Finding My Feet

Chapter Eighteen

Thankfully the next day was Saturday so I didn't have to deal with Reegan. Avery gave me a lift home the previous day.
My mom walked into my room with a cup of hot chocolate while I clicked away on my iPad.
"Thanks," I mumbled, not looking up.
"You haven't eaten since lunch yesterday and it's almost supper time now. That's the longest you've ever gone without eating," she mentioned. "What's bugging you?"
"Nothing," I tapped into a link. "Just not hungry."
"I know you better than that," she sat next to me on my bed. "What are you looking at?"
I looked up at her, staring for a long time before turning my screen to her.
"Dance studios, of course. I knew you'd get back into that," she smiled.
"I can only begin in two or three years though," I shrug. "I'm just seeing what my options are."
She nods, giving my shoulder a squeeze before getting up.
"Foods ready in half an hour," she says. "You're eating all of it since its your favourite. Cheesesteak."
"Thanks mom," I smile as she leaves.
I quickly close the tab for the dance studio link and go back into my original tab- Instagram.
I scroll through Kelly's post, trying to find anything that would alert me to Reegan's feelings for her. It was quite pathetic but I was desperate.
Thankfully I hadn't found anything in the thirty four weeks I went through. I went out of Instagram and into Facebook, going on Reegan's profile. I was being a stalker of note.
His cover photo was still us on the day he asked me to be his girlfriend. I was so happy on that day.
I sighed, scrolling through his wall. My eyes scanned past people congratulating him on his graduation and his birthday. A few status updates of him saying where he was and saying people should join him. Him congratulating Kelly's mom and his dad for getting engaged.
My eyes abruptly stopped on a post filled with hearts. I clicked into it.
"Hacked by your baby ❤️ don't leave your Facebook logged in, love 😘 just wanted to say that you're the best man in the world and I can't wait for tonight 😏 gonna have you all to myself xoxo 😻 you and me forever ❤️ us against the world ❤️ I love you till my heart stops beating ❤️"
I checked the date. It was almost eight months ago that it was posted. His dad's engagement was only five or six months ago. Were they already living together before?
My stomach knotted as I clicked out of his profile and searched for hers. I found it and went in. Her profile photo was a picture of her pouting, a sleeping Reegan on the bed behind her.
I went through her recent posts, all corny love things.
"You mean the world to me ❤️"
"You're the one I want to grow old with 😘"
"I love the way you smile 😍😍😍😍"
"The way he sings in the shower 😍❤️😘"
"Already living with my future husband 😏😏😏❤️"
The posts were in the last month or two. There were also pictures of him, probably not knowing they were being taken. In one, the camera was positioned on a table and captured him sitting on his couch, watching tv. Another was with his bedroom door slightly ajar, him sleeping.
This girl took obsessed to a whole new level. I went into her photos. All her albums had a different year on them. I went into the year that I moved here and scrolled through. My finger halted as I saw the photos that I didn't know I was searching for. Kelly on Reegan's lap. Kelly hugging Reegan in a group photo. Them laughing at something. A few pictures of them kissing. Holding hands as they walked out of the club. Then Kelly taking a selfie of her pouting while Reegan was sleeping, an arm draped around her. They were obviously naked under the blanket.
I quickly went out of Facebook, clearing all the tabs and shoving my iPad to the side. I put my palms over my face, my eyes stinging.
"Honey! Dinner is ready!" My mom called down the passage.
I shoved myself off my bed, frustration overtaking my mind as I managed my way to the dining room. I scraped my chair across the floor before sitting down, huffing.
"And now?" My mom dished up carrots onto her plate.
"Nothing," I spat.
"Don't you even try use that tone of voice with me, young lady," my mom turned towards me, raising her eyebrows. "I've had this attitude for much longer than you."
My mouth set into a firm line as I nodded stiffly, dishing up potatoes for myself.
After a few minutes of silent eating and an awkward tension in the air, my mom spoke up.
"Tell me what's bothering you," she sighed. "I don't like seeing you like this. Are you on your period? Is it bad this time? Did you and Sage fight? Did you and Avery fight? Did you get a bad grade? What is it? I can't help you if you don't talk to me."
"No, mom," I put down my fork, looking up at her. "I just saw some things and I'm really frustrated because I keep doing this to myself."
"What did you see?" She asked, sipping her wine.
"Well you know Reegan's been fetching me from school?" She nodded. "Well my last class yesterday, I sat by a window that overlooks the parking lot, and Reegan was waiting there. And you know the younger grades come out earlier. Well Kelly went up to him. I couldn't hear what they were saying but then she got happy and got into his car. Then he got in and drove off. Then-"
"How did you get home yesterday?" Panic flooded her voice.
"Thankfully, Avery dropped me off. Can I continue?" She relaxed and nodded. "He hasn't called or messaged me saying what's going on or anything. And that sort of hurts a little because he doesn't even want to explain himself. I could've been stuck at school until you fetched me at night. And then today, I was just curious, I went on his Facebook profile and there's a post from a few months ago that says he's been hacked by Kelly and that she can't wait for tonight and she loves him and it's them forever and such. So then I decided I'll go into her profile and her profile picture is them and literally ninety nine percent of her posts are all I love you, you're my world and such. Even living with my future husband. She's been taking pictures of him without him even knowing."
My mom looks shocked as I take a quick breath.
"And then I decided I'll go into her pictures," I continued. "And I found a lot. Hugging, kissing, holding hands, laughing together, everything. And then the one that got me is she took a selfie of them right after they had sex."
"Oh, baby," my mom sighed. "It's difficult to see all these things, I know. But you can actually see who is at fault here. The only post about her on his profile is her hacking him. And her profile is filled with him. Does that not show you? Or am I seeing it wrong? You need to put her into her place."
"I've tried, so many times," I whine, leaning back into my chair. "It never works."
My mom gives me a sorrowful look as we continue eating.