. I had to talk to her. "Can I ask you something?"

Taylor regarded me stonily. "I don't think we're on speaking terms, are we?"

I rolled my eyes. "Cut the crap. This is important. Anyways, can't we just let bygones be bygones? We should decide what to do with the phone together."

Taylor simply raised her eyebrows. "I don't forgive you. And I'm not giving you the phone back. But I will listen to what you need to say. So go. You've got a minute."

I took a deep breath and showed Taylor the phone. "Is this real?"

The photo in question was of Serena and Theo. They were kissing on Theo's porch, where he and I had once shared many a kiss. I wasn't sure if it was real, because the sender sent it to me, and who knew what that creep was capable of? I decided to go to Taylor because if Serena had told anyone about a relationship, it would have been her. Plus, Serena couldn't have been counted on to tell the truth.

Taylor grabbed the phone, stared at the photo, and then handed the phone back to me. "It's real," she confirmed. Was there a slight smirk on her lips? Then, she added, "They've been secretly dating for a while now."

Without even waiting for my reply, Taylor walked away. I watched her retreating back as I stood still for a second.

Then, I went into a flurry of motion, hunting for Serena. That bitch was going down.

I quickly spotted her. She was alone, her books clutched in her arms as she walked down the hallway. I had the sudden childish urge to slap her books out of her hands. Instead, I settled for just storming over to her. "You bitch!" I shouted from across the hallway. Everyone turned to stare at me, but I didn't care. My eyes were set on one particular backstabbing blonde.

Serena flinched, and then made eye contact with me. Ah. So she knew I was addressing her. Quite a telling sign. "Jill?" Her voice was hoarse.

I got up close to her. We were always around the same height, so our noses nearly touched. I stuck my phone in her face, showcasing the picture of them sucking face in all of its glory. "What the hell is this?" I said quietly, lowering my voice a few decibals. I could scream and go into hysterics if I ever wanted to, but I was the scariest when I wasn't shouting. It was a known fact by everyone in the student body.

And even though Serena had been away for about a year, she still knew this too. Her tan face paled a few shades when she saw what exactly this was. "Jill... I can explain..."

"I thought we were past this," I cut her off, my voice shaking. I had to keep calm. No use making more of a scene than I already had when I screamed profanities at Serena from across the hallway.

I stared at her. She looked flushed, sheepish, dismayed. A pool of sadness was welling up in her eyes. Serena always had the bad habit of being empathetic. She got sad when other people were upset. Empathy was simply a bad habit you needed to break. Because when you were too empathetic, you were the one who ended up getting hurt.

"Look," Serena managed to choke out. "Theo and I were a thing. But we're over now." Her shoulders were raised up to her chin, and she was cringing, probably preparing for a verbal lashing.