“Okay, guys! That concludes today’s work,” my teacher Mrs. Coisten said from her computer. “Make sure to read to page 100 of The Hobbit tonight and finish the worksheet we worked on in class.” Her eyes darted across the screen as if she was looking for a secret message. 

Faint conversations could be heard from the back of the classroom as kids bobbed their head to mute music playing through headphones. The nerds clumped together ahead of the teacher’s desk, shutting their thick books and adjusting their glasses. Behind them, the jocks shoving a single sheet of paper into their vacant backpacks, pulling their phones out of their pocket as if they were addicted to it. 

My peers’ bodies encircled me, radiating mixes of Axe and sweat, causing a faint circle to form around them as if they were skunks. I popped a piece of gum into my mouth and its intense peppermint flavor filled my taste buds. Tapping my foot, I anxiously waited for the God-sent bell to ring.  

“Go, you dumbasses,” a football player, Ben, yelled from the back of the line following the ring of the bell. 

Entering the hallway, I saw familiar faces walk towards their next class; boys rubbing their girlfriend’s arm in front of lockers, mesmerized students drowning in their phones, and weird freshmen running with their arms behind their back while hunched over.

Students filed in and out of classrooms like a rushing dam, immediately greeting friends or heading towards their next adventures independently. Yelling bounced over me from opposite sides as I tried to dodge clusters of students talking to each other. 

“Hey, Jacqueline. What’s up?” I said as I approached her spot next to an unfamiliar locker. She turned around and scoffed at me, giving me a glance before pursing her lips in disapproval.

“Don’t talk to me, you b***h,” Jacqueline spat before slamming her locker and leaving me alone. 

I stood still for a moment, trying to take it all in. Why was that about? I know girls are crazy, but I can’t think of anything I’ve ever done to make her upset. A couple weeks ago I told her I didn’t have a tampon on me, but that was all.  

All I could think about during class was her words. It seemed as if my head was underwater, translucent images seeping through, yet I couldn’t rise out of it and breathe. The pit in my stomach grew larger until I dreaded leaving class. “It was commonly spread from fleas on rats, giving innocent people acral necrosis,” my teacher droned as he broadcasted a powerpoint on the board. I copied everything down, trying to interpret the lesson, letting it sit like oil on water before blending with me.

Walking out of class, my friend Rebecca edged into my vision while she put various objects into her locker. “Hey. Do you know why Jacqueline is mad at me?” I said while searching her face for any sign of emotion.

“Sorry, I don’t,” she replied hesitantly as she looked away, trying to avoid any further conversations.

“Rebecca, please. No one is telling me anything and I don’t even know what is happening.” My heart was being twisted into a million different knots.

“Mia! You should’ve thought about what would happen after you smashed Ben!” Her words struck me like a baseball hitting a home run as I stumbled back in confusion.  

“What do you mean?”

“Stop acting like an idiot! Bella saw you and Ben doing it at Ross’ party Saturday night. Jacqueline is pissed that you would even think about it with her boyfriend.” She retorted before whipping away out of sight. I stood there in shock. My mind scrambled while I thought everything through. I was at Ross’ party, but Katie and Bella were drunk, so the only person to spread the rumor would either be Jacqueline or Ben, and Ben wouldn’t gain anything from it.

I stormed to the girls locker room knowing she would be getting ready for cheer. Anger pushed every step and fueled my beating heart. I stomped up the stairs, ready to confront the girl who brewed the irrelevant rumor. It felt as if a fire was seething inside of me, about to burst into hot, molten flames of hatred.

 I swung into the locker room and bust open the doors, looking for the familiar face responsible for the deed. Girls wearing short skirts and tight tank tops looked at themselves in the mirrors; others played on their phone. The sickening aroma of perfume swept throughout the room while faint whispers could be heard discussing the latest gossip.

“What the hell, Jacqueline?” I screamed through the crowd of girls, one soon looking up at me. Jacqueline looked at me with a surprised look on her face as if she dared me to challenge her.

“What?” she answered as she put her phone down next to her foot, standing in a state of defiance. Cakey white faces broke their trance and looked up at us, waiting for some sort of action to occur.

“You know I didn't cheat on Ben with you,” I scorned. My heart beat out my chest as I tried to assemble words at the tip of my tongue, not wanting to say anything I would regret.

“Who do you think I would believe? A lying brat who steals all of my friends, or my boyfriend?” she yelled back at me as red compiled at her cheeks, panting heavily.

“What do you get from this? Now Ben knows just how much of a b***h you are for making up a rumor that could make all of my friends hate me!” I screamed back, not caring about what I said or did. Confidence rose within me as I held my head high.

“You’re the perfect girl, you know that? Everyone loves you because you’re so smart and funny, but how do you think that makes other people feel? You act as if you’re superior to others and it makes everyone uncomfortable!” Jacqueline retorted as faces rotated along the lines of lockers to look at us, breathing in every detail to soon repeat it to every person in the school.I scoffed in disbelief and nudged forward to her spot. 

“Jacqueline, you have to dumb down every single day just to fit in. Might I add that you also make up rumors about your boyfriend cheating on you for clout. It’s stupid and immature.”  Inside, I was a disaster, but outside I was collected, falters barely peeking through like sproutlings in concrete. The room was as quiet as the desert at night.

“Make up rumors? How do I know that you aren’t making all of this up!” Her voice broke, scrunching her eyes with every emphasized word as if they helped prove her point.

“Every single party Bella’s ever gone to has led to her getting so high and she can’t tell the difference between a rainbow and a frog. Would you really believe someone that you don’t even like?” 

“Who do you think I am? You cheated on my boyfriend!” Phones scattered across the room, focusing on us every time we argued.
“Did he tell you that we hooked up?”

“No, but of course he would lie about it!” she said. Storming out of the locker room, I attempted to pull myself together. I was so flustered I could barely walk, shoving my hair out of my face while huffing. Entering my vision was her boyfriend, Ben, walking along the edge of the hallway. 

“Hey, Mia,” he said to me as he looked up off of his phone, “is Jacqueline in there?”

“Yeah, you could go and tell her about how we hooked up at Ross’ party.” I replied sarcastically, edging past him to avoid any further conversation.

“I was actually going to talk to her about that. She’s been such a b***h about it even though she randomly made it up,” I could not believe what I heard. How did he know? 

“What?” Bewildered, I turned around.

“I’m breaking up with her,” he said as he turned into the locker room. How could he be so calm about breaking up with someone? I stood outside and waited, not wanting to go into the locker room and see the disaster he is causing. 

“You what?” Jacqueline’s voice broadcasted from inside the locker room. Crashes could be heard from inside the room, guessing that she did not take the breakup well. Ben broke the doors to the locker room, sprinting wide-eyed towards the exit to the school. Jacqueline soon came running out behind him, fuming red flames while panting.

“You’ll regret this,” she sneered, turning towards me. Realization swept over her face as she stared off into the distance. “You, you can’t do this,” she broke down before falling down on the floor, sobbing. Jacqueline was curled into a fetal position, holding her head between her knees in the middle of the desert hallway. Her shoulders bobbed up and down while she sniffled and moaned. Awkwardly standing there, I slowly edged out of the hallway.  The cold air bit my face as I pushed the bitter doors open to reveal the vast school parking lot. I felt like a car low on gasoline, longing to go home and sleep.