Oh, Baby! #Wattys2020

Chapter Eighteen

Finding out Viv got into a fight with Jenna over her made Bella feel bad. What made everything worse was that Jenna knew about Arlington boarding school and she told everyone. Now they weren't just talking about Hale and her, they were mentioning Austin and all the horrid things that happened there. It was like taking a walk down nightmare lane. People looked at her as if she'd done something unspeakable. Like she'd done something none of them had.

Unwilling to let Jenna, whose motives she didn't quite understand, win Bella forced herself to handle the day. And by the time she got in her car at the end of the day, she felt emotionally drained and close to tears. She managed to keep it together in time to make it home. But when she walked in the door, she took one look at her mom and burst into tears.

Of course this would happen now, when there were good things going for her. Of course her past would come for her now, she had to end high school the same way it started. That would be just her luck. To start over and for this to happen. If she would have just kept her head down...

Bella hates Austin. She shouldn't have to keep her head down and fly under the radar. But thanks to his manipulative and childish ways, she nearly fell apart. What was she doing now? Crying because some kids looked at her mean? Was that not letting him win all over again?

"The people who hurt you can only hurt you as long as you let them." Her mom soothes, rubbing Bella's back after listening to her inner monologue that wasn't so inner.

Bella sniffles hard, "It's hard."

"Nothing is ever easy." Her mom replies, pulling away from her. "How did Hale react?"

"He's in the city meeting with a major record label." She replies, wiping her eyes.

"How would he react?" Her mom continues, drying her hands on her pants.

Bella knows she's just trying to distract her. But it works. "He would be mad that people were saying those things about me."

She nods and the conversation ends. Despite coming to the conclusion that she shouldn't let her past control her now and future; it still made her limbs feel like lead and her body feel as though she hadn't slept in three days. So she goes up to her room and crawls into bed. She was sad, and very disappointed that she even did all of that with Austin in the first place. Even after all this time she regrets her choices. And beats herself up over them.

👶

"What do you mean Viv got into a fight?" Omar whisper shouts into the phone. He sighs in frustration. "Put her on the phone."

Hale stares at him, his mind racing. What did Viv get into a fight for? She's always so upbeat and happy. She once cried over Dom killing a fly because she thought it didn't need to die. Hale tried to imagine what could have possibly gotten her wound up enough to fight. It's not that he couldn't picture her in one, but it must have been a damn good reason. He's certain she whooped ass too.

Omar's faces pinched as Viv's sharp and high pitched voice comes through the phone. Hale can't make out what she's saying, but watches his friend's reactions closely. Omar doesn't have a filter and this makes it easy to tell his thoughts through facial expression.

Then Omar's brows shoot up and his eyes flicker to Hale for a millisecond before he straightens and looks away. Hale gets a sinking feeling in his stomach. Was it Bella? Did she fight Bella? Omar inhales deeply as Viv's voice dies off.

"First of all, my sexuality is none of their business and it is not your job to be defending me. You've done enough already," Omar pauses, his voice thick for a moment.