“Fuck. Again? Can I get a restraining order against this account?”
It was a picture of me from today, standing in the doorway to the cafeteria at lunchtime. My phone was in my hand. And my eyes ... they were a mess. Tears. Eye makeup smudged everywhere.
“Ugh,” I said. “Who took this shot?” I tried to remember who had been in the cafeteria then.
Cass cringed. “Could be anyone.”
I opened the post on my own phone. I looked horrendous. Devastated. Wincing, I read the caption aloud.
“As expected, Samaya Janmohammad, half of last year’s hottest nerd couple, isn’t taking the news of her former flame, Devin Kapadia, moving on very well. And it’s no wonder—Devin had a major glow-up overseas. No one is surprised that he chose to upgrade his relationship, too. Samaya may be the top student academically, but academics aren’t everything. And a little more eyeliner won’t bring her back to Devin Kapadia’s league.”
“This is harassment,” Cass said. “We need to report this to the school.”
“I’m not going to do anything,” I said.
Cass shook their head. “Why not, Samaya? You’re going to let them do this to you?”
Aimee sneered at the photograph again. “We could find out who’s behind this and ruin them ourselves. We’d be doing the whole school a service.”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t want to be labeled a snake on top of everything else. Earl’s sucks. This Whisper person, or people, are right—everything at this school, even the blasted math and physics clubs, are popularity contests. You know how everyone thinks Devin’s the golden boy. This is Earl’s—here the smart kids are the popular kids. Now that they’re in grade twelve, Devin, Omar, Jayden, and their crew are the most influential kids in the school. Even the teachers worship them.”
“So?” Cass asked. “Who cares if you’re popular?”
I didn’t really care. Or at least I wished I didn’t. “This is my last year of high school. Did you know that my sister was offered scholarshipsat three different schools when she was in her final year of high school? I was supposed to be at the top of my class, too, and Devin and I were supposed to get all the awards.”
“So, you’re upset that you won’t be able to ride Devin’s coattails anymore?” Aimee asked.
Cass scowled. “Samaya wasn’t riding anything. She earned all her success.”
I’d earned mygradesmyself. But my popularity? My friends? Other than Aimee and Cass, they were all Devin’s friends. Hell, even teachers remembered me as Devin’s girlfriend. Now he was the head of all the clubs, and I was the girl crying in the cafeteria.
“You have to dosomething,” Cass said.
I shook my head. “I am not going to be the one who runs to the principal because her ex was getting a lap dance by a cheerleader on the first day of school.”
“Hana’s not a cheerleader,” Aimee said. “Our school doesn’t have cheerleaders.”
I scowled. “If we did, she’d be one. I need toincreasemy respect at school, not make it worse. This is the second time Whispers posted a pic of me crying.” The first was when I lost it at school when Devin dumped me. “I need to be the resilient role model, not the small girl who cries at school.”
“Fuck gender expectations,” Cass said.
I nodded. “I have to figure out how to get students torespectme, not just to get the awards at graduation, but also so this year isn’t complete hell. Tattling on everyone’s favorite gossip account won’t do that. I need to rise above it.”
We were all silent for a few moments.
“We’ll fix this, Samaya,” Aimee said. “Give us time to think of something. We got you.”
I nodded. I had no idea how ... but somehow, we had to fix it.
Later that night when I was getting ready for bed, a text came through on my group chat with Aimee and Cass.
Aimee:I’ve been thinking—the best revenge is living well, right?
Me:I guess.
Aimee:Send me that picture of LostAxis.
Me:Why?
