Never In A Million Years

Chapter Nine

"Lili! It's great seeing you back here!" Shelby says in an unnaturally pleased voice. I look at her in confusion as I place my books on my desk.

"What do you want?" I ask slowly.

"I wanted to congratulate you," she smiles brightly, her eyes holding an evil glint.

"Yeah, right." I roll my eyes and sit in my chair.

"No, really. I wanted to congratulate you for becoming so popular so fast! I mean, not everyone gets spread on media so quickly. It's quite a success." She's caught the attention of most of the class now.

"Shut up, Shelby," I say cautiously, my eyes narrowing.

"Why? You're embarrassed?" She asks, giving a very believable sad face.
Sarcasm.

Instead of getting into a fight with her right before class starts, I decide to ignore her and sit down, my hair falling from behind my ears to offer some sort of shield from her face.

"She's embarrassed!" Shelby laughs. "Look at her, bright red."

Some members of the class are now laughing as well.

"Why don't you sing us a few verses, Lili? You know what, why don't you cry a little and smear your makeup so we can recreate the video in person! Entertainment for the whole class!"

Almost everyone is laughing and staring at me know and I feel so overwhelmed by embarrassment and I just want to be anywhere but here.

"Get your cameras ready, I think I see some tears!" She howls with laughter. "Lili, tell me, what's it like to have no friends? What's it feel like to be betrayed? I saw what Brendan posted. I saw what Drew commented. I would cry if I were you. I would cry knowing how they actually feel about me. I guess your fake friends didn't last anyways, so you can lay off."

"What did Drew comment?" I ask, suddenly sparked with curiosity.

"Listen to this. He said, 'I can't believe we actually hung out with that loser. You think she bought into our little charade to totally make a fool of her? I think we surprised the little nerd alright. Hah!'" She says, looking down at her phone screen. She shrugs a little and gives me a look I might mistake for pity if I knew it were someone else.

I stand up quickly, and stumble towards her to grab her phone. Sure enough, it's there written under his name. I feel shock at first. Undeniable betrayal. I feel hurt. I feel abandoned by the only real friends I thought I had.

I look down to avoid eye contact, grab my backpack and rush towards the door. I pull it open and hurry out the door.

I hit someone on the way out, but keep moving anyways, not wanting anyone to see the tears streaming down my face.

"Lili?"

I keep moving away from the room, faster now. I hear hurries footsteps following me.

"Lili!"

If they want me to be pushed over the edge I already am leaning over, nows the chance. If they want me tormented more, this is their opportunity.

I should have known.

I should have listened to Caleb.

I turn down a new hallway and pull open the door to the bathroom.

It seems to be empty, so I shut myself in the last stall, slide down the wall, and cry into my folded arms over my knees.

"Lili, please," the voice is outside the bathroom.

I don't want to look at you. Go away. Leave. Don't come back. Let me be alone.