"You give reason to my name."
"And you to mine."
-----
Iridessa Belle Sinclair always thought of herself as an ordinary girl. She had nothing special that would differentiate her from a group. All she had was a head of what she thought was or...
I COULDN'T SLEEP that night. No matter how much I tossed and turned in bed, desperate to find a comfortable position that will help me forget all of my worries in the world of reality, my mind refused to drift off. In my head, the scene where Jacob asked me out kept replaying in my head. It was also painfully obvious that when I thought of Jacob, there was no flutter in my chest.
He just wasn't the one that I liked no matter how much I tried to convince myself.
My phone's screen lit up, light pouring into my otherwise dark room. It was a notification sent in from the Instagram application stating that someone had just tagged me in a photo. Curious, I unlocked my phone, thumb flying over the number pad to key in my password.
When the page opened up, I realized it was a photo of me, face shoved into a burger and very much oblivious to the rest of the world. Below the picture was a simple caption, one that only added to my confusion and dilemma.
jacobegreen_: Life is always interesting with this beauty around.
The photo, even though had only been posted mere seconds ago, already had hundreds of likes. I scrolled through the comments, scanning through the words left by the army of fangirls (and boys) that Jacob had.
'Pretty!'
'Are you two official?'
'Is that Iridessa Sinclair???'
'Shameless.'
'Better than Victoria that's for sure!'
'What a skank! Hopping all over the boys in school.'
'I'd tap that.'
Every time I refreshed the page, more and more comments started to show up. It seemed as though the entire school was awake in the dead of the night, all armed and ready with their own personal opinions about me just based on a single image. The more I read them, the more disgusted I felt. It seemed as though I had just turned into a display piece in a museum, ready and available for the world to judge all of my flaws.
Unable to read it on, I moved to close the application, ready to lock my phone when a new notification came in.
jacobegreen_ commented on a photo you're tagged in.
'She is amazing and whoever says otherwise is insane.'
Unable to help myself but smile, I tapped on the notification, my own fingers flying across the screen.
dessabsinning: thanks hahaha! you're too sweet.
Suddenly feeling satisfied, I locked my phone. My eyelids had suddenly grown heavy, mind at peace even while knowing the fact that there are hundreds of people out there commenting and nitpicking at my every flaw and imperfection. The prior disgust was gone and now replaced with a fresh wave of serenity and confidence. That was because my inner mission had been completed and I could finally check the item off of my imaginary bucket list.
I was now, very obviously, popular.
---
"Iridessa!" Jacob shouted with a wave, his hand flying through the air. "Over here."
The cafeteria in school was packed to the brim, students all gathered at their tables with their friends. Unfortunately for me, my usual corner seat was a lonely spot. Apollo had, in fact, not called the previous night. When I woke up the next morning, I was only bombarded by a ton of follow notifications for Instagram but no missed call from Apollo.
Only a single message came from him and it was particularly cold, in my opinion.
'Not going to school today. Family problems. No need to take my homework.'
That left me very much alone for all my classes, and now, for lunch.
When I edged closer towards the center table where Jacob and his group of friends usually sat at, he was a face full of smiles. "Come sit with us."
"Are you sure?" I wrinkled my nose. I eyed his group of friends with caution, observing for any signs of disapproval. Of course, however, no one dared to defy the king.
"Of course. Come on." A hand on my waist, Jacob pulled me down to sit beside him. He took the tray from my hands, setting it down to the table.
When I turned around on the bench, I realized that every single one of his friends were staring, eyes wide and jaw slack.
"Well well," Felicity, complete with her long false lashes and bright pink lips, said. "Isn't that darling little Iridessa? What is she doing with you, Jake?"
"Haven't you heard?" One of her friends had her elbows propped on the table, leaning over so far that she looked like she was going to fall over. Although she was clearly speaking to Felicity, her eyes were glued on me. "Instagram was on fire yesterday. Jake posted a photo of Iridessa when they were out on a date."
"You catch news fast, Lana." Felicity smirked.
"Of course she will catch wind of this. It definitely caused an uproar," a jock laughed. He tugged at the collar of his jacket. "I heard that Victoria Snow is flipping shit because of your little stunt last night."
"Lance, it was just a photo." Jacob rolled his eyes. All too casually, he slipped an arm around my shoulders. I stiffened slightly at the contact but otherwise stayed silent.
"That's how you announced your relationship with Victoria back in the days, you know," Lance retorted. "A photo to kickstart the royal lineage of high school."
"Is that how you're announcing your new relationship?" Lana asked, pointing a finger at me then at Jacob. "To dethrone Victoria and crown your new queen?"
"Come on, guys," Jacob merely laughed it off, shaking his head. "We're trying to keep it down low."
I frowned at Jacob's words. No, we were not keeping it down low. There was nothing about us to keep down low.
My lips parted, ready to cut in and clear the air that nothing was going on between the both of us when Felicity swiftly cut in. She placed a hand on my shoulder, lips curved almost sickeningly sweet.
"I adore you guys' relationship. Welcome to the ruling clique, Iridessa Sinclair," she chirped.
Lance, on the other hand, shrugged an arm over Jacob's shoulder, pulling him off of me. Jacob's arm dropped down to his side, glaring at Lance but the latter took no notice. Instead, he grinned. "Long live the queen," he joked.
Even though his tone was light and his words were meant to be taken with a pinch of salt, I still felt my stomach lurch. I pressed my lips together, tightly shutting them. From across the cafeteria, in a corner shrouded by shadows, I could feel Victoria's gaze burning through my forehead. When I looked up to meet her line of sight, she simply shook her head with a roll of her eyes. Just like that, she turned her attention back to the tray of food she had on the table.
I didn't like that feeling one bit.
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