CHAPTER EIGHT

I dashed up the stairs to my room, slamming the door behind me. My heart pounded in my chest as I stumbled into the bathroom, my hands shaking as I washed the sticky residue of the drink from my hair and face. Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I scrutinized my features with a critical eye. At five feet seven, I was neither tall nor short, and my jet-black hair stubbornly refused to grow beyond my shoulders. My eyes were dolled shaped, almost too big for my face, and my lips, thin and unremarkable, seemed to disappear when I smiled. My nose was pointed, and the small gap between my front teeth made me self-conscious. I was not particularly beautiful, maybe pretty on a good day. I had unique facial features that weren't bad enough to be weird nor good enought to be strikingly beautiful .

As I stared at myself, I couldn't shake the question that had been gnawing at me ;why was I treated so poorly? Why did people think they could walk all over me, as if I were less than human? I didn't even know the girl who had dumped the drink on me, nor did I understand her motives behind it, but her words struck me deeply : "Now you're really a damsel in distress." What did she mean by that? And how was it that it coincided with the conversation I'd had with Tennyson? I couldn't make sense of it, but I concluded that Tennyson must know something I didn't.

Feeling a surge of anger and bitterness, I shed my costume and took a cold shower, hoping the water would wash away my embarrassment and self-pity. I didn't speak a word during the cab ride home, and even when Ceecee paid the fare for both of us and apologized repeatedly, claiming that it was her fault as I had been embarrassed while trying to save her. I remained silent. I was too exhausted to respond, all I wanted was to get home, bathe, and sleep.

The alarm jolted me awake from a restless slumber. I had barely slept through the night. Around 1:30 a.m., as I tried to maintain my Duolingo streak learning Mandarin, I received a text from an unknown number. "Hi, this is Tennyson. I'm really sorry about what happened and I think we need to talk. I'll explain everything to you." I stared at the message, puzzled about how he had gotten my number. As far as I knew, the only three

People who had my number at school were Ceecee and my cousins. I replied with a terse, "Okay, name a time and place, and I'll let you know if it's convenient."

Finishing my Duolingo lesson, I tried to fall asleep, but rest eluded me. I groaned in frustration and soon delved into watching soothing ASMR TikToks until I finally drifted into a short slumber around 4:50 a.m.

When the alarm blared at 6:33 a.m., it felt like a cruel joke. I checked my phone, groggy and disheveled, and sighed heavily, anticipating the long day ahead. I had decided to clean out the storage room today as grandma was to come over tommorrow . I stumbled into the bathroom, spending thirty minutes freshening up, and wondered if my aunt had already left for her morning shift. My uncle was away for work, which I found oddly comforting. I trudged downstairs, mentally preparing for the day. I made myself a simple French toast for breakfast, eating in silence. I also wondered where Dixie was—had she stayed over at her boyfriend's? It was none of my business, but I hoped she hadn't returned yet. I was sure she'd heard or worse, seen, what happened yesterday and was more than sure she would tease me for it.

As I crunched the last piece of bread, I heard footsteps approaching from the room across the hall: the girls.

"Good morning, dear Rain. The star of the show!" Dixie's voice rang out mockingly as she sauntered into the kitchen, Tricia trailing behind her with a smug grin. "I heard about your little fiasco yesterday. It's such a pity I wasn't there to witness it. You really outdid yourself." Tricia stated laughing heartily.

I ignored their taunts, twirling the spoon in my cup of hot beverage, trying to remain unafazed.

"You're such a joke, Rain. Did you really think Tennyson's invitation made you popular? Did you imagine that his kindness was anything more than a ploy?" Dixie's words were sharp, her voice dripping with scorn. "He invited you to humiliate you. You were just a damsel in distress to him—a convenient target for his social experiment. He said you had no social standing, that you were nothing special. That's why he didn't chase after you when you left. It was all a game to him."

My hands, which had been stirring the hot beverage, froze. I looked up at Dixie, my heart pounding in my chest. "What are you talking about?" I asked, barely above a whisper, my voice trembling.

"Don't believe me?" Dixie's eyes gleamed with malicious satisfaction. "Tennyson only showed you kindness to prove a point. He wanted to make his dear old mami jealous and you were all that was available to use. You were an easy target, someone he could manipulate without consequence. And let's not forget Jenna—she's fiercely protective of her man yunno. You're lucky it was just a drink she dumped on you, imagine if it were acid,that wouldn't be that bad would it ? I was the one who tipped her off about Tennyson's little stunt yunno. You're lucky it was only a drink. It could have been much worse."

Each word felt like a physical blow. I trembled, my body going numb as the weight of Dixie's revelations sank in. My cheeks flushed red with a mix of anger and humiliation. Without a word, I stood up from the table and walked away, trying to block out their whispers and giggles.

As I retreated to the solitude of my room to try to get a hold of myself, I felt a wave of despair wash over me. I took in a deep breathe filled with the dull ache of betrayal and the gnawing question of how I had become the unwitting subject of someone's cruel game.

"Don't forget you have cleaning to do today, better get out of that room and get right into it" I heard Tricia call out from her room, giggling between words.