THE GIRL EVERYONE TALKED ABOUT

CHAPTER 4

Everything fell apart on a Thursday.

Tessa knew it the second she walked into Westbridge Academy and noticed everyone staring harder than usual.

Whispers followed her instantly.

Phones lit up everywhere.

Students looked excited.

Cruel.

Curious.

Her stomach twisted painfully.

Something happened.

“Tessa.”

Maya rushed toward her looking panicked.

“You need to not look at your phone right now.”

Fear immediately crawled through Tessa’s chest.

“What happened?”

Maya hesitated.

That alone terrified her.

“Maya.”

“The gossip page posted something.”

Tessa’s hands already shook as she reached for her phone.

“No—”

But it was too late.

The moment the screen lit up, her world stopped.

A photo.

An old photo from Brookfield High.

Tessa standing beside Emma.

Underneath it was a caption:

@WestbridgeTruths:

Ask Tessa Walker what happened to her old best friend.

Her breathing became uneven instantly.

No.

No no no.

Comments flooded the post faster every second.

“Wait THAT girl?”

“I heard she bullied someone.”

“Didn’t the other girl leave school because of her?”

“She acts innocent but look at her face.”

Tessa felt sick.

The hallway suddenly became too loud.

Too bright.

Too crowded.

“Tessa, look at me,” Maya said quickly.

But Tessa couldn’t focus.

Because this was exactly how it started before.

The rumors.

The judgment.

The people deciding who she was before hearing the truth.

Someone nearby whispered loudly:

“She really did it?”

Another voice laughed.

“I knew something was off about her.”

Tessa turned around quickly and walked away before anyone saw the tears filling her eyes.

She barely made it into the nearest empty stairwell before breaking down completely.

Her breathing hurt.

Her chest hurt.

Everything hurt.

Why wouldn’t people leave her alone?

Why did this keep happening?

The stairwell door suddenly opened.

“Tessa.”

Jace.

Of course.

She quickly wiped her face. “Go away.”

“No.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

He stepped closer carefully.

Tessa hated how relieved she felt seeing him.

“I don’t wanna talk right now.”

“Okay.”

“But you’re still here.”

“Yeah.”

That almost made her cry harder.

Jace leaned against the wall beside her quietly.

“They’re idiots.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

Tessa laughed weakly through tears.

“You didn’t read the comments.”

“I don’t care about comments.”

“Well I do!”

Her voice echoed sharply through the stairwell.

Silence followed instantly.

Tessa looked down in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry.”

Jace frowned slightly. “Stop apologizing for being upset.”

More tears slipped down her cheeks.

“I’m so tired.”

Those four words sounded completely broken.

Jace’s expression softened immediately.

“Tessa…”

“I didn’t do anything,” she whispered shakily. “I swear I didn’t.”

He believed her immediately.

And somehow that made her cry even more.

“Emma was my friend,” Tessa continued quietly. “People online started targeting her after this rumor spread about her cheating with someone’s boyfriend.”

Jace stayed silent, listening carefully.

“She got hundreds of messages every day. People posted horrible things about her.” Tessa swallowed painfully. “I tried helping her but… every time I defended her, people started attacking me too.”

Her voice cracked.

“One day she transferred schools without telling anyone. After that, everybody blamed me because I was her closest friend.”

Jace looked angry now.

Not at her.

At the story.

“At first I thought it would stop eventually,” she whispered. “But it just got worse.”

The memory still hurt.

Students whispering whenever she walked by.

Friends disappearing.

Teachers looking at her differently.

Her entire life falling apart because people wanted someone to blame.

“I transferred because I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Silence filled the stairwell.

Then quietly, Jace asked:

“Did Emma ever blame you?”

Tessa froze.

“…No.”

“Then why are you blaming yourself?”

That question hit harder than anything else.

Because deep down…

Part of Tessa always believed maybe she deserved it somehow.

Maybe if she was louder.

Braver.

Better.

Things would’ve ended differently.

Jace stepped closer slowly.

“You’re not responsible for what people choose to do.”

Tessa stared at him through blurred vision.

“How are you so sure?”

“Because I know what it’s like when everyone decides who you are before hearing the truth.”

She blinked slightly.

For the first time since meeting him, Jace looked vulnerable.

“What do you mean?”

He looked away briefly before answering.

“My dad got arrested two years ago.”

Tessa’s eyes widened slightly.

“Everyone at school found out.”

His voice stayed calm but tense.

“Suddenly teachers looked at me differently. Parents didn’t want their kids around me. People assumed I’d turn out exactly like him.”

Tessa understood that feeling too well.

“They decided I was trouble before I even did anything.”

Now his constant fighting made more sense.

The anger.

The distance.

The walls around him.

“I started acting exactly how they expected after a while,” he admitted quietly. “Figured if people already hated me, there was no point pretending.”

Tessa’s chest tightened painfully.

Because she understood that feeling too.

The exhaustion of constantly defending yourself.

“You’re not like him,” she whispered.

Jace looked at her carefully.

“And you’re not what they say about you either.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

The air between them felt fragile.

Honest.

Real.

Then suddenly—

The stairwell door opened again.

“Tessa!”

Maya burst inside looking furious.

“You are NOT going to believe this.”

“What happened now?” Jace groaned.

Maya held up her phone.

“I found out who runs the gossip page.”

Everything went silent.

Tessa’s heart pounded nervously.

“Who?”

Maya looked shocked herself.

“…Olivia.”

“What?” Tessa whispered.

“No way,” Jace said immediately.

“She left her account logged into a school computer.”

Tessa felt dizzy.

Olivia?

The same Olivia who sat with them at lunch every day?

The same Olivia who smiled at her?

“That doesn’t make sense,” Tessa whispered.

Maya looked angry.

“She’s been sending herself screenshots pretending other people submitted them.”

Jace swore under his breath.

“But why?” Tessa asked quietly.

Before Maya could answer, another voice appeared behind them.

“Because nobody notices me otherwise.”

Olivia stood in the doorway.

Her eyes looked red like she’d been crying.

The stairwell became painfully quiet.

Maya looked betrayed. “You seriously posted all those things?”

Olivia laughed bitterly.

“At first it was supposed to be funny.”

Tessa stared at her silently.

“But then people actually cared.” Olivia’s voice shook slightly. “Everyone started following the account. Talking about it. Watching it.”

“So you ruined people’s lives for attention?” Jace snapped.

Olivia flinched.

“I never meant for it to get this bad.”

“But it did,” Maya said quietly.

Olivia looked directly at Tessa now.

“And everyone already believed the rumors about you anyway.”

That sentence hurt more than Tessa expected.

Because it was true.

People wanted someone to judge.

Someone different.

Someone easier to blame.

“You know what the worst part is?” Olivia whispered shakily. “Nobody cared about me until I started posting things about other people.”

Silence filled the stairwell again.

Tessa almost felt sorry for her.

Almost.

But the pain in her chest was stronger.

“You hurt people,” Tessa whispered.

Olivia’s eyes filled with tears instantly.

“I know.”

For once, nobody knew what to say.

Eventually Olivia walked away crying quietly.

Maya looked exhausted afterward.

“Well… that was dramatic.”

Jace snorted softly.

Tessa laughed unexpectedly.

A real laugh.

Small.

But real.

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

Tessa covered her mouth quickly in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry.”

Jace immediately shook his head.

“Don’t apologize for that.”

The way he looked at her made her stomach flutter nervously again.

Maya noticed instantly.

“Oh my God.”

Tessa panicked. “What?”

“You two are disgustingly obvious.”

Jace looked amused.

Tessa looked horrified.

“There’s nothing happening!”

“Sure,” Maya said dramatically.

Before Tessa could argue more, the warning bell rang loudly through the building.

Students would flood the hallways any second.

Reality returned immediately.

The gossip page.

The rumors.

Everyone knowing now.

Tessa’s anxiety came rushing back.

“What happens now?” she asked quietly.

Maya crossed her arms confidently.

“Now? Westbridge survives without stupid rumors.”

Jace nodded slightly.

“And people move on.”

Tessa wasn’t sure about that.

People rarely moved on completely.

Some scars stayed forever.

As if sensing her thoughts, Jace gently nudged her shoulder.

“Hey.”

She looked at him.

“You survived this before.”

His voice stayed calm.

“You’ll survive it again.”

Something warm spread through Tessa’s chest.

Not because the rumors disappeared.

Not because everything magically became perfect.

But because for the first time in a very long time…

She wasn’t facing it alone.

—

The next few weeks slowly changed.

The gossip page disappeared completely.

Students eventually found newer drama to obsess over.

That was how high school worked.

Nothing stayed important forever.

Some people still whispered about Tessa sometimes.

But fewer than before.

And strangely…

Tessa started caring less.

Maybe because Maya never stopped defending her.

Maybe because she slowly learned not everyone secretly hated her.

Or maybe because every time she felt overwhelmed…

Jace was there.

Sometimes sitting beside her quietly during lunch.

Sometimes walking her to class.

Sometimes texting her stupid jokes at midnight because “you sound sad.”

Little things.

Small things.

But important things.

One afternoon after school, Tessa sat on the football field bleachers watching the sunset while waiting for Maya.

Cold wind brushed softly against her face.

“You skipping the bus again?”

She smiled slightly without looking up.

“Maybe.”

Jace sat beside her casually.

For a moment, comfortable silence settled between them.

Then he asked quietly:

“You still think everybody leaves eventually?”

Tessa looked down at her hands.

“A little.”

“Fair enough.”

She glanced at him carefully.

“But… maybe some people stay.”

Jace smiled faintly.

“Maybe.”

The sky turned orange above them.

Soft.

Beautiful.

Peaceful.

And for once, Tessa didn’t feel invisible.

She didn’t feel like the weird girl everyone talked about.

She didn’t feel broken.

She just felt like herself.

And maybe…

That was enough.