Masked Girls

06. ONE DOWN

Despite having memorised literally every sentence of Natalie trash-talking her clique in the video-editing process over the past few days, I, like most of my peers, opened up the video to watch it again, a look of practised faux shock forced onto my face as I soaked in the drama, or as they said on the internet, sipping the tea (tea, which I had split).

It had been a cheap shot, a reckless attempt - but it had worked.

The members of the Populars had their iPhones in hand and their widened eyes glued to the screen. The Castle twins shared a phone, their gazes frozen as the audio played out. Gillian's face had not yet betrayed any expression, yet her chestnut eyes seemed to be glowering, rage barely concealed by her last shreds of self-control. Lisa was the most expressive, her eyes widened in an almost-comical manner. Sick of being completely confused with how everyone was staring and whispering, Natalie wrenched Lisa's phone from the girl's hands and stared at it.

And her face - oh God, her face.

Gone was the dignified aura and the calm serenity befitting of a golden girl as her features morphed, revealing her horror. Lisa's phone shook in her hands as she let out a slightly crazed laugh, looking all around her at the narrowed eyes and accusing stares. "What the actual f-"

"I think I should be the one saying that," Gillian's voice was acerbic as she crossed her arms. "Attention-seeking? Desperate, huh? Excuse me, who do you think you are?"

Ooh, shit! The shots have been FIRED!

"No, Gillian, I never said that! This - this never happened, this is a fake audio! They used my voice and they - "

"Yeah, I'm not falling for that," Lisa snapped, moving to stand next to Gillian and stare down Natalie, "You know, I should've known you were a lying hypocrite since what happened with Alyssa last year. I should have never trusted you given you the benefit of the doubt!"

Surprise, hunties, I thought trust wasn't in anyone's vocabulary around here!

"No, you - " Natalie gasped, clearly being reduced into a wreck from the whispers and the violent confrontation that was occurring. Now wasn't that lovely?

For once, the queen bee we all knew was reduced to a nervous wreck and the hot topic of the rumour mill. For once, the queen was no longer the confident netball player who walked through halls with a perfect strut. For once, the queen was nothing more than a weak, powerless pawn, unable to keep a crown from slipping off her head.

The white queen, whose image had been painted in purity for the longest time, had finally been exposed for the taint of corruption within.

"Save it, Natty," Addison Castle snapped, "I'd rather you explain why you think I'm pathetic - oh, right, you can't. Because you're the only pathetic one here," she let out a laugh as she looked around. "and whoever sent this deserves a big thank you for finally exposing your fake ass!" Instantly, 'ohhh's and a variety of shocked expressions ran rampant across the faces of the Rifton Girls' High second years, frenzied by the drama serial scene unravelling before our eyes.

You're welcome, sweet children.

The dethroned queen shook her head frantically, trying to say something, anything - but there was nothing she could say, not when the masses now cursed her name.

"Well - well, fine!" Natalie finally exclaimed, her expression now crazed with anger. The almighty Natty had finally snapped as her green eyes seemed to glower in a variety of negative emotions. "You want to believe some stupid video sent by some anonymous asshole over me?! You people are the real traitors here!"

"Get off your high horse, Natalie. You ain't shit!" Gillian snapped.

"Well, neither are any of you!" Natalie screechd, "Oh, you know what? Fine, fine! Believe what you will. I don't give a fuck!"

"MISS KINGSLEY!"

Instantly, the entire cafeteria went silent as they noticed who was standing at the entrance, arms akimbo and expression furious. It was the legendary discipline mistress - Mdm Lorenzo. The blazing look on her face and the phone in her hand that matched the killer glare being shot at a paling Natalie could only mean one thing.

It meant that Natalie was, in fact, dead meat - because I'd added Lorenzo's number to the list, along with the various clique members who held a sizable amount of power. Plus, Mdm Lorenzo was basically Miss Trunchbull 2.0 who hated swearing and anything else that could possibly affect the school's big, big reputation. And trust me, she agonised over this on a daily basis.

"M-Mdm Lorenzo, I-"

Mdm Lorenzo was this near to letting out a fully animalistic snarl, "Miss Kingsley, my office. Now." Natalie's mouth dropped open in shock. The golden girl who helped win netball championships, whose mother was on the board of directors of the school being called into the office? Oh dear.

"B-but - I didn't - "

"NOW!"

And with that, the fallen queen began her walk of shame. Her head was slightly bowed as she clenched her fists tight and walked towards the entrance, where Mrs Lorenzo was waiting for her angrily. Other passing students turned to look, trying to figure out what was going on as second year students in the cafeteria whispered and shot dirty looks at the exposed faker.

Oh, what a contrast to the time when she walked with her head held high, her 'friends' around her and everyone staring in awe and admiration. And all it had taken? One video clip. One video clip to dethrone her and remove her from the chessboard. This only went to show one thing - Natalie's reign over the second-years was a fragile, weak one, never meant to last. All it had taken was one blow to shatter her tiara of glass into a billion painful shards of the harsh, cutting truth.

When Natalie was standing by Lorenzo's side, her expression greatly reminiscent of someone on the verge of a gigantic mental breakdown, the woman barked, "The rest of you, class starts in five minutes. I don't want to hear about any of you being late for class because you people were too busy gossiping with your friends."

With Lorenzo and Natalie's departure from the cafeteria, the whispers began again with a flurry. No matter how refined and upper-class these girls were, gossip was simply ingrained in our wilful teenage selves.

"Okay, I did not expect that - "

"... Serves her right, though - "

"I can't believe she said those things about Gillian and Lisa!"

"I still can't believe that just happened, dude!"

As I slowly stood up and headed to class, just like a few cliques were doing, I turned to look at the Populars, who seemed to be offering each other comforting words. Eventually, they stood up and walked off - this time without Natalie in front of them.

But even without their Alpha, the Populars remained a formidable, ever-powerful pack, their grip over the cohort still tight. With one Queen less to fear, the other pieces would now take the place of power.

With Gillian and Lisa walking ahead of the Castle twins, the battle was far from over. With two contenders out of the remaining of the Tyrannical Trio ready to fight it out for the ultimate position of Queen in this power play, it was clear that more beef was about to occur. I smirked sardonically at the situation before me and grabbed my water bottle, taking a swig to stay hydrated.

One down... but there was more to go.