Born to be Bad

ch. 4 pt. 2

The week after that was hectic. We were preparing for the Winter Ball, I barely saw my friends ever since Ian asked Chris out but I have seen those two hanging out more. They looked happy. It was more than I could ever hope for for someone as great as Ian. One day, I was walking to my locker when I saw Roy pass by me across the hall. I didn’t think anything of it if not for the three girls who followed him a few minutes later, giggling and whispering amongst themselves. Curiosity got the best of me and I ended up following them.

I followed them for a few minutes before they stopped by a dead-end where the water fountain was, which was beside the principal's office. I could see Roy drinking before he was slowly approached by the three giggling girls. When he straightened up and prepared to leave stumbled a little bit when he saw the girls staring at him. His eyes widened in surprise (you could tell the guy was creeped out), before his face broke out into his signature smile.

“Hey, ladies.” Roy said, uneasily.

“Hey, Roy.” The three of them said in a high pitched voice and in perfect unison.

Roy tried to pass off his grimace as an easy smile but I could see it. Unfortunately, his fangirls could not. “What brings you here?”

“Oh, we just thought we’d drop by and say hello.” The girl in the middle said, edging closer making the other two do the same. Roy took a small step back.

I laughed quietly behind the wall I was peeking from. I know I should help the guy but I was more curious to know about what else he was going to do and how far he was going to take this. I’m evil, I know. You wouldn’t be reading a story about Adele Diaz if I always just came to save the day all the time. That is not how this works.

A high pitched voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “So, Roy. You know that the Winter Ball is coming up, right?” She said that in a way that was supposed to come out as flirty but only ended up looking like she was trying too hard.

“Uhm, yeah. It is. I’m pretty excited about that.” Roy said, truthfully.

I don’t know how I know that. All I know is that the guy seems incapable of lying or turning down someone to protect their feelings.

Middle girl gasped out loud (and, might I add, very dramatically she could put me to shame) and stepped closer to playfully shove Roy. “Oh my God. Shut up. Me too!” She said.

Okay, now she’s obviously flirting.

Roy looked at her as if to say ‘did you really just shove- no, touch me’ before laughing nervously. “That’s nice,” he said.

“So, I was thinking. Since we’re both so excited to go to the ball, how about you and I go together?” Middle girl (I still don’t know her name) said, before pouting her overly coated lips and looking up at Roy shyly.

Roy looked around in panic, as if looking for someone to save him when we suddenly made eye contact. I immediately hid behind the wall and gave myself a moment to breathe. God, please. He didn’t see me, did he? Did I really just get caught snooping in on a conversation I wasn’t even supposed to know about? Ugh, what will he think of me then? Wait, why do I even care?

I gave myself a few seconds before peeking again only to find the hallway empty. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and stepped out from my hiding place, trying to figure out where everyone went when the door to the principal’s office burst open and I immediately retreated back to my hiding place.

“I’m really sorry, Mr. Carter but if you can’t pay, we have no choice but to kick you out.” It was our principal’s voice and… Carter? Isn’t that Ian’s family name?

“Principal Higgins, please! I just need a little more time. I’ll try my best to earn that scholarship again, please! My parents don’t have that kind of money.” It was definitely Ian’s voice I was hearing.

I peeked out from where I was hiding and saw Ian standing across the principal with his hands clasped together as if in a prayer, his back slightly slouched and a look of distress on his face and Principal Higgins standing outside the wide open door and looking down at him in pity.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Carter. You shouldn’t have purposely failed that math exam. I thought you were better than that.” Principal Higgins was saying.

“I promise I won’t. Please just give me this chance. I don’t know how my parents will be able to take this. Please, Principal Higgins, I am begging you.” Ian said, almost on the verge of tears.

Principal Higgins stared at him mournfully. It was quiet for a quick second before Principal Higgins sighed. “Alright. One last chance. But if you don’t get your grade up by the end of the second semester, I won’t be able to help you anymore.” He said, finally.

I could tell he had a soft spot for Ian and it looked like this wasn’t their first encounter together as well. So, if I’m hearing this right, Ian was merely a scholarship student and his parents didn’t own an oil company in Dubai? Why wouldn’t he tell me about that?

“Thank you, Principal Higgins.” Ian said, letting out a relieved breath.

Principal Higgins nodded. “Do not, disappoint me, Ian.” He said in all seriousness that reminded me of when my father would scold me for spending too much on unnecessary things and my father almost never scolds me.

“I promise, I won’t. You can count on that.” Ian assured him.

All Principal Higgins did was give him a curt nod before disappearing into his office. Ian let out a huge sigh of relief and I was about to step out of my hiding place and go to confront him and maybe give him a little comfort when someone beat me to it.

“So, you’re a scholarship kid?”

Ian head snapped to the direction of the voice. It was one of the girls from earlier, the one who confidently asked Roy out to be his date for the Winter Ball. Only this time, she was alone. She had her arms crossed on her chest and she was giving Ian a look of distaste as if he was the worst scum of the earth. When Ian’s eyes landed on her, his expression matched a deer caught in headlights.

“Or if I heard right, not even a scholarship kid but just a kid who isn’t even fit to be in this school.” She sneered.

“Karen, I-” Ian started but he was interrupted.

“Save it, loser.” Karen snapped. “All this time, you’re strutting around the school acting as if you owned the place just because Chris Waver’s little boy toy when you’re nothing but a liar. A big fat liar who can’t even keep his grades up to keep a scholarship.” She taunted.

Ian was visibly crying now and as much as I wanted to help, I couldn’t. I was frozen on my spot, unable to do anything as I watched this tragic scene unfold before like how one would watch a car crash. I was completely frozen solid.

“Karen, please. You can’t tell anyone. No one can know. I’m begging you.” Ian said, looking worse than when he did when he was begging Principal Higgins to let him keep going to this school.

Karen smirked at him, obviously happy to see someone beg. “What’s in it for me?” She said.

“I’ll do anything. Please. Just… don’t let the others know. You can’t let them know.” Ian said, literally begging on his knees now and I couldn’t do anything but watch as Karen pretended to think about it, putting her hands on her hips before this evil smile slowly came to her face. Remember how I said that that lesson about the rich might come in handy in the long run? Well, you’re about to find out why.

“Anything?” She repeated.

“Yes, please. Anything.” Ian said.

Karen kept that evil smile on her face before she crossed her arms again and put her foot out. “Kiss my sandal.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Kiss my sandal.”

Ian made no move to do so and that made her angry.

“Don’t make me say it again.” Karen snapped.

Oh, hell no.

“He-” I was about to step out from where I was hiding when a voice came out from somewhere behind them.

“What the hell is going on here?” It was Roy and he looked furious.

It was like seeing an actor break character as I looked at Karen turn to Roy with a sweet smile on her face. “Roy, hey! I thought you left. Anyway, Ian and I were just getting to know each other,” She turned to Ian, giving him a sickly sweet smile. “Isn’t that right, Ian?”

Roy approached Ian and helped him up, asking him if he was okay. Ian nodded mutely, clearly shaken up by the situation. When Roy was satisfied with his answer, he turned to Karen, a deadly look on his face that would make a sane person go running to their mommies.

“I may have only heard part of it, Karen but I’m not stupid. You were obviously bullying him.” Roy said.

“What? That’s ridiculous. I would never. We were merely getting to know each other, weren’t we, Ian?” Karen said, looking at Ian and silently sending him a message with his eyes.

Ian looked between Karen and Roy while the former looked back at him in expectation before looking at Roy again and shaking his head slowly. Roy sighed deeply while Karen just looked downright murderous.

Roy looked at Karen again, a furious expression on his face. “I’m sorry, Karen.” His tone made it clear that he was feeling no remorse toward the woman. “But I am going to have to report this to the principal.”

This is where Karen’s true colors came out. She scoffed and looked flabbergasted. “But… but…” She stuttered before composing herself and holding her chin high up. “Okay, fine. But it’ll be his word against mine. You have no witness.”

“Oh, believe me.” Roy paused and briefly looked to where I was standing, making my heart skip a beat before looking at Karen again. “Someone will turn up.” He said.

That’s when I knew, all this time, Roy knew I was there.

~ * ~

To make the long story short, Karen got reported to the principal’s office and that earned her a suspension for a whole month, making her miss the Winter Ball. That fact made her so angry, she told the whole school about Ian being poor and that immediately made Ian’s remaining months at the school the worst of his life. No one touched him while he was with me, Janet, Nina or Chris but when we weren’t with him, we didn’t know what was happening because he would close off and shut us all out if we asked. Because of that, Ian’s promise to get his grades up weren’t kept and he ended up failing every class he was taking.

The Winter Ball was finally happening and the day before that, we all agreed we’d take him out to shop to help him feel better. I made a promise to at least try to cheer Ian up as best that I can. He was going to wear a suit, look pretty and we would all be there for him to make sure he enjoyed his night and not worry about anything else. The day before the ball, we went to his house for a surprise visit to give him an intervention about how just because he wasn’t anyone of high status, we still accepted him and loved him no matter what. When we knocked on his front door, his mom answered. She was a middle aged woman who you could tell smiled a lot due to her wrinkles at the side of her eyes and it was confirmed when she saw all of us outside her door.

“Oh, aren’t you all a sight to see?” She said, smiling happily.

“Hi, Mrs. Carter. Is Ian in? We just wanted to surprise him. We noticed that he hasn’t been feeling very well and we just thought that we should invite him out to, hopefully, make him feel better.” I said, smiling brightly.

“Yes,” she sighed wistfully. “he’s up in his room. It’s weird because he didn’t even come down for breakfast. Hopefully, seeing you will make him feel better. When you see him, tell him to come downstairs, would you? The food’s getting cold.”

That should’ve been the main and number one red flag.

“Oh, okay. Sure. We’ll bring him down for you.” Chris said.

Now, as I went up the stairs, a feeling of dread washed over me. I don’t know what was causing it but my hands started to feel cold and my stomach was churning the more I climbed up the narrow stairs to Ian’s room. When we were standing in front of it, I knocked once and waited for an answer. When there was none, I knocked again. Still, no answer.

“Ian?” I said onto the door. “It’s me, Adele. Chris, Nina, Janet and I came here to see you.” I said, knocking once more. “Ian?” I turned the door knob, finding it unlocked and pushed the door open.

What we saw in there was something no one should ever be able to witness in their entire life. We all stood there, frozen as we stared at our friend hanging from his own ceiling, his mouth blue and his face pale. Someone started screaming, someone started vomiting and one ran down the stairs, calling 911 but I just stood there, just like how I stood watching as my friend got bullied and wasn’t able to do anything. I may have started crying but I couldn’t, just couldn’t, stop staring until someone grabbed me and whisked me away from the scene.

Ian was dead and it was all my fault. Because I didn’t step up for him, didn’t defend him, didn’t help him when he needed me the most.

~ * ~

Everything happened so fast and the next thing I knew, it was his burial. I was in an emotional limbo and I couldn’t get out of it. His memorial service at school passed by in a blur, his burial happened in a blur, seeing Chris speak a eulogy about how he had never met someone so genuine passed by in a blur, my parents hugging me and telling me they were sorry was something I barely felt. I was numb. Completely numb from everything until one day, something made me snap.

I was walking down the halls, feeling like a zombie, completely unseeing and completely unfeeling when I passed by a group of people talking by the stairs.

“I’m glad he’s gone. The world’s better without him, anyway.” A high pitched voice entered my line of hearing.

I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned to see who said that only to find Karen and a bunch of other people from our math class huddled in a corner and talking amongst themselves. They were laughing and snickering and acting as if no one could hear them when they obviously knew almost everyone that passed by could.

“He was a dumb loser anyway. Why is everyone so distressed that he’s gone? Shouldn’t they thank him? I mean, his parents are probably better off finding a new son.” Karen said, making her friends snicker.

My vision went red and the next thing I knew, there were books on the ground and my hands were on her bleached blond hair and I was pulling and I was yelling and I was kicking and I was biting while Karen was crying, yelling and trying to get me away from her. But I wouldn’t let go. I was so angry, I couldn’t tell the difference between right and wrong anymore. I was able to punch her face and break her nose before someone broke us apart. The smell of mint and aftershave entered my senses and I could suddenly hear myself screaming.

“You killed him! He was my friend and you killed him! You killed him! You killed him!” I yelled out as I watched Karen bleeding on the ground and crying hysterically.

A crowd had gathered around us and I was suddenly so aware of the people around me and who was holding me. It was Chris and Roy holding me back from attacking her but it was Roy whispering in my ear, gently telling me to calm down. Everything was slowly starting to lose its numbness and I realized how much I was sobbing and how much my chest was slowly breaking into a million pieces until Roy pulled me in for a hug.

“He was my friend.” I whimpered, having a hard time breathing.

“Shh. I know.” Roy whispered, hugging me tighter.

Principal Higgins looked at the scene before him and then at Karen bleeding on the floor. In the end, Janet left to go study abroad because she couldn't take the guilt, Chris moved away for the same reason, Nina left to go back to her mom's hometown for a while, Karen ended up getting expelled and I got charged for assaulting another student but those charges were easily dropped due to my mom’s persuasion and my dad’s money. Thinking about that made my stomach churn because I thought of Ian and how if he did something as grave as I did, he wouldn’t get pardon but, rather, he’d get expelled and be forced to live out in the streets and it made me think of my privilege because I was rich and had money to get away with things like these. So when high school started, my mom decided I would go to Dale Academy and I agreed if only they would promise to keep who I was a secret. I didn’t want to live in luxury. I didn’t want to be known to the school as the rich heiress just so they could be plastic and act like clowns to me.

No, I wanted to see how genuine a person could be, how bad things could get if I kept up this façade. I wanted to see how the world worked and I vowed to do my very best to change it for the better. So, that’s when I became Adele Sanders; a scholarship kid with no money and no rich background, not the heir to a billion dollar company. I was Adele Sanders for three years. I pulled pranks, made teachers' lives miserable, destroyed school property for fun and got into detention at least thrice a month and my parents would only ever come to my rescue if things got out of hand but, besides that, I made them promise not to meddle. But, parents being parents, they still do.

This whole staying invisible was great until my mother told me about the arranged marriage and I could feel all my hard work going down the drain. I guess that means I won’t be invisible for much longer.

* * * End of Flashback * * *