Saving Mona

Chapter 15 😞

Have you ever felt that feeling of dread mixed with fear and then dismay? Have you ever felt that heart twisting and gut-wrenching emotion? That emotion that is so strong, the bravest human could crack under it? No? Well, that was how I was feeling.

Standing in one of Bloomville High's infamous abandoned classrooms, eyes wide and mouth gaping, I silently willed the image in front of me to go away, disappear, but of course, it didn't. It remained there, winking at me, mocking me. Suddenly, the reason for the strange stares I was receiving down the hallway made sense.

Is this what humiliation felt like? The news must have spread, and the students must be talking about it, no doubt. I could see the reputation I had worked so hard to build, the importance I was forced to make, crumble before my eyes. I blinked hard, hoping it was a trick of the light, but it was not. It was real, very much real, and in the hands of a fuming Melanie.

"I said, explain!" She gritted out.

I gaped at her, still trying to register what I saw. My gaze involuntarily wondered to Jarod and Layla, who both looked confused and hurt. I licked my lips, a nervous act I had once curbed, and tried to say something, anything. No words came out.

"Is it true?" Layla whispered.

I looked back at the picture and nodded.

"I...I can explain-"I stuttered but didn't get far as Melanie interrupted.

"Forget it. I can't believe I found out about this from social media. Some friend you are." She sneered and left the classroom. I tried to call her back, to apologize, but the words never came out as I watched my friend angrily storm away.

Layla didn't say a word, but I quickly read the hurt in her eyes. It rolled out of her in massive waves, cutting a piece in my heart as they reached me. She remained in the room a second longer before she followed Mel, her sniffles creating painful little wounds.

Jarod remained. He hadn't said a word, and I couldn't bring myself to meet his eye, not to talk of asking him why like Layla and Mel, he wasn't gone.

"We are friends. I know you are private and closed up about your personal life, but you should have told us. You should have trusted us. It's not fair to us that we had to find out through our phones." He muttered the same feeling I had felt from Layla and Mel evident in him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you guys." I cried, desperate to get him to stay. He shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. His shoulders sagged like he was in pain as he spoke.

"I have to think."

And with that, Jarod left me alone in the empty class. I spent minutes staring at the spot my friends were. I had always prided myself on being emotionally distant from others. I had always thought that if I had to leave my friends, I would do so without any emotion. Well, I had envisioned that. Now, I wasn't so sure.

Like a slap back to reality, I checked my phone to see a picture of mother looking wretched and hitting me with the heel of her shoe. From the picture, I could clearly see her malicious smile and my apparent fear. The image was staring back at me, daring me to deny it.

The lump in my throat felt too heavy to swallow. I just lost my reputation and friends, and the day was just starting. I was doomed.

*******

My classes consisted of whispers around me and pointed fingers. Everyone had seen the picture and were now talking about it. Lunch was no better. Mel, Jarod, and Layla sat at our usual table, but I couldn't bring myself to share it with them.