As soon as I stepped through the front gates of the school, I knew something was wrong. The way everyone was staring at their phones, snickering behind their hands and whispering harshly to each other—it felt like the air was thick with something ugly. I kept walking, pretending not to notice the eyes darting toward me, but the pit in my stomach grew heavier with each step.
“What a slut.”
I heard it. Not from one person, but from a group of boys clustered by the lockers, their heads bent together, laughing. I froze for a moment, my pulse quickening.
Were they talking about me? I shook the thought away and kept walking, trying to focus on getting to my locker, but it didn’t help. The whispers followed me.
“Check your phone. Have you seen this?”
“Oh my god, it’s her.”
“Can you believe
