The Halo Effect

13 | immunity

BostonSpilledTea.com

THE CANNONDALE SCHOOL - MESSAGE BOARD

NEW THREAD, 8:16 PM: MB is the perfect example of how popularity provides immunity in high school

[comments]

since when did assault only result in detention? literally anyone else would be suspended

we all know the consequences would be different if GK punched MB. the double standards are insane

GK isn't a victim...but neither is CE for what he said about her. the girl had it coming!

MB's formula for success = being a skinny blond + has rich parents + plays lacrosse [but was a bench warmer last season

how does MB's presidential boyfriend put up with her? he's definitely going to an Ivy League school and she's only in 2 AP classes as a junior, so she can't be that smart...

Kelsey, please blink fast three times if Chandler and Macallan are blackmailing you to be their friend and roommate!

^ don't use full name names, but agreed!

this is the beginning of the end for the three of them

✘ ✘ ✘

I set Kelsey's phone back onto her duvet and resisted the temptation to scream into a pillow.

The moment I returned to my dorm room in Roosevelt Hall, I knew something was wrong because the wooden floor was a minefield of shoes. Then I'd noticed that nearly every article of clothing Kelsey owned now formed monstrous stacks on her furniture. She reorganized her closet when she got stressed, and now that I'd seen the reason responsible, I wished running wasn't my choice coping mechanism.

It was too late for me to run - both literally and metaphorically. This problem wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

"Where's Macallan?" I asked, collapsing onto my bed. 

"Jameson snuck her into Kent," Kelsey said, referring to the hall that housed all of the senior boys at Cannondale.

"The camera on the left side of Roosevelt is down, so she's in the clear to get back in through that door."

Even though Cannondale placed a high value on individual responsibility, allowing inter-dorm visitation for upperclassmen until 10:00 PM, there were still strict rules. Evening hours began at 8:00 PM every night, and hall faculty started taking attendance at 8:30 PM. I'd done my fair share of sneaking in and out of the halls during evening hours when I dated Henry.

Every dormitory at Cannondale always seemed to have at least one entrance with a dead security camera. It was like the administrators wanted us to be smart enough to figure out how to get away with breaking the rules. The real test was maintaining a balance of vigilance and stealth.

"It's all just so lame," Kelsey fumed as she returned her trademark Dr. Martens to her closet. "That thread started less than an hour ago, and it already has eight comments. Anonymity brings out the absolute worst in people."

I grimaced, silently agreeing with her. Comments on the message board had targeted me when news of my mother's affair ran rampant in the tabloids. I was the spoiled, old-money brat who deserved to have some inconveniences in her life. I was still trying to let it go, stop it from haunting me in the middle of the night. I was still trying to let it go, stop it from haunting me in the middle of the night. 

As memories from those days threatened to consume me, I resorted to whatever comedic wit I still possessed at this hour. "I'm sorry for blackmailing you, by the way. I was really banking on Stockholm Syndrome to keep you in line."