Ugly Secrets, Pretty Lies

Seventeen

~ Harper's POV ~

The assembly's starting and I hid in between the curtains of the stage, holding my video recorder in one hand. I watch the crowds of students taking their seats and notice a few things - all the popular kids took over the entire front half seats of the center, the dorks and nerds sat on the top left side, the acquaintances of the populars sat on the bottom right side, and the rest of the senior students sat in whatever empty seats there were. I had a perfect view of the entire senior population and I'm right next to the stage. Perfect. 

Mr. Candelerio walks up to the stage. The large roll-up-and-down screen rolls down. The principal clears his throat, adjusts the mike, and starts speaking.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. First off, thank you for coming although I know you'll probably be wanting to do other things." He winks at us. A few students laugh and Mr. C smiles appreciatively. 

He continues to speak. "First of all, I'm pretty sure you know about senior trip we will be having during spring break. The entire trip costs a thousand dollars and I know some of you can't afford the trip, so we will be having a fundraiser to raise money. We'll be watching a slideshow now for ideas on what fundraiser we want to do." Mr. C waves a hand at the back. Then the screen brightens up and words appear. All of a sudden, the tape that Lily had gotten from her cousin started playing. I turned the video recorder on, raised it up, and started recording. 

I saw Kelly sitting in the center of the front row, a horrified expression on her face. I focus the recorder on her for a while and then turned it to the screen.

"Please, Henry! Please don't break up with me!" the Kelly on screen pleads, her hand clapped together. Tears roll down her cheeks.

Lily's cousin, Henry, only smirks. "You actually thought I had feelings for you, Kelly? It was all a prank, a dare to date you."

On-screen Kelly gasps, now sobbing. "So it was all a dare?" she says quietly, trying to control her tears.

Henry smiles slightly and spreads his arms. "I never liked you, Kelly. You're a selfish bitch and a slut, got that?"

On-screen Kelly's lip quivered. "No, no, no," she mutters, dropping to her knees. "I-I thought you actually l-l-liked me!"

The entire auditorium was in chaos. Everyone was talking, laughing, and pointing at the screen. Kelly was in the midst of it all. I turned the recorder back to the seats. I captured the scene when someone stood up and threw something toward Kelly. It hit her right in the back of her head and Kelly stood up in her seat and whirled around. Her eyes were wide with panic and embarrassment. The tape played on. Everyone was still laughing.

"The slut gets dump!" someone yells out. 

"That rhymes!" another person shouts.

The teachers scrambled around in a hurry, trying to restore everything. I saw the tech teacher frantically typing and clicking on the laptop that connects to the slide screen. I focus the recorder on her for a quick while before turning back to the students, who continued to shout and laugh, then the screen.

"Henry, please don't do this to me," on-screen Kelly begs.

Henry scoffs. "I told you, I never had feelings for you. Not. At. All. Everything was just a joke. Each so-called 'date' was ever an actual date. You may have fun, but everything was so boring. You're boring."

On-screen Kelly trembles. Her body shook slightly. She grabs Henry's shoulders. Henry's eyes fill with disgust and he shoves her away from him.

"Don't touch me, slut. Now I'm breaking up with you. Not that we were actually together in the first place." Henry steps back a little and leaned against the tree behind him, his arms now folded. "Why are you still here, Kelly?"

On-screen Kelly drops her arms. She wipes her tears away quickly and turns away. Without turning back, she says, "I will never ever forgive you, Henry."

"Don't expect you to," Henry says.

On-screen Kelly quickly walks away.

The tape then ends. I lingered on the blank screen for a moment, then turned to the crowd. I smirked. Lola had done more than just a good job. She did a brilliant job. The tech teacher hadn't manage to get rid of the tape before it ends and if she couldn't, no one could. Kelly buried her face in her arms, but not before I could capture her deep red face tears threatening to fall. And Blake did nothing to help her, even though he was her 'boyfriend'.

Suddenly, Kelly screamed loudly and sprang up. She quickly hurried out of the auditorium. She was sobbing, her face still buried in her hands. I focus the recorder on her the rest of the way. A few seconds after she had left, I pressed the stop button, saved the tape, then turned the recorder off. I nearly jumped with joy as I leapt up, look around to make sure no one's there, thens curried to the back door, pushed it open and hurried up the steps. I burst out into the lighted hallway and dashed out the entrance doors. The cold air hit me like a truck and I staggered back a few steps. I took several deep breaths, then tucked the recorder in my pocket, then hurried to Kelly's mansion to find Lily and Quinn.

As I ran, I grinned. Oh boy, oh boy!