Josh looked back and forth at the two of us before stepping in between us. "Don't get mad at her," he said softly.
"What the fuck? Of course, I'm going to get mad at her. So what if I 'got cozy' with Tayler Holder? No one needed to be taking pictures of it at that party, especially not your bitchy girlfriend."
Josh sighed. "She took the picture, but she's not the one who sent it in."
My entire demeanor changed. I was no longer angry. I was hurt. "Josh," I said softly, "what the hell are you talking about?"
Josh looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with me. "Nessa didn't send it to tiktokroom."
"Josh, you better look at me right now and explain what is going on," I said, hoping that the thoughts racing through my mind were so much worse than what he was about to say.
He looked up at me, his blue eyes filled with regret. "Bailey, I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I just-"
I cut him off. "Save it. I don't want to talk to you anymore." I turned quickly on my heel and made my back down to the kitchen.
"You figure it out?" Blake asked, looking at me.
I nodded. "Yeah. I was wrong. We were all wrong." Tears filled my eyes, and it was taking every ounce of my being not to let them stream down my face.
"What do you mean?" Jaden asked.
"Nessa took the picture," I explained, "but Josh sent it to tiktokroom."
Everyone at the table gasped. "What do you mean, Josh sent it?" Addison asked, clearly confused.
"Exactly what I said. I went up there to confront Nessa, and in the middle of my rant, he confessed. I just don't understand why," I said, a tear escaping.
"Let us talk to him," Jaden suggested.
I shook my head. "It's not worth it. He's not worth it. I think I'm going to go take a nap. Maybe some sleep will help clear my head."
I got up from the table and headed quickly to my room, already knowing that the sobs wouldn't stay back much longer. As I flopped onto my bed, I let them loose. I lay there and cried for what felt like forever before drifting off to sleep.
"Bailey? Is everything okay?" Amelie asked, pushing my door open.
I rolled over to look at her. "Define 'okay,'" I mumbled, sitting up in the bed.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
I relayed the events of last night and that morning to her, pausing as I got to the part about Josh. I choked down my sobs as I told her everything. She wrapped me in a hug.
"Boys are dumb, you know? Everything's going to be okay. I heard that you have a date tomorrow." I nodded. "The rest of your clothes aren't here yet, so I was thinking: how does a shopping day sound?"
I nodded again. "I do love some good old fashioned retail therapy."
Amelie laughed. "Me too. I'm glad you said yes though, because I definitely already made the plans with the other girls."
"The other girls?" I asked.
"Don't worry, not Nessa. I wouldn't do that to you," she said, rubbing my back gently. "I'm about to go pick up some food, do you want anything?"
I shook my head no, and she left the room.
Griffin stood in the doorway. "Hey, Bailey. Can I come in?" I nodded, and he crossed the room, sitting in my desk chair. "I heard about a lot of things, and I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."
I nodded again. "Yeah, I'm doing okay. Thank you. I'm sorry for everything."
"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.
"Josh, Tayler, all the drinking last night. I'm kind of a shitty person."
Griffin looked at me. "I don't mean this in a bad way, but I don't care what you do. I just want you to be happy. When you're happy, I'm happy."
I stood up and crossed the room, hugging him. "You have no idea how much that means to me, Griff. I hope that we can stay friends."
Griffin nodded. "Of course. I'll be here whenever you need me." He stood to leave. "Let me know if you need anything."
How in the hell did I move to LA two days ago and I'm already finding myself in some sort of love rectangle? Maybe my mom was wrong. Maybe I can't be more successful out here.
I had just spent the last few hours asleep, so I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. Anthony and Avani were sitting at the table.
"Hey, guys. Sorry to interrupt."
Avani shook her head. "You aren't interrupting anything. How are you feeling?"
I gathered that she had either seen the post or talked to one of the other girls. I shrugged. "I'm wondering if I made the right choice in moving here. It seems to just have caused problems for me and everyone around me."
Anthony looked at me oddly. "You haven't created problems for anyone. Don't think that, okay?"
"Thanks, Ant, but it's okay. You don't have to pretend that I haven't. I'm gonna head back upstairs. See you guys in the morning."
I watched the two of them share a look as I left the kitchen. They were so perfect together. Maybe one day I would have something like that.
When I got back to my room, Josh was standing outside of the door. "Can I help you?" I asked, shoving past him and walking into my room.
"We need to talk," he said, walking in behind me and closing the door.
I scoffed. "There's nothing for the two of us to talk about. I'm not really sure why you're here."
"Will you please just listen to what I have to say?"
"Fine. You have five minutes."
Josh sat down in my desk chair. "I like you a lot, Bailey. I hurt you when I acted insensitively, and I didn't mean to. Nessa asked if we could talk that day, so I invited her over. One thing led to another, and we got back together. I thought that there was no chance of us ever happening. It hurt me more than anything to see you with Tayler. I acted irrationally and irresponsibly when I sent that picture in. I shouldn't have done it, and if I could take it back, I would."
I started speaking before he could get another word out. "Do they know it was you? Did you send it from your personal account?"
He shook his head. "I have a fake account that I use for things like this."
I shook my head in disbelief. "You humiliated me, Josh, in a time when you knew I was already hurting. I don't know when you got to decide that your hurt was above everyone else's, but you did. You put me in the most awkward position available, and I cannot just forget about that. I was stupid to think that you and I would ever be anything. Nessa has and always will be your number one. Your five minutes are up. Close the door behind you on your way out," I replied, walking into my bathroom and closing the door behind me.
I held my breath until I heard the door shut, and then, I let it all out. I felt like I had been doing enough crying for the last few days to fill a small lake. Were the tears ever going to stop?
There was a small knock on my bathroom door, so faint that I wasn't even sure that it was real. I opened the door to find Jaden standing in my room outside of it.
"I heard you and Josh. Are you okay?"
I wiped my eyes quickly. "I feel like every time I get pushed down, by the time I'm ready to get back up, someone is pushing me down again. It's like I'm drowning, and there's no one left to save me."
Jaden opened his arms and motioned for me to hug him. "I know how hard it can be out here. I know that you're used to the TikTok fame, but being out here is a whole new breed of that, and I think that's what you're experiencing right now. I know that you're hurting, and I promise you that we will all be here for you for as long as you need, no questions asked."
I sighed into his chest. "Thanks, Jay. Living here, I've gotten my fair share of brotherly love to make up for the time I missed out on with Bryce."
"Get some sleep. I heard you're going shopping tomorrow," he said, patting my head.
He left the room, and I settled into my bed, staring at the ceiling again. Thoughts danced around my head as I struggled to fall asleep. I hadn't told Bryce about Josh yet; I didn't want to put him in a weird position. Addison had probably already clued him in, so he was probably just waiting to see if either one of us would tell him first.
Josh and I had talked about taking things slow and hours later he claims that he didn't think that there was even a chance of us happening. Nessa took the picture of me and Tayler in the first place and showed it to Josh, which proves that she knew it would upset him. I could tell that Griffin was hurt by me hanging out with Tayler, but he had never made a move other than telling me that he would if it wasn't for Josh.
Before I could even begin to wrap my head around the disaster that was my life, I drifted off to sleep.
"Rise and shine!" Addison said in a singsong tone.
"Ugh," I groaned. "What time is it?"
Amelie answered. "It's eight. A good shopping day always starts with Starbucks. Let's go!"
Mads was rifling through my closet and handed me a crop top and joggers. "Here, this is always my go to shopping outfit. Easy to take off and put on as many times as you need."
"Avani, Dixie, and Cynthia will be here soon. We want to leave as soon as they get here so hurry up!" Addison yelled to me as the girls left my room.
I went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. "Wow, Bailey, you look like shit," I joked. My cheeks were tear stained, and you could probably see the bags under my eyes from a mile away.
I washed my face quickly, covering my bags with a little bit of concealer before getting dressed in the outfit Mads had chosen for me.
When I went downstairs, all of the girls were waiting. "Hey, girl! Let's go get you a date outfit!" Dixie greeted me.
We got in the car and made our way to Starbucks. "Can I get a venti white mocha cold brew with sweet cream cold foam?" I asked sleepily. "Let's throw in two shots of espresso."
The barista chuckled at me before ringing up my total. I handed her my card as the other girls sipped the drinks that they had ordered. "How are you guys not exhausted?"
Mads chuckled. "Not all of us stayed up late, Bailey. We all woke up to your argument though."
My face flushed red. "Shit, guys. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake anyone up. I didn't even realize that we were being loud."
Addison laughed. "Don't worry about it. Mads is just giving you shit."
It was my turn to chuckle. "You had me really worried for a second there."
We made our way to the first store. We all split up, rifling through the racks. "Look at this!" Avani yelled from across the store, holding up a crop top and skirt set. "Come try it on!" I instantly fell in love.
I paid for my purchase, and Amelie suggested another store.
As we walked into the next store, I spotted the last person that I wanted to see.