Roses And Daggers

I lost

"Good morning students!" Mrs. Renaldi's voice rang loud and clear, but Victoria was still half asleep. She yawned and put her chin in her palm, leaning on the table. Mrs. Renaldi clapped her hands loudly, jerking Victoria awake for a moment, before dozing off again.

When she opened her eyes again, Mrs. Renaldi was standing beside her, not looking very happy. The class was staring at her and whispering. Mrs. Renaldi was fuming. "Where do you think you are, Victoria?"

"I am so sorry, Mrs. Renaldi. I don't know how I fell asleep. I-"

"This not your house, young lady. You cannot do things as and when you please. Go to the counselor. Now!"

Victoria rolled her eyes and stomped out of class. She ended sitting in the counselor's office for most of the day, even though they didn't punish her. She got yelled at by him a bit, particularly because he had caught her tripping Lisa in the halls, and thought she was doing this to assert her dominance in school. She was, of course, but he didn't need to know that.

Dr. Osburn, the counsellor, let her leave just in time for lunch, strictly telling her to take all the notes for the previous classes and not to disappoint him any further. Victoria shrugged. 

She walked to lunch with her head held high. Slowly, she was crumbling, but god forbid she would let anyone see that. At least the meeting with the counsellor had helped her avoid Zeke. All those feelings were eating her up. She won't be able to look at him without seeing her face.

She waltzed into the cafeteria with a particular nonchalance. She hoped her black top helped in showcasing her confidence. She smiled at her friends and slid into the seat between Jessica and Zeke, pecking him on the cheek. "Ay, I heard Renaldi caught you sleeping today?"

"Yeah, I got sent to the counsellor's office," Victoria muttered, her head down. She wondered how none of them had called them out on their farce as of yet. No real relationship could be this perfect. 

Amanda caught her eye as they twirled their forks into the rubbery spaghetti. For a fleeting moment, Victoria thought she saw something flash across Amanda's face: an expression that probably mirrored her own. One of fear, and utter defeat. Then they were replaced with glowing smiles and laughing faces. 

Victoria introduced Jessica to Zeke, but she didn't seem very interested. "Jessica, this is my boyfriend, Zeke, and-"

"You can't fool me," Jessica muttered. Victoria frowned. She had obviously heard her wrong. But, she Jessica didn't seem interested, so she didn't push it. She stole a glance at Zeke, but he was talking to Justin and Luke.

Jessica kept glancing at her phone consciously, and seemed to be pointedly ignoring Victoria. Victoria didn't bother asking her what was up. She figured Jessica would go back to normal in a few days. Finally, Jessica kept her phone down and went throw her tray. Just as she left, her phone vibrated with a ping!, lighting up her screen. Victoria paused while talking to Dia and turned. It was a text notification.

"Omg ikr! V is such a bitch", it read.

Victoria picked up Jessica's phone to try and read the chat, but it had a password. Dia was shocked. This was really unexpected. They were trying different passwords, but none of them worked. 

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Came a voice from behind them, obviously furious.

"We were.. um-" Dia stammered.

"Don't give any excuses, Dia," Victoria said. "Jess is the one who should be explaining herself. Not us."

Even the boys had stopped talking now. The nearby tables were looking at them. The air was tense and sparkling with static. Jessica crossed her arms.

"What am I supposed to explain? That you're a bitch? I'd gladly do that."

"Jessica, stop." It was Xander. "Why are you doing this?"

Victoria didn't know what Jessica was on about. She was pretty sure Jessica would be giving some half- baked rumour as an excuse.

"All of you deserve to know what's actually going on," Jessica continued. "Queen Victoria here, has been lying to you."

"What do you mean?" Justin asked.

Victoria looked at Zeke in alarm, but he shook his head. He didn't know what to do. So, they just listened.

"Victoria and Zeke are not dating. This was all fake- a game! I saw them that day."

"Victoria, is this true?" Amanda sounded hurt. She should be hurt. Victoria didn't blame her. In this moment, she hated herself too. 

Victoria didn't reply; she bent her head down and tried to avoid their glaring eyes. The entire dining hall was looking at her now. At least this was over.

"There's more!" Jessica exclaimed.

Victoria's head whipped up and her hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes were now full with tears, threatening to spill. Zeke stood up. "That's enough Jessica!" He could not see his girl this way. "What has Victoria done to you?"

"Same as she did to everyone else. Lied to, ditched, used, been mean to." Jessica counted on her fingers. "The real question is, though, what she did to you."

Amanda's eyes widened and a muscle jumped in Zeke's jaw. He looked ready to punch someone. Victoria finally snapped. She left her tray on the table and ran out of the cafeteria. She ran and ran, until she came to the wall that had allowed her to bunk school so many times in the past. She climbed over and ran as far from the school as she could.

~.~.~.

Zeke found her at the bridge, staring into the water. The sun hung low in the sky, a bright orange, and the water rippled with a thousand shades of blue, yellow and green.

He walked and stood beside her. "So you found out, huh?" He said with a sad smile.

"Why did you come after me?" Victoria's voice cracked with emotion. "Your sister-" Victoria sobbed, unable to continue.

Zeke folded her into a hug, cradling her head with one hand. "I was angry, you know. At you, at myself, at mum for going silent, at dad for leaving us; at everyone. I wanted revenge. I wanted to channel all this anger elsewhere. So I challenged you. But then I realized I was wrong. I know you didn't kill her, Vic. Plus, Celeste won't want me to hurt you. She adored you. The longer I spent with you, the more I understood why she looked up to you. I was a goner."

"That night," Victoria found her voice. "Celeste told Amanda she was waiting for us, here, at the bridge, so we came to get her. She was early. When we reached, no one was here. We thought she might reach in some time, so we waited, but she never came. The next morning, as we were getting ready for school, the police came. They told us she had slipped and-" Victoria gripped his T- shirt tighter. "She fell into the river. This had happened some time before we arrived. If only we were a bit faster, she would still be alive. Everyone thinks it was an accident. No one knows it was our fault. I'm so sorry, Zeke. I didn't know she was your sister."

Zeke shushed her. "It's alright, love. Everything will be alright. I don't hate you. We will talk to everyone together, okay? They will understand. You don't need to go through this alone."

 As Zeke said this, he realized it was true. It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He was here, and he was happy.

"Zeke? I lost," Victoria says as she breaks the hug, smiling. "I lost the game."

He smiled back. "I guess it's a draw then."

He would find a way to make this work, for them.

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Hey y'all! You have officially reached the end of the story! It was pretty short, but I hope you enjoyed it. Also, thanks to my best friend, Sanjana, for not letting me give up on this and encouraging (ahem, forcing) me to finish the story. Peace out :)