Isis was on her way to her next class, walking while digging in her backpack. She couldn’t find her notes and was starting to panic that she might have left them at home. Then she bumped into somebody and their books flopped to the floor.
She instantly bent down to pick them up while saying, “Oh my gosh, so sorry!”
When she stood up, she was staring into Ava’s icy blue eyes.
“What the fuck, Isis.”
Ava huffed and pretended to fix her perfect blonde hair.
In shock, Isis shoved the books at Ava then turned to walk away. She took three steps when she heard Ava speak behind her back.
“Can’t walk at school and can’t walk at parties either. Heard you had to be carried out of Elliot’s.”
Isis stopped dead in her tracks, absolutely stunned.
She slowly turned around and asked, “What did you just say?”
“I heard you got so drunk that Jackie’s boyfriend had to carry you out.” Ava giggled when she added, “I didn’t think you knew how to have that much fun.”
A deafening roar was growing in her ears. She was not the timid girl she used to be and it only took her a second to decide she was not backing down. She replied in a voice dripping with brazen sarcasm.
“That was two months ago, why are you so obsessed with me?”
Ava looked slightly caught off guard, like she hadn’t expected Isis to retort, and that was all the fuel Isis needed to unleash her frustration.
“You ditched me on the first day of school for no reason. I see the dirty looks you give me. I hear the things you say about me. I thought we were friends, Ava.” Isis paused for dramatics, then added, “Leave me alone and stop pining over my boyfriend!”
Then she turned to leave again.
“I just wanted to see if he kissed the same now as he did when we were kids.”
Isis knew she was being baited, but she swung around, yelling.
“Ava, for fucks sake! I don’t care what kind of past you and Roman had. What did I do to make you hate me!?”
A few passing students stopped when they heard Isis yelling, and she realized she had so much adrenaline pumping that she didn’t even feel embarrassed. She was pretty sure the whole school knew her and Ava didn’t like each other and she didn’t care.
Ava stared daggers at Isis.
“Damn, you are really good at playing stupid.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“We weren’t friends, Isis. You followed my brother around like a puppy and you’re the reason he–”
Ava’s voice suddenly faltered and she peeled her gaze from Isis, looking around as if just noticing the students watching them.
“You’re not worth my time.” Ava spit out.
Isis stared at this girl who had been a thorn in her side for over two years, and her heart sped up with the slow realization that she might know what this was all about after all.
“Ava…?”
Isis said her name slowly.
But Ava was already stomping down the hall.
Isis and Jackie were sitting in the quad after school while football practice was in session behind them. Whistles, shouting coaches, and slamming bodies could be heard in the distance.
“No fucking way! Baaaaabe. I would give my fucking kidneys to have seen that!” Jackie exclaimed when Isis told her what happened in the hall earlier.
The whole showdown had sent Isis’s mind spinning.
When Ava mentioned her brother, it brought back memories of an incident in sixth grade that she had forgotten about.
Isis, Ava, and Ava’s twin brother Evan went to the same private school. One day during lunch they were goofing around on the swings when Evan fell. Isis vaguely remembered that he didn’t get up right away, and the playground aids shooed all the kids away and sent them back to class like normal. She remembered that Ava and Evan weren’t at school for the rest of the year. When seventh grade started, only Ava came back and she heard the kids whispering that Ava’s brother was “retarded” and that he went to a “special” school.
Isis’s face grew hot as she realized what must have happened.
She didn’t know… Ava never talked about it… They were just children…
Did Ava blame Isis for what happened to her brother? Ava clearly hated her.
Then she thought about what happened at Elliot’s party. A setup so evil that it had to be orchestrated by somebody filled with hate.
Isis had never told anybody what she remembered the night she was assaulted. She heard Theo (if that was even his name) talking on the phone. He said something about “recording her” and “it won’t work because she’s passed out”.
Isis had not intentionally thought about that night since it happened. She just buried it and did her best to move on. But was it possible… it was so outrageous… could Ava have been involved? Was this some kind of revenge?
The whole thing was so preposterous!
And there was something else. Elliot and Austin were older and didn’t go to Copperdale. Isis hadn’t recognized any students from Copperdale at the party that night, so how did Ava find out?
“Earth to Isis!”
Jackie’s voice ripped Isis out of her thoughts and she slowly blinked as she came back to reality.
She debated whether to tell Jackie what she was thinking or not. Jackie could be a firecracker and she didn’t want this to blow up unless she knew for sure…
“Jackie. There’s more.”
Isis explaining all of it. What happened as kids and Theo’s phone call and her suspicions about Ava.
Jackie said she believed, with every fiber of her being, that Ava was the one behind the fake text and assault. After they jokingly fantasized about cutting Ava’s car breaks, Isis made Jackie promise to keep things quiet until they could find out more.
If they ever did.
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