Out Of Bounds

10| Betrayal

"I'm going to cut off his balls and feed it to the sharks at our local zoo. Then, I'm going to shave his hair for fun."

"I would honestly support your decisions. I'm not angry at him or at Nikki, but I'm more angry at myself." I said.

I called Rebecca and told her what happened as soon as I got home from my walk with Owen. She was busy with family affairs, so she came the next day, which sucked. I never felt so alone and scared despite my mom being in the room next door. I think that's what hurts the most, feeling alone when there are people surrounding you. At the end of the day, everyone stands alone against their fears and problems.

"Stella," she rested her hand on my shoulder for comfort. "You shouldn't blame or be angry at yourself for him cheating on you. It's his fault, and it's completely okay to accept that sometimes others are at fault."

"I don't know what I'm going to do at school tomorrow. Everyone's going to know what happened. I'm going to walk the halls embarrassed for the rest of the school year. I wish I could move somewhere else."

I can already imagine the events that will happen tomorrow. People will be gossiping about Shawn cheating on me and how much a loser I am. I can't deal with this anymore, I wasn't doing well socially before, and it's going to become even worse.

"Honey, you shouldn't be the one feeling embarrassed; it's Shawn and Nikki. They're the ones who should feel that way for tricking you. Everyone knows that cheating is not acceptable." She said, quickly straightening her baby blue blouse with her well-manicured hands. "We should go to the mall. Today is officially the day where you'll start again."

I sighed, she's right, I can't just stay home and cry all day, I need to pick myself up and continue. "I'd like that."

•••

I wanted to get my mind off things, but I was not in the mood to shop. Frankly, if I did, my wallet would not thank me for it. I am on the borderline of becoming broke. I obediently followed Rebecca in and out of the stores she was interested in, but she never bought anything either. She claimed, "it wasn't calling out my name."

I looked through the racks that were marked on sale as I waited for Rebecca to leave the dressing room. Although I didn't expect her to come out anytime soon because the saleslady gave her a nasty look when she brought the clothes she wanted to try on. I think it was around fifteen.

I held out a purple pastel peplum top, examining it when someone from behind me tapped my shoulder. I turned around, almost whacking them with the hanger.

"How tacky," Nikki eyed the shirt that was in my hand. "It's perfect for you."

"So you're stalking me now? Did Shawn already get tired of your bossy and nasty attitude?"

"Oh wow, she fights back," she rolled her eyes as she tapped her sharp fingernails against the rack.

"What do you want Nasty Nikki?"

She raised her eyebrows, "oh nothing. I just saw your hideous hair through the windows. Are you here with your new boy toy?"

"Unlike you, I don't treat other people like toys that can just be thrown away once I get tired of playing with them." I placed the top back onto the rack as I continued to search through.

"Is that code for you're here with Rebecca?" She paused, "that's priceless. You're still friends after all that?"

"After what?" I asked.

She snickered, "your best friend didn't tell you the most interesting and scandalous part of Shawn cheating on you?"

"Honestly Nikki, I have no time for your lies. Leave me alone; you got what you wanted."

"Remember the night Shawn was missing at the Fire and Ice Ball?"

I vividly remember that night as one of the best memories I have, only because of Owen. "Yeah, I know you were with him Nikki, no need to shove it in my face."

"Dig a little deeper, what was the excuse?" She asked.

I thought, he disappeared when I left to take a break because my stomach was hurting. The next time I saw him was in the parking lot when Rebecca told me that Logan texted her he found Shawn in the garden. But now I know that Shawn wasn't actually in the garden, he was with Nikki that night.

"Okay, so that means Logan lied to Rebecca? Mystery solved Scooby Doo."

"Read this," she handed me her phone. The screen displayed a conversation between her and Rebecca. It was her number, and it was during the night of the ball.

The conversation started with Rebecca threatening Nikki, telling her that she'll tell me about Nikki and Shawn. I almost dropped her phone. She knew since that night, weeks have passed since the ball, and she didn't tell me at all. She had so many chances to reveal Shawn's secret agenda, but she stayed quiet about it. What kind of friend does that?

I skipped the conversation and looked towards the end where Nikki told Rebecca to lie to me about Shawn's whereabouts, to say that Logan found Shawn in the garden. It was a perfectly polished plan. There were no holes because everyone involved coordinated their lies in order to fool me, including my so-called best friend.

I turned off her phone, handing it back to her slowly, contemplating everything Rebecca said about cutting of Shawn's balls and making him suffer. Did she rehearse that speech for when the truth finally came out? So it could make it look like she was a good friend, that she wouldn't abandon me.

"Speaking of the traitor," Nikki looked behind me. I turned around to see Rebecca with a stunned expression. "Thanks for the coverup. I would wish you luck for the storm that's about to hit you, but I hate you." Nikki waved her fingers. She left the store with a big satisfied grin plastered on her face.

"Don't leave. I want to explain."

"Don't worry friend, I'm not, so start talking."

"I was headed to the washroom when I saw Shawn and Nikki at the front desk asking for a room, so I confronted both of them. They weren't scared to admit the truth, well Nikki at least," she said. Rebecca catching Shawn and Nikki was by accident, but Nikki wasn't afraid, she used this to her advantage, to hurt me. 

"Okay, but why did you lie to me? Why didn't you tell me, Rebecca? Do you hate me?"

"I don't hate you, she gave me an ultimatum," she explained. "She knows that Logan and I had sex through Shawn, so she said that if I didn't keep their secret, she would tell my parents. You know how my parents are, if they ever found out I would be sent to a reformatory school or we would move. I just knew at the moment that I didn't want to find out what my parents would actually do, so I lied."

Her parents were strict, especially about sex. Rebecca told me the story when her parents found out her older sister had sex with a guy before marriage. They sent her to live with her aunt until she graduated high school.

"So you were scared about losing Logan, but not losing your best friend?" I asked.

"I would lose you either way."

"I know but you picked the decision where it would hurt someone you loved. That's not what our friendship is about."

"Stella I'm sorry."

"I'm tired of hearing that word. Sorry isn't going to glue back my heart and erase the hurtful memories."

"I know," she croaked, tears were starting to drip down her face. I looked to the side, trying to hold it together.

"The way you talked about Shawn this morning was ironic. You claimed that you would make him pay for the mistakes he's done to me yet you're no different than him. Maybe you should both take a trip to the zoo and jump in the shark tank."

It was difficult to say these things to her, knowing that she'll be guilty about the whole thing tonight when she goes to bed. The thoughts eating her alive as she tries to close her eyes to forget the painful feeling crashing down onto her heart.  Knowing that the tears streaming down their face and their heart slowly breaking was all because of you, it hurt to hurt someone you love. But Rebecca didn't seem to care about that, so why should I?

a/n Don't forget to vote, comment and share !! And if you haven't already, go check out the first book in this trilogy: School Spirit