The Sister of Popularity

Secret Lover: Part 1

"You weren't really friends with me?!"

"Well I think you're a bitch."

"How's that Tiara?"

I rested my hands on the sides of the sink as I stared at myself in the mirror. Practicing a hate speech wasn't something that I normally did, but today I was angry. I'd been used. It's not like I hadn't ever been used before, but this was just wrong.

Tiara was still holding up her fake friend persona, but only when my mom or her dad was around. I wanted to tell my mom what was really going on, but Tiara was really good at manipulating people so it would inevitably be no use.

I looked in the mirror and said to myself, "This is the day Lauren."

I pulled a bottle of the death liquid from under the bathroom cabinet. If foundation is mostly water, then why doesn't Tiara melt when she uses it? That would solve a lot of my problems. She was a witch after all.

I started to spread the foundation across my face. I liked the way it covered all of my blemishes and insecurities.. stop it Lauren, you're not gonna fall into this dependency.

I didn't think makeup was weird, or wrong, or that everyone who wore it was trying to hide their normal features. I just didn't wanna hide the true Lauren behind something that wasn't me, but today was a day that all of this torment stopped.

I finished all of the instructions from the YouTube channel and I felt accomplished. My eyeliner wings were asymmetrical but I didn't think anyone would really notice.

I put on a dress. That wasn't something that I normally did but dresses tend to make people look more presentable. So in this case, I had to wear one. I put one on, and I looked like a dead fish. I rolled my eyes as I stared at my figure in the mirror.

I was skinny. Like bone skinny, and I hated it. It would be nice to have at least a bit of meat on my body. I sighed as I got ready to pull the dress off.

"It looks nice on you," Tiara said as she spied through the doorway.

"I mean, you don't look as bad as you normally do."

"Tiara. Have I ever told you that you were really stuck up?" I stared into the mirror as I fixed the bottom of the dress.

"I may be stuck up, but I'm pretty and everyone wants to be my friend." She smirked and fixed her perfectly curled hair as she walked down the stairs.

As much as I hated her, I couldn't deny that she was pretty. She had long, blonde hair. It was probably bleached just a little bit because nobody's natural ombré is that good looking. Her lips were like Kylie Jenner's, her eyes were a glowing light brown, and her smile was white.

I almost choked on my spit as I heard a loud noise coming from my pocket. I'd almost forgotten that I had a phone honestly. It hadn't gotten any messages or anything in a while. It was from an anonymous person.

"Meet me at the janitors closet in the library at lunch sweet cheeks," the text read.

I could've been anyone. Jackson, some other guy, or the person that I'm hoping for it to be. Ryan. I was waiting for the day that him and Reese broke up, but they seemed to be way too in love.

I picked up my book bag and left to catch the bus. My earbuds were blasting with rage. That was until Chasing Cars came on my Spotify playlist and all I could think about was Ryan. What if it really was him? But why.. why would he want me?

When the bus stopped, I hopped down the steps and looked out into the crowd around me. People were looking at me, and not because Tiara was anywhere near. I carried my bad proudly on my shoulder before heading into the halls. I couldn't help but notice Reese by her lockers. She was kissing her teeth and smirking with her arms crossed as she leaned against the blue metal. Her eyes stared into mine with a dead cold expression.

She took a few steps, and then stopped. She looked around at everyone to make sure she had a perfect crowd, because I could tell that she was planning something.

"How beautiful," she clapped slowly while walking towards me.

It was bad enough that I had to worry about Tiara. Since when did Reese hop on the public humiliation train too?

"You put on makeup, and a dress, and suddenly you think you're so perfect."

She walked towards the opposite end of the hallway before sharply turning on her heel.

"Well, you're not," she walked back to her locker and pulled it open.

It was flooded with all of our notes, pictures, lists, and everything memorable from when we were still friends.

"This is trash! Everything from when we were friends is trash! You are trash!" She shouted as her mascara filled tears ran down her face, and she ripped the last clinging piece of friendship that we'd ever had.

She put everything in a bag and walked over to the trash can. She dumped all of it out. She dumped all of what we'd been building since we were four years old and could barely speak out. Every last bit of the memories, and the love, and the late nights at sleepovers, and the goofing off in class out. I was heartbroken, but I wasn't gonna let it show.

I did something that I completely regretted after that. I walked over the the trash can, pulled out a bottle of lunch milk, and poured it all inside of the barrel.

"Now it's gone. Every last memory of what this 'friendship' was supposed to be," and then I walked away.

My palms were shaking and my head felt light. I really did that. I got another text...

"That hallway fiasco was pretty intense.. maybe I can cheer you up later sweet cheeks," the message read.

It couldn't have been Jackson or Tiara because they weren't in the hallway, but it also couldn't have been Ryan either. So who was this mysterious person?