Vanessa is sitting on top of Gilinsky's shoulders while Lucy sits on top of Johnson's, apparently playing 'Chicken Fight' in the pool. Kian is sitting off to the side in a beach chair, seemingly deep in his thoughts & not taking part in any of the fun festivities. He's been scrolling through his phone, keeping on alert for anything related to the pictures of Lucy. So far, nothing has come up.
Meanwhile, Vanessa beats Lucy in the game and a playful Lucy gets out of the pool to join her man on the sidelines.
"Hey you," a soaked Lucy speaks as she sits on his lap. Kian immediately puts his phone away and wraps his arms around her. "Why won't you come swim?"
"Just not feeling the water today," he shrugged, kissing her shoulder. "Are you having fun though?"
"Not as much fun if you were in there with us," she teased.
"Eh," his face scrunched up. "It's just...goofy ass Gilinsky and...my stepsister in a bikini, it's all a little weird for me. And now the Jacks are friends again, the group just keeps on growin'."
"You're making excuses." She gives him a quick peck on the lips. "Well since you're just gonna stay dry, can you at least fire up the grill? Pretty sure we're gonna be hungry soon, Chef."
"Yes, I will fire up the grill." He squeezes her tighter before smacking her behind, making her get off his lap.
"Thank you," she smiles.
"Hey," he says, grabbing her arm and pulling her back into him. "I love you more than my skateboard."
"I love you more than cheesecake," she bit her lip & kissed him one more time.
. . .
"I have been craving this all day," Stassie said as she sat down at the table with Kali and Nadia. She took a large bite out of her sandwich. "I was on a strict diet for days just to fit into this dress for Kylie's lip kit event. So this is pure heaven."
"I love this place," Kali added, sipping on her bubble tea. "Earth to Nadia, are you...here with us right now, or...?"
"Sorry." Nadia was nose deep in her phone. "I'm going between arguing with Derek and arguing with Swazz."
"Swazz?" Stassie asked.
"Her ex," Kali informed her. "Broke her heart, had family drama, now she's forced to work with him for prom planning because he doesn't have anything else to do."
"Hm," Stassie shrugged. "Better the prom committee than running the streets being an asshole. And yes, I'm referring to Derek."
"And that's why we're arguing," Nadia sighed. "He'd rather do illegal street racing than--"
"Doing you?" Kali snickered. "He's bad news, dude. I wish you'd see that."
"Hot bad news." Nadia gently dropped her phone onto the table, sighing in defeat. She stared down the healthy personal pizza before her. "I don't even want this anymore. I want...a big fat juicy burger."
"Totally thought she was gonna say something else," Stassie chuckled.
"Let's just talk about something else." Nadia sprinkled crushed red pepper on her pizza before taking her first bite.
"Well," Kali cleared her throat. "I'm finally on good terms with Jack J."
"Aww," Nadia squealed. "Now you can get back together!"
"Eh- no. We're not getting back together. We're better off ass friends. Besides...I kinda got the hots for my boss."
Stassie nearly choked. "Austin? You've got the hots for him?"
"Yeah, I mean, what's not to like? He's tall, has tattoos, a killer smile, wicked sense of humor."
Stassie felt the jealousy rise within her as she took a sip of her water. "I heard he's not the best kisser, you know. If he sucks in that department, who knows what else he sucks at, if you know what I mean."
"Ouch," Kali laughed. "Cut him some slack, I'm sure it's just a rumor. Nothing's going on between us anyway."
"Kali's got a crush," Nadia sang.
Stassie shrugged to herself and continued eating. She wanted Kali all to herself & having Austin in the way could put a speedbump in the way of the things.
. . .
School is back in session and absolutely no one is happy to be back with the exception of a few faculty members. Lucy enters the building with Nate by her side, keeping up in his wheelchair & rocking his manbun.
"Maloley," junior Matthew Espinosa shouted from across the hall. "Enjoy your Spring Break, man?"
Nate stopped in his wheelchair to stare Matthew dead in the eyes, waiting for him to get the hint that he's paralyzed from the waist down and did not, in fact, enjoy his Spring Break.
"O-Or not," Matthew stammered. "Catch you later."
Lucy and Nate continued down the hall.
"You didn't have to play the silent game with the poor kid," Lucy laughed.
"Just helpin' him get a clue," Nate shrugged.
They approached Nate's locker and Lucy unlocked it for him, helping him reach his books and anything else he needed.
"Your boyfriend ditchin' class today?" Nate asked.
"Apparently so," Lucy replied. "He said he was sick and to not worry about picking him up this morning."
Not too far away, Lucy spots Cameron walking out of the men's restroom.
"Hey Cam," she waved.
Cameron paused in the hallway, looking at her, then looking at Nate. He scoffed and kept walking without saying another word.
"Goddamn," Nate said. "What'd you do to him? That was ice cold."
Lucy pursed her lips, trying not to come off as angry. "I didn't do anything. He's just upset."
"About?"
"I guess because I'm not single and up for grabs."
"Can you blame the guy?"
"Don't start." Lucy handed him his folder and closed the locker.
Meanwhile, Nadia enters the halls already with her mascara smeared. She had been crying but everyone is making it seem like they don't even notice. She opens her locker and leans forward trying to hide her face.
"Yo Nadia," John approaches her, not looking up from his phone. "I need the contact list of the DJ's we looked up. Ms. Kendricks."
Nadia rolls her eyes and sniffles as she searches for the Prom binder in her bag. She pulls out the list and hands it to him.
"Thanks," he finally looks at her. But instead of saying anything else, he turns around and walks away.
"That's it?" Nadia speaks up.
John stopped and turned around. "What's it?"
"You usually have something to say and now this time you don't even acknowledge how much of an emotional mess I am."
John pauses to think, giving her the once-over. He takes a deep breath. "Nah. You wanted me out of your life as much as possible. You got irritated with the fact that we had to work together and couldn't even set your pride aside. So, no, I have nothing more to say. Thanks again for the list."
"I hate you," she bellowed.
John walked closer to her, as close as he could get. "You still fuckin' love me."
This made Nadia jerk her head back a little bit, shocked at what he just said.
"But don't worry," he continued. "I won't bet money waitin' for you to admit it. New day, new Swazz."
John left Nadia speechless by her locker. If anything, she wanted to cry some more.
. . .
The bell rings after 3rd period and it's time for lunch. Lucy, Vanessa, Sam, and Gilinsky walked toward the lunch courtyard together talking about the class they just left.
"Oh damn, it's burrito day?" Sam said as he looked down at his phone. "I gotta hurry and get in line before it gets too long."
Sam runs ahead of them, entering the courtyard first.
"I'm probably not gonna study for the quiz," Vanessa told Gilinsky.
"When do you ever study," Gilinsky joked.
"Well I haven't had much time to ever since you came around," Vanessa chuckled.
Lucy looked up after getting her wallet out her bag and Sam was blocking the entry to the courtyard. He had a serious look on his face.
"What's going on," Lucy asked Sam.
"I don't- I don't think you wanna...go in there," he told her.
"Sammy, move," Lucy giggled. "Stop playin', I'm hungry."
"Lucy..." Sam warned.
"Dude what are you hiding," Gilinsky asked.
Lucy looked past Sam and a lot of students were staring her way. Some were laughing and others looked upset.
"Does it, uh," Lucy gulped. "Does it have to do with Kian?"
"Not necessarily," Sam answered. He tried to hug her but she didn't want to be hugged. She snuck past him and finally entered the courtyard only to see people holding pages of the photocopied polaroids.
She could see Tiffany rushing through the courtyard, snatching the papers out of everyone's hands and ripping them up.
"Wh-what's this?" Tears filled Lucy's eyes as she trembled. "How did they..."
"Nice pillows Lucy!" Tez, a sophomore shouted from across the way. Gilinsky clenched his fists and was about to go fight him but Sam stopped him.
Lucy took out her phone to call Kian but her hands trembled so much that she dropped her phone. Soon Nate entered the courtyard and was just as confused as the rest of them.
"What the hell's goin' on?" Nate asked. He looked at an adjacent wall and rolled up to it where he took down a pinned page. His blood boils as he looked at the polaroids. He wanted to help Tiffany collect and trash them but there was only so much that he could do.
Lucy received a text from an unknown number that simply said 'SCIENCE WING'. Vanessa saw the message as well as Gilinsky. Soon, multiple phones beeped and multiple students left the courtyard to head to the science wing. Lucy ran with her friends trailing behind her. She pushed past the other students and finally got there, only to find that the walls and lockers of the science wing were covered in the photocopies.
"Who's doing this?!" Lucy cried.
Sam, Gilinsky, Vanessa, and Tiffany all quickly tried to take down all the papers.
Lucy's legs nearly collapsed and she sat on the floor, trying to catch her tears. Nate rubbed her back, consoling her.
"We're gonna find out who did this," he assured her.
But she just wanted to get away and get away fast. She stood back up once Security and a couple teachers entered the hall. Lucy ran in the opposite direction toward another exit and left.
"Lucy!" Nate called after her.
. . .
Lucy sat in her car, sobbing her eyes out. She couldn't think of many people who would be after her like this. She couldn't even begin to wonder how they got the polaroids in the first place. Maybe it was Cameron who had been pissed with her & her life choices. Or perhaps it was Madison who once had the upper hand over her until she outed her at the pageant. She planned on figuring it all out eventually but first she had to get to Kian.
It didn't take her long to drive to his house and ring the doorbell several times. When he answered the door, he didn't look sick at all.
"You're...not the pizza guy," he lightly chuckled but soon his smile faded.
"And you're not sick." She pushed past him.
"What's wrong babe?" He closed the door and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"The pictures you took," she shouted. "The polaroids! Someone... they..." She could barely breathe enough to get the words out.
Kian felt the world topple around him. His worst fear had come true.
"I know," he squeezed his eyes shut.
"You know? What do you mean you know?" Lucy was getting aggressive with her tone.
Kian sighed. "I was rushing, that day we went to the beach. I didn't want the cleaners to find the polaroids so I shoved them in my bag before we left. And I guess while I went to see what was going on with Gilinsky getting injured, someone must've went into my bag and took them. I've been trying to find out who, but--"
"Well that's fucking careless, Kian! More than half the school has seen those because someone has it out for me! But I did nothing to deserve this and now everyone is laughing at me!" Lucy pushed Kian away to go sit at the bottom of the stairs. She continued to cry, letting the mascara leave squiggled lines down her cheeks.
"Lucy," he rushed to her side. "I'm so sorry. It's been tearing me up inside ever since I realized they were missing."
"Those were intimate moments, private moments. I'm pretty sure your cleaning people don't check every nook & cranny. Y-you could've put them between the pages of a book or something."
"What do you want me to do?" He held his hands up. "What's done is done now, Lucy! All we can do now is move forward, find out who did it, and make them pay."
"Move forward," she scoffed. "Do you know what year it is, Kian? A person may have made photocopies but everyone has a phone. Everyone has social media. For all I know, those copies are circulating on the internet. You know, the same internet that my family uses? That my future employers use?" Lucy shook her head and stood up. "Should've never let you take those pictures, I'm such a fucking idiot!"
"I...I know," his voice cracked. "I'm sorry. I wish I could go back in time but I can't. I can only focus on the present."
"I just wanna hide," she rubbed her face. "I don't want anyone to see me."
"Lucy..." he reached for her arm but she yanked it away.
"Is that why you skipped school today?" Her eyebrows furrowed with anger. "You knew some shit like this might happen so you stayed home to avoid the possibilities? Huh?"
"N-no...I just didn't wanna go to school today."
"After all that's happened, you're gonna lie to me? I thought we were past that?" She folded her arms waiting for him to speak the truth. "So...same question, real answer this time."
Kian sighed in defeat. "Sort of. But I wasn't here doing absolutely nothing. I'd been searching online for clues, looking at cryptic messages on everyone's profiles to see who it could've been."
"Cool," she nodded, surpressing her anger in the worst way. "So not only did you let the polaroids out of your sight, you let me go to school with no knowledge of what was going on? You made me go through this without you by my side. That's...ha, that's fucking lovely isn't it?"
"I've been on edge all this time!" Kian yelled. "It hasn't been a walk in the park for me, Lucy!"
"It's not the same! It's not your ass that's plastered all over the walls of West Bev! It's not your legs! Not your face! Just your fucking pillow!"
Kian's phone rings and he's already irritated enough as is. It was Jc calling.
"What," Kian snapped as he answered. "...What? No, you idiot. She's not cheating on me, I took those pictures myself and someone stole them....Now's not a good time, I'm with her right now."
Kian ended the call and Lucy looked like she was done with life.
"People are saying I cheated on you now?" She scoffed. "The pictures weren't enough, now there's rumors along with 'em?"
Kian hugged her but she didn't hug back.
"I'm gonna fix this, babe."
Lucy wiggled out of his grasp. "I'm not gonna hold my breath."
Lucy stormed out of the house with Kian chasing after her. But it didn't matter, she sped out of his driveway with tears in her eyes. He no longer knew where he and Lucy stood as a couple. He had never seen her so upset with him. His heart was filled with regret & pain.
. . .
"What the fuck was that?" Nate angrily whispered into his phone while he was alone in the hallway after school.
"What?" Mahogany replied. "You wanted me to break them up."
"I didn't tell you to humiliate her."
"I know," she sighed. "Look, I saw a chance and I took it. Kian wasn't flirting back with me and I was gonna plant some thong underwear in his bag but I found those and it was so much more interesting."
"Yeah well you should've stuck with the underwear plan." Nate rubbed his face, looking around him.
"Well yeah but he could've turned that around and told her it was a gift for her...and what a waste of $15 underwear that would've been. But with Plan C, with him being so careless & carrying those photos around, she'd totally be pissed off at him. I know I would be. All you have to do is swoop in and offer some good ol' comfort to her. She'll warm back up to you, Prince Charming."
"You don't...you don't get it. This isn't how I wanted it to go. I feel fuckin' responsible for her humiliation, Mahogany. I can't believe you went the extra mile."
"Now now, Nathan. Let's not be a hypocrite. Besides...all I did was steal the pictures. I never set foot in your precious school. I still expect to get paid though."
"Wait, what? If you only stole them, who did you give them to?" Nate trembled. Things were getting out of hand.
"That's gonna cost you extra. Let me know when you have the funds."
Mahogany hung up and Nate almost threw his phone across the hallway. He didn't even know who else Mahogany knew at his school. All he knew was that he started this mess and it was up to him to end it.
_________________
Author's Note: oh yeah...this tangled web is getting good ;)
Vote & tell me your thoughts, lovelies!
xx