Chapter 52 Chapter 52
Chelsea’s POV
Novak's basement, decorated with string lights and a "Welcome Back Class of 2022" banner. The LED were doing that slow color fade thing. Blue to purple to pink. The music was some Drake song I didn't really care about.
I sat on the sectional couch near the window, scrolling through my phone as I looked around. Novak's place was perfect—his parents were cool about it as long as we didn't trash anything. Plus, his basement was huge, with a pool table, a big-screen TV, and enough space for everyone.
Pizza boxes were stacked on the kitchen counter, along with two-liter bottles of soda, bags of chips, and those big party platters from Costco. Someone had put on a Spotify playlist in the background.
"Guys, we're still waiting on like two people, right?" Novak called out from by the stairs, scrolling through his phone.
Novak wasn't bad-looking, just a bit short, but his family had money. If he hadn't invited me, I definitely wouldn't have bothered coming.
I'd done my makeup carefully, planning exactly how I'd show off in front of my old classmates today. I scanned the people who'd arrived, feeling smug—yep, almost everyone was here, just missing one familiar face.
"It's just Aria and Mia, right?" I called over, putting on my sweetest, most concerned voice.
Just thinking about Aria's name made me want to laugh. In middle school, I was popular, pretty—basically peak of the social ladder. And Aria? She was at the bottom. Like, rock bottom. A reunion was the perfect place to show off, and I needed someone like Aria there to make me look even better by comparison. I could still remember the good old days when I could take out whatever bad mood I had on her, and she'd just take it. God, I missed that.
"Oh shit, yeah." Novak glanced at his phone. "Mia just texted, they're like five minutes out."
"Bro, can we start eating? I'm starving," some guy said, already halfway to the pizza.
"Yeah dude, go for it. My mom got like eight pizzas," Novak laughed.
I played with the cup in my hand boredly, thinking to myself: That ugly freak Aria, did she decide not to come because she knew she'd embarrass herself? If she doesn't show up, that'd be so boring. I was planning to humiliate her thoroughly to highlight my own beauty.
"Wait, they're not actually gonna ditch, are they?" I said to no one in particular.
Right then, someone near the stairs yelled, "Yo, they're here!"
Everyone turned to look at the basement entrance.
I expected to see an ugly, plain girl timidly following beside Mia Rodriguez as they walked into the room.
But what I actually saw was this girl walking in with total confidence, long dark hair that actually looked good—like she finally learned how to style it. She looked up, and there was this self-assured look in her eyes that caught everyone's attention. Her face—god, it was so different from what I remembered—clear skin, sharp features.
She had one of those faces that didn't need makeup. Like, at all. Full lips, a nose that looked like it belonged on an Instagram model. She was just wearing jeans and a casual top, but somehow she made it look effortless and hot.
But you could still tell from her features—it was definitely Aria.
Holy shit!
My jaw literally dropped. My brain was trying to process: That smoking hot girl with all that confidence... that's actually Aria!? The same girl who was so ugly in middle school that guys would literally avoid her in the hallways?
No fucking way. This isn't happening.
I remembered what she was like in middle school—short, ugly, the focus of us girls' mockery. But now, she'd suddenly become beautiful!
This absolute contrast made me and the girls around me show expressions of disgust.
I practically jumped up from the couch. "Wait—Aria!?"
I can't let her steal the spotlight like this! I need to find a way to put her down!
Jealousy and resentment exploded in my heart. I said to her with malicious intent:
"Oh my god, Aria, did you get work done or something?"
The moment those words left my mouth, the sense of inferiority in my heart decreased by more than half. Yes! Since she's become pretty, I'll just slander her! I consoled myself this way.
All our middle school classmates froze when they heard my words. I saw a few brainless ones actually get swayed by what I said, genuinely thinking Aria had gotten plastic surgery. After all, how could she possibly have become this beautiful in such a short time?
However, that weak and incompetent girl actually fought back directly:
"Are you fucking blind?"
Angelina’s POV
So there's this girl, Chelsea Morgan—she's not exactly ugly herself, which is probably why she's always been obsessed with tearing down my looks.
I guess she figured I was supposed to just take it, you know? Like it was my job to be her punching bag.
But today? Today I clapped back.
"Oh my GOD, Aria, you're so fucking full of yourself!" She was standing by the old couch, her face already red, pointing at me with one of those long fake nails. Her friends were behind her, all of them with that same look. You know the look. The one that says they're scared of her but also live for this drama.
Mia grabbed my arm. She was always doing that, like she could pull me away from situations before they got bad.
"Aria, let's just go get some air," Mia whispered.
I shook my head. Nah. I wasn't running from Chelsea Morgan.
"Work done? Just because I look good doesn't mean I had surgery. You're so ridiculous." I said, keeping my voice flat.
Her face went from red to like, purple. I swear I could see her pulse in her neck.
"Bitch! You don't talk to me like that! I'll have people fuck you up, I swear!"
The thing about threats is that they only work if you're scared. I pushed off from the wall and walked closer to her. Not aggressive, just closer. I could see her friends backing up a little. Good instincts.
I smiled. Not a nice smile.
"Try it."
That's when Chelsea lost it completely. Her hands were shaking when she pulled out her iPhone. Those long nails were clicking against the screen as she typed. She was breathing all heavy, like she'd just run a mile.
"You just WAIT!" she screamed. "You just fucking WAIT!"
Novak pushed through the crowd. His hands were up like he was trying to calm down a wild animal.
"Yo, come on guys. It's just a party, chill out."
Chelsea ignored him. She was too busy typing and glaring at me.
"Chelsea, seriously?" Novak tried again. "You're gonna call someone? That's so extra."
But she wasn't listening. She was showing her phone to her friends now, all of them huddled around her. I could hear her talking.
"They're on their way. Ten minutes."