“But the bell rang,” Tiffany said.
“I don’t care.”
Tiffany turned to Megan, tucking her phone into her pocket. “They’re in the hall.”
Wondering what Tiffany was referring to, I followed Beth and Courtney out of the classroom. When I stepped into the hallway, everyone I passed was holding a sheet of paper, whispering among themselves.
I spotted Emma walking toward us, clenching a paper in her hand. Unlike the others who looked entertained by them, Emma looked pale. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and she wore the Juicy Couture sweat suit Courtney had gifted the five of us for Christmas last year, each in a different color. Nearly all of Emma’s clothes came from Courtney, who knew Emma’s mom couldn’t afford to buy her the same labels the rest of us wore. Emma didn’t like handouts, so Courtney would cut the tags off new clothes, then give them to Emma, pretending she didn’t want them and acting as though Emma were doing her a favor for taking them off her hands. For as mean as she could be, Courtney was also incredibly compassionate.
I moved toward Emma. “What is it?”
She extended it toward me. Beth and Courtney leaned over my shoulder.
I drew in a breath. It was a photo of Gigi straddling Luke Cross, her boyfriend for most of last year. They were shirtless and looking up seductively at the camera.SLUTwas printed in bold hot-pink letters above the enlarged photo.
“These were taped to everyone’s lockers,” Emma said. “They’re even up on the walls around the school.”
Beth swiped it from Emma’s grip. “Oh no. This is bad.”
I met Emma’s gaze. “Has Gigi seen it?”
Emma nodded. “That’s why I was coming to get you. She’s freaking out. She won’t come out of the bathroom. Come on.”
Courtney, Beth, and I followed Emma through the maze of students holding copies of Gigi’s photo. Some were laughing, some were murmuring, and others were just staring at the printed photo in silence. I bumped into two freshmen ogling the photo as they walked.
“Oh my gosh,” one of them said. “Is that GigiHarris?”
The other one nodded after apologizing for bumping into me. “And Luke Cross.”
“Skank,” the other girl said.
Ahead, Selena, the new girl on our volleyball team who’d moved to Sequim over the summer, stood outside the girls’ bathroom with her arms crossed, a worried expression across her face.
“Is she okay?” Beth asked Selena.
Gigi sobbed from inside the bathroom. Selena shook her head. “Of course she’s not okay.”
Emma led the way into the bathroom, holding the door open for the four of us to enter.
Gigi was hunched over one of the sinks, her palms pressing against the counter. Her body heaved with each sob. She looked up when we all stepped inside.
She snarled upon seeing Courtney. “You did this.” Gigi lunged at the redhead, black streaks of mascara streaming down her face as she shoved a finger in Courtney’s face.
Courtney’s back slammed against the tiled wall. I stepped closer to the door. I’d never seen Gigi like this, so clearly ravaged by her anger.
Courtney shook her head. “No.”
Liar,I thought, remembering Courtney get up to use the bathroom with her backpack during Spanish period. That must’ve been when she did it.
Gigi narrowed her eyes. “Yes, you did. You wanted Bryson. When he asked me out and not you, you couldn’t handle it.”
Two sophomores entered the bathroom, stopping dead in their tracks when they saw what was happening.
Emma stuck out her long arm. “Use another bathroom.”
The girls retreated without a word.
“You’re the only one I sent that picture to. And you promised me you’d delete the email after I sent it. That was over a year ago, but no one cares now. Now that I’ve been labeled the school slut, Bryson already called off homecoming with me.” Gigi sniffed. “I told him that photo was taken last year, but he didn’t want to hear it.” Gigi lowered her face to Courtney’s, baring her teeth. “You win. It’s over. Happy?” Her last word came out a hiss.
