“And why are you serving alcohol to a minor? Do you want me to report you?” Aryan says to the bartender who just rolls his eyes in response before walking away.
So hypocritical. They drink every weekend, just like every other teenager on the planet, but God forbid I drink.
“Buzzkills,” I mutter under my breath, avoiding their gazes. I try to reach for the glass in Victoria’s hand, but she swiftly pulls it back.
“Don’t touch that. What is wrong with you?” she asks.
“Don’t tell me what to do.” I huff, annoyed and almost angry. Actually, no I’m very angry.
“Addie, stop it,” Aryan admonishes me.
“What? I’m an adult, I can’t drink?”
“You’re 17 actually, but that’s not the point. You don’t want to drink, you never have,” he says sternly. I’ve never seen him like this.
“Well, I want to now.” I shrug. No, I don’t. Just the thought of drinking that tequila is making me feel sick inside, but I just want to let go.
“No, you don’t,” Victoria says.
“Did you guys not get the hint when I blocked you? I don’t want to fucking talk to you,” I spit out angrily, not missing the frowns on their faces. I stand up, but they block my way from moving.
“I know you’re upset, but we’ve been trying to tell you to understand—” Victoria begins her sermon again.
I cut her off. “Understand what? That you’re somehow defending the same girl who you hated not too long ago?” They stay silent so I keep talking. “I never thought Kai would be the one to listen to me. I thought you guys would be there for me!”
People are shooting us funny looks from the commotion, but I pay them no mind. I’m angry, in fact I’m furious at every person. My own friends who I thought valued loyalty over everything are making a case for Juliette.
“Because I’m trying to tell you, Addie!” Victoria shouts. “It’s not Juliette’s fault.”
I scoff tiredly. “Yeah, why is that?”
“She’s cruel, yes she is, but this time she was pushed to it.” Aryan walks closer to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “This time she did it foryou.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, confused as I shrug Aryan's hands off me and he frowns so hard that my heart winces.
“Stacey had a sex tape of you,” he says, sighing.
“What?” I utter, my jaw slacked.
Victoria sighs, her and Aryan shooting each other looks. “She volunteers at the museum—Stacey, I mean.” she clarifies. “She saw you guys there and recorded you having sex.”
“W—what?”
She keeps going. “She came to Juliette’s house and blackmailed her, told her to break your heart otherwise she would release it—she has copies.”
I stumble back on the bar chair. At the museum. In the bathrooms. This was what she was blackmailing her with. Not just outing, but being a victim to a sex tape. The thought burns the back of my throat violently. She has a video of us having sex.
Sick. She’s so sick.
“So, she isn’t with Stacey?” I voice out, confused and elated at the same time.
“That’s seriously what you got from that?” Victoria says, amusement dancing in her eyes, Aryan mirrors her expressions.
Of course, that’s what I got from that. A sex tape is bad. But her being with Stacey? Someone else touching her or being with her is worse. It’s one of the worst things I could possibly think of.
I don’t care if my sex tape was leaked, as long as she was with me, I would take it. But that’s selfish, I can’t expect her to feel the same way. Of course, she’s terrified, this would ruin her whole reputation. Nothing is worse than a woman having sexual freedom…but the perpetrators of leaking sex tapes are rarely ever ridiculed. It’s always the victims.
Aryan clears his throat, garnering my attention. “She didn’t care about what happened with her, only that that sex tape would ruin your future. She did this for you.”
