𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐎𝐒 | SPINOFF

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

LILIANA
ROSELINE

The cafeteria was thick with tension, the air so heavy with the weight of unspoken alliances and fragile bonds. It felt like the aftermath of a war no one wanted to acknowledge but couldn't forget. We weren't friends anymore-not really. We had all fractured, splintered off into our own corners, and the silences between us had grown into chasms.

Stella, as always, clung to her boys-Jaxon, Alessio, and Grayson-like a shield, sitting with them at their usual table, acting as if nothing had changed. She was the queen in her court, the center of attention, but I knew her well enough to see the cracks beneath that perfect exterior. She thought sticking with them would protect her, maybe even protect Avery. But it had only made things worse, like patching a bleeding wound with glass.

Marcella was alone, sitting at the far corner of the cafeteria, a dark figure against the light chatter that surrounded her. And me? I sat across the room, watching it all unravel. Avery, meanwhile, sat with her boyfriend, Astor, but something about her was off. Her vibrant energy, the fire that usually burned behind her eyes, was dimmed. She sat there, pressed against him, but she wasn't present. She wasn't herself.

The distance between us wasn't just physical-it was emotional, psychological, and it was growing. We were all broken, shattered pieces of what we once were, and Stella, despite all her efforts, had only managed to scatter those pieces further. I could see it in the way she clung to her boys like they were a lifeline, while Avery drifted into a silence that wasn't her own.

Then Alessio walked in, his arm wrapped possessively around Avalina. She strutted past Avery's table like she owned the room, and for a second, I thought maybe we could all pretend everything was normal. But then she squeezed her juice box, letting the liquid spray across Avery's clothes, drenching her in sticky sweetness.

Avery gasped, standing up in shock. Her eyes flashed, not with hurt, but with the anger of someone who had been holding too much inside for far too long.

Without thinking, I shoved through the crowd, adrenaline surging through me as I reached her. "You're such a bitch!" I shouted, pushing Avalina aside. She stumbled, her pretty little smirk wiped clean from her face.

Astor pulled Avery back, trying to remove her from the brewing storm. "Get your slut away from my girlfriend, Kingston," he growled at Alessio, his hand tightening around Avery's arm.

Alessio didn't hesitate. He pushed Astor back, his eyes dark with fury. "Don't call my girlfriend a slut." His voice was low, dangerous.

Astor, not willing to back down, sneered. "She is a slut." He made a move like he was about to hit Alessio, but when he saw Damon and the rest of Alessio's friends standing behind him, his hand faltered. Astor knew he was outnumbered.

The entire cafeteria was watching now, their eyes glued to the unfolding chaos. Avery, her clothes wet and her hair dripping, looked wild, her fury bubbling to the surface. She stepped forward and shoved Alessio, her eyes blazing. "Yeah, your girlfriend is a slut, and you're a dickhead too!" Her voice rang out, sharp and bitter, cutting through the noise.

For a moment, Alessio just stood there, his grip tightening on Avery's wrist. His voice dropped dangerously low, almost a whisper, "Don't ever call me a dickhead again."

Avery's lips curled into a smile, though it didn't reach her eyes. "I regret everything with you. I should've known Astor was always the better choice."

The air in the cafeteria seemed to freeze. Everyone was silent, listening. Last year, no one knew about Avery and Alessio's secret relationship, but now, with that one sentence, she had blown it wide open.