Transformed || l.h.

Chapter 23

“Y-You,” Georgia says in a shaky voice, pointing her trembling hand at Penelope’s smirking form. “You did…You?”

She nods, “Me.”

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“You were sleeping with…” Georgia trails off, unwilling to finish the statement. Penelope nods while standing just five feet away from the dark-haired girl. “You don’t remember?” she asks in a taunting tone. Georgia shakes her head, unable to conjure words to express the fog that’s clouding her mind.

“I quit the cheer squad after my tenth grade year, Geeps,” Penelope says. “I used to be a cheerleader, he wasn’t lying.” Georgia gulps, her throat bobbing, and she feels dizzy. It’s as if her entire world is collapsing in, making her chest sink, and everything she’s ever known is a lie. “I-I can’t believe,” Georgia says, pressing her hand to her forehead. “I trusted you! I-I, I loved you like a sister and this is what you did?!” She steps forward, pushing the tip of her finger into Penelope’s chest.

She shakes her head in disbelief, her lip quivering as her face contorts in pain, but Penelope has never looked smugger, or more satisfied. “I came to you crying because you…” Georgia still can’t make herself say the words. She can’t complete the sentence because she doesn’t want to believe it. The only person she ever trusted completely is the one who has been betraying her underneath the table this whole time.

“You’ve done everything to me that I’ve done to you, Georgia Rosenberg, don’t play the innocent card,” Penelope snaps, her eyes narrowing as a vein pulses on her temple. Her hands curl into fists by her sides, her fingernails digging into her palms, and the strained look on her face lets Georgia know that she’s got her on the ropes. “I’ve done nothing to you!” Georgia shouts in return, crossing her arms over her chest. “I can’t believe you’d even suggest that, Penelope. You’re nothing but a two-faced liar.”

Penelope’s jaw drops, “I can’t believe you’d accuse me of that!” Although Georgia expects her to be angry, she merely chuckles, her tone sarcastic and jeering. “I can’t believe it took you so long,” she sneers, her lips curled into a smirk. “You’re such a petty little idiot, Geeps. Honestly.” Georgia swallows the growing lump in her throat that doesn’t seem to be disappearing anytime soon, only increasing.

“You sit here and claim that you’re a perfectly innocent angel-child,” Penelope says, stepping forward with each word until Georgia is backed up against the wall. “Yet what did you do? I told you I liked Luke, I told you how much I liked him. And you went in and weaseled your way into his life, coming between my chances.” She shoves her palm against Georgia’s shoulder, successfully pinning her against the door. “You know what?” she asks sarcastically. “Luke is going to be mine, whether you like it or not.” Penelope scoffs, nodding her head up as she smirks. “You going to cry?” She fakes a pout, mocking Georgia as if she were a five year-old who wants something their parents won’t give them.

Strangely enough from her outburst earlier that showed how upset and vulnerable she truly is, Penelope looks utterly satisfied with herself, her chest puffed up and her nose in the air. Georgia wishes she didn’t feel so weak, she wishes she could stand up for herself, but something in her just won’t turn on anything hostile. C’mon, Geeps, she tells herself, trying to inwardly psych herself up for what she wants to do. You can do it, I know you can. Come on.

“Y-You’re an absolute fake,” Georgia manages, suddenly finding a sliver of a backbone somewhere in the depths of her body. “You w-were,” she continues, standing prouder by the word, “oh so jealous about Luke liking me more than you…” Penelope visibly winces at Georgia’s words, feeling the pain of rejection still running down deep to her core, remembering the day when she saw Georgia and Luke kissing at the party. She remembers how her entire heart collapsed within her chest and she remembers the car she got into after she left. She remembers what time it was and how cold it was outside, she remembers everything.