29 | twenty nine
Half the school day had gone and Stacey hadn't seen Kim at all. She sighed and took out her phone when lunch finally came around and cursed when she saw a message from Kim.
Stacey quickly came out of her texts and brought up her Facebook page. She flicked through the posts on the newsfeed until suddenly there was post after post of the same video. Stacey apprehensively opened it up and played the footage.
She watched on with pained shock as a video of a completely drunk Kim moved from one guy to the other, laughing and kissing them. The guys cheered her on as she started to dance – totally intoxicated.
"Oh Kim," Stacey whispered, putting her hand over her mouth.
She looked down at the comments.
'Total slut.'
'What a whore.'
'Didn't know she had it in her.'
She went back to her messages and let out a frustrated noise when she saw the first one was sent two hours ago when she was in the bathroom...with Scottie. Stacey shook her head and pressed call on Kim's contact.
"Hey," she answered.
"Hey," Stacey said. "I saw the video."
"Horrible, right?" Kim's voice was thick.
She had been crying.
"Kim, you were drunk. It wasn't your fault," Stacey said but Kim's teary laugh cut her off.
"It's funny isn't it?" Kim asked rhetorically. "How you go out for a drink to forget about the fact that everyone thinks you're a complete slut, only to end up with a video that shows how much of a slut you really are all over the Internet."
"Kim...it wasn't your fault," Stacey insisted. "Everyone else there was to blame too."
"It's amazing how easily people judge you," Kim continued and Stacey's face slowly fell. "It's horrible how much they think their words don't hurt. Words will hurt more than any hit or punch because unless they leave a scar, they're gone in a few weeks. But words...they stay forever."
"Kim..." Stacey whispered into the phone.
"But it's okay," she said. "I won't have to deal with stuff like this anymore."
"Kim?" Stacey asked and for once her voice was something it hadn't been for months – vulnerable. "Kim, what do you mean?"
Stacey heard her shuffling around through the phone until it got quiet. "I'm too tired."
And then she hung up.
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