Wicked Confessions (Excerpt Only)

chapter six (confessed by Gabby)

I hated my life.

High school was supposed to be the best time of our lives, right? Yet, here I was in my sophomore year, and my life sucked. I had the worst brother on the planet, parents who insisted he tracked my every move, and a best friend who like never talked.

Okay, maybe that part wasn't so bad. But like, oh my gaw! Persephone used to talk like all the time! Of course, I also used to be a cheerleader, and my best friend used to be Dee. Now, Dee was a stuck up Dee-otch who thought it was a big deal to be one of the captains of the cheer squad as a sophomore. However, I knew that Red Clover High valued connections over hard work when naming their varsity captains, so her "accomplishment" sure didn't impress me.

Maybe I really hadn't forgiven her for stealing my true love, Derrick, in eighth grade. Cuz yeah, no! The honor among besties said you never went for your bestie's crush, boyfriend, or any guy on her radar whatsoever! That was the rule from like way back when we girls thought boys were icky! Like sixth grade, even! But the moment Dee found out Persephone liked Jesse, she went after him. And the second I was dating Derrick, she went after him, instead. See? I told ya that Dee was a Dee-otch!

"Oh my gaw! Like thanks for the ride, Mrs. Smith!" I immediately stated when I climbed into their car. "You are so saving me from dealing with my awful brother, and I owe you big time!"

"I'm good with bringing you girls to school every day," Persephone's mom acknowledged. "After yesterday? Well, I never realized that getting a ride to school with a friend meant a trip to the hairdresser in the afternoon."

"I know, right? I couldn't believe she just chopped it right off! And then, she carried her ponytail around for the rest of the day."

"You guys, I'm right here," Persephone mumbled.

"Well, it's the last time my Little Dragon rides to school with your brother, Gabby."

Thank gaw! I'd never have to rely on Jesse to give me a ride to school ever again! No more daily fights about where he'd let me out. Nope, Mrs. Smith gave Persephone and me door-to-door service!

So, every morning, I would be respected from the time I got picked up until I got out of the car - seven minutes - and then, my life would suck again. Hey, it was seven more minutes of respect than I normally got in my life. I immediately cherished that daily peace.

"Lookie, lookie! Grabriella's here!" Dee sneered as she and her friends started grabbing at me and pinching me the second I was inside the building.

I tried to pull away, but it was no use. "Diva! Stop it!" I screeched. Instantaneously, the attack stopped.

"Hold up! What did you say?" Dee over-annunciated.

I really didn't want to start my day with a beat down, so I looked at my feet and tried to continue down the hall to my locker. I knew I wouldn't make it. Dee and her girls had made a circle around me. Their feet left no gap through which I could escape. Without notice, a voice yelled, "Girlfight!" and I was shoved, hard, from behind.

But it wasn't Dee. As I caught my balance, I looked up to see my former bestie holding her phone in the air. "Say cheese, movie star!" she taunted. Oh my gaw! She was filming the fight that hadn't even started yet! Oh my gaw! Obviously, they planned to post it online and humiliate me for the rest of my life! Oh my gaw! I hated these girls! And I hated my life!

There was only one thing left to do. Fight? Oh, heck no! The big chick rolling up her sleeves would pulverize me! And Dee was ready to catch it all on video. Yeah, heck no! I did what any overmatched, terrified girl would do.

I screamed at the top of my lungs!

And somehow... it worked. It got attention. Adult attention. And the fight was broken up before it happened. But like, oh my gaw, that was way too close a call!

And then, at the end of it all, I found myself in the guidance office. Like seriously? Why was I being called in to talk? I hadn't done anything wrong! I had walked into the school building to go to my locker, and all the cheerleaders confronted me for no reason at all. Other than that I was me and I wasn't popular. And they were. And cuz I hung around with Persephone who they nicknamed, "Dead Girl," even though she was alive. And whenever I pointed that out to them, they explained that the name was because hanging out with her caused people to die. Which it didn't. And they volunteered to "expedite the process" for me, since apparently, by hanging out with "Dead Girl," I wanted to be dead. But I really didn't. Persephone didn't kill Jade. She'd never kill anyone. No, I wasn't there, so I didn't know what happened, but I was one hundred million percent sure that Sis didn't kill her old best friend. And she wasn't going to kill me either. And no, I did not want to be dead. I wanted to be alive and out of high school. Whoever said these were the best years of our lives was clearly popular like Dee. The popular kids always peaked in high school.

I only hoped I hadn't already peaked in middle school.

Okay, on second thought, I totally got why I was in the guidance office. Oh my gaw, I hated my life.