Chapter 100
"You need to take your seats," the bartender called out, louder. He was getting pissed off, and one complaint away from calling security.
I didn't care about that.
"Then came the nail in the coffin," I added with extra drama in my voice, (I was really getting into this now) "When I found a Mrs Field's wrapper in the mathlete room. There's only one person I know who pops those cookies like vitamins."
"She found Mrs Field's wrapper?" Axel asked, "Candace's talking about a used condom?"
"No, a cookie," Oma explained.
"Like a vagin-"
"Axel!"
"There's not a single person here who can possibly believe you. Your proof is a cookie in a math classroom? How lame is that. It's no proof at all," Julia pointed out.
I would've said it's a woman's intuition, but I don't have a good track record of that. Julia had a point. I didn't have any actual evidence linking them together. Just circumstantial events... a cookie wrapper sounds pretty random if you don't know Julia like I do.
"Are you sure you didn't drink anything at my place," Bianca asked me.
People around us laughed. Julia's laugh was the loudest of all. No one was siding with me.
"This is like a lame Nany Drew novel," Amy said.
There was more laughter. Julia gave me the harshest look I had ever received: part evil, part glee at winning.
"She's always been a lame Nany Drew," Julia answered, "This was my best friend and look how she's treating me. Her jealousy makes her nothing more than an ugly leech with a momentary boost in popularity."
I wasn't going to let it go. Even if the whole world turned against me, I was going to say my truth. I'll say my truth until I can't say it anymore.
"I believe you."
The words never came out of my mouth. Someone else beat me to it.
I looked back. It was Kelly Mathers. She had tears streaming down her face. She'd been watching my accusations, realizing how her boyfriend was a serial cheater.
Not cereal, serial.
I wanted to clean the wax out of my ears. The girl who my ex-boyfriend cheated on me with - is now the one girl coming to my defense. How crazy is this world we live in?
I'll try to avoid judging people from one action, if possible. If there's one thing today taught me, is that people make efforts to redeem or hurt friendships... we are all complex.
"I saw him making out with someone in the fun house during Bryce's party," Kelly said, wiping the tears off her face, "He was cheating on me too."
"Who's she?" one of the Alpine boy asked, joining in late.
"Current girlfriend of the cheating ex," Amy answered.
"This guy gets around."
Kelly was standing next to me, silently allowing the pain to flow in a stream of tears down her cheeks. I remembered how I felt when I heard Kaden was cheating on me.
Julia laughed at Kelly, "Both of you are girls scorned by the man you love and blaming it on someone put-together like me. It's jealousy. You're losing it. You didn't see anyone at that fun house. And you definitely didn't see me."
After all we had said, Julia still managed to throw it back in our face. I couldn't believe it.
"Liars," Julia waved us away.
But, then, a deep voice called out from the back. "They may not have seen you... but I did."
No one gasped anymore. So many gasps had been gasped that people were all out of gasps by now. We all turned to see who had said those words.
I said I couldn't believe it before, but I definitely couldn't believe it now.
Christopher Hayes.
"Layton?"
"I don't usually get involved in drama," Layton admitted, "But I also won't watch two girls get humiliated like this."
"What are you saying, Layton?" one of his friends asked.
I looked back at Julia and she was pale as a sheet.
"I was at Bryce's party for the charity basketball game," Layton started, "Some rich guy wanted me on his team. Anyway, I was hanging out by the funhouse before the game when I saw you."
I had a flashback to that afternoon. I remembered how I had bumped into Kelly Mathers and how Zenon had led me away from her... We walked by the fun house, Zenon offered me some 'adult fun' and I remembered seeing Layton Hayes. I'd even waved at him.
"They may not have seen your face, but I did," Layton said, and pointed at Julia, "I see you. And I don't know anything about you, but you need to find your own man instead of chasing others."
Layton Hayes, of all people, was the evidence in the case against my best friend. Who knew that Zenon's arch enemy would be a better friend than my own?
Who knew that it would ever come to this?
"Julia," I said, in the silence that dominated our group, "Why do you accept being the side chick?"
Julia screamed. She was about to yell at me, when we heard a gigantic slap.
Kelly Mathers had slapped Julia right across the face.
She screamed, clenching her pink cheek. Burning from the hit. Julia went to slap Kelly back and the bartender immediately called security.
Axel tried to protect me from the fight that was moments away from engulfing me in it. He led me away and I followed, still too stunned to process these events. I heard more screaming and fighting. I couldn't recognize who was saying what anymore. Then a guard stopped us.
"You were a part of this." He grabbed hold of me and Axel tried to intervene, "You're not leaving here before the cops come."
"Don't make any mistakes, boy," the security guard told Axel, "I've already called the cops."
Axel overlooked the threat and tried to pull me back, but another guard grabbed him and shoved him into handcuffs. I yelled at them to let him go, but they squeezed my arms behind my back to cuff me as well.
They pushed us forward to towards the back office. Julia was still screaming and Kelly was trying to break free. I tried to wrestle my way out of this painful lock, but the security guard just wrenched my arms tighter until I felt a searing pain.
"Stop!"
The fighting stopped. Even the security guards paid attention.
"No one is touching my comedic muse."