Lillian • lrh

sixteen

chapter sixteen: Instagram

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It was Friday and I was in the most boring class ever. I let out a puff of air, watching Mrs. Winchester pass out the test papers. She was old and slow, making the class drag out and feel as though it lasted for hours.

Once everyone got their quizzes, we went to work. I finished it in a few minutes and put it on Mrs. Winchester's desk. I sat back down, and pulled out my phone, since we were allowed devices in free time or after tests.

I had a ton of notifications from Instagram. I realized they were all fan accounts of the band, and figured this could end badly. After debating on whether or not to look at it, I tapped the app and went onto my account.

It was public, giving my personal life access to all these fans. How did they even find it? How did they even know my name?

I had about 6 pictures on my profile, all of them reaching to almost 1,000 likes with the sudden burst of fans. I selected the one of Em, Erin and I out of curiosity of the comments, since we were both sporting our bathing suits and sitting at Erin's pool.

"Ew why is luke dating HER?"

"Fat whale"

"Slut"

"Her friends are prettier than her lmao"

"what does luke see in her"

I knew from the start, way before I even met Luke, that I shouldn't have posted that picture. I looked like a whale next to the two girls that wore size smalls.

I stood up, shoving my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. I walked up to the teacher, trying to hold in tears.

"Can I use the bathroom?" I asked.

Once out in the hallway I shut the classroom door behind me and let out a sigh, feeling a tear slide down my cheek. I hurriedly wiped my face then speed walked into the bathroom, locking myself into the first stall.

It was dumb to let these people hurt me. For all I knew they could just be jealous and only saying these things to hide it.

But what was there to be jealous of? I was me, and Luke and I were just friends.

***

"Hey," Luke said, smiling down at me as I opened the door.

"Hi,"

"How was school?" he asked.

I almost shuddered, getting flashbacks of today's events. "It was fine."

"That's good. Where's Lily?"

"My mom got off early so they're out together," I shrugged.

"Oh. Okay, wanna go?" Luke asked.

I nodded, grabbing my wallet and phone. "Let's go."

"I'm hungry," Luke whined as we pulled out the neighborhood. "How does Chic-fil-A sound?" Luke asked, referring to the restaurant that was ahead.

"That's fine."

"Are you okay? You seem a little off," Luke asked, pulling over into the turning lane.