Page 19 of Vicious Intentions
We’ve been classmates for most of my life, which means they know exactly how to hurt me.
It’s my own fault for not hiding my phone better. They’ve watched me long enough to know it’s important to me. They know the only time I ever smile at this school is when I have it in my hands. And now they’re going to use the one thing that brings me joy to hurt me.
“I said, unlock it,” Blaire repeats when I don’t jump to do her bidding immediately.
“No,” I say, as firmly as I can manage this time.
“No?” Blaire laughs softly. “Did you just say no to me?”
I square my shoulders, forcing down the panic clawing at my chest. “Give me my phone back,” I say, extending my arm, palm flat. “Please.”
Blaire grins. “You want your phone?” she says. “Then come and get it.”
Before I can stop her, she bolts out of the locker room and into the girls’ bathroom. I chase after her, heart pounding, just in time to see her drop the phone into the toilet.
“There,” she says, stepping back. “There’s your phone.”
She crosses her arms as the others crowd behind her, their own phones already in their hands, watching and waiting for me to kneel on the grimy floor and fish it out.
I don’t have time to think. I only react, lunging for the bowl and grabbing the phone, toilet water dripping from it, soaking my hands and clothes.
“Gross,” Blaire sneers. “God, you really are pathetic.”
Their laughter rings in my ears.
My hands shake as I try to dry the phone with my gym T-shirt, but it’s useless. The screen remains black. It’s dead.
Hot tears burn my eyes.
“What’s going on here?”
A voice comes from behind the girls currently filming my breakdown.
“What’s it to you, fatso?” Blaire snaps back, giggling with the others.
Like Blaire, I don’t see it coming. The slap echoes through the bathroom as the girl who just entered brings her hand across Blaire’s face.
“Ouch!” Blaire yelps, clutching her red cheek. “You can’t touch me, you orphan! Don’t you know who I am? I can get you expelled! Just wait until I tell my parents!”
“Bo-fucking-hoo,” the blonde fires back. “Go cry home to Mommy and Daddy all you want. I’ll make sure to tell Mother Superior how you were all bullying a classmate. Let’s see who gets expelled then.”
Silence crashes down on the room like a boulder.
Blaire scoffs, trying to mask her unease. “Let’s go. We got what we came for.”
“Not so fast,” the girl says. “The video. Erase it from your phones. Now.”
“What video?” Veronica coos mockingly, only for Blaire to elbow her sharply in the gut.
“You know damn well what video,” the girl snaps. “I want to see every single one of you delete it. Now. I won’t ask again.”
She raises her hand, palm flat, the threat unmistakable.
I blink through my tears as I watch them do it, one by one, each girl deleting the video they just recorded.
“Now go,” the girl says. “Before I change my mind and teach you all some manners.”
They leave in a tight cluster, heels clicking against the tiles, their laughter forced now, thin and brittle. Once they’re gone, the girl approaches me as I remain seated on the floor in one of the stalls.
