Lovely Girls(42)

“I told you, she’s evil. I wouldn’t put anything past her.”

“But why would she send ugly texts to herself? What would be the point?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she thought that if everyone felt sorry for her and that I was made out to be the bad guy, that she’d get her spot back on the lineup. That’s what manipulative girls do, right? They manipulate people.”

I exhaled. “I had no idea things were this bad.”

Alex glanced at me and then looked back out her window again.

“It’s only going to get worse,” she said. “You do know that, right?”





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE




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VIDEO DIARY OF ALEX TURNER



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OCTOBER 12

I’m totally freaking out.

Alex sat cross-legged on her bed. Her hair was piled on her head, secured by an elastic, and she was wearing a T-shirt with a yellow cartoon Minion on it.

Yesterday, my mom told me that Daphne’s been getting mean texts from someone. And Daphne thinks I’m the one who’s been sending them to her, or at least that’s what she told her mom. Which is bad enough on its own.

But now on top of that, Callie texted the video I took of Coach and Daphne having sex to dozens of people! It was sent from an anonymous number, but I know it was Callie. Obviously, it was her, she’s the only other person who had a copy of the video.

And the people Callie sent it to sent it to everyone they know, and then those people forwarded it. It went all over the school. I eventually even got it on a group text for my calculus study group, which I haven’t even ever been to. So basically just about everyone at Shoreham High has seen the video and knows that Daphne and Coach Townsend were sleeping together.

I don’t know if Daphne came to school and left or if she just stayed home, but she wasn’t in econ class. Not that I blame her. I wouldn’t have wanted to go to school either with a video like that circulating.

Alex paused and stared blankly at the camera for a few beats.

I thought making Daphne miserable would make me happy. But I’m not. I just feel incredibly guilty. I’m the one who took the video. And I’m the one who gave it to Callie. I didn’t know she was going to text it to, like, everyone in the school. But I think I knew it wasn’t going to stay a secret.

And that’s another thing. I know Callie isn’t hanging out with Daphne or Shae anymore, but they’ve all been friends forever. It’s pretty screwed up that Callie would revenge porn Daphne just because they’re in a fight. She’s basically ruined her life.

So, yeah, I can’t stand Daphne, but . . . now I almost feel bad for her. Coach is an adult, and he shouldn’t have had sex with her. And her best friend shouldn’t have spread the video of it around the school. I really wish I hadn’t been a part of any of it.

Alex blinked and slowly shook her head from side to side.

Daphne’s going to be out for revenge. I don’t know what she’s going to do, but it’s going to be bad. Like . . . end-of-the-world-level bad.





CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX




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KATE

I stood in the empty commercial space and slowly circled around. It was dusty and in need of sprucing up. The walls were an oppressive dark green, and the cheap plywood shelves left behind by the previous tenant were crooked and needed to be pulled down. But the space definitely had possibility. It was large and airy and had a fantastic black-and-white checkerboard-tiled floor. With the shelves removed, a coat of paint—eggshell, or perhaps a pale gray—and more advantageous lighting, it would be transformed. I could picture it filled with high-end consignment furniture, carefully staged so that customers would want to buy not just a couch but also the vintage sideboard and sculptural lamps nearby.

“What do you think?” Joe asked. “As soon as I saw this place, I thought of you and your consignment store.”

“I think it might be perfect. With a little work. The green walls have to go.”

“I’m handy with a paintbrush.” Joe waggled his eyebrows at me, and I laughed.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “The main challenge is that it’s one open space.”

“That’s bad?”

“My old store was a warren of rooms. It made it easier to set each one up as a particular living space. But that doesn’t mean this couldn’t work too.” I looked around again, trying to picture it. It would be a challenge to transform the large space into a coherent retail shop. Then again, it would be a relief to have something to think about other than my constant worry over Alex being bullied or Genevieve’s misplaced anger.

“You sound like you’re seriously considering it,” Joe said.

I turned and smiled. “I’m considering it. I don’t know how serious I am yet.”

“I like it. And the vegetarian restaurant next door gets a big lunch crowd, so you’d have a lot of foot traffic going by.”

“It’s not this particular space or even the work of setting up the shop that’s making me hesitate,” I said. “It’s Alex.”

“She doesn’t want you to open a store here?”