After drying my pants off from Heather's little accident, I'd decided to spend the remainder of lunch in the washroom, as I had a bit of a headache and enjoyed the peace and quiet of it all.
And so, I remained in a little washroom stall until the lunch bell rang. Just as I was about to exit the stall, the sound of a familiar voice caused me to freeze in place.
"Holy shit, did you guys see her face? Goodness, that's really cold!" Heather mocked, erupting into a fit of malicious laughter.
"She looked so shocked, I almost felt bad for her," the sound of Ruby's giggle filled my ears.
My stomach dropped as I realized that they were talking about me. Slowly standing up, I peeked through the crack of the stall. Heather was facing the mirror, reapplying her red lipgloss. Ruby was eagerly holding onto Heather's bag for her. Meanwhile, Chelsea was crossing her arms, looking oddly... upset?
"Well, I had to do something to get her to leave," Heather shamelessly replied, fluffing up her bleached hair. "I couldn't exactly fake another allergy again."
I slapped my hand over my mouth to conceal my gasp, as I realized that Heather's reaction to my cashmere sweater the other day was not actually an allergy, but instead a tactic to get me to leave. I knew itâshe couldn't be trusted!
Although, I didn't fully understand. Why did she want me gone so badly?
"I thought the allergy thing was a little extreme," Chelsea quietly said, much to my surprise.
"No one asked you for your opinion, Chelsea," Heather snapped. "Anyways, things are better when she's not there. Those boys clearly just feel sorry for her, they don't know what she's really like. There's a reason we used to call her Crazy Daisy."
Ruby laughed, causing Heather to confidently smirk. I gritted my teeth and balled my hands into fists. She had no right saying such horrible things about me. I'd never done anything to her!
"Anyways, did you guys see how Elias gave Daisy his food?" Heather said.
"Yeah, what was with that?" Ruby asked.
"She must have an eating disorder or something," Heather chortled. "It'd make senseâshe's practically a walking twig with poofy hair."
Admittedly, I was quite small for my age, but living in poverty meant that I couldn't always afford to eat three meals a day. As a result, it was common for other girls my age to have bigger assetsâgirls like Heather. I frowned and looked down at myself, suddenly feeling quite self conscious.
My heart began to race. My clothes were suffocating me. The walls of the stall seemed to be closing. A wave of claustrophobia flooded me, and I desperately urged to exit the tight confines of the washroom. However, I froze when one of them actually came to my defence.
"That's not funny," Chelsea barked. "It's not alright to comment on other girls' bodies."
"I-I thought it was kinda funny," Ruby timidly spoke.
"Yeah, stop acting so sensitive, Chelsea," Heather snapped.
"I'll stop acting sensitive when you stop acting like a bitch," Chelsea snapped back.
Heather emitted a dramatic scoff. "What the hell has gotten into you lately? You should know better than to go against me. And for the record, I'm not just acting like a bitchâI am one. And this bitch always gets what she wants."
"And what's that?"
"It's simple," Heather's voice darkened. "Anthony's no longer captain of the football team. Elias dethroned him. And now that I broke up with Anthonyâ"
"You want Elias," Chelsea laughed. "Well, good luck with that. He's only got eyes for one person. Spoiler alertâit's not you."
What did she mean? Who could Elias possibly have eyes for? Last I checked, the jerk hated everyone and everything that walked this earth.
"That won't be a problem. She'll be dealt with soon enough," Heather confidently drawled. "Oh, and just so you know, you're off the team."
With that, she left the washroom. I could hear the sound of someone running after her, and I was certain that it was Ruby. There was a moment of silence, and thenâ
"You can come out now."
I froze for a moment before reluctantly opening the door. Chelsea was standing with her back facing me, and I was only able to see her long, wavy black hair, before she turned around and faced me.
"How did you know I was there?" I quietly asked.
"I noticed your sneakers the second we walked into the washroom," she admitted. "I'm not stupid, contrary to what most people think."
"Can you blame 'em," I crossed my arms. "You've spent the last four years kissing the ground Heather walks on, when she clearly never gave a rat's ass about you."
Chelsea's shoulders sagged as she relaxed and smiled. "That's fair. I've had a change of heart though. In other words, I've realized that popularity is overrated, and Heather's a raging bitch."
I was shocked by her word choice. The Chelsea that I knew was a timid follower who always kept her head down. But this Chelsea, she was blunt and strong-willed. I liked this Chelsea a lot more.
"I'm sorry for always being a bystander to the stuff she did to you. Not that it matters, but I've sorta always wanted to be your friend."
I raised my eyebrows. "Really?"
"Oh, don't act surprised by that," she waved me off. "You've got this natural energy that draws people towards you. Heather's always tried to bring you down because of it. She's jealous."
"You're the second person to say that Heather's jealous of me," I gently realized.
"It's true. Haven't you noticed how awfully close she's getting with the boys? She's clearly trying to replace you."
"That's horrible," I frowned. The two of us began to slowly exit the washroom and stroll through the halls. "He gave it to me because I'm poor," I blurted before I could overthink it.
"What?"
"Elias. He... He gave me his sandwich because I'm unable to afford a lunch every day. Not because I've got an eating disorder, like Heather said."
"You don't owe me an explanation," Chelsea said, looking sympathetic. "And that was extremely insensitive of Heather to say."
"It's okay," I whispered, looking down.
"No, it's not. I can't believe I used to just stand there and let her say such mean things about people," Chelsea sounded frustrated with herself. "Please, don't take anything that she says to heart. You're too much of a bad bitch for that. Besides, she's incredibly ignorant. Last week, she asked me if I knew karate since I'm Chinese... but I'm Japanese."
We shared looks of equal shock before bursting into a fit of giggles.
"I don't know what's worse, the stereotyping, or the fact that she didn't know her own best friend's nationality," I winced.
"Both," Chelsea laughed. "Oh well, at least I don't have to deal with her or the other cheerleaders anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you hear? She kicked me off the team. Although, I certainly don't mind. I won't have to wear this uncomfortable cheer uniform every day. Besides, I'd rather be alone than be surrounded by people who don't appreciate me."
"Well said," I mused, while playing with a strand of my curly hair. "I can't wait to tell the boys the truth about Heather."
"Hmm, why don't you have a bit of fun with this, though?" Chelsea suggested with an excited grin.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Heather's got no idea that you're onto her. Don't you see, Daisy? You've got the upper hand."
Or so we thought...
*****
Raise your hand if you seriously dislike Heather!
QOTD: gold or silver jewelry?
AOTD: gold
A lot of people have been getting upset with the boys in the last few chapters, which is understandable. However, what I don't understand is why some people feel the need to harshly critique the story and give me backlash. Please try to be nice in the comments, it really doesn't take much :(
What would you guys like to see more of? Let me know!
Love, Emmanuela
02/08/2023