Once Upon A Bet

/24/ Damaged goods

WARNING: once more, the chapter contains triggering topics, read at your own risk

Dedicated to MaxIsMyHero, your support is just too much <333

/Two years ago/

"So they were dating?"

"Apparently not, it was all a bet. Tucker was challenged to get in her bed."

The other girl scoffed, disgusted. "And she fell for it?"

"Don't you hear it? She threw herself at him, he literally begged him to sleep with her."

"I thought it was just bluffing..."

"Oh, no, you should have seen the tape. It was disgusting. I would be so ashamed- And haven't you heard why she's been skipping so much? Leah told me, Kelly said Daisy saw her get caught with two guys in the janitor's closet and got suspended."

I could hear their malicious whispers as I scroll through my locker. I didn't know if they thought they were being discreet or if they were purposely letting me hear all those awful things they thought about me. And they weren't the only ones. I'd been receiving glares and nasty looks ever since that stupid party over almost two weeks ago. Rumors keep spreading and they became nastier.

I dreaded coming back, but my 'flu' could only stretched for so long and aunt Laurent was leaving tonight back to England so there went my excuse once the 'disease' start running off.

I thought staying away would let it all die down on its own, but I've been told by Dalia the kind of things my missing allowed to spread. Apparently they only felt more validate to drag my remaining reputation through the ground, adding nasty details to the already awful truth and also some guys joined the little hate campaign declaring we'd also had sex. I even heard Sam Brosdel, our loved captain of the varsity lacrosse team, used my name to break up with his girlfriend.

But why me? Why did I deserve to be this outcasted?

I'd wanted to stay home some more, hating the mere thought of stepping back here, but my mother was relentless. She declared it would only make it worse and I needed to come here and prove everyone I was over this childish game of gossip and stay under the radar. Easy to say when you're a grown up, icy woman; but I could only feel my anxiety reaching new levels as I put all my will in ignoring the constant glares and name calling. I got some wolf-whistling too and this morning I was shoved on my way to AP calculus.

Everyone hated me here. I wasn't just the punchline of some humorless joke, but also a whore with 0 self esteem that threw herself to anyone who'd shown me a little attention. I might deal with the rumors, even some name-calling if you must. But what on earth triggered this hate when all I'd done was  fall in someone else trap?

As a greeting this very morning, not only I had multiple glares and indiscreet, malicious wondering; but also a note in my locker threatening to post the tape. Where? I got no clue. When? That was also unknown, but just the thought of more people knowing my shame was enough to suffocate me. I couldn't afford more hatred, more humiliations...

Somehow I'd survived the first periods to lunch break. Ever since the scandal I'd come school a couple times but always ended up calling home sick in short, unable to handle this much negative judging and attention. My mother had strictly forbidden me to chicken out today, embarrassed already by the way I was tainting the families name; so I forced my nerves and apprehension to the bottom of my stomach and made my way slowly to the canteen, head low.