“Happy Birthday, Gaby,” they all chorused, walking towards her simultaneously.The hall was larger than Gaby had expected. She looked at their faces one after the other, each radiating with smiles.“Wow. This is too big. Who put everyone up for this? Craig?” She called out, looking into his eyes.He reached her first, engulfing her in a hug and pressing his lips on her forehead.“I love you step sister.” He muttered to her.Gaby’s heart warmed as she heard it. They were not siblings, and he took her in as his own. When her mom told her about remarrying, the first thing that came to her mind was the family they’ll be getting married to. If they’ll accept her, and if the son her mother claimed he had would be nice to her.The first day she got to the house, he was not around, but when he got back, he arrived with many things. She remembered him standing in front of her door, his expression stiff as it could be, and with a bag in his hand.“I don’t know much about girl's things but I got
“Where do you think you’re going to? To call your parents or to tell the school board you’ve been threatening a girl because you had leverage on her?” Craig half yelled at Bianca, silencing her immediately.She glanced at all of them, her eyes settling on Gaby after.“It’s either you tell them, or I do the telling. You guys are holding me against my will. You lied to me. You called it a fucking birthday party you wanted to attend with me! And now you’re bringing me here…“Would you like it better in a court place? Because I assure you, things can get more interesting there.” Elena cut her off, stepping forward to meet her.“Enough of all this!” Gaby yelled out.“You’ve all heard what I did. Let her go, and let everyone go. I’m so sick of all this, not to talk of…” she glanced at them all, shrugging and allowing a scoff to escape her lips.“It’s my fucking birthday. And you guys decided to ruin it by you trying to help me. Thanks.” She finished as she walked towards the door.“She did
The whole school seemed different to Elena the next day. It was as if everyone was minding their business and ensuring nothing happened. Just like how she took an Uber yesterday, she was already calling one when Silver arrived at the front of her door and asked to ride with her. They didn't say anything to each other throughout the ride, and as she packed her car, Elena muttered thanks to her before dashing out of the car.She had several messages from Craig, but she was not in any mood to reply to anyone. Gaby hadn't texted, she didn't say anything, and it kind of hurt her, making her think she didn't really care about her. Like she thought, everything was just fake right from the start.“Elena, have you heard what’s going on?” She suddenly heard Silver say beside her, eyeing her as she halted in her steps.“What’s going on?” she questioned, continuing her walk immediately.“Check the gossip forum. Seems Craig was serious when he said he would involve their parents. And if you didn’t
Unlike the way Elena had predicted, nothing interesting happened. Even the students minded their business and the things they said. Craig and Gaby didn’t show up to school, same with Bianca. Most of the science students mocked her two minions, the two of them suffering at the hands of people they’ve dealt with now that Bianca was not in school.Bianca was not one to miss school, even if the snow was falling hard. She’ll still come to school in her heated long car which Elena had no idea the name was, and drape her coat on her body.“I’m sure they won’t have shown up if they knew she was not going to come,” Elena said to Silver as they entered her car.“Or they didn’t see the gossip forum on time, and when they saw it, they called Bianca, and she didn’t pick up. I wonder what’s going on.” Silver said, starting the car and zooming out of the school compound.“Do you want to go out? Have fun before you return home?” Silver glanced at Elena and asked.Elena's lips curled up into a small s
“So why are you here? I didn’t call to tell you I’m hungry?” Elena asked, taking another slice of the pizza and munching it.“I also didn’t tell you my address. She gave you that, right?” She asked, nodding her head without waiting for an answer.Craig sighed as he stood up from the chair, dipping his hand in his pocket and bringing out a customized paper that was folded to the last bit.“She asked me to give you this.” He said as he stretched it to her.Elena eyed the paper for a bit while she chewed, “drop it.” She said.Craig's lips curled up with a small smile as he dropped it on the table beside the sofa.“She was thinking you won’t collect it.”“I will. I’ll read it and do exactly what someone did to me, which is not to do anything about it.”“Elena,”“Craig, this is none of your business. What is going on between the both of us is none of your business. You sit back and watch.” She cut him off before he could say anything.“I know it’s between you guys. But Elena, Gaby has been
Elena’s eyes roamed the contents of the letter, a part of her touched and the other not moved a bit.“What’s that?” She heard her mother say as she hurriedly crumpled the paper in her hands.“It’s nothing.” She replied, standing up and walking away to her room.She closed the door, locking it before flopping onto the bed. She brought out her phone and met a message from Craig.“Hi, I’m home already.”Her lips curved into a small smile as she texted him back, the both of them immersing themselves in a conversation.“Did you read the letter she wrote to you?” He asked after an hour of chatting.“I did. I wasn’t touched by that.” She texted back.She was about to continue texting when a call entered. Rolling her eyes and laying on her back as Craig’s name was displayed on her phone.“So you won’t call while we’re chatting but would because of Gaby?”“Elena, please.”“For fuck’s sake,” she cut him off. “I told you already not to get involved. We’ll sort it out; it’s a girl's matter, not a
By the time Elena was done dressing, only a few minutes were left before Craig arrived. “We did a good job here,” Silver and Elena's mom said, making a high five as they checked out Elena in the mirror. Her hair was down to her neck, with curly tips. Her face was full of makeup that complemented her skin tone. “I’m fucking pretty,” Elena said as she stood up. A silver necklace her mother borrowed her sat on her neck, and the pair of earrings also dropped down to her shoulder. “Let’s go downstairs. Take some pictures, and we’re all set.” Her mother said as she picked up the black bag Elena took with the dress. They had just gotten to the last step when Elena’s phone came alive, her tone blaring. She exchanged a look with Silver as a small smile bloomed on her lips, “He’s here.” Silver said before getting down with her. “Nope. I’m taking pictures of my beautiful daughter before she steps out of this
Days passed, and neither Elena nor Craig were talking to each other. And Silver became her Uber driver, carrying her to school and returning her home every day. She missed her chances with Xavier because there was no way she would let Elena be. “This is the last time. If you call me again, I’m not going to carry you. You’ll start taking your Ubers or take any other thing.” “Or I can follow you and Xavier to school.” “That’s not an option,” Silver replied, killing the engine of the car as they both got down. Rumors were now flooding the school forum much more than anything. Neither Gaby nor Bianca has not returned to school, and the escorts of Bianca’s parents have also filed a report for their children being bullied. As much as that was a serious issue and needed to be curbed, the students had no interest in that. Most of them talked about how Elena and Craig seemed to avoid each other while Matthew and Sarah followed each other like