Social Experiment

49 | The Video

I didn't know exactly what to say to defend myself, and I didn't exactly know if I should even try. At this point, I disliked the social experiment just as much as Nathan probably did. I continued for the sake of Stephanie, but that's about it.

My internal reasoning came to a halt as the mouse hovered over the video sitting in my email, and I braced myself to watch it. I clicked the link and downloaded the video before it loaded on my laptop screen. The second the "play" arrow appears, I take a deep breath and press it.

The opening scene is a video of me from junior year, when Stephanie was still in school with me. It's me sitting across from her in the school library, studying my notes and writing new ones down. I recognized the video; it was one Stephanie had taken and sent to me as a joke, and I sent her one back.

In the background of the video, you can hear the audio of Stephanie asking, "Lauren, describe yourself before the social experiment."

It zoomed up on me studying, so you could see my whole outfit; sweatpants, converse, a Beatles shirt, and a flannel.

As the video zooms in, you can hear me saying, "I spent most of my time studying. I was quiet, only had two friends, and I wore sweats a lot. I didn't really talk to anyone; I let people walk all over me before. I didn't stand up for myself."

The video changes to one of me sitting on Stephanie's dorm room bed, one of the days she asked I come over to do our interview questions. I wasn't aware she was filming me, and I wasn't looking at the camera, but rather her. My hair was in nice waves, I was sitting criss crossed on her bed with black jeans, heeled booties, and a tan vee-neck spaghetti strap.

"How would you describe yourself now, after the social experiment began?" Stephanie asks.

I stare at my own face through the screen as I answer. "I go out to a lot more parties, and do fun things with my new friends. I'm more outgoing and don't let people walk all over me anymore. I make a lot more reckless decisions," I smile in the video. "But I don't regret any of them."

"Do the girls in your school treat you differently now that you've changed?" Stephanie asks.

The video changes to the boob-cam film from the day that Nina wrote 'SLUT' in red lipstick on my locker. The video shows me walking up to the crowd of people around my locker, and the looks they give me as I approach. Finally, I break through the crowd, and the vandalism is in plain sight in the video.

"The girls don't really like me. There's this one girl, the queen bee of our school; she hates me. She turned all her followers against me. When they see me in the halls, they make comments under their breaths. The girl frequently tries to insult or embarrass me in front of everyone else." I answer, disheartened.

"Do the boys treat you differently?"

The video cuts to footage from Brett's New Year's Eve party. It's a video of me walking through the party with Steph behind me, who is holding the camera, and you can see the way the boys we pass look at me, touch me, or try to talk to me.

"Guys that have never noticed me before now come up to me at parties and hit on me. I think there's definitely an increased interest from the male population at school."

"And have you changed the way you act around them? Specifically, have you begun dating or merely hooking up with any of these guys more so than before the experiment?"

"No, I haven't."

The video changes to a scene of me standing out by the pool talking to Brett, and inside talking to a few football meatheads in passing, and then by the steps talking to Asher. Watching the video makes my heart begin thudding against my chest painfully, and I felt my heart twist in dread.