Missing Pages

Chapter 17: Déjà Vu

I looked at the clock. One minute left. I counted down the seconds in my head. 5...4...3...2...1... GO!

I bolted out of the room with my bag securely on my back. The day was nearly over, so I made my way over to the cafeteria for lunch, unnoticed by my enemies.

With all of this drama going on between Carmen and I, there was no way that I could sit in my usual place. I walked up to the other "popular" table instead, intending on hanging with my other friends. My social ranking was at the very top, causing me to have a lot of advantages, including the right to sit where ever I please.

I was leaning down to sit in an unoccupied seat when the solid material was swept off from under me. I landed hard with a thump on the cold, dirty tiled floors.

Everyone nearby stared in shock until a red-head with blonde streaks broke the unnatural silence.

"I'm sorry Humpty Dumpty, but this seat's taken," she sneered in a mocking voice.

Everyone within a 10 foot radius bursted out with laughter, just like in the hallways earlier.

My face burned with embarrassment as I picked myself up and rubbed my now sore backside.

Gathering my belongings, I turned around in search of a new seat. All of the cool seats were taken, leaving the leftovers. We had arranged ourselves in an assortment of categories, and all that remained were a bunch of lame seats.

A few people beckoned me to have a seat in the "geek squad," some of them even giving up their own places for me. I declined their offer because I didn't want to mess up my already ruined ego any further. I had already been classified as a klutz by now.

I settled for a near empty table in the corner and sat down coolly. Maybe if I ignored it, they would all forget about my unfortunate situation.

The rest of my meal consisted of probing the unknown specimen of food on my tray, glaring coldly at the trouble makers, and avoiding the eyes of anybody else I knew.

People shoved me as I walked down the corridors, and they called me names such as 'monster', 'bully', and 'traitor '. I have not a clue as to why they are acting this way.

My phone vibrated repeatedly with Twitter and Instagram notifications . I unlocked it and checked my Twitter first. I had a couple of direct messages, and mentions, but the thing that caught me eye was my followers. The number has drastically decreased from 5,000 all the way to 3,998- now 3,997!

I exited the app and resorted to Instagram for a quick update on things. I scrolled down my feed until I came across a video of me helplessly falling down. It had a couple hundred likes, and a long list of comments.

After looking at that, I found the post that explained it all; the argument between me and Nina.

There were several 15-second clips of the fight as it progressed. I guessed that Carmen had originally posted the videos on her account, and she shared them with her many friends to spread it online. After I looked through all of the nasty comments about me and how I should be ashamed of myself, I clicked on another video.

It was posted from Harper and Henry's comedy account, which featured humorous pictures and things. It cut out certain points of the argument and mainly focused on Nina's ending remarks (about my 'snobbiness') before adding "thug life" stickers and music to the end.

I threw my phone into my bag before entering class and sat down far away from anyone else.

Our teacher was absent which explained why we had a very strict substitute at the front of our room.

I started on the assignment on the board without any assistance, for I wanted to get my work done as soon as possible and be on the sub's good side.

Thirty minutes into class, and someone's already in trouble. That stupid girl who made me fall was getting her phone taken away. I sensed that she was up to no good and tuned into the conversation.

"No! I promise to keep it down next time miss! Please don't take it away!" she pleaded batting her false eyelashes.

"I'm not going to take it away sweetie. The protocol is to share whatever it is you find so amusing to the rest of your peers," she spoke with an evil grin.

The red-head gasped mock horror as some of her friends snickered. I knew that she intentionally did this to get some much needed attention, and embarrass somebody...

The sub walked up to the projector and giddily hooked up her phone to show it to the rest of the class. It was an Instagram parody. An Instagram parody of me to be exact.

It was a clip that showed me falling down over and over in time with the beat of Gwen Stefani's song Hollaback Girl.

The room bustled with laughter as the clip came to a close. Soon after, the final bell rang, dismissing us.

The sub handed the girl back her phone in disappointment because she didn't get to expose one of her embarrassing secrets or something.

I was beyond humiliated... I was utterly mortified. I didn't want to be bothered with anyone else for the rest of the day, so I ran to the restrooms with full force, and secluded myself in a bathroom stall. I had a little bit of time before my scheduled detention, so I sat there and weeped quietly to myself in the smelly hole.

Author's Note:

Hey. This chapter has to be another one of my favorites because of all of the crazy stuff revolving around Jasmine. I decided to add a bit of a kick to this chapter with the social media references. I've been reading some other stories, and noticed that my chapters are significantly shorter than theirs... Do you guys think I should stretch out my chapters a bit more? Please let me know. Thank you.