Figured 'til you got your phone back, we could do this the old fashioned way. Just slip your note into my locker, telling me you got this, and I'll get back to you, okay? Have a super day!
Beau
P.S. I think you're my good luck charm. I solved a calculus equation (differentiation) by myself and got it right on the first try ;)
Almost everyone Bella walked past that morning gushed the sentence, "Did you see the video?", placing emphasy on 'the video' like it was something you should be thrown off the planet for if you didn't know about it.
It unnerved her.
There was a video everyone was obviously very interested in and she had no idea what it was about. Her! She usually knew everything that happened on the Internetâeverything being a bit of an overstatement, but she knew a lot of Internet things.
Why did her mom pick the previous weekend of all weekends to take away her phone? And why did it seem like she was being stared at? Was the video about her? No, no. It wasn't. She was just paranoid. It was the chocolate chip cookies from Sunday that was making her feel that way. Definitely.
She sat by the stairs that didn't lead anywhere, in the main hallway of school, staring hopelessly ahead. The stairs were more of a decorative feature than a useful one. They were built against the wall, with fancy railing, like it was supposed to lead somewhere. Sometimes she imagined it leading to a secret room or something like that, but knew it was the result of watching too much Harry Potter. Students just sat on them when they had nothing of much importance to do, taking advantage of the width.
A pathetic-sounding sigh escaped her, and she placed her palms together, putting them in her lap. Her feet tapped nervously against the floor, and her fingers itched. She needed to stop thinking about her phone; she needed to stop imagining what it would've been like to have it in her hands. She needed a distraction.
Just as she thought about it, a voice came from behind her, high-pitched and melodic. "Thank goodness you're here. What's up with Fashionella?"
At the mention of her channel, she looked over her shoulder. Jessica Lupinacci descended the stairs, then went to stand in front of her.
Her red Parrots T-shirt looked like it was specially made for her, and the natural white streak in her blonde hair made her more fascinating than Bella remembered. They weren't really friends, but once in a while, Jessica stopped by her locker, and they engaged in small talk. It had been a while, though.
"Hey, Jess," Bella said, giving her a small smile.
"Before I say hey back, you have to answer my question. Really, you didn't like any tweet, retweet anything all weekend, post any video, or react to your photo. Why is that?"
Bella stared up at her, confused. "My photo?"
"Yeah. The one of you and Beau at TBC on Friday."
She jerked her head back in surprise. There was a photo of her and Beau on the Internet? God, how much had she missed? "Wait. There's a photo of us?"
Jessica looked at her like she just revealed Chris Evans was one of her relativesâshocked, with a slight hint of is-this-chick-for-real? "Yeah. I saved it on my Insta. Why are you acting like you don't know what I'm talking about?"
"Um, because I don't know what you're talking about?"
"Unbelievable," she mumbled, then began scrolling through her phone. Bella watched her, confusion etched onto every inch of her face. Finally, Jessica's eyes lit up, and she faced her phone to her. "I was talking about this."
She stared into the phone, not wanting to believe her eyes. Her and Beau. "How did this happen?" she asked, then immediately realized that it probably didn't make much sense. "I mean, who took this photo?"
Jessica shrugged. "I don't know. Someone I'm following on Twitter retweeted it, and I saved it, then posted it on my Instagram."
Explains the stares.
"Anyway, I think the photo's cute. I mean, look at you guys."
Bella wanted to say something, but that was when a slightly disgusted "ugh" came from behind Jessica.
Amora Belle came into view almost immediately, and her floral dress swayed as she approached them. "Don't tell me you're selling that 'Ohmigosh, Pietra Tiorano is the best teen musician ever and I'm going to totes worship her!' crap to her, too, Jess. You've been doing that all morning, and it's starting to piss me off."
Jessica folded her arms over her chest, glowering. "And don't tell me you care about what I do with my time, Amora. Sharing news is my job. Have you seen my shirt?"
Amora's nose twisted as she looked at the red tee common to all members of the journalism club. "I don't care. I just feel you shouldn't praise someone who's not that awesome. Whatever happened with Pietra's a one time thing. People will forget about her soon."
"No one forgets a Teen Star."
Immediately she heard the familiar name, Bella's ears perked up like a Chihuahua's, and she asked, "Teen Star?"
"Pietra Tiorano, yeah. Michelle Henshaw couldn't stop tweeting about her secret superstar all weekend, and this morning, boom! There's a new music video on the Teen Stars' YouTube channel."
Something raw hit Bellaâhard. Michelle Henshaw had a new star? And she still hadn't replied to her email. There was barely a week left for submissions, and that meant after that week, she could kiss Teen Stars goodbye. She didn't want to do that; she didn't want to wait until the next summer to send another email. She would technically be in junior year the next summer, and that wasn't the plan.
"The video has about a million views already," Jessica continued, not noticing the change in Bella's expression, "and the day just begun. I'm sure before the day's over, it'll be the only thing anyone can talk about."
That didn't sit well inside her. If this Pietra Tiorano girl was the only person people talked about, what did that mean for her? She was a prodigy, and she deserved to be talked about.
"Oh, please. She's not that awesome. Besides, I hate her face paintâit's boring," Amora said.
Jessica snorted. "Now you're jealous of a celebrity. How low can you go, Amora?"
Bella wanted to tell Jessica that Amora was probably right, but oh, how wrong it soundedâBella supporting Amora. It was never going to happen. Jessica would definitely blow it out of proportion and say something like they were becoming friends. She was always careful about what she said around the girlâshe wasn't called a Parrot for nothing. She spiraled out of control three weeks into freshman year, and every news she spread since then stuck to people like butter to paper.
Amora rolled her eyes. "Look at this girl. There are hundredsâif not thousandsâof people who sing better than she does."
"But she's still the best on the Internet right now."
Bella wanted to leave, already feeling weird. She could feel her face twisting into something that would look natural on Amora's face, which wasn't a good thing. She stood to leave, but that was when a group of girls standing by a wall ahead of them turned to her, as if waiting for her the whole time.
One of them said something obviously funny, because they all giggled. She recognized them as seniors, and her jumpy feeling spiked. She hated it when senior girls looked at her. It made her feel smallâand she absolutely hated feeling small. Nothing impressed those girls, and it made her nervous. She made to walk past them, but that was when the dark-haired one with unbelievably smooth dark skin spoke up.
"You're not Beau's type!" It was loud, and Bella could guess she wasn't the only one who heard it.
"Yeah," a redhead added. "He hates filter girls; the ones whose lives depend on Snapchat glasses."
The girls giggled again, and Bella stood where she was for a while, staring at them, but eventually walked away. It was a blow to the gut. She wasn't Beau's type. What did they know? She could bet Beau didn't even have a type. Those girls were haters and nothing but. Besides, she would bet that they had never taken natural selfies.
She walked to her locker, trying to put away unwanted thoughts and the obvious sting she felt over Michelle Henshaw's new star.
It was during lunch that she saw Viola.
She had searched for her between classes, since they hadn't had any together that day, but the attempt was futile. She didn't even have a phone to text her, and was too mad at Cody to ask for his help. They hadn't talked since Friday, not even on the drive to school that morning. The tension in the car had been thick, and it threatened to strangle them, but neither of them broke it.
Why didn't he just let it stay low? Why did he have to shout at her over it until their mom came downstairs?
Viola was conversing with a boy, which was shocking, not only because she was talking to a boy and seemed to be enjoying the conversation, but because that boy was none other than Stephanie's replacement.
The cafeteria was filled as usual, and, apart from the spot beside her best friend, no other welcoming spot was in sight, so she walked over without a tray of food. She slipped into the chair beside Viola, then set her backpack down. As she did so, she felt eyes on her and had the urge to look up.
When she did, her chest fluttered. Beau was in sight, a good distance away from her, but still close enough. He gave her a small smile when their eyes met, and she managed to return it before turning to Viola.
"Hey," she said.
Viola looked at her, but only for a moment, before looking back at the boy across from her. Bella stared at her, surprised by her reaction. Not even a "hey" back?
"Viola, hey," she repeated, but her best friend still ignored her.
Viola sucked juice out of her juice box, her gaze focused on nothing in particular, and Bella wanted to scream at her to say somethingâanything. It was never good when Viola gave her the silent treatment.
"Maybe I should go," the boy across from them said, taking his tray and attempting to leave.
Bella looked at him, immediately noticing his calm but underlying nervous look. He reminded her of Cole from I Am Frankie. His eyes met with hers, and just like Beau, he smiled, then said, "Hey, I'm JacobâJake for short."
Oh, Jake, not Jack. "Bella."
He bobbed his head up and down, then looked at Viola, who was still sucking out of her juice box, but, due to the unbelievably loud slurping sound, it was obvious there was no juice in there anymore. "Viola, I'll catch you later, okay?"
She nodded, not moving her mouth from the straw, and Jake silently slipped away.
When they were alone, Bella asked, "You know him?"
Viola finally stopped making that noise. "Obviously, yeah. What's the big deal?"
Bella looked taken aback for a moment. "Viola, do you realize who he is?"
"Jakeâlike he said."
"No. The Replacement."
Viola turned to her, anger in her eyes. "So?" she snapped. "I'm not allowed to talk to him because of that? You know, if you think about it, over there in Quebec, Steph is also his replacement." Her voice sliced through Bella's skin like ice, and the annoyance in it when she said 'replacement' wasn't hidden.
"Viola, why are you talking this way?"
"Oh, so now you wanna teach me how to talk? Honestly, what's wrong with you, Bella?"
Bella opened her mouth to respond, but what came out was a, "What?"
"First, you ignore me all weekend, then you start telling me who and who not to talk to."
"You didn't ask me why I ignored you, did you?"
"Why?" Viola was obviously getting frustrated. "Tell me why, then."
"I'm grounded, so my mom took my phone."
"And why are you grounded? Because of your fun Friday with Beau Algernon?"
Bella's eyes widened in realization. So that was why she was mad. "Violaâ"
"When did you plan on telling me?"
"Telling you what?"
"About the both of you."
"Viola, there's nothing going on between us." For now, at least.
"Oh, and you expect me to believe that?"
"Of course. In fact, the better question here is how you know Jake."
"It's none of your business." It would've sounded playful, but the force at which she said it could penetrate the hardest skull.
"You can't be mad at me over that," she said.
"But I am. I can't believe you didn't tell me! For God's sake, I'm your best friend. It's my job to know."
Bella wanted to point out there and then how much she was bottled up. Something had been on her mind since the beginning of the semester and she wasn't saying anything about it.
Bella wasn't keeping things from her on purposeâViola had just been so... withdrawn lately, and it was changing things.
Before either of them could say anything, Viola's phone, which was on the table, pinged with a text. She went ahead to check it, but before she could shield the screen from Bella, her best friend saw it.
No way!