Sluts and Bad Boys

18: Fears and Tears

To fair competitions and hopes for many racing hearts.

TheWattys

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I felt the sudden shift in things more than anything. People who wouldn't make eye contact with me out of fear, now stared at me and giggled amongst their friends.

I felt my authority wavering and was just thinking about how to fix all this, when I caught sight of Lottie and the others.

Raising my head high, I walked towards the group and put a hand on Lottie's shoulder when I reached her. "Bìtch, you never replied to my text. What was that all about?"

She glanced over her shoulder at me before slowly turning around. I expected a quick retort from her but when she didn't deliver that, I grew even more uneasy. She wasn't looking at me directly either.

Before I could say anything else, Tasha whipped her hair back as she flashed me a big smile. "Well, hello. Look who it is."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that so Tasha continued. "So tell me, Megan Wilson," she said, putting emphasis on my full name, "how is it that even after knowing you for three years, you've managed to keep your true form hidden from us?"

"My true form?"

"Yeah, you know the one where you actually work to keep a roof above your poor family's head. I heard that your mother's a whōre too and she makes money off of that as well."

Something in me snapped and I was struggling to keep my cool. "Yeah, of course you heard something like that, Tasha since you are one yourself."

She didn't even blink as her smile widened and the knot in my stomach tightened. This is what I'd been afraid of.

"I have to admit that I'm still a bit surprised as to how you got the job. You probably owe some special favors to your manager."

"I'm warning you," I said, raising a threatening finger at her. "You'll be sorry."

She stuck her chin out. "Oh no, Megan, you'll be the sorry one. You've been the abuser for too long, lets see how well you handle the abuse."

With that, she strutted past me and Addy and the twins followed. The only person who was still standing with me was Lottie and she had her head down the whole time. I was touched that she hadn't abandoned me, at least not yet.

"It's gonna get bad for you," she mumbled.

I sighed out loud. "Yeah, well, try me. I can handle bad."

She was quiet for a while before I asked her. "Who was it, Lottie? Who saw me and leaked out the information?"

"Take a wild guess."

"The bìtch who just backstabbed and threatened me?"

"Bingo."

"She's always had some sort of a grudge against me, anyway," I shrugged, trying to come off as unruffled but Tasha's words kept ringing in my ears.

"She never backstabbed you," Lottie said, her voice close to a whisper. "She was never a friend, to begin with. No one is."

She walked away, leaving me alone.

----

If losing your regular group of so called 'friends' wasn't enough, the way other people kept ogling me and whispering whenever I was around, didn't make my day any better.

I didn't know what Tasha went around, telling everybody but apparently it was enough to get people to gossip about me for a good number of days. I was sure of one thing though. She'd been spreading rumors about me, having affairs with my superiors.

I knew that because there had been a girl who had sniggered as I had walked past and she had casually commented that I was a slūt for sleeping around with my employers.

I had turned around and recognized her from my Literature class.

"Wait, I know you," I had said, approaching her. "Your dad owns a chain of stores, right? Yeah, he must be fūcking his employees too."

I left her speechless.

She had been one of the very few people who had grown the balls to confront me directly but I knew that it wasn't going to be long before everybody got in on the fun. I wasn't a threat anymore and a lot of people had a score to settle with me so this was the perfect opportunity. I just kept hoping that I really could handle it when the time comes.

I ate alone in the cafeteria because there were no welcoming faces anywhere. Every where I went, I was the victim of hostile looks and chatter. Tasha and the others hadn't really bullied me in any way but honestly, they didn't have to. This was embarrassing enough. And I knew that Lottie was avoiding me completely. To be honest, I didn't really blame her because I understood.

Who'd want to be dragged down the social ladder with a fallen elite?

Ace saw me too a couple of times but there were no words between us because I was always quick to look away, humiliated.

In the next few days, I started applying more makeup, covering up more of myself than before. I didn't want people to see me but they had already striped me naked. I wanted to cover up, fall behind a mask.

"That is a lot of concealer, do you really need that much?" My mom asked me one day, when she saw me getting ready for school.

"Uh huh," I said, not paying much attention.

She stood there, leaning by the door and when my eyes met hers again in the mirror, she shook her head. "You're beautiful without it, honey. You don't need that."

"I do," I answered immediately and realized that my voice shook. I grabbed a red lipstick and started applying it. My fingers were shaking too and I accidentally put some lipstick over my lip. I stared at myself in the mirror, at what I'd become. I was a mess. No amount of makeup could cover that up.

I slammed the lipstick down on the dresser and with a tissue, started to wipe my face, choking down a sob. My throat was clogging up and I couldn't hide the tears in my eyes.

In the next second, my mother's arms were around me from behind.

"Sweetie," she cooed into my hair and that's all it took for me to break down. My nose twitched and I let the tears fall.

"It's okay," she whispered over and over again, not knowing what was wrong but her reassurances made me cry harder.

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