“You’ve got to slow down, Hayles,” I said, laughing as she flicked me an annoyed glance. “I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”
“I’m asking if you’ve checked your Instagram today?” she spoke each word purposefully slow to ensure I could hear.
“Because…”
“Because you gained like five thousand followers last night!”
“What?” I exclaimed. I grabbed my phone out and opened the app. My eyes widened and my hands started shaking as I checked my page.
“That can’t be right,” I muttered. “I hardly ever post anything.”
“It’s totally right,” Hayley replied. “Everyone’s been watching the competition. You should see how many people like your Cadi Facebook page.”
“I don’t have a Cadi Facebook page,” I said.
Hayley shrugged. “Apparently you do now.”
I sat back in my chair with a frown on my face as I scrolled through my new follower notifications. There were so many people I didn’t even know. I didn’t recognize any of their faces. Since when was this competition being watched by people outside of the school?
“Hayley, who are these people?” I asked as I continued to scroll. “They’re not from school.”
“Well, that’s not so strange,” she replied. “Word is spreading about how great the contest is, and everyone is watching. I was talking to my hairdresser about it at the weekend, and she was so excited that I’m your friend. You, girl, are famous.”
I liked most things that my best friend had to say, but that was not one of them. I didn’t want these people following me, and I definitely didn’t want to be famous.
“You and Cole could not get any hotter,” Hayley continued. “Please tell me that he followed you home on Friday, climbed up the tree at the side of your house, banged on your bedroom window and demanded that kiss from you!”
I laughed, putting my phone away. “You have a seriously active imagination.”
“Or it’s been way too long between boys. I swear I’m going through the biggest dry spell of my life right now. I’m living vicariously through you, so you’ve got to tell me all the details!”
My hands twisted nervously in my lap. “I’m sure you saw it all last night on the show,” I replied.
Hayley instantly slammed on the breaks, bringing the car to a screeching halt in the middle of the road. “Please tell me you didn’t miss last night’s episode too!” she cried, turning off the car and staring at me with a look of shock on her face.
“Hayley, there are cars behind us,” I said, turning in my seat to look out the back window as the drivers began honking their horns at us.
“Go around!” Hayley yelled, waving a hand out the window before turning back to me. “I swear I’m not moving this car again until you tell me you watched the episode last night.”
“Well, I guess we’re not going to school today then.”
“Are you serious?” Her voice went up an octave.
“What? I don’t like watching myself on film. I hate hearing my own voice. It’s weird.”
Hayley shook her head at me. “Only you could think that.”
“Plus, I already experienced the whole ordeal. I really don’t want to have to go through the torture again.”
She snorted at me. “Yeah, it looked like you were having such a horrible time on Friday night.”
I felt a smile trying to creep onto my face as I thought back to the group date. I couldn’t argue with Hayley; Friday had been surprisingly fun, aside from the fact that Laurie had tried to take me out. I had the biggest bruises on my knees from the fall I took, and they still hurt like hell.
“Okay, it wasn’t all awful,” I admitted. “Can you keep driving now?”
A smug smile formed on Hayley’s lips. “I knew you liked him.”
I raised my hand and pointed a finger at her. “I never said I liked him.”
“You don’t have to, it’s written all over your love-struck face.”
“It is not!”
“Tell you what, admit you like Cole and I’ll keep driving to school,” she said.
I turned my darkest glare on her. “I’m not going to lie to you to get you to keep driving.”
Another horn blared from one of the cars trapped behind us, but Hayley was completely unbothered. “We’ve got Mr. Randall first period, and he loves me. I’m in no rush,” she said, sitting back in her seat as she made herself comfortable.
“Hayley, you know Cole and I hate each other. We have for years. He drives me crazy.”
She didn’t respond but simply smiled as if she was waiting for me to continue. It was clear she needed more convincing.
“He’s rude, and he always says inappropriate things. I swear his mind lives in the gutter,” I continued. “He goes out of his way to annoy me!’
I let out a breath when it was clear my words weren’t going to sway her. I wasn’t so sure they were convincing me either. Cole had been different these last few weeks, and he wasn’t nearly as rude or annoying. It was hard to argue that I hated him when it didn’t feel true anymore.
“Look,” I said. “Even if I did like Cole, it doesn’t mean he likes me back. He’s got a whole group of people throwing themselves at him right now. He’ll probably eliminate me tonight.”
“Yeah, right,” Hayley said with a shake of her head. She started the car and continued our journey to school.
“But I didn’t admit to liking him.”
“Maybe not out loud,” she said, turning and giving me a knowing smile.
Her words silenced me and I could feel myself frowning as I considered them. I didn’t say another word to her the rest of the drive to school. I did come to a conclusion though: Hayley had no idea what she was talking about.
It seemed like every eye in the school was focused on me as Hayley and I got out of the car. The stares continued to follow us as we made our way across the parking lot and up the steps to school. I strongly suspected people were only watching me because of the show, but it made me uncomfortable and I wished they would stop.
“Madi, great episode last night,” a girl said to me as we entered school.
“Oh, thanks,” I replied.
“Go Cadi!” one of the football guys hooted from her side.
Other students shouted similar messages of support and enthusiastic congratulations as I continued down the corridor. There were countless more “Cadi” posters dotting the walls today, and everyone I encountered was smiling as they passed me.
“I told you! You're famous!” Hayley squealed. She was practically bouncing at my side. “They love you!"
I swallowed and tried to remain calm, but I clearly didn’t share her enthusiasm.
“Don’t look so glum,” Hayley said. “Is it really so upsetting that people like you?”
“I just don’t love the attention, but you’re right I shouldn’t let everyone’s support upset me.” I shook my head and laughed at how much I was overreacting. People cheering for me was a good thing, even if I did find it slightly overwhelming.
“You shouldn’t,” she agreed, linking her arm with mine.
As we continued down the corridor, I began to feel a little better about the attention. I didn’t exactly want it, but at least it all seemed positive. Perhaps I really could handle this competition.
The two of us slowed when we saw people up ahead gathered around my locker. Hayley kept to my side as we moved through them. But I stopped, frozen to the spot, when I finally set eyes on what they were all there to see.
Words were scrawled across every part of my locker in black permanent marker. Horrible words. Words that made tears gather in my eyes and my whole body start to shake. I couldn't stop staring at the two largest ones in particular.
Slut.
Tease.
I swallowed, trying to take a deep breath and remain calm, but the air was caught in my lungs and my chest felt tight. I could feel people crowding around me, and I felt suffocated by their
presence. I clutched my arms around me as I tried to block them out. I could hear them whispering though, and I could hear their laughs. Had one of them done this? Had several of them? Were the things they had written true? Was this who people really thought I was?
Hayley bristled at my side. “Will you stop staring?” she yelled at all the kids gathered around us. “Put that phone down or I will break it!”
A tear ran down my cheek, and Hayley grabbed my arm, pulling me to the nearest bathroom. As soon as we were inside, she hugged me tightly.
“I’m going to find out who did this,” she said. “And I am going to make them wish they had never existed.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I murmured.
She pulled back from our hug and looked me in the eye. “Uh, yeah, I do. Nobody messes with my bestie.”
“They’re just words,” I said.
“I don’t care. They made you cry, so they’re not just words.” She shook her head, her eyes still wide as though she too was reeling from what had happened. “If it makes you feel any better, I doubt the culprit is going to graduate. They spelled fake with a y.”
I let out a small laugh and rubbed some of the tears away from my cheek.
“Why would someone do something so horrible?” I asked.
“They’re obviously jealous,” she said.
“Because of the competition?”
“Yeah,” she replied, with a nod. “You and Cole are really cute together.”
“Maybe it was Jake,” I said, barely whispering the guess aloud. “We only broke up last week. He must be upset if it looks like I’m already moving on.”
“Jake’s pretty self-involved and can be a total jerk, but I don’t think he’d write crap on your locker,” Hayley responded.
“He spread rumors about me last week though,” I said.
“Yeah,” Hayley agreed. “So, I guess we can’t completely rule the guy out.”
I let out a sigh. I wished I’d never been a part of the True Love competition. I hadn’t wanted to do it in the first place, and it felt like every week it was making my life worse.
“Madi?” a boy's voice called into the bathroom. I turned to find Cole standing at the entrance.
“Cole, this is the girls' bathroom. You can’t be in here.”
“Does it look like I care?” he asked, striding across the distance between us. He grasped my arms tightly and looked deeply into my eyes. “Are you okay?”
“I take it you saw my locker,” I responded.
“Yeah,” he said, through gritted teeth. There was so much anger in his eyes that I felt breathless. “And I’m going to find out who did this and make them pay.”
“You gotta line up buddy,” Hayley said from behind me. “I’m making them pay first.”
Cole’s eyes flicked over my shoulder and he nodded. “As long as I get a piece of them that’s fine by me.”
I shook my head at the two of them and took a step back. “You guys don’t need to go defend my honor. It’s fine. This will all blow over soon. You’ll see.”
I didn’t wait to hear them disagree with me and walked from the bathroom before they could get a word out in response. There was no point planning revenge on someone who in all honesty would probably never be found.
I went to my locker, ignoring the eyes watching me and the cruel words scrawled across the door, and grabbed my books and went to class. As I sat down at my desk, people still watched me. They whispered amongst one another, and though I couldn’t hear their words, I knew they were all talking about me. I hated the attention, especially knowing what they all thought of me.
I was the tease who wouldn’t put out.
I was the slut who jumped from dating one guy to another.
I’d been through this with the hot list, and I couldn’t do it again. I couldn’t handle the pressure of these people’s expectations, and I couldn’t deal with the weight of their judgment.
The spotlight I was suddenly under again was too much to cope with. So I was left with no choice. I had to get out of the True Love contest, now more than ever.
16
Cole
“You’re not going to believe this,” Angus said, drawing up a chair and sitting beside me.
I was barely listening though. My eyes were searching the cafeteria for Madi, but I couldn’t see her anywhere. Even Hayley was nowhere to be found. The two of them hadn’t been sitting at our table at lunch since Madi and Jake broke things off. They’d spent most of their lunch breaks with Teagan and some of the other drama kids, but today they were notably absent.
I suspected it had something to do with the insults that had been written across Madi’s locker. My teeth clenched as I tried to control the rage that boiled up inside me as I remembered the words. Madi was none of the things that had been written there, but I’d seen how quickly she believed them. How fast she’d begun to pull inside her shell again.
I’d only had two classes with her today, but it made me sick to see how much she had changed in the few hours since the start of the day. I’d seen her arrive at school, and she’d been smiling as people congratulated her for the ice skating episode. She’d practically received a hero’s welcome as she’d walked down the corridor. Everyone who watched the show loved her. And so they should; she was the best thing about True Love.
Watching the episode had made my heart beat faster and put a stupid grin on my face. I’d replayed the moment when Madi crashed into me and we fell onto the ice several times. The camera had zoomed in on our faces as she lay on me, and the way she had looked at me was so intense that it made my stomach clench tightly as I relived it. I could still remember the way she’d felt in my arms. The moment had felt magical. Watching it back made me so excited to see her again, and I was certain that anyone watching the episode could only love Madi more as it progressed.
Then those words had appeared on her locker. Those stupid words. And it was like a dark shadow had been cast across Madi’s light. By fourth period, she was hunched over her desk and not responding to any questions. Her hair had been draped over her face, and the bright girl I knew had disappeared.
She’d reacted in a similar way last year when the hot list came out. I’d watched, unable to do anything as she’d changed herself so that no one would pay her any attention. It had broken my heart to see her do that to herself once. I wasn't going to let it happen again.
“Cole?” Angus said, jerking my attention back to him.
“What is it?” My voice sounded every ounce as grumpy as I felt.
“We had nearly fifty thousand views last night,” he replied.
“What?” I shook my head, my focus now entirely on Angus.
“We had fifty thousand views. Our charity show has gone viral.” Angus was grinning from ear to ear. “The local news even contacted the school this morning about doing a piece on it.”
I frowned. All I could think about was how this would affect Madi. Would it upset her further knowing how many people had been watching us?
“Cole?” Angus snapped his fingers in front of my face.
“Sorry, what?”
“I said you’re famous, man.”
“Right.” Like I cared about that.
“We’re going to need to meet after school to discuss tonight.”
“What about it?”
Angus’ enthusiasm waned. It seemed like he was only just beginning to get that I wasn’t as happy as he was about the show’s success. “We need to come up with a game plan to keep people watching. We’ll have to be smart about who you eliminate from now on.”
“I thought I got to choose,” I replied.
“Well, you do,” Angus said. “But we should still talk about it. We don’t want you getting rid of anyone who has high entertainment value.” Angus’ eyes flicked in Laurie’s direction and I sighed. She was the last person I wanted to keep around after the stunt she had pulled on Friday night.
“I’m not keeping her,” I hissed, only loud enoug
h for Angus to hear.
“Look, she doesn’t need to be your final choice,” Angus said. “But she’s one of the most interesting people to watch.”
“So?”
“So, I thought you were doing this to help raise money for the fire victims. The more entertaining the show, the more donations we receive.”
I scowled at Angus. We’d always gotten along fine, but right now he was pushing me close to the edge. “I’ll think about it,” I said.
Angus grinned and slapped me on the shoulder, like he’d gotten what he wanted. “You do that,” he said. He stood from his chair and looked down at me. “I’ll be at your house early tonight to discuss the ceremony and the dates for this week.”
“Whatever.” I turned from him and scanned the room to see if Madi had appeared while I’d been distracted. She still wasn’t in the cafeteria though, and the longer I went without seeing her, the angrier I became. I was going to kill whoever was behind the graffiti on her locker.
My gaze flickered to Jake. He was eating his lunch; or trying to. It looked a little tricky as Laurie threw herself at him. She was currently pawing at his arm and looking up at him like he was the only guy in the world. At least, she was until she caught me watching and sent a wink my way.
I ignored her, but Jake didn’t seem to mind her attention. He actually looked like he was enjoying it, and I was somewhat glad that Madi wasn’t around to see her ex-boyfriend behaving that way.
I watched Jake, hoping to see any hint of guilt or remorse, but he seemed completely at ease as he sat at the table. I wanted it to be him. I wanted an excuse to prove to Madi that Jake wasn’t good enough for her. I couldn’t imagine him writing those things on her locker though. He was an idiot, and Madi could do better, but he wasn’t that vindictive or cruel.
“What’s crawled up your ass?” Tanner asked, taking a seat next to me. “I haven’t seen you look this pissed since we lost that game to Westbrook last season.”
“I’m fine,” I said bluntly, not wanting to admit the reasons I was in such a bad mood. Tanner was still watching me closely though so I stuffed another forkful of food in my mouth in the hopes he’d leave me alone.
The Wrong Bachelor Page 15
