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Chapter 26 (i)
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Jayden took me by the hand and led me through the crowd that had grown following the first punch. He didn’t stop until we’d come to our biology classroom. With another 10 minutes before class started, no one else had made their way over but I knew they would begin filing in soon.
Jayden sat at his stool, his face buried in his hands. For several silent seconds, he didn’t move or otherwise make a sound.
“…Are…are you okay?”
He shook his head slowly as if the action itself brought him great discomfort. “Those guys gave me a splitting headache. Feels like someone took a jackhammer to my head.” Jayden lifted his face to look at me and I could see his condition had deteriorated significantly since he first appeared back in the lab. “Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they? I swear, I’m—”
“No! No, no, please; I’m alright. Don’t go after them again; you&r
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The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 26 (ii)
“Stop!” I shouted.It was evident that only I would see need to end the brutality. As much as the students loved and admired their student body president, they were always there for a scandal and were indiscriminate in their amusement. They would grin at him in the halls and vote him in time after time, but they wouldn’t lift a finger to ensure he didn’t receive such harsh treatment.I pushed my way through the crowd knowing I had no real power to stop them but compelled to make an effort where no one else would.“Stop hurting him; he’s sick!” I said, pleading with them to see reason.With Dale beating down on Jayden’s back, Ryan rushed over to pull me away. He held me flush against him, his breath hot against the back of my neck. “Let’s leave the fighting to the boys.”I squirmed to break free as another tide of nausea rose from within me. With everything that the last 20 minutes ha
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 26 (iii)
We all looked to Ryan, wondering if he’d be chicken-shit enough to admit to the ordeal. There had been a tacit understanding between us that if no one spoke, he could only punish us for being late—at the very most, we would have an instance of skulking class on our records, a lecture to pair with our detention and be sent on our way. Things would get more complicated if we mentioned fights and staircases or empty chem labs and sexual assault. The visit to the principal’s office would become unnecessarily eventful after that and that was something we were all better off without.When the dust cleared and things cooled down, we could work at getting our individual retribution. For now, there was a threat bigger than any of us and it required a bit of cooperation to see us all through it.Dale broke the code. In Ryan’s determined silence, his friend thought the need to gain justice more important than allowing us all to walk out relatively unscathe
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 26 (iv)
Principal Wilson looked next to Jayden and Jonie. “I understand you saw the need to take matters into your own hands, but let’s remember there are protocols to handling things. As president, I expect you to be less irrational and impulsive. Someone could’ve gotten seriously hurt if your fight had escalated. In future, you’ll follow the correct channels and make the reports, am I understood?”“Yes, sir,” they said in unison. Neither was particularly repentant for the role they’d played, thus neither bothered to offer an apology. Were he less preoccupied with the final two, he may have noticed the glaring omission.“Do you realise you could both be expelled for this?” the principal asked.“Sir, please! My mom will kill me if I get kicked out of school!” Ryan pleaded. “I’ll serve detention for a year—give up club privileges—whatever you need, I’ll do it, but don&rs
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 27 (i)
“And I’m supposed to believe you? You’ve had your eye on Jayden since day one. You didn’t even try to get settled first—it was immediately about boys. The more popular the better, right? You’re unbelievable.”There was no convincing her and the prior efforts had risen me to a level of agitation from which I didn’t think I would easily come down. It was stupid of me to think that explaining myself would help, and even stupider to believe anyone would care. I’d known all along that my pain was my cross to carry and my own burden to bear. It was always better to keep it to myself, tucked far away from the grasp of others so they couldn’t abuse it.There were many slip-ups since arriving at that school and each had proven to be just as costly. I’d broken so many of my rules and had hardly anything to show for it.Rather than argue myself into a fit of frustrated tears, I turned and made for the teache
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 27 (ii)
“I might take you up on that.” While I doubted it would do much to lift me higher than the shame that threatened to drown me, the distraction from my own problems in the company of someone who didn’t see me as a salacious story would do me some good. I would let her show me anything and indulge her while she rambled on about statistics and data I had no hope of understanding. It would pass the time well enough and avoid me finding myself going down an empty hallway alone again.After the warmups, Coach lined us up and sent us off.I set my pace, knowing I would have a way to go before I was allowed back into the shade and any chance at respite. My past life in track taught me the importance of not burning out too early in such a long-distance event; it would only prolong the torture. Instead, I focused on my breathing and kept my gaze trained before me. I set visual goals for myself and checked them off each time I ran by one. It kept my mind locked a
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 27 (iii)
Back in the locker room, I found my reprieve. The others had run themselves tired and were noticeably more subdued than when we’d first walked across the field. No one cared about past schools and old rumours; they were covered in sweat and achy from the run they’d been made to endure. With another class before lunch, they sought to conserve their energy to make it out the other end.One by one they filed out, heading to their next class until only Madelyn and I remained. A wall of awkward silence wedged itself between us, creating a barrier that kept us at great distance. With the dust settled and all cards laid on the table, it was evident things had gone beyond the point of recovery. The girl had revealed what she thought about me and my misfortune. She’d made her stance very clear.“So,” I said, breaking the silence when it grew to be unbearable. “I thought I asked you not to tell anyone.” I kept my words simple and was del
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 27 (iv)
I was already in danger of being late for history and would do better to mind my own business. It was every bit as likely the boys were innocently waiting around to escort her to class, and I was only seeing monsters everywhere.Madelyn wasn’t a victim. That sort of bad luck was reserved for people like me. Her castle would never crumble, and no real danger lurked in the shadows cast by her brilliant light.I needed to calm down and avoid overthinking to avoid creating an unnecessary predicament for myself. Jayden wouldn’t appear if I found myself in trouble again and Jonie had asked me to keep my head low while she sorted out the mess of the prior day. Try as I did, I couldn’t get Madelyn out of my mind through my afternoon of classes. I’d already gone through the process of tearing down my apprehensions with sound logic and understood the unlikelihood of her ever having been in danger but, stubbornly, my mind clung to the idea th
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 27 (v)
In that moment, what she’d done didn’t matter. The things she’d spread, the people she’d turned against me, it was easy to forget in the face of the girl who sobbed so heartbreakingly.“Kai.” Her voice broke with my name. “I—I feel so…dirty.”“I know,” I said, whispering to maintain the delicate atmosphere that surrounded us.It was a feeling I was well acquainted with; one that never strayed too far lest it be unable to barge back in when I least required it. The knowledge of such unpleasantness made it easier to comfort Madelyn despite my own feelings of hurt and betrayal. In my own time, I wished I’d had someone willing to sit with me and wait until I felt better.Madelyn had only just received her initiation. The girl had a reputation that proceeded her. It wasn’t nearly so prolific that she could give the student body reps a run for their money, but it was solid. She
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The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 37 (ii)
“There’s…there’s something I need to tell you.” I only needed the courage to find the words.Jayden’s brows creased as he took me in. “What is it…?”“You’ll be angry.”“I won’t.”“You can’t promise that; you don’t even know what it is…”“And you can’t be sure I will be until you’ve told me and given me a chance to react.”We sat at a silent stalemate as several minutes trickled by. I knew he was patiently waiting for whatever bad news I would spring, and I knew it would hurt him. The fear I harboured had nothing to do with ending the new fairytale I’d taken on and everything to do with the hesitation I felt following everything he’d done for me and now my brother.He didn’t deserve what I’d done, and it had been all for naught. I never got pregnant and didn’t h
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 37 (i)
Three weeks later, my brother and I dutifully attended our mother’s funeral. There were only a handful of people in attendance and even then, they were mostly family. The genuine friends my mother had made were no more than a handful and only one of them shed any tears.Aunt Rebecca was the only immediate family member to cry with even Nana maintaining a wall of stoicism while the pastor carried on with his final sermon. I didn’t hear most of his words. My eyes locked on the casket waiting to be lowered with a detached sense of disbelief. At any moment, it would open, and my mother would come out barking her laughter at all the fools who’d thought a single bullet would be enough to keep her from her children. She would hug Matt and promise she would never leave him then offer me a plastic smile as she assured me we would talk about it all when we got home.I’d spent the better part of the earlier service with my eyes fixed on the woman while the
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 36 (v)
It was another seven minutes before the paramedics arrived and when they did, there was a race against time to get me stable. I’d already lost too much blood and kept slipping in and out of consciousness. I learned later that the police had also been called but in the haze I’d fallen into, I couldn’t say when they arrived on our usually quiet street.I was loaded into the ambulance with my brother and an officer accompanying us. It was Detective Charles, the man who’d promised my mother he would find out the truth about her ex-husband’s sudden, tragic death. He didn’t know what to make of the scene he’d come onto but knew there was a deep well that buried secrets so dark that two children had no business holding onto them.Conversations carried on around me, but they were too muffled by my fading consciousness for me to hear. The next time I awoke, I was on a hospital bed with my brother asleep on the chair that sat in the corn
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 36 (iv)
“No!” I answered quickly. I hurried to hold the note I’d written up for her to see but she gave it only the shortest of cursory glances before pulling back then throwing her entire weight into the smack she landed on my cheek. The force sent me toppling to the ground faster than I could right myself and by then, she’d begun kicking.“I bet you think you’ve found something, huh? HUH? Think you’ve got the upper hand now; that you can blackmail me because of what you’ve seen? Do you know who I am, little girl? Don’t you know that I will kill you?”I shook my head frantically as I curled into a protective ball. “I didn’t—I didn’t see anything, I swear!”“Don’t fucking lie to me!” Her next kick landed in my face, causing blood to gush from my nose.“I won’t say anything; I won’t, I promise!”“I shoul
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 36 (iii)
I set to decline Adam's offer but, in a flash, he was on his feet pulling on his own pants. “The bus might be a while. I don’t want you standing out by the bus stop waiting for however long.” He pulled for his shirt and slipped it on. “You hungry? We can hit up a drive-thru on the way.”The rumbling of my stomach betrayed any answer I could’ve given. Adam nodded his understanding then led the way from the house. He got me my usual off the menu then dropped me off in front of my house.Adam had tried to fill the ride with small talk, in what appeared on the surface to be a sincere interest in catching up, but I’d already begun to shut down. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to feel, to see, to be.“Hey,” he said as I set to walk away from his car. “Remember what I said, alright? I’m here for you.”I nodded, seeing no need to argue and not wanting to prolong the conversat
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 36 (ii)
I swallowed my pride, understanding the role I would have to play. It wasn’t an unfamiliar one and would require no great effort for me to slip into. I dropped the pitch of my voice, forcing it into a sultry invitation I knew he wouldn’t refuse.“Your pay’s built into this favour.” I hated myself.Adam pulled away to look at me, his eyes glistening hungrily. “I’m listening.”I took a deep breath to steady myself. “Emily’s…dead.”“Who?”A surge of hot anger rose in me at his ignorance, but I was forced to swallow it. Adam’s lack of knowledge was in large part my fault. I’d never allowed him to meet her, nor had I ever told him anything about her. She may as well had been a stranger to him—as she truly was—and in that moment, I realised the small stake he had in the decision I’d made…how…insignificant my plight was been for
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 36 (i)
“Hey, Kai.” Madelyn stopped me on my way down the hall. “Wait up.”Reluctantly, I brought my feet to a halt then offered her a forced smile. “Hey.”She began rummaging through her bag as she drew closer before pulling out a pastel pink toddler shirt with a crown printed on the front. Madelyn extended it to me with a sheepish smile. “I saw this when my mom took me shopping and I thought…you know…it’d look really cute on your daughter. It’s probably a little big; we didn’t know her size, but she’ll grow into it, right?”I didn’t think I had any heart left until I felt another piece of it break off. She wasn’t wrong, Emily would have looked amazing in it, but she would never have a chance to grow into it, nor would she ever wear it.The strained smile I’d been forcing dissolved. A lump lodged itself into the back of my throat requiring me to take several m
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 35 (iii)
I considered writing him a note asking that he take care of them, but much like everything else, it didn’t matter. What would I care if he ripped through my room like the Tasmanian Devil after I was gone?The air inside my mother’s room was still. It was the first I’d been in there—the first I’d been in any of her rooms since my father left. Matt was welcome to cuddle and watch movies from time to time, but never me. There was an air of reverence that came with the subtle warning I shouldn’t have been there. I was walking on holy ground as a tainted sinner. Such a transgression would normally fill me with fear but that particular feeling couldn’t have been further away.I took the time to sweep my eyes across my mother’s room. How foreign it seemed, as if I’d been transported to another world. Nothing was out of place and the bed had been well-made. The blinds were half open, allowing light into the room while blott
The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President Chapter 35 (ii)
Uncomfortable and uncertain, the nurse returned to her desk. Seeing her whisper about me with her colleagues brought the laughter to the next level. My insides hurt from how hard I laughed, and I could feel a pressure building inside my head, but even then…I couldn’t stop laughing.Those around me grew unsettled by the persistent nature of my unprovoked laughter. One by one, they rose from the chairs closest to me and made their way to stand at the wall at the opposite end of the waiting room or by the nurse’s desk.Their evasion tickled my insides until they screamed. Those people had nothing to fear; I wasn’t the murderer.By the time I was allowed to see Jayden, the laughter had died. It was replaced by a subdued silence that stood in stark contrast to the boisterous half-cackle half-wail I’d carried on with earlier.I didn’t have the energy for it…didn’t have the energy for anything. I’d been dra
