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CHAPTER THREE the tide that left and never came back
Acting like nothing had happened was the hardest thing in the world but that's what everyone had told her was best. Bella could be in legal trouble if Hannah's tapes came out, and she was the only one willing to risk that.
In the past week since she finished the tapes, she had started lacking in everything. Her A's had dropped down to C's. Bella went from best cheerleader on the team too 'mediocre'. Today, she didn't even dress up like she usually did.
Bella wore a blue tank top with black skinny jeans, no makeup, regular straightened hair, undone. Which wasn't bad, just unusual. And everyone started catching on.
The brunette was walking out to her car after cheer practice when she felt an arm pull her back, she looked back with an annoyed expression. "What do you want, Justin?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Jensen has the tapes. And you going out of control isn't making anything better, you're making us all suspicious. You're really gonna put your possibility of getting into an Ivy League school on the line by going to jail? If those tapes get out...." Justin rambles on.
"Too fucking bad Justin. How do you live with yourself? Because I can't. Ivy League doesn't offer degrees in being a bad friend. We made a huge mistake, and we let Jessica talk to that pig every single day! That's your girlfriend."
"Lower your voice, B. This is hard for me too. But we're in this together. Please, just give me a few more days to think of what the hell to do." Justin says, laying both his hands on her shoulders.
She takes a deep breath before pushing his hands off of her.
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Clay having the tapes wasn't a bad thing in Bella's opinion. In fact, she didn't wanna be the bad guy to him. Marcus, Courtney, Zach, even Justin, were willing to do anything, even put Clay's school life and life in general in jeopardy.
Bella used to be a mean girl, who would've done anything to keep her reputation good. And she would have destroyed anyone who tried to destroy her first. But things changed after Hannah's tapes, especially for her.
After cheer practice, before going home, Isabella stopped by The Jensen Home. She only knew where it was because of the one time they had to work on a project and they decided it would be better to do it at his house than at hers.
She rang the doorbell and was welcomed by Clay's mother. "Hi, how may I help you?" The older woman asks her.
"Hi. I'm Isabella Bassani. I go to school with your son, and I had a question for him. Is he home?" The brunette raised her eyebrow as she tightened the backpack around her arms.
"Yes, yes welcome, come on in" Lainie states and yelled for her son. "Clay, honey! You have someone here to see you."
Clay stood up from listening to the tapes, he was confused. What 'friend' wanted to see him? He made his way down the stairs to see the popular girl he had only ever had a real conversation with once or twice. "Bella?" He raised his eyebrow.
"Hey, Clay. I just wanted to come ask you about that, uh, cassette project. Just want to see how far you are." Isabella gave off what she called her 'nice girl smile.' Before giving her attention back to Clay's lawyer of a mother.
"This cassette project is big, huh? I'd love to listen to it when it's finished." Lainie says, looking back and forth towards the two children.
"Of course, Mrs. Jensen" Bella smiled and followed Clay to his room. He showed her the way and she took a seat in his desk chair.
"So I take it you are here about the tapes, kind of ironic because I was just about to talk to you about your tape. I just listened to it" Clay says, leaving Isabella annoyed with her arms crossed.
"You're not gonna lecture me anymore than I have, you're not gonna tell me something I don't already know. I fucked up, really bad. But if I report Bryce, I have no proof. I was drunk. So was Justin. Speak of Justin, I would lose him. I would lose Jess. I just don't have the power to take him down. I'm sorry" Bella shook her head.
"What if we talk to Justin? Or Jessica?" Clay asks, it was obvious he would do anything to make sure Bryce paid for what he did.
"You can try, but Jessica doesn't even know what happened to her. Justin brainwashed her into believing it didn't happen." Bella shook her head before standing up.
"Look, tell the cops. Or don't. But people like Justin or Marcus and them, they are doing everything and anything in their power to make sure you don't tell the cops. Be careful, Jensen." Bella said, she could barely live with herself and she needed some time alone.
"Wait, Izzy, why didn't you believe Justin that night of Jess's party?" Clay asks, looking at the pain in Isabella's eyes. She knew that she had fucked up.
"I didn't want to believe that my best friend since childhood was as bad as everyone said he is. And now, I have to pay for that every single day of my life" Isabella shook her head "Now, if you excuse me, I have to go."
Isabella rushed out of the Jensen house pretty quickly, she regretted going to talk to Clay. It didn't make her feel any better, though she thought it would.
The brunette rushed home to see her parents making dinner in the kitchen, she wiped her tears. Her mother looked over at her quickly "Mija, everything okay?"
"Just has a bad day." She shook her head and walked up the stairs quickly, laying on her bed and pulling out her phone. Isabella went down her contact list to 'Justin'.
"i have a question, meet me at my house?"
// Hey Guys! There's chapter 3, it's kinda a filler chapter to show how she's dealing with the tapes. Leave feedback ❤️
