𝐌𝐘 𝐀𝐒𝐘𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊 ☆ Death the Kid x Reader

10

"Alright, smartass," Liz began, handing me a variety of pictures; I swore I stopped breathing. "Let's see how you talk yourself out of this one. Go on, explain to us why you were doing this to my ex-boyfriend while I was still dating him!"

This is it, I'm done for.

My body quivered as an ugly sweat formed on my brow, the crystalline beads slithering down my tensed face and body. My breathing became increasingly more rapid, more shallow, as widened eyes hesitantly shifted to view the array of photos clenched in the shivering grip of my hands, willing away my internal hurricane of anguish for just a bit longer.

Everything's back to the way it was.

The low-quality, black and white images were slightly crumpled when I finally gathered the courage to look at them, vague outlines of Nathan and I identifiable despite terrible camera work. Nice to know trashing what's left of my reputation wasn't even worth colored printer ink, never mind a decent picture. I scoffed. Back to the way it was, huh?

Liz will always win, and I'll always lose.

The crowd gave me disgusted glares as they too stared at the contents of the images, looking at me if they had found my personal sex-tape. I wanted to scream out in protest--this was all so stupid and pointless. Instead, I found myself in Liz's earlier position, retracting into myself with hopes of disappearing for good.

The pictures were, unfortunately, legitimate. I couldn't even deny that much despite the terrible quality. It was, in fact, me hugging Nathan, him holding me bridal-style, and me kissing his cheek after he'd taken me home from our 'date, but not really'.

The pictures didn't capture the friendly intent behind those actions, however, out-of-context resembling something a little more than platonic, especially the kiss. Another piece of the picture that drew my eye was the date printed on the corners of each image. It marked that they were taken months before they actually were, to back up Liz's point that she and Nathan were still dating at the time--a fact I wasn't even aware of. This meant throughout the weeks that Liz had left me alone, she was using her tiny little brain to scheme this up--fabulous.

I opened my mouth wail about how fictitious this whole situation was, yet the overwhelming panic that built up in my stomach made my throat clog and my heart beat faster. I crumbled beneath the glares of my peers, fear overwhelming me in every way, shape, and form. I looked over at Nathan, yet he just hid his emerald eyes behind his blond locks.

'Wow, Nathan's about as helpful as Kid right now, and he sets the bar pretty low.'

"Just leave her alone Liz!" The startling voice of my weapon bellowed. I'd almost forgotten that she was standing next to me. "We all know those pictures are fa-,"

"Shut it, loser! We all know that you're a liar." Liz was having none of it; she knew she'd won.

My head spun, the hurricane sweeping me away. I couldn't hold on any longer. 'H-how did this even happen?' I asked myself, thinking the situation through. My e/c eyes widened and fell upon a certain blonde-haired girl, her crystal blue eyes downcast as her feet kicked at the ground beneath her.

'Patty, damn it,' I thought, mentally facepalming. 'Of course, Liz got her grubby hands on those photos that she took. Liz probably deployed her to take all of these pictures in the first place. I wonder how she knew when I'd be with Nathan, though...'

"Well, L/n? We've all desperately tried to forget, but everyone knew about my relationship with Nathan! What a mistake that was, seeing as he'd cheat on me with you."

'Not everyone knew, obviously.'

"Any words to defend yourself, hmm? C'mon, a cat's got your tongue? Or maybe it's Nathan," She winked, the crowd laughing bitterly alongside her.