Toast

Chapter Thirty Eight // The News

- Jade's POV -

My day began sitting outside the principals office with the bitch of the year, Ashley. She was calling me names like she always does and I attacked her with my fists, sadly I didn't get to her in time because a teacher pulled me away but she would've deserved every punch and kick. Ashley was staring into the distance while loudly chewing gum while I was focused on the frustrated lady who worked at the office desk, she was pacing up and down with sweat patches under her arms even though it was only 8:45am.

The sweaty lady picked up the phone and went into an empty room at the back of the office, she closed the door slightly but continuously peeked out to check up on me and Ashley. She dialled a number and the phone loudly hummed as if she had it on speaker phone, Ashley was still staring forward pretending to be else where.

"Hello? This is Middleway's Boarding School For Girls.. Are you Andrew Parker?" The woman asked whoever had picked up the phone.

"Oh fuck, what did she do?" The man on the other end of the line said, me and Ashley turned to each other before laughing loudly. The speaker on the phone was so loud that we could hear the whole conversation that they were having in the other room.

"Am I on speaker phone? Why am I on speaker phone?!" The man shouted angrily, for the first time me and Ashley were laughing together and not at each other.

"I'm sorry sir but the phone is broken, this is an important phone call and I couldn't wait for the new phone to arrive" The lady explained to him, there was silence before the man sighed loudly as if he couldn't be bothered speaking to her.

"Your daughter, Priya Parker caused a serious fire in the school a few days ago. I've been trying to contact you since" The woman told him, I turned to Ashley in shock but she didn't seem phased by what the lady was saying on the phone. She obviously already knew what Priya did, I tapped on Ashley's shoulder aggressively and she glanced at me.

"You knew about this?!" I whispered to her while pointing to the office, she shrugged her shoulders and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"It was just a fire, nothing major... Calm down lesbian" Ashley replied before laughing slightly, I rolled my eyes and resisted the urge to strangle her. Priya's dad began to laugh loudly down the phone and that's when I knew her family were fucked up, who laughs at a school going up in flames?

"Priya told the police that she is grieving and having a lot of trouble mentally, she didn't mean to cause the fire. Is it true that she has mental health issues?" The woman asked Priya's dad.

"She is grieving over a slut that she was having sex with in MY house. My daughter is a lesbian so she deserves all of the pain and suffering she can get" Priya's dad told the woman angrily. Me and Ashley turned to each other again, we were speechless and more shocked than before. Priya Parker is a lesbian? The girl who made fun of me for liking girls?

Ashley looked more shocked than me, her face had suddenly gone white and it looked like she was going to throw up. We didn't say anything to each other because we had no words, we were both too shocked to speak.

"I'm hanging up now, I have no time for this" Priya's dad muttered before ending the call, the office went silent as me and Ashley looked away from each other. I was so excited to get back at Priya for all the times she bullied and humiliated me in front of the whole school, she was going to get it ten times worse. I flashed an evil grin at the traumatised lady who was on the phone, she returned to her seat at the front desk.

"Ashley Brown and Jade Johnston? The principal would like to see you both now" The lady said while dabbing a piece of cloth on her forehead, she was clearly flustered from that awful phone call with Priya's dad. Me and Ashley entered the office and were prepared to be screamed at for being failures.

After five minutes of getting told off we were free to return to class, I was more than excited to tell Amber the crazy news about Priya. Amber will probably want to help me get back at Priya too as she bullies her for her blue hair. I hurried down the corridor and left Ashley to walk on her own, she hadn't spoke since she called me a lesbian. I think she was incredibly shocked with the news on her friend. I entered the classroom with a huge smile on my face, everybody stared at me weirdly as I quickly walked across the room and sat beside Amber.

"I have incredible news" I whispered to Amber as Ashley also entered the classroom, I glanced over to see that her face was still white and she was silent. Usually when she enters the room she'll make a rude remark or strut around the room so everybody realises that she has arrived.

"What is it?" Amber asked me, she set down her textbooks and turned to face me. I moved closer to her and her cheeks began to blush.

"You know that bitch over there? Priya? She caused the fire and she is a lesbian!!" I shouted before covering my mouth in case anybody heard me, Amber widened her eyes and stared at me in shock. I told her how I knew and that Ashley heard everything also, she was in more shock than I was. Amber didn't say anything about it but I knew it was just because she was internally freaking out. The bell began to ring and Amber quickly packed up her bag.

"I-I need to go see Effie, I'll talk to you later" She muttered to me before rushing off, I watched her in confusion before shrugging my shoulders and forgetting about it.

- Amber's POV -

This is the worst thing that could ever happen, Priya is going to be destroyed. My anxiety was raising higher and higher as I pushed through the crowds of girls to try and find Effie so I could tell her the news, she needed to know before anybody else did. I felt bad because if Jade told me this a week ago I would've been excited to get back at her for all the names she has called me, but now I know her and everything she has went through.

I spotted Effie standing alone with her earphones in, she was nodding her head slowly to the music she was listening to. I ran up to her and ripped them out of her ears, she turned to me with her mouth wide open in shock.

"What the fuck Amber?!" She shouted before trying to put them back in again, I rolled my eyes and took them from her.

"Jade and Ashley know that Priya is a lesbian, Jade just told me" I whispered to her quickly, Effie hid her face in her hands and groaned loudly. She began to rant to me about how well Priya had been doing in the past few days, she wasn't breaking down or leaving class because it was too overwhelming. Ashley telling the whole school would break her even more than before.

"Priya can't know about this, we're meeting her uncle later and she can't be worrying about other things" Effie told me, I nodded in agreement. We both glanced across the busy corridor to see Ashley standing alone by her locker, she was staring into space and looked ill. Me and Effie stared at each other and I bit my lip, Ashley looked like she had seen a ghost.

Effie began to approach Ashley with confidence, she rushed over to Ashley with her hands in her pink bomber jacket and her head held high. I followed after her but stayed behind in case Ashley tried to attack Effie for not letting her know that Priya liked girls, I held my breath as we stopped before her.

"I need you to promise me that you won't embarrass Priya today" Effie said to Ashley, she continued to stare blankly ahead like she didn't hear a word Effie said to her. After a minute she turned to face Effie before staring at her in disgust.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" Ashley said rudely before pushing passed me and Effie, I sighed loudly as we watched her approach Carrie-Anne. Why was Ashley acting so weird? Whenever she hears juicy gossip she is usually the first person to tell the whole school and ruin the persons life, why is it different this time? We both watched Ashley as she spoke to Carrie-Anne, is she telling her the news about Priya?

Suddenly Priya walked around the corner with a smile on her face, she headed towards her friends and that's when Effie began to freak out. When Priya approached Carrie-Anne and Ashley, Ashley backed away and let her talk instead of giving her a hug and complimenting her outfit like she used to do. There was so much tension around them and I was certain everybody could see it.

"Well.. Lets get this party started!" Effie shouted while raising her arms in the air and storming off, I sighed quietly and followed after her.