Conspiracy

Chapter Two: Protective of Nothing

TW: mentions of depression, self h-rm, s/c/de

Rebekah

Stony pounced as soon as I stop crying. She wants to know everything. But while we're chatting, she screams, "oh, em gee, shut up!" There's that slut, Judy!"

I whip my head to where she's pointing. Judy is gorgeous in the afternoon sunn. The sun shines beautifully down onto her caramel skin.

"W-what should I do?" I ask.

"Confront that skank!" Stony says.

Without a second thought, I march outside and nearly run into the whore.

Dark brown eyes look over me. She has pulled her hair into two puffs on her head, like brown clouds. Her edges are laid, naturally long lashes brushing her cheek as she blinks, and-

"Can I help you?"

I blink. Stay strong, Becky. For K. For K, because he's mine.

"Hey, Judy," I say, twirling one of my stupid blonde braids.

"Hey, Rebekah."

"So, I heard that you're in that dance group. And that you're partners with K."

She looks at me like I've grown ten heads. "Mm-hmm. . ."

I stop the twirling. Cross my thin arms. Tap my foot. "I've also heard that you've been all touchy-feely with him."

"First of all, we're dance partners, so we kinda have to be," Judy says, crossing her arms as well. "Secondly, why is that a problem?"

I glare at her. "K is *my* boyfriend, Judy. Not yours. So stay away from him."

For a second, Judy stares at me. Then she tips her head back and roars with laughter.

"I don't see what's so funny," I growl stiffly, fisting my hands.

She looks at me and laughs again. "K is dating *you*? Seriously?" She giggles.

I try to be menacing, stepping into her bubble of personal space. She stops laughing real quick. "Stay away from him. I mean it, whore."

Judy bares her teeth. "Don't take too kindly to being called names. You'll find your jaw broken real fast, honey."

I shove her hard. "Whore-"

Her brown hand wrap around my neck, and I yell out as she chokes me. Then she forces me onto the concrete. Pain explodes in my head. This bitch really just choke-slammed me.

She releases me and steps back so the sunlight pours in my vision. "Warned you," she growls and steps over me to continue her way to her house.

I lie there, tears pouring out of my eyes. In my head, I scream all the words I can't. Outside, I lie there, sobbing silently. Stony doesn't once come out to check on me.

When I go back inside, she has somehow pulled a neck brace out of thin air and strapped it onto my neck. Then she makes me video chat K with her hiding upstairs. I tell him Judy did this to me, sort of overdoing it. But it works. He gets angry and says he will talk to her.

Pretty good, pretty good.

~

"Ugh, there that slut is," Stony says on Monday morning as Marisa and I stand next to her locker.

I look to where she's looking and see Judy walking down the hall.

"And she's with that other slut, Jordie!" Jordy with a Y slams her locker closer, nearly catching her short blue plaid skirt in the door. Her eyes are furious, shining green with envy.

Everyone's eyes flash colour. They depend on our emotions. Usually, the colours mean certain emotions, like green with envy, but sometimes we can feel that same colour means something eyes. Green strikes Jade, a member of Bridge club, as a jewel. She feels important, wealthy, and she is. Green means something else for Jordie, too, something like nature.

Jordie struts down the hall, golden hair spilling down her back. She's what the boys call thicc, and her hazel green eyes spark yellow with happiness and kindness. But underneath it lies a dark green. We all get a whiff of it as she and Judy pass by. Cunning. Thinking. Jordie is smart. Her German accent rings out as she talks with Judy.

Down the hall, I see K. He flicks his eyes over her, and they flash a dark pink. Lust.

But then he sees me, and that pink lightens as he nods. A buttery yellow nearly shines through the smothering, depressing greys and blues.

I nod back, blinking rapidly to hide the envy green and sad blue.

"You *have* to go tell that bitch what's up," Jordy with a Y says. "Judy, that slut."

Marisa pulls out a blunt. "Tell her she's nothing but a nignarette cigarette."

We all glare at Marisa. She just rolls her eyes and takes a drag of the blunt, offering some to Stony.

"You should totally go give that bitch a piece of your mind," Stony says.

"I don't know. . ." The last I tried that, she nearly broke my neck. I don't want her to kill me. Or at least to break my nose, or damage my face. I'm, like, so not pretty, but I like some aspects of my face.

"Ugh. Just *go*," Stony says. At my silence, she rolls her eyes. "Useless. Fucking useless." Short red bursts of irritation flash in her eyes. I wonder if she sees the purple red streaks of hurt in mine. "Fine. Go spy on their conversation with Marisa. Maybe you'll find something more useful than you."

I nod to Marisa, shoving the pain down deep. I deserve, I guess. I'm never, like, enough for *anyone*. Not for K, not for Jordy with a Y, not even for my best friend.

"Girl, you good?" Marisa asks, stopping me. "Your eyes showing black way too much."

TW

Black. The colour that means the darkest things that include severe depression, suicidal thoughts, self harm things.

"Fine," I lie. We wait just around the corner of Jordie's locker, listening to her chat with Judy.

"If we're going to do this, than we have to meet at a secret place no one will know," Jordie is saying. "This is serious. If K finds out--"

"If his girlfriend finds out, too," Judy says. A pause. "Didn't know? Yeah, apparently I fractured her  neck or some shit like that. She was getting all in my face *ayer* and she attacked me."

Jordie says something in German that sounds a lot like a curse. I grip Marisa's hand to keep from screaming.

"If they both find out, they might get that Stony bitch to. . .pull some strings," Jordie says. The bell rings, and she curse again. "Meet in the basement. See you later."

I grab Marisa's hand, and we pretend to be just turning the corner, laughing when we run into Jordie and Judy. We both give them dirty looks. "German pig," Marisa mutters. We laugh as Judy holds Jordie back and continue on the way to class.

I pretend not to see the purple-red streaks in her  eyes, or the tears. I'm not a bully. . .am I? No, no, I'm mean, but I'm only doing it to keep them away from K. Because even if he's nothing to me at school and on his social media, he's *my* boyfriend, and I'm protective of him.