2. The wall of shame
1524 Words
Of course, next day I was operating on 'zombie' mode because of sleep deprivation. I won't not lie. I was even craving someone's brain, Ashton's brain to be more specific.
Amidst my mom's yells of irresponsibility and tardiness, I made my way out of the front door after shoving breakfast into my mouth hastily. I was already running late and I had the school bus to catch.
But, curse my luck.
Ashton freaking' Sylvester had to appear at that exact moment from his house. And, of course, he just couldn't keep his mouth shut after catching my eye.
"Hola, crazy!" he saluted, which led me to roll my eyes in response.
"How was your 'slumber' last night?" he asked, with a grin plastered on his face.
And, there went my good mood. Well, it was never good to begin with, but still, he just ruined it more. And, what was this with the nickname 'crazy'? I swear, this boy was actually going to drive me crazy.
"Look, Ashton, I don't have the time or the energy to deal with you right now." I stated and started making my way towards the bus stop, which was at the end of the lane and required me to cross Ashton's house.
Ashton didn't let this opportunity pass, and caught up with me outside his house.
"What did you do all night that drained your energy?" he asked suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.
I gave him a wide-eyed, horror-stricken look. "Are you for real?"
"As real as they come." He quipped.
I shook my head and made a dash for it. Thank god, he didn't follow me, though his booming laughter did. And, thank god, he was one of those boys...those who had an obsession with sports cars and never took the bus to school.
But, things didn't end there. To make everything worse, he was even in five out of seven of my classes. Our relationship had changed significantly after the insightful talk we had last night and this morning. It went from smirking-scowling to smirking-glaring. Still, no words passed between us before lunch break.
"Come on, we will miss the prime spot if we are late." Hailey yelled, whilst dragging me to the cafeteria. The students in the hallway gave me sympathetic looks while Hailey received 'are-you-on-drugs' looks, which she totally ignored.
This said 'prime spot' was the most coveted table in the cafeteria. Why? Because it gave an exclusive view of the profile of the members of b3, also known as the certified bad boys of Bellwood high.
Yup! It was official. All the girls in this school, including my friend and excluding me were crazy.
"Oh, no. it's occupied." Hailey whined, as soon as we entered the cafeteria.
Sure enough, the seat was occupied by the 'it' girl of our school, Madison and her minions. I wondered why she was sitting there, because her usual seat was some guy's lap. I was not even kidding. That's where I always saw her.
Madison caught my eye and I braced myself for her sneer or disapproving look. Because, well let's be honest, the mean girls are supposed to be mean to everyone, well, everyone except hot and popular boys.
And, I was on top of the list of Madison's victims. I didn't even know the reason. I mean, I didn't even have anything on her in the looks and fashion department. She's just had it for me since last year. That's why I preferred to keep my confrontations with her to the bare minimal.
Anyways, back to the present. So, I was ready for some mean Madison action, but, what I received instead was puzzling.
Madison didn't sneer or glare or scoff at me. She looked at me with sad eyes. Or what I supposed were sad eyes. I wouldn't know, because I have only ever seen hate on her face. So, it's kind of hard to tell what her expression was.
Well, what did I care?
I was about to ask Hailey to look for some other seat when I heard the clicking of heels coming towards us. Madison cat walked to us and stopped right in front of me. Hailey's mouth was completely hanging open by now. Mine would have been too but then, I thought, 'Oh, well. She's here to create a scene. Those sad eyes were my imagination, after all.'
"Hey, Millie. Would you like to sit with us?" she asked, politely.
What??? No, this was not real. It was a trap. I searched her face for any signs of deception but, couldn't come up with anything. I didn't want to admit it, but, she looked genuine to me.
But, still, prevention was better than cure.
"Uh, no. thanks." I said awkwardly.
Her face fell. I felt bad. I was about to open my mouth to say something, but, Hailey beat me to it.
"Of course, Madison. Millie will sit with you. But, there's one condition. I will come with her too. We come as a package."
I gave her a 'what-are-you-doing' look, but, she totally ignored me. Wow, so much for being my best friend.
"Of course, Hailey. You are invited too." Madison offered generously and walked away, expecting us to follow.
"What the heck, Hailey?" I whispered.
"What? I couldn't pass up the offer for prime spot."
I rolled my eyes. I should have known. "But, this is Madison we are talking about. I bet, she has some nasty trick up her sleeve."
"if that is the case, I will take care of it. Don't you worry, child." She assured, patting my back.
"Besides, she seemed desperate. The girl could use some 'real' friends." Hailey added.
"So, she's a friend already?" I asked in disbelief.
"No, of course not. We will have to wait and watch if this is genuine or an act. Either way, it won't hurt to have some fun. Besides, we get to have the prime spot." She squealed the last part.
I rolled my eyes. I was highly skeptical that Hailey was doing this just for the 'prime spot.'
I sighed and followed her to Madison's seat.
Surprisingly, Madison was civil and polite enough to us. Her minions were a bit uncomfortable. But, they had to suck it up for Madison's sake. I really didn't know what was happening. Either Madison was on drugs or the world was changing, like, really changing.
Halfway through the lunch break, I got a text. I unlocked my phone to see it was from an unknown number,
Your name is going to be added to the wall of shame.
I frowned. Who the hell was trying to mess with me?
Who the hell is this? I am having a really shitty day. Go find someone else to piss off. I typed and hit send.
The reply came immediately:
Come and see for yourself if you don't believe me.
What the hell? I don't know why but my head jerked up in Madison's direction. She was talking animatedly to Hailey. They both were ogling boys together. She was not using her phone. No, she was not behind this.
I decided to give my suspicious thoughts about Madison a break and look into the matter myself.
"Hailey, I'll be back." I said. She nodded absentmindedly. I sighed and made my way towards the school backyard.
Now, you must be wondering, what the heck is wall of shame?
So, here's the thing: as the name suggests, it was a wall (our school backyard's wall) which glorified the name of those who were involved in shameful acts. Basically, the troublemakers, the pranksters, the bad boys... (Uh, yes, the bad boys, it was a matter of pride for them to have their names on the wall of shame.)
But, me? No, thank you very much. If anything, I would like to see my name on the wall of fame (yes! That exists too. Pretty cool, huh?).
Making it to the wall of fame was very rare and difficult feat. Considering there are only ten names on it right now. All ten are the names of high school toppers from the last ten years. And, I was no topper, never had been and never would be. So, maybe, I would find some other way to make it to the wall of fame.
My thoughts halted with my steps when I reached the wall of shame. The place was deserted. I scanned the wall first, and scoffed when I saw the names of b3 boys on the top. Then, I ran my eyes through the whole wall and breathed a sigh of relief when I didn't find my name.
I should have known. Someone was messing with me. Or was this a set-up, a trap?
I was about to dial the unknown number when I heard footsteps approaching me.
Oh, good! The pisser decided to show his face. I could give him a piece of my mind in person.
But, every ounce of confidence fled me and was replaced by shock when I lifted up my face to see who it was. The devil himself:
Ashton freaking' Sylvester.
- Writer
