Then the bell rings and I'm out of the grip hold of Regina. I make my way towards my last class. When I walk in I see Janis and Damian. I pull up a chair next to them. Janis says "Look your new friend is sitting right there go sit with her." Karen waves as the three of us glare at her. The only that waved back was Damian. Confused I say "No I didn't even want to sit with them and Regina invited me over and I'm saying no."
*Janis's POV
I hear Cady say "No I didn't even want to sit with them and Regina invited me over and I'm saying no." I look over to Damian "Cady I think you should say yes." She places her pencil on the desk "Why would I say yes?" I look down for a second contemplating this is a bad idea "Just go and tell us about it." She agreed and didn't ask any questions.
*Cady's POV
The bell rings and I say my goodbyes to Janis and Damian. I walk down the hall till I reach the front of the school. Once I get to the front door Regina pulls up. Gretchen and Karen were already seated in the back. She shouts "Get in loser." I pull the handle to her orange jeep and climb in.
Once we got to her house I was amazed at how big it was. When Regina unlocked the door her house smelt almost like fresh laundry. As we went upstairs I noticed the luxury artwork around. Then we made it to her room and we all sat on Regina's bed. Regina didn't hesitate to pull out a book. Before she revealed the book she said "Promise not to tell?"
I tried to mentally prepare myself for what I might see. Then Regina opened it revealing the first page, It was a yearbook photo of a girl from our school. Under her photo, it said, "smells like a garbage can never wears deodorant." Then she flipped to the next page, which had another girl from our school. Her page said, "wears clothes from goodwill."
Then Regina slid the book over to me. She got up and went over to her body mirror soon after Gretchen and Karen followed. I started flipping through the pages. I realized everyone from school was in there. Then I found Janis's page which said "obsessive d slur." That's when I looked up and saw Gretchen started pointing out her flaws. She said her forehead was too big. Karen said she had horrible nail beds. Then Regina lifted her shirt slightly and said "I need to lose 3 pounds."
They all looked over to me expecting me to say something bad about myself. I panicked and said, "I have bad breath in the morning." They all said ew and came back over to the bed. We all hung out for another hour then Regina drove us home. Before I got out of her jeep she said "Wear pink tomorrow."
The next day I wore a cherry blossom pink shirt along with a pair of jeans. When I got to school I was eager to tell Janis and Damian about what I saw. We couldn't talk during Ms. Norbury's class because we had a test. Then at lunch when I finally sat down. Janis asked the burning question "What did you see?" I was just about to tell her. "Well, when I got there-" Then I was cut off.
When I noticed the Queen Bee was walking over. She stood over me and said, "Come on." In a cheery tone, I said "I'll be right there." Regina turned around and went back to her table. I turned to Janis and Damian "Come over after school I'll text you the address." I frantically texted Janis my address
I went over to the Plastics table, Regina complimented my shirt and Gretchen chimed in "It's so fetch" Regina turned to her "What's fetch?" Gretchen got a little embarrassed "It's like slang from England." After that Regina said, "You should come over again." I panicked again 'I-I I can't I have a doctor's appointment."
Regina just nodded her head "Mhm right." I know Regina could sense I was lying. For the rest of lunch, Regina talked prom. We all needed to go dress shopping within the next couple of weeks since it would take weeks for them to ship.
I sat and waited for Janis and Damian. My dad was at work and my mom was doing volunteer work. I sat at my kitchen table pondering on how I'd tell Janis about what I saw. Then I heard a knock at my front door. I went over and saw Janis and Damian standing there. I invited them in and Damian went over to our things from Kenya hanging up. Meanwhile, Janis went straight to my table not wanting to waste time.
We both sat at my kitchen table and she asked the burning question " What did you see?" I let out a sigh "She had a burn book." Janis questioned "Burn book?" I explained to her what the book was "It's a book that says bad things about people. "It would have their picture then it would say something bad about them," I told her.
Then she asked, "Did I have a page." I slightly nodded my head. "what did it say?" I shook my head "I can't remember." Even though the image was engraved in my mind, she crossed her arms "Say it." I started rubbing my palms on my jeans "Obsessive d slur." She slammed her hand on the table "that bitch."
*Janis's POV
I slammed my hand on the table "that bitch." Causing Cady to jump a little bit. "Sorry." I apologized to her. She looked up at me with a reassuring smile "It's okay." Then Cady went on to tell me about what they all said in the mirror. She told me how Regina wanted to lose 3 pounds. That's when Damian pulled open a drawer in the kitchen.
He picked up a bar "What are these?" He started to examine it. Cady looked over "My mom gave them to kids in Africa to gain weight." That's when I came up with an idea. Weight gain is one of Regina's worst fears. In the 8th grade, Regina lost an excessive amount of weight. Nobody noticed her mom congratulated her and her dad didn't pay any mind. I was the only one to notice.
The first red flag was when she started skipping lunch. Then every time I would call her after school she would be working out. Then when I called her back an hour later she would still be working out. When we were getting ready for the 9th grade dance it all made sense. She looked exhausted as she slid her dress over her head. I could almost see her ribs.
I didn't say anything to her that night. I planned on bringing it up to her the next day. Regina didn't make it through the dance. She ended up passing because she had been skipping so many meals. Her mom was called and she arrived before the ambulance. I pulled her mom aside while they waited. I told her the behaviors I noticed. I didn't care if Regina was going to be mad at me. All I knew was my best friend was slowly killing herself.
Once the ambulance came Regina went away to treatment for a month. While she was gone I wrote her letters. Although I wasn't allowed to send them to her I gave them to her when she got out, which she appreciated since I kept her up to date with everything. When she got out she started being her old self again. She had more energy and was healthier.
She was slightly mad at me for telling her mom but she soon got over it. Occasionally she would say things about her body but I always reassured her. I always reminded her of when she was in a smaller body she wasn't happy.
So I didn't think making Regina gain a few pounds would be harmful. Which I soon regretted. I then explained to Cady my plan of giving Regina those bars. She agreed but had one exception. I had to tell her what Regina did to me. I let out a sigh then I explained why Regina and I weren't friends anymore.
I came out to Regina in 10th grade. I handed her a stuffed animal with a pride pin. Regina accepted me and helped me come out to my parents. She took me to my first pride festival. She was my number one ally. She never treated me differently or made it weird.
‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿ ‿
part 2 should be up! sorry it took me so long to write this chapter. it was supposed to be published Friday but it got deleted so i had to rewrite it. thank u so much for 6k views i never thought so many people would care about this book. 💗
kisses and betrayal (𝓇𝑒𝑔𝒾𝓃𝒶)
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