Seven
Right before Thanksgiving I found out one of my works of art had taken "Best in Show" at the regional art competition. It was pretty impressive, because we were competing against all the other high schools in the area, including a magnet school for the performing and visual arts. Not that it did anything for my reputation at Ross Alexander Memorial High. I was still known as the girl who could be a freak. Almost three months after school began the jury was still out on my social standing. At least screaming at one of the royal bitches of the school to go fornicate herself had gained me a few points with a lot of the kids I knew or who knew of me. Though a lot of people adored Sasha and Jennifer not a lot of people liked them, but they liked people who stood up to them. And since they hadn't sought their revenge against me after all this time everyone figured they must be afraid of me. And that fear in itself gave me a few cred points.
I honestly expected one of them to take razor blades to my winning artwork, especially since their entries didn't place. On the contrary, the girls actually went around the class taking pictures of all of the artwork submitted, mine included, and even took pictures of the artists themselves. They said they planned to submit the photographs to the editor of the yearbook for submission. Hope sprang eternal, like maybe they had matured and realized their actions were childish at best. Perhaps they had too many strikes on their record to attempt anything. But either way I felt like I could relax a little and enjoy my upcoming holiday.
The next day we had a party in practically every single room. My algebra class was goofing off, eating candy brought in by overachieving students and playing with computers and cellphones. I was busy sketching another idea for something to do over the long weekend, which was the hopeful completion of my headboard. Besides, it had been unseasonably warm that November so I would have warm skies above me to do my work. I was sketching out the front of the dragon, making sure to turn his head so he could look at the knight dead on. I wanted the two adversaries to be facing each other, ready to battle for as long as my headboard was standing, the ultimate victor possessing the heart of the princess forever. I was so deep in thought I hadn't noticed the other kids laughing and looking my way. It wasn't until Peyton approached my desk, a self-satisfied smile on her face, that I looked up to notice the inordinately large group surrounding one of the two class computers. "You're pathetic." She laughed, obviously enjoying whatever was causing the scene in the back.
Curiosity getting the better of me, I walked over to where the other students were. As if they sensed my presence, they all separated like the waters of the Red Sea, allowing me a straight line to the computer...and a full view of what was on the screen.
Peyton had pulled up Facebook. On the page she had pulled up was a profile with my name on it. Only that wasn't my profile. The name said "Medora the Fat Goth Girl Dyke" and in the news feed there was my work of art. Only the caption underneath said "Can't get a guy to look at a fat, ugly loser like myself so what else am I going to do?" And underneath that were a lot of videos pulled up of girls I supposedly "loved", girls I would date, girls I would...do other things with. And in the profile picture was a distorted picture of me looking up and smiling. It was the picture Jennifer had taken the day before, only it had been photoshopped to look as if I had weighed a hundred pounds more than I did. Several links led them to my "real" Twitter and Instagram accounts, all fake. My stomach did a sickening turn. I thought we were past all of this crap. But here it was, staring back at me in the most public of places, in the most public of forums. And I didn't know if the tears in my eyes were from anger or sadness. But I knew those tears had damned me as the girl who had let the Terrible Two destroy me. And deep down it felt like they did.
I put a complaint into all three sites immediately. The other students knew the profile and the pictures were phony, but they didn't care. What mattered to them was how funny it was. It didn't matter it hurt beyond words, it didn't matter it was bigoted and hateful. It was hilarious to them. In fact, the joke spread like wildfire. By lunch everyone was coming up to me, asking me if it was my profile, if it was true, did I really want to do nasty things to Selena Gomez and Jennifer Lawrence. The more I denied it the more they believed it, so after a while I just stopped answering them. By midday I dodged thirty people all asking me the same stupid questions. I thought about reporting the incident, but I knew the only person I could report it to was Mr. Daniels, and that man had been eyeing me with angry suspicion all year. He certainly wouldn't take my complaints seriously, and would probably accuse me of trying to cause trouble for his daughter. Even if I complained to a teacher it would wind up landing on his desk, and when he found out the source it might not fare so well for the teacher either. And I didn't dislike any of my teachers enough to get them involved with this.
I walked into Miss Finch's class with my head held high, ignoring the loud snickers that came from across the room. If I could just avoid them through class I could get through the rest of the day okay. Halfway through the class Miss Finch had to leave the classroom to answer an emergency phone call. It took only five seconds for the Terrible Two to run to my desk to gloat.
"So, I hear you were crying like a baby this morning, Goth." Jennifer snickered. "What's the matter, Mommy not here to fight your battles?"
I looked up, still very calm and ready for battle. "Do you see me crying now?" I asked.
"No." Sasha said, satisfied with herself. "Nice try at pretending you don't give a crap. But now we all know you do. And I'm betting half the things said on that profile are completely true. Admit it, you're a total lesbo."
I noticed how they were careful not to say they were responsible for the fake profile. "If I were, it would be none of your business, nor would it be a big issue. But the truth is I'm not. I can't believe all you had to go with is calling me 'gay'. How pitiful that you would take a basic human condition and turn it into something hateful. I think the two of you need to grow up."
They both laughed at this. "Oh, big words coming from the little girl who cried her eyes out." Sasha responded. "You know, you act like you're all tough and it didn't affect you, but we all know it did. You oughta ask Aubrey Ridgely how something like this affects you. Oh, that's right. You can't." They both laughed, this cruel, heartless laughter, like reminiscing on a girl's suicide was great fun instead of a great tragedy.
"WHAT IN THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU TWO?" I screamed, horrified by their apparent lack of souls. Lucky me, my outburst came just in time for Miss Finch to walk in the door.
"What's going on here?" Miss Finch demanded.
Sasha and Jennifer put on their best wounded faces. "Miss Finch, we have no idea. Just the new girl accusing us of doing something awful, as usual, with no proof. And swearing on top of it, in your classroom. How dreadful! But still, we're willing to look over it...for your sake." They smiled at each other, and I swear it was like looking at two demons instead of two girls. I was still startled by their heartless attitude, and I truly knew the depths of their evil, how far they would go to hurt me. And for the first time it terrified me.
Miss Finch wasn't convinced. "Medora, what is going on here?"
I couldn't tell her, I just couldn't. I had heard after the incident with my arm she had gotten in trouble with the principal. I was afraid one more show of support of me would get her fired. I smiled, trying to brush the situation off. "I'm sorry Miss Finch. I think I overreacted to something that happened. I'll try to control myself from now on." I almost offered an apology to the demons, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that. No one was worth me lowering myself to ask their forgiveness, especially when I had done nothing wrong and they were so hell-bent on destroying me
I don't think Miss Finch completely bought it, but since I had written it off as nothing and the other girls had agreed to let my "slip" go, there was nothing she could do. The rest of the class, startled at the outburst, went back to what they were doing. And by the end of class everyone was looking forward to lunch. I had the task of getting the fake profile removed hanging over my head, making me less enthusiastic about leaving. But, as I was walking out, making very certain to leave before they did, I could hear them behind me saying, "Wonder how long it will be before this one is throwing herself in front of a truck?" and laughing insanely.
I made the stupid mistake of thinking the worst was over. But at lunch Peri hit me with a knockout blow. And to be honest it was worse than anything the three hellspawn could have ever done to me. She sat down slowly, looked around apprehensively, as if she didn't want to be spotted. I suspected why she was hiding, but she soon made it very clear.
"Hi Peri!" I said, happy to see a friendly face.
Peri shushed me quite rudely and looked around again to make sure she hadn't been spotted. "Hey Meddie. Do you know?"
Well, here it is. The answer to why people were staring at me like I was a leper. "Yeah, I know. I'm trying to get anything they put up removed, but it's going to be a while. Don't worry. It will pass while everyone's out for Thanksgiving and I should be able to get it all taken down by then."
She sighed, a deep sigh that was filled with pity. "Listen Meddie, I just thought I needed to tell you this in person. The truth is...well...Medora, I'm a senior too. I want to finish the school year on a high note and hanging with you after this isn't really going to help me out. I still want to be your friend, but not here. Not at school. Is that okay?"
My blood ran cold. I never expected Peri to be that kind of person. She seemed like a decent human being. Now she was ditching me because of this. Instead of trying to see me through this she was abandoning me. That hurt worse than any of those pictures ever could. I could feel tears forming behind my eyes but I fought them back. "Yeah, sure. That's fine. Makes sense actually. Why hang out with a friend who never did anything to hurt you? Because vanity is so important to you, right? You better get going. You don't want to be seen with me. Loser is contagious, you know."
Peri could hear the bitterness in my voice, see the way I was tensing up just being near her. And she got the hint. "Sure. I'll talk to you on the phone after school, okay?" Quietly she snuck away, making her way to another table with other seniors who probably questioned her about what she told me. And, judging from the stares and the laughter that came from the table just moments later, I'm sure it was an excuse that included a nasty jab at my expense. I picked up my books and headed for the bathroom farthest away from the lunchroom. And there I let the flood of tears loose. I cried in a stall by myself, releasing all the frustrations and pain of the past three months and Peri's betrayal in that one torrent. And when I was done I eased my way out of the stall, checking to see that I was still alone. Just then the door swung open and I froze, absolutely sure it was going to be one of Jennifer Langston's lackeys come to torture me. But it was Mrs. Craft. And the look on her face was one of concern.
"Miss Parker. Whatever is wrong?" She asked, grabbing some paper towels and running them under cold water. She put them over my eyes to help with the swelling. "Tell me what's going on. Maybe I can help."
I smiled, taking the towels away from her. I dabbed at my eyes and when they looked almost human again, I took my bag and began to walk out of the door. "I appreciate your concern Mrs. Craft, but there's not a person in this world who can help me." With that, I walked out the door, reconciled to my fate
