big girls +rv

thirteen.

although the next day was a saturday, she and her mother were called to school anyways, where she found seulgi, yeri, soyeong, and their parents waiting outside the principal's office as well. irene noticed that the adults were sitting away from their children, as if they were so thoroughly disgusted with their own offspring that they didn't even want to sit with them.

irene sat next to yeri, who she saw was trembling with fear. she gently held her friend's hand and felt its rhythmic shakes die down a little. "it'll be okay, darling. just deny everything."

yeri looked into irene's eyes. "and uphold the vow of silence."

"of course," irene agreed, "that's always."

"i'm sorry, my parents caught me sneaking out to the forest this morning," said yeri.

"yeah, me, too. i don't think anyone came," irene replied, and her mother shot her a look, causing irene and yeri to abruptly end their whispering.

irene was called in first, seeing as she was the 'ring-leader', as they liked to call her. her mother grabbed her arm harshly and led her into the office. mr. do was sitting at his desk with his elbows resting on it and his hands clasped in front of him.

"sit," he said when he saw them, gesturing towards the two chairs placed in front of the desk. irene and her mother did as he said.

"now, i know this might be hard for you to answer, irene," said mr. do, "but i have to know. i'll start easy. did wendy attend your little, um, sisterhood meeting last month?"

irene cocked her head to the side, pretending to be thinking. "i can't say," she finally said.

"what do you mean, you can't say?" her mother demanded.

"i mean, i can't say. i don't remember."

mr. do and irene's mother exchanged glances and then he let out a long, slow breath. "can you please answer me honestly, irene?"

"i am," irene replied simply.

"irene," said her mother angrily, "we know you're not."

"you can't know," irene told them. "you can think, you can assume, and you can suspect, but you can't know for sure."

her mother sighed. "irene, you're being really-"

"difficult?" irene said, flashing her a small smile. "yeah, it can be difficult to interrogate someone who's innocent. you always think they're lying."

irene had a fleeting desire to leave, since she knew the meeting wouldn't benefit any of them in any way, but she stayed, and answered their questions with vague statements like 'i don't remember' and 'i don't know'. it wasn't like they could make her talk anyhow. once mr. do's line of questioning came to halt, irene and her mother left, irene feeling quite proud of herself for not letting any information get through. she gave her friends a small wink as she walked out of the school, indicating that she hadn't said anything.

"irene," said irene's mother, leaning back on the seat of the car and sighing.

"what?"

"i wish i knew you better."

"but you don't," irene answered coldly. "that isn't anyone's fault but your own."

"i know, and i'm sorry. can't you just tell me what you and those girls do in the forest?" her mother pleaded.

"no."

"kitten-"

"don't fucking call me that." irene glared at her mother for a second before bursting out of the car. her mother didn't stop her from walking home.

after that, nothing but hysteria. the next monday, irene barely had time to attend classes. she, yeri, seulgi, and soyeong kept getting called out and questioned by the principal, the counselor, and even a professional psychologist that the school called in just to help with the situation. irene's mother had called a lock down on the house, not letting her leave anywhere except school, which meant the sisterhood couldn't meet up at all. and it also meant she was to stay home alone with gwangmin a lot more. she locked herself in her room, refusing to come out even for mealtimes if it was with just him, and irene's mother didn't appreciate it one bit.

the rumors and humiliation heightened. people were scared of the sisterhood now, seeing that the adults were getting involved but even they weren't getting any answers. they called the sisterhood a sex cult, or a satanic cult, saying they did black magic and they were all witches.

"they're probably trying to resurrect irene's dead dad," irene once heard a girl whisper as she walked past. she pushed on, not letting their words really go through her and cause her the real pain that was intended.

"so, the spring carnival is coming up," said seulgi as she sat down next to irene in the library, away from the whispers and gossip.

irene nodded. "so?"

"jimin said that taehyung wanted to go with you."

"so?" said irene again.

"he's, like, one of the most good-looking guys in our school, irene," said seulgi disbelievingly.

irene shrugged. "i'm not interested in him."

"you're not interested in anyone," seulgi told her.

irene shrugged again. for some reason, her mind wandered to wendy, as it did when irene wasn't trying to keep it in tight check. what seulgi said was true; a lot of boys were interested in irene, but they were mostly too terrified of her to ask her out. irene liked it that way, since she didn't like any of them, they just made her feel uncomfortable.

"why are we talking about this?" irene asked seulgi. she knew that her friend was only using this topic of conversation to hide the real reason she had come to talk to irene.

seulgi sighed. "my mom isn't letting me out of the house."

"neither is mine."

"irene, can't we just tell people what we really do in the sisterhood?" seulgi begged, her eyes pleading.

irene frowned. "no, you know that, seulgi. we all took a vow of-"

"i know, i know, but... it's getting so hard," said seulgi, her bottom lip trembling. "jimin broke up with me."

"what?" irene knew how much seulgi loved jimin; she talked about him all the time. "seulgi, i'm so sorry."

"yeah, yeah," said seulgi, waving irene's apology away and averting her gaze.

they were silent for a moment, irene thinking about some way to comfort her friend. she couldn't stand it when one of her friends cried. "seulgi..." she said, lacing their fingers together. "you can leave if you want."

"leave?" seulgi began biting her nails, a nervous habit of hers.

"leave the sisterhood," irene explained, her heart breaking as she said it.

"no, no, i can't." seulgi squeezed irene's hand tight. "we're sisters."

"but i know you want to," said irene, tears springing to her eyes. "and i won't make you stay."

seulgi thought over it for a moment and then choked out an okay.