It's been about 2 days since I found out the good old Violet Gardner was at my school. And I've been avoiding her ever since. Even though she's gone out of her way to make my life miserable for months now, and this month was no exception.
"Did you guys see that new girl? The one with black hair that never smiles?" Vera said. I chuckled, I knew exactly who she was talking about.
"I know her." I said with a soft smile. Vera looked at me and said, "Are you two...friends?"
"Far from it. She went to my old school." I said. Ebony cackled and said, "Yeah, I would hope you and Violet weren't friends! I was a flute player at Hamilton in seventh grade. Violet was a jerk. Especially to theater kids."
"She was a monster to me since the beginning. My aunt got in a car crash in August, and Violet wouldn't leave me alone about it." I said, not naming any names. I had learned to not do that. Was I proud to have Jessica as my aunt? Yes. Did I want people to tease me about it? No. Hard no.
"Oh my God, Cat...I didn't know that. I'm sorry." Ebony said.
"It's fine. I don't usually tell people." I said, then went back to my lunch. "Angus, I'll trade you my sandwich for your Oreos."
"Ew. No." Angus said. "Sandwiches are disgusting."
"I don't like them either. My mom makes me eat them." I said, scraping the mustard off of my sandwich with a fork.
"Are you guys excited for the winter concert in Band?" Vera gushed. "I think my crush is gonna be there."
"Who's the crush?" I asked, swatting Vera's elbow. She laughed and said, "What, like I'm gonna tell you?"
"Is it a boy or a girl?" Angus said.
"Girl..." Vera said.
"As long as it's not Violet." I said. "I'm accepting, but if my best friend was dating my worst enemy, that's where things get ugly." I said.
"Are you gay?" Ebony asked.
"Yep! Raging lesbian." Vera said. "Surprise!"
I chuckled. I knew I was bi since I was a kid, but I wasn't exactly out yet. To anyone. And I wasn't planning on coming out for a long time.
"Now that Vera's out, who's the crush?" Ebony said, getting in Vera's face.
"I'm not telling you!" Vera said, laughing.
"Is it someone at this table?" Grayson said. Vera smirked.
"Is it Catlynn?" Angus said. "Because I know who she has a crush on!"
"How?" I asked.
"FINE! It's Ebony!" Vera yelled. Ebony chuckled and kissed Vera's cheek.
"Okay, so are you and Ebony a thing?" I asked Vera. Vera looked to Ebony and nodded.
"Okay. So me, Cat, and Grayson are third-wheeling." Angus said. I laughed so hard that I spit milk all over my shirt.
"Cat? You okay there?" Angus asked, giggling. I could not breathe because I was laughing so hard.
"I think we broke Catlynn." Ebony said.
"What, is she a robot?" Vera asked. I laughed and said, "As a matter of fact, I am. Beep beep beep." Everyone at the table laughed. It felt really good having some friends I could have fun with.
_______
"So. Catlynn." Violet said when I was heading to band class.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"I'm here to make your time here a living hell, Catlynn. Because that's what you did to me at Hamilton." Violet said.
"What did Catlynn ever do to you?" Ebony said, rolling her eyes and standing next to me.
"Got me expelled." Violet said.
"Yeah, the only reason my parents intervened was because you made my life miserable. I had just gotten over the toughest time of my life and you had to go and bring me right back to square one." I said, almost about to cry.
"Oh my God, Catherine's such a baby." Violet said.
"Um, that's not her name." Ebony said.
"And, um, Violet. How do you know that my dad used to call me Catherine?" I asked.
"I saw Heathers on April 4th. I saw you getting pinned to that wall." Violet smirked.
She had just revealed my entire life story to a hallway full of charter school kids. I started to sob.
"YOU WHAT?" I exploded.
"Yeah." Violet said.
"Then why won't you believe me?" I asked. Ebony was standing to the side, confused.
"Because it was obviously staged." Violet said. "Come on, I would do the same thing if it gave me a chance to meet my idols."
"Listen, I had no clue what Heathers was back then. It wasn't staged." I said. "Now leave me alone!"
"Wait, what was all that?" Ebony asked, pulling me aside.
"On April 4th, my dad pinned me to a wall outside of the New World Stages, where Heathers was playing at the time. And then Elle McLemore, who played Heather McNamara, found me. Elle's my mom." I said.
"So...you literally got adopted by Heathers?" Ebony asked. "That's so cool. I don't know Heathers, but I would trade anything to be in your position. Minus the abuse."
"No, you wouldn't. It's been tough. Not saying Elle's a bad mom, she's amazing, but my life hasn't been all that...happy." I said.
"Oh. I'm sorry." Ebony said. "Now let's head to band. Vera just asked me out on a date and I want to know what to wear."
"I can lend you a dress!" I said. "You barely wear dresses."
"Yeah, I know." Ebony laughed. "Let's go."
AN: Would it be a book by me if I didn't slip some gay in here and there? No. And how did you like the plot twist? Hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!