Prepsworth Academy

Chapter 20 - "Of course I hate her."

Lily

I'd been sitting in class, only half paying attention when the Prepsworth Emergency Group dinged. Everyone in my class grabbed their phones, some not even attempting to be subtle. I didn't bother to drag my phone out of my pocket, deciding I'd had far too much drama the previous day, and I looked around, trying to gauge everyone's reactions. Suddenly, another text dinged, and as everyone read it, cruel smirks grew across their faces as they looked between Tom and I. My breath grew shallow in my throat and I desperately hoped that what was being texted wasn't what I had told Tom earlier that morning. Even if it was, whoever was texting it had no proof. It would be fine. Still, as everyone's head lurched to the ceiling, I found myself following their gaze, my heart caught in my throat. And, as my voice crackled out over the loud speaker at almost agonising volume, I found myself gripping the desk so hard that my fingers were white. As soon as the first words came across the speaker, I knew I'd bee betrayed. My eyes searched out Tom across the classroom, but he remained still, his head hanging down and his hands clenched against the desk. As my biggest secret spilled out over the loud-speaker, Tom noticed my accusatory, hateful gaze and lifted his head, his expression pained, as though he wasn't the one who betrayed me. I glared at him, insincere sympathy was the last thing I needed.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, but he may as well not have said anything for the roar of laughter and jokes and hateful comments ripping through the classroom. I could already feel everyone's eyes upon me, and Nancy, shifted away from me, her face twisted in disgust.

"Is it true?" She asked. I wish I could have handled it better, come up with some snarky comeback, but it was all I could do not to cry as I sprinted out of the classroom, my heart pounding, and ran to an oval. There, I let the tears come, endless and painful as they spilled onto the grass. I felt raw and hurt, as though there was a gaping whole in side of me, and I struggled to draw in breaths, my cheeks burning. It wasn't that big of a deal, or shouldn't have been, but at Prepsworth, which, although wasn't a religious school, was full of people who were prejudiced and spiteful. It was almost as if we were stuck in the Eighties.

I sat down in the middle of the oval, clutching the grass with my fingers and pulling out small dandelions and flowers. After what seemed like hours, I was exhausted from crying so much, and lay back on the oval, staring the at the blue sky dotted with puffy clouds. It seemed so unfair that everything should fall apart on such a perfect day. Whilst staring at the sky, I tried to work out what had happened. Tom must've been recording me, and he must've sent it to Rose to get revenge. The only part I couldn't figure out was how they got to play the recording over the loud-speaker. As I was staring at the sky, I heard someone approaching, and I leapt to my feet, ready to face an admonishment from a teacher or a cruel joke from a student. As Elle approached, her face grim, I glared at her, pushing my hair back.

"I'm not in the mood to be lectured on my "sins"." I snapped.

"That's good, because I'm not here to do that." Elle answered breezily, sitting down on the oval and patting the ground beside her, inviting me to sit next to her. I sat down, a little cautiously, and looked at her expectantly.

"If so, what are you here for?" I asked. Elle looked nervously around the empty oval, before looking back to me.

"This sounds crazy, but I'm here to convince you to get revenge on Rose." Elle explained, looking nervous. I immediately recoiled from her.

"Get revenge? Are you crazy? What'd she ever do to you anyway?" I exclaimed.

"Nothing. I just don't want her to hurt anyone else. And It's not revenge, more like, giving her a taste of her own medicine." Elle said quickly. I narrowed my eyes.

"And this was your idea?" I asked. Elle winced, and shook her head.

"It was Jake's." I scoffed.