Everyone watched as the events on the screen unfold, confusedly at first, but once everyone realized what was playing out on screen, everyone was stunned. Jackson, Carolina, Jay and Aaliyah included. The audible moans, the shaky camera and the cursing alone was enough to give everyone an idea in what's happening. And once the initial shock wore off, everyone started pulling out their phones and laughing.

"Yeah Elijah! Get it!"

"Oh my god!"

"Yo her ass looks great."

Carolina looked at the screen in horror just as Aaliyah ran out the room. "Shut it off! Elijah!" She scolded. "Aaliyah!" She called out.

Suddenly everyone was in a frenzy. Elijah quickly worked to shut the whole thing down while Jackson and Jay both looked over at each other, processing what just happened. Carolina tried to hurry past him, but he caught her upper arm in the last second and dragged her off to the side without a word.

"Hey-"

"Don't!" Jackson yelled over the music that played again. "Don't play innocent and tell me you didn't know!" He blamed.

Carolina dropped the act and said, "Oops."

Jackson backed her into a wall and stared her down while she fearlessly looked up at her. "You are such a fucking good actress," He sneers. "But you're such a shitty person," he whispers. "You disgust me."

Carolina looked shaken before going back into her default bitch mode. "I know. That's what makes this whole this so much fun," she smirks, bopping his nose. He shoves her aside and was about to leave when she catches his arm. "Where do you think you're going?" She snaps.

"Home. You think I'm gonna stand here after what you just did? Nah, I'm good," he shakes her off and turns to leave.

Jay watches the whole thing go down in curiosity. He watches as Caroline scoffs and makes a move to go after Jackson again, in which this time he steps in in front of her. "Hey! Care-"

"Not now Jay!" She shoves him aside.

"But-"

Carolina lets out a huff of frustration and turns to face him. "Look. We hooked up one time and that was all, alright? I'm not into you okay? So just do yourself a favor and find some other girl to torture," she exploded on him.

Jay was taken aback and hurt by her words. "Oh...okay," he responded but Carolina already turned her back on him and lost herself in the party.

As Jackson was walking out, he spots Elijah and a his friends all laugh and dap each other off, and Jackson wanted so bad to punch the smug grin off his face. But it was one against five an half of them were drunk. He'd have no chance against five 5'10-'6'2, 200 something pound, drunk and potentially angry high school football players. So he just sent him a hateful glare and continued on his way.

As he walked back to his car, he sent Jay a text saying he had to leave and that he'll happily pay for his Uber back to his house whenever he's ready, when a broken sob followed by a sniffle caught his attention. He looked up from his phone and around his surroundings but didn't see anyone until he looks down at the curb to see Aaliyah on the ground while attempting to call an Uber.

"What the fuck? Are you serious right now?!" He heard her say to herself. "Stop fucking cancelling on me!" She throws her phone into her purse. But it slides out and just as she reaches for it, she bursts into tears, almost falling over but catching herself. Suddenly her breathing became irregular and Jackson quickly kneeled beside her, helping her. He wraps her arm around her and it was like she saw him, but she was so caught up in her panic attack she couldn't focus on him.

"Aaliyah breathe," he ordered, placing his hands in either side of her face to get her to focus on him better. "Breathe with me," he says in a softer tone, but she just couldn't do it. She was still hyperventilating and crying. So he did the only thing he thought of at the moment and leaned in and kissed her.

Aaliyah held her breathe for a few seconds as the kiss came as a shock to her, but also causing her to calm down. Once he pulled away, they both looked at each other for a moment before white hot pain seared across his face as she slapped him.

"What the hell?" Jackson held his face.

"Why did you just kiss me?" She demanded to know.

"I️ don't know! You were panicking and I️ remember seeing it in TV once! I️ think it was on Teen Wolf!" He quickly explained.

Aaliyah huffs as she quickly picks up her things to go. Jackson watched her as she attempted to walk off. "Where are you going?!" He yelled out behind her.

"Anywhere but here!" She angrily yells back.

"Aaliyah!" Jackson ran after her. "Aaliyah stop!" He grabs her arm, but she just reacts to shoving him away from her.

"Stop! Get off of me! Just stop!" She screams, making him back off.

"Aaliyah-"

"I'm not in the mood for your shit Jackson!" She attacks. "My life was just ruined right now and-" she starts crying once again. "And...and it's my birthday," she now falls against him, with him holding her waist for support.

"It was supposed to be a good day. It started out as a good day," She now starts rambling. "Elijah was so sweet. Sweeter than he has been for years, and he helped planned this party for me but now I️ just see it was just a set up!" She points down the street towards his house. "And now I️ can't help but wonder how many people were in on it!" She freaks out. "How many people wanted this to happen?" She looked up at him.

Suddenly they got quiet for a moment as they both processed what just happened. She then opened her mouth to speak again. "Did you know about this?" She asked him.

"What? No, of course not!" He quickly denied. "Carolina asked me, asked all of us cause I was with her, what we loved about you. I️ swear I️ thought that's exactly what she was gonna play."

They both finally fell silent as they processed what just happened. After a few minutes she spoke again.

"I'm not a slut."

"I️ know."

"I've only been with one guy."

"I️ know."

"I️ -"

"Aaliyah, it's none of my business," Jackson cuts her off, making her simply nod and cross her arms. "You don't have to explain yourself to me. Or to anybody for that matter," he adds.

Aaliyah looks away from him and he wonders what's going on in her mind. "You okay?" He asks.

"I️ was being blackmailed," she suddenly says, catching him off guard.

"What?" He asked.

She turned back around to look at him. "You've asked me many times why I️ was still with him. Well that video was why," she tells him. She thought she would feel relief, finally telling him. But all she felt was dread, embarrassment and humiliation. "And now you know."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked. "I️ would've-"

"What?" She rolled her eyes. "Helped me? How? By making the situation worse? What were you gonna do, huh? Tell the principal? My mom? Beat him up? Again?" She badgers.

"I️ was gonna say "been there for you"," he tells her softly. Although it dawned on himself that he couldn't fully be there for her if he couldn't tell her that he too, was also being blackmailed by someone close to her. "Can I️ ask you something?" He suddenly says, piquing her curiosity. "If you heard something about me, something bad, would it change how you see me?" He asks.

Aaliyah was quiet for a moment. "Did that video change how you see me?" She asked him.

"No," he quickly answered, "of course not."

She then reached out and took his hand into hers. "Then I️ don't think I️ can change my view of you either," she says. "But where did this-"

"Nothing," He shakes his head. "I️ just wanted to know." He asks. "Did you want a ride home?" He offers. "It's really late, I️ don't think an Uber's coming soon," he points out. She nods her head and they both walk hand in hand towards his car. Once they both got in, he started his car and drove in the direction of her house.

"Hey...what about Jay?" She asks.

"He'll be fine," he says, "he's having fun and I️ wasn't and I️ wasn't gonna ruin that for him."

* * * *

Jay was having an awful time.

He was drunk, upset and alone.

This was not how he expected his night to go.

Jackson left, Carolina did not like him as much as he thought she did, and did he mention he was drunk?

He stumbled around the loud party, heading towards a dark hallway to look for a bathroom. He opened up one door and it led to a room, so he simply closed it again, and continued his search for a bathroom. But he realized that four behind were standing behind each other in some sort of line. He tapped the girl in front of him that was walking to her friend, interrupting their conversation. "Is there a line for the bathroom?" He asked.

"Yep," She simply said before turning back towards her friend. Jay mentally groaned since he had to pee really bad. He figured one of these rooms had to have a second bathroom, so he went and looked through until he reached the first room he accidentally walked into and noticed it had a bathroom inside it. He mentally cheered and rushed into the bathroom, locking it behind him. He unzipped his pants and let out a sigh of relief.

Once he was done, he washed his hands and was about to exit when he heard voices in the other side. It was muffled at first, but then he gently pressed his ear to the door and could vaguely make out everything.

"Did you see the look on her face when you played the video?" Carolina's voice spoke from the other side of the door. "She was so humiliated. How much you wanna bet she won't show on Monday?"

"Impossible," Elijah smacks his lips. "She goes to school regardless of the situation," he says.

"Yeah but, there's no way she'll show her face after this," she says. "Looks like I'm winning Snow Queen this year at the winter formal," she adds excitedly.

"Only seems right, you frigid bitch," Jay thought.

"Hey? Why the lights on in the bathroom?" Elijah asked. Jay heard footsteps and that's when he quickly yet quietly concealed himself within the bath tub just as Elijah burst in and looked around before shutting the lights off behind him as he left. He sat in the tub, careful not to make a peep as he heard them continue their conversation.

"What was the point of showing the video anyways? I️ had her on lock," Elijah complains.

"To trash her reputation, duh," Carolina says. "I️ know slut-shaming is soooo 2010, but come on, that video was embarrassing," she laughed. "Nobody's gonna vote for her after that and it's already trending on Twitter."

Jay couldn't believe what he was hearing. After a few minutes, he heard the door to the room open and shut and he waited an extra few minutes just to be sure. He then clumsily climbed out of the tub and exited the bathroom. He quickly texted Jackson to send him that Uber now as he made his way outside, not being able to withstand being there anymore.

Carolina planned this entire thing out, to fuck Aaliyah over. But what he didn't know was why.

_______________________________

Present day isn't over yet, there's like a good...I️ wanna day four chapters left. The 90's only have two chapters left or so.

That's all I️ wanted to say :)! Goodnight!!