Sealed Lips ✔️

Chapter 3

Bethany:

I wake up to the intrusive sound of barking dogs, the noise slicing through the stillness of dawn. It's only 6 AM, a cruel awakening given that school doesn't start until 8:00 AM. How am I expected to survive this school day, burdened by the weight of a false accusation that I'm somehow connected to Lily's tragic decision?

And then there's that sickening video lingering in my thoughts.

I was clearly very oblivious to the fact that Lily's entire clique despised me. Samantha, Sarah, Alisha and then the anonymous recorder of that video.

How on earth did they know about what happened between Marco and me? We vowed to keep that shared secret concealed, yet somehow it's been laid bare.

Lily's audacity to label me a "crazy bitch" annoys me. The projection of her own insecurity is extremely evident.

Driven by complete rage, I find myself rewatching the video. I watch the screen trying to decipher this and extract some clarity out of this humiliating video.

"Yeah, still can't believe it!" Alisha says.

"Hell she's a crazy bitch," Lily adds. Samantha whispers something to the person recording and again, I can't hear.

"Lily, what's that?" Alisha asks.

I stop the video. Samantha clearly didn't want people to hear what she whispered. I need to know what she said. I replay the video again, but I still can't make out exactly what she said.

Another thing that bothers me in the video is the shirt that Sarah is wearing. It's a white lace-up ribbon crop top. It looks so familiar, a little too familiar, but I just don't know how. It looks so weird on Sarah, it's way too tight for her. She's not fat, not at all, but also not that skinny. Maybe that's why Lily said what she said.

As far as I know, Sam, Sarah, Lily and Alisha have been friends since the start of high school and Lily has always been their leader. She used to help them get hookups or she would invite them to the biggest parties. They always did exactly what she asked them to do, maybe they still do. If Lily really is the stalker, then it means that her little clique would still do exactly what she says.

She's used to people doing everything she wants. The one message the stalker sent said, "From now on you'll do exactly what I say," or it was something like that. In any case, this would make sense if Lily was the stalker then. Maybe the reason she hates me, was because I was not one of her puppets. Now, she wants me to be and it's sad to say that she's succeeding.

I emerge from the warmth of my bed, ready to start my morning routine. The rich aroma of coffee fills the air. I arrange the sheets of my bed, it always helps me to feel ready for the day. Putting on my blue and white uniform today feels like the biggest chore of all. I am not ready.

With everything else in place, I grab my bag. I say goodbye to my parents, their support is the type of comfort I needed to start the day.

Once I arrive at school I see Maya at her locker. Her eye catches mine and she quickly looks away, shuts her locker and walks away. I'm so confused.

I walk to my locker and start to put some books into it. My schoolbag is too heavy today.

"Hey," Jake says when he stands next to me.

"Hi, you're in a good mood today," I say.

"You could say that. Listen, I'm so sorry about my mom yesterday. She drove home earlier than usual because something at work happened. When she saw me talking to you, she just lost it cause I'm not in school and I'm with a girl, I'm really sorry for just leaving you like that," he explains. He's actually so sweet.