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“Okay, so you guys know how I absolutely adore Mila O’Kaine, right?” Callie said to me and Melissa excitedly as we walked to lunch.

We nodded. Mila was one of the biggest actresses and had been one of Callie’s inspirations to get into acting. Her movies were always in the top ten on the charts and she had won five Oscars.

“So… she’s doing another movie and they’re having auditions in a few weeks, and I know I probably won’t even make the cut because I have almost zero experience, but I still wanted to give it a try!” she gushed.

“What do you think?” she asked, biting her lip nervously.

“I think you should go for it, sis,” Melissa encouraged her. “I’ve seen you on the stage and it’s where you belong. You’re great at everything to do with the arts.”

“Mhmm,” I agreed. “If you don’t audition, then there’s a one hundred percent chance that you won’t get a role. But if you audition, you have a better shot.”

“Didn’t you already audition for a TV show a few days ago, though?” Melissa asked.

“Yeah, but I really want to do a movie with Mila. It’s the chance of a lifetime. I can’t pass it up.”

“Go for it then,” she smiled. “I know you can do it.”

Callie grinned at us as we got our lunches and sat down. She chatted animatedly about her chance to meet Mila. I was listening to her, but at the same time, something just felt off. Not with Callie though, just overall. I hadn’t seen Nicole or her henchwomen today and it was kind of unsettling.

But maybe I was just worrying over nothing. She had probably peacefully accepted the fact that she and Ashton had broken up.

Ashton and Kevin came into the cafeteria and went to their usual table. Ashton looked over to me and smiled. I gave him a shy wave and turned back to my lunch with a smile.

“Well, well what do we have here?” Nicole said, sauntering over to our table.

Melissa and Callie eyed her distastefully.

“Should you really be glaring at me?” she pouted. “When your friend stole my boyfriend?”

Okay, so apparently she wasn’t going to accept it peacefully.

“Who gave that to you?” she snapped as the light glinted off my necklace and caught her eye.

“Uh-um…” I hesitated. It felt weird to tell her that I got it from Ashton.

She scoffed. “Let me try it,” she said, quickly undoing the clasp.

“Hey, give that back!” I yelled at her. I was not going to lose it a second time. I tried to snatch it from her, but she jerked her hand back.

“This is wasted on you,” she sneered and turned to face the cafeteria.

“Listen up people!” she yelled and everyone became quiet. “I just wanted to let you know about something interesting that happened recently. Ashton and I broke up.”

Noise broke out in the cafeteria at her announcement. Some were confused as to why they broke up and some were hopeful because now they had a chance to be with Nicole or Ashton.

“Shut up!” she shouted. “You can thank Elizabeth right here,” she said, pointing to me.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes turned to me in confusion.

“You see,” Nicole continued, “On the outside it may appear that Elizabeth is this quiet, innocent girl who wants nothing to do with Ashton, but it turns out that all she is, is a plotting manipulative hoe.”

Low murmurs rang through the cafeteria at this. I gasped and Melissa and Callie shot daggers at her and started to defend me. She ignored them and carried on.

“She’s not so shy now is she?” Nicole laughed drily. “Seducing Ashton, you’ve really grown, haven’t you?”

From the corner of my eye, I could see Kevin’s hand on Ashton’s shoulder holding him back. My friends got defensive again but I stopped them and turned to Nicole.

“It’s sad that you have to resort to all this,” I told her. “I don’t need to seduce anyone because I’m nothing like you. If your boyfriend broke up with you then maybe you should think about why he did that instead of throwing a tantrum like a child. It’s not cute.”

The air in the cafeteria became tense as me and Nicole stared each other down. She was furious, I could see it in her eyes, but she was trying her best to look unbothered. Honestly, I just wanted to disappear, I hated being the center of attention for something this petty and private.

“You think I’m sad?” she retorted. “Look at yourself before you say that, nerd. Who do you think you are?”

“I’m Elizabeth Danielle Donaldson. I would say it’s nice to meet you, but it’s really not. If you’re looking for some kind of reaction from me then you should just forget it. I’m above that. Come talk to me when you get to my level.” I flipped my hair back in disgust.

A chorus of ‘Ohs’ sounded around the cafeteria and Melissa and Callie snickered beside me as Nicole’s unbothered façade broke into pieces. Her face heated up in rage, but I just crossed my arms and stared back at her. I was tired of dealing with her rotten attitude.

“Ha,” she scoffed. “I think having Ashton show you the slightest bit of attention is getting to your head. I should have known you were just a thirsty wh*re. It’s always the ‘innocent’ ones,” she said, putting air quotes around the word innocent.

“We should cool her down, then,” Alexis and Ramona said as they entered the cafeteria with a duffel bag. Nicole stepped away from us and sat on the edge of a nearby table with a smirk.

I eyed them suspiciously. They reached into the bag and pulled out… balloons?

Without warning, Alexis launched a balloon at us. It hit me and there was an explosion of water.

“Water balloons,” Callie gasped beside me as water splashed on her too.

Alexis and Ramona pelted us mercilessly with the water balloons as some of the students yelled at them to stop.

“Let’s see if we can melt the witch with the red hair,” Nicole cackled, pointing at Callie.

Ramona grinned and threw the balloon and Callie braced for impact. But there was none. There was a flurry of movements in front of us and we looked up to see Kevin and Ashton blocking us. They were seething.

Ashton had caught the water balloon in his hand and squeezed it in his palm, bursting it in anger. Nicole’s laughter disappeared and she narrowed her eyes at them. Ashton glared at her.

“What the f*ck is wrong with you?!”

Nicole was speechless at first, but then erupted too.

“What the hell, Ashton?” she yelled, hopping down from the table. “You’re going to defend her?” she asked incredulously, pointing at me.

Callie was beside me trembling in anger. She stormed over to Nicole and was about to slap the blonde off her, but Melissa quickly held her back. She shook her head at Callie and mouthed the word ‘no’. Callie spun around to face her incredulously and Kevin took that as his cue to step between Callie and Nicole.

“Let’s just go, guys,” I said, rolling my eyes at Nicole.

I was angry, but I refused to let it show. I wasn’t going to react the way she wanted me to. I took Callie’s hand and pulled her along as Kevin put his arm around Melissa’s shoulder and led her out of the cafeteria.

“You’re lucky you’re a girl,” Ashton spat as we left the cafeteria. He gave Nicole a dark look and then strode off to catch up with us.

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“...But I have to learn to fight my own battles someday. Maybe not today, but I will.”

!