“Listen!” I scream, pounding my own feet on the bench till they quiet down enough that I can talk over them. “I’m talking about catfishing. We set up fake accounts to lure them in with pictures of crazy hot models, then we swipe right on their profiles to make them think we’re interested in them.”
It’s like opening time at a lightbulb store as my words click in their brains. Suddenly, their protests turns to cheers.
“Oh my gosh, KC, that’s so… devious! It’s awesome!” Somebody shouts, and the rest of the crowd echoes with similar sentiments.
The only people who don’t seem impressed are Kerri and Mia, who are whispering and glancing back and forth between each other and me. Of course they don’t like the idea. They already have boyfriends who treat them great, and they’re friends with Dylan and Jake, the ringleaders behind the dogfight. I ignore them and turn my attention back to all the girls who are tired of being treated like garbage.
I remind everyone not to speak a word of this to anyone of the male persuasion but encourage them to tell their friends who aren’t here about the plan. They march out of the locker room with heads held high and giant grins, chanting the word catfish over and over again, and I follow after them, eager to lure my own victim.
“Oh, by the way, girls. Jake Matthews is mine,” I demand. If anyone is going to get him back, it’s going to be me.
I float home on a cloud of excitement. As soon as I get there, I plop on my bed and download the Tinder app to my phone. I never had any reason to use it before. I was one of the most popular girls in school, and I could get any guy I wanted. All I had to do was look their way.
The app wants to connect to my Facebook page, and my first instinct is to deny it, but then a spark of genius flashes in my brain. Getting Jake to fall for a fake girl would be satisfying, but getting him to fall for the old me would be the ultimate coup de grâce.
Leaving the app in limbo, I boot up my laptop and head to my abandoned Facebook page. My old profile picture smiles back at me — Lindsey and I, head to head, smiling under giant sunglasses, my long, blonde hair hanging in perfect waves from a high ponytail. The girl reflected in the screen of my laptop looks nothing like her. I scroll through my old pictures, hiding any that might be recognizable as the person Jake knows as KC.
The account is in my real name, Kaitlyn Smith, but I don’t think Jake has ever heard me called that. I’ve always been KC at West Bay. He might not even realize that it’s my initials. Guys are clueless like that. He probably thinks my name is Casey. Plus, there are probably a million girls with the same name. I change it anyway, to Kaitlyn S., just to be safe.
When I’m confident that my profile page would never make him think of me, I go back to my phone and finish setting up the app. I keep my bio short and sweet, but just right for luring a guy like Jake. He’ll think I’m the perfect girl for him—
Likes Mexican food, watching basketball, building sandcastles on the beach, and guys that make me laugh.
I grin at my own brilliance. When I’m done, my screen fills with the face of a cute guy nearby. He’s got dark brown hair and hazel eyes that crinkle at the corners, and he reminds me of Jake.
Maybe I could find a new boyfriend, someone to take my mind off the pain of Jake’s betrayal. My thumb quivers as it hovers over the screen, tempted to swipe right, but I don’t let myself. I have one goal, taking down Jake Matthews, and I don’t have time to waste chasing someone else. Besides, I’ve pretty much sworn off guys for the foreseeable future. Maybe the guys at college will be a little more mature, but I kind of doubt it.
I swipe left past dozens of pictures, including a few guys from school, as I scan for Jake. To look at them, you’d never know they were misogynistic assholes. I wonder how many girls have already swiped right on them. My happy mood quickly disintegrates at the thought of so many cruel people.
I throw my phone down in disgust and flop down on my back, staring up at the small, crystal chandelier on my ceiling. Yeah, I know it’s kind of pretentious. But like I said, I’m a spoiled princess, or at least I was. I’m used to being the prettiest, the most popular, the girl that all the guys fawned over, and always getting my way. This whole experience has really messed with my head.
So many of the guys are jerks masquerading as nice guys, but I’m hiding behind a mask, too. Who am I really? Am I the prissy beauty queen who ruled Astor Lake Prep? The drunk party girl who was almost assaulted by her boyfriend and ended up the laughingstock of the entire school? The sullen, emo girl with no friends who tried her hardest to push people away? The average nobody with a handful of nice friends, including a cute guy who maybe liked her? Or am I the cold-hearted rebel, exacting my revenge by any means necessary?
I honestly don’t know who I am anymore, or who I want to be.
I pick up my phone to text Lindsey, hoping she’s free to hang out this weekend, needing to spend time with someone I trust, but she blows me off again, saying she has plans with Jaden. With Lindsey absent, I feel farther away from my old life than ever. Do I miss it? Sure. It was awesome being the queen of the school. But when you’re that high, the fall to the ground is that much more painful.
I wasn’t very good at being a loner, though. It only took a few days before I was starved for human interaction. Being average wasn’t too bad. I really like Kerri and Mia, but I’m worried we’re on different sides of this war. When it comes time to choose, I’m pretty sure they’ll stick with the friends they’ve known for years, not the emo girl they felt the need to reach out to.
The doorbell rings, and my first thought is of Jake. I really was starting to like him, despite his tendency to pull stupid stunts just to get a laugh. But then I remember I told him in no uncertain terms that I never wanted to talk to him again.
He obviously doesn’t really like me, anyway, so I doubt he’s going to make any more effort to get back in my good graces. What does he care if I hate him or not? He got what he wanted out of me — apparently an all-expense-paid trip to prom, courtesy of Dylan. All he needs now is a prom date.
I didn’t see a profile for him on Tinder, so I wonder if he’s going to take his own suggestion or if he has someone else in mind to ask. He’s a popular guy; I’m sure one of the snooty girls who aren’t part of the resistance would be happy to go with him.
I’ve already forgotten about the doorbell when I hear a knock on my door. “Come in,” I holler, assuming it’s my mom or my brother, but instead it’s Kerri and Mia.
I pop up, feeling surprised and vulnerable, like I’ve been caught naked or something. My bedroom is an homage to the old me, totally out of sync with the person they know.
“Hey, KC.” Mia gives me a little wave before widening her eyes in surprise.
“Whoa, it’s like a Barbie dream house in here!” Kerri says as she gazes around my room.
She’s not wrong. My walls are pale pink with wide crown molding, and a huge, fur rug softens my hardwood floors. My bed is covered in a gray, ruffled, satin comforter with a dozen throw pillows, all different luxury fabrics, tossed up against the tufted, velvet headboard. The door to my walk-in closet is wide open, displaying rows of designer clothes and shoes. Only one tiny section holds my goth wear.
“Who are you?” Mia gawks at me.
I chuckle darkly at the timeliness of her question. “Girl on the Edge,” I say, referencing the cheesy TV movie about a girl who couldn’t cope with the trauma of an online predator. I remember watching it with my mom a few years back and thinking how ridiculously overdramatic it was. Now it’s basically the made-for-TV version of my life.
Mia picks up a picture of me and Lindsey that’s sitting on my dresser and stares at it in confusion. It’s pre-KC, of course. I’ve barely seen Lindsey since then.
“Is this you?” Mia holds up the picture, and Kerri’s eyes get even wider when she pokes her head over Mia’s shoulder to take a look.
“Yep.” I cringe and duck my head. “The goth look is kind of new.”
&nbs
p; “What happened to you, KC?” Mia drops down onto the bed beside me the way Lindsey used to do, her leg and shoulder pressed up against mine, and she looks up at me with sympathy in her eyes. Kerri sits down on the other side.
I sigh and run a fingernail up and down the seam of my jeans, trying to decide if I want to tell them or not. On one hand, I think Mia and Kerri would understand my point of view better if they knew what I’d been through, but I’m hesitant to open up to them when I’m not sure they’re on my side. They’re here, though, and that says something.
“I used to be a lot different at my old school. I was… homecoming queen.” The label is the easiest way I can think of to describe my old life. To their credit, neither of them show any skepticism.
“I got drunk at a party one night and got undressed, and my boyfriend took a picture of me. When I wouldn’t have sex with him, he posted it online.” They make sympathetic noises that encourage me to keep talking.
“It spread everywhere. Everyone at school saw it and started ridiculing me and calling me nasty names. My boyfriend didn’t help matters, either. He told them what they wanted to hear, smearing my name through the mud. I couldn’t handle it, and I refused to go back. My parents decided to let me switch schools.”
“So that’s why you changed your look? You wanted to push people away?” Mia asks, and it makes me think there’s more to her own story than I know.
I nod and stick my hair behind my ears. “When I found out in front of everybody that Jake was using me to win a bet, I felt like it was happening all over again. I knew I never should have been friends with him. I just can’t trust guys, especially him.”
Mia puts an arm around me and hugs me, and a tear drips from my eye. I don’t know why she cares about me, but it feels really nice. Kerri does the same thing, wrapping me up in a friend sandwich, and we all start giggling.
“That was a pretty bold speech you made today. I had a feeling you weren’t as much of a wallflower as you pretend to be.” Kerri winks, her freckles dancing.
I guess I’m a masochist because I hear myself asking a question I really don’t want to know the answer to. “Did you guys come here to persuade me not to do the catfishing thing?”
Mia bites her lip and looks at Kerri, and I’m pretty sure that’s exactly why they came.
“We understand why you’re so angry at the guys, even more so now, and we’re not saying that what they did wasn’t wrong. But is deceiving and humiliating them the best response? That just puts you on the same level. I thought the boycott was payback enough.” Kerri has a point, one that’s been nagging at the deep recesses of my brain and I’ve been purposely ignoring.
“Well, it’s too late now, I’ve already mobilized all the girls.” I know it’s a lame excuse. I’m sure if I tried hard enough I could probably convince them it was a bad idea. Kerri and Mia exchange a glance, and I’m sure they’re thinking the same thing.
Mia makes one last attempt to persuade me. “Just think about it, okay? We know you’re really mad right now, and we don’t blame you, but we’d hate to see more people feel the same shame and rejection you felt, even if they do deserve it.”
I gulp and nod my head, suddenly feeling like a total jerk for even suggesting the idea.
“Hey, what are you doing tonight? You wanna hang out, do something fun?” Kerri asks, popping up off the bed.
Chapter Fourteen
Jake
“What the heck are you doing here?” I jerk my hand out of my pants and drop my phone, pulling my comforter over my lap as Austin, Connor, and Dylan barge in.
“We’re here for an intervention, bro.” Dylan yanks the blanket off me, and I scramble to cover my bulge with a pillow.
“We’re tired of your grumpy attitude, it’s bringing everybody down.” Connor crosses his arms.
“It’s time for you to take your own advice and move on. There are other girls out there besides KC, and we’re gonna help you find one.” Austin grabs a shirt out of my closet and holds it up, examining it.
“I’m not interested in finding another girl right now.” I slump back down on my bed.
“Well, you obviously need one. You’re home alone on a Friday night, rubbing one off to a picture of… what?” Dylan grabs my phone and checks out the picture on the screen. The only one I have of KC.
“Damn, is that KC? She looks hot. I barely recognize her without the goth shit.” Dylan holds the phone up for Austin and Connor.
Austin rolls his eyes and takes the phone from Dylan, pressing the off button. “That’s not helping, dude.”
“Please don’t jerk off to a picture of my girlfriend in a swimsuit.” Connor rubs a hand over his face, and I roll my eyes.
“I wasn’t looking at Kerri.” That’s not exactly true. In between fantasies about KC, I was lamenting the fact that both Austin and Connor had great girlfriends. I’d had a chance with Kerri at one point. I’m not really into Kerri, but she’s a great girl, and maybe if I’d worked harder at keeping her I might not have ever fallen for and been heartbroken by KC.
Austin tosses a shirt at me.
“What’s this for?”
“Well, whether you need a new girl or not, you definitely need to get your mind off the old one, so you’re going out with us tonight.”
“Why aren’t you guys out with your girlfriends?” Instead of badgering me. I finish the thought in my head.
“Kerri and Mia went to hang out with KC tonight. They thought she needed some cheering up,” Connor says.
“I thought KC was channeling all her anger into plotting the boycott.” Dylan grins. “Hehe. BOY-cott. Get it?”
We all roll our eyes at him. “Yeah, Dyl-hole, we got it,” I say.
“Come on, Jake. Let’s go do something fun.” Austin tugs on my arm, and I growl but reluctantly stand up.
“Fine, but only because I’m bored. Where are we going?”
“Uh…” They glance back and forth between each other, shrugging their shoulders.
“How about the batting cages? You can get all that anger out by whacking the hell out of some baseballs.” Dylan swings a pretend bat at my head.
“What about the movies? There’s that new Marvel movie,” Connor says.
Austin shakes his head. “Those aren’t very good places to find girls. I think you need to get around some new females. Let’s go to the mall. Tons of girls there, and you could definitely use an upgrade on your wardrobe.” He sneers at my closet.
“Aren’t girls who hang out at the mall kind of high-maintenance?” Dylan curls his upper lip.
Austin jabs him in the ribs with an elbow. “Macy hangs out at the mall all the time.”
Dylan bobs his head. “Uh yeah, and she’s a total diva. Why do you think I’m always breaking up with her?”
“I thought she broke up with you cuz you’re an asswipe.” I can’t resist the opening. Dylan grabs a pillow and smacks me with it.
Austin holds up another shirt for examination. “Every girl likes to hang out at the mall. It’s hardwired into their DNA, or something. Besides, I’m not saying you need to find a girl tonight, I just think you need to be reminded that there are plenty of other girls out there.”
“Well, I could go for a soft pretzel and one of those giant cookies.” Dylan rubs his stomach.
“And I need to get Kerri a birthday present,” Connor adds.
They all look at me expectantly. I sigh and yank my shirt over my head, swapping it out for the new one Austin tossed at me. “Fine, let’s go be mall rats.”
I volunteer to drive because my SUV is roomier than Austin’s Jeep and because I want to be able to leave when I’m ready.
When we get there, we argue about where to go first and eventually park at the food court because it’s right in the middle. The smell of pizza, Chinese food, fresh-baked cinnamon rolls, and soft pretzels hits us in the face when we walk in, and Dylan’s stomach rumbles.
“Why don’t we get some food and we can come up with a gam
e plan while we eat,” Connor suggests.
We can all agree on that, so we split up and head towards different food vendors. A few minutes later, we meet back up at a table in the middle of the food court.
“Man, this place is packed with girls,” Dylan says around a mouthful of pretzel.
The sight of it reminds me of the pretzel dogs Connor brought to the beach that one day, which, of course, reminds me of KC.
“It’s too bad there were open tables, otherwise we could’ve asked to sit with some of these lovely ladies.” Dylan wiggles his eyebrows. “Look at those chicks over there. Yowzers.”
I turn my head to see what he’s looking at. There’s a table full of girls — blondes, brunettes, redheads, dressed cute and acting flirty, casting furtive glances at us. They’re all beautiful, but none of them appeal to me. None of them look like KC.
“You should go talk to them, Jake,” Austin prods.
“And say what?” The old me would’ve wanted to play a prank on them — they were easy targets. But now even the idea makes me sick to my stomach.
“You could ask them if they know where a good place is to buy a necklace. That’s what I want to get Kerri for her birthday.” Connor forks a chunk off his cinnamon roll.
I roll my eyes at him. “I don’t think you’re the right guy to be giving me advice on how to talk to women. You let your girl go out with me because you were too shy to tell her you liked her.”
He frowns at me and shoves a wad of dough in his mouth.
Austin shakes his head. “You can’t ask them that or they’ll think you already have a girlfriend. Why don’t you ask them what store has the coolest guy clothes?”
“Yeah! That’s a good idea!” Connor says, and Dylan nods in agreement.
I shake my head and come up with a lame excuse. “There’s too many of them. It would be better to approach just one girl.”
“Well, I think it’s a great idea. I’ll try it.” Dylan wipes the nacho cheese off his face and stands up. He struts over to their table like a bodybuilder, chest out and flexed arms swinging.
April Fools' Joke (Holiday High Series Book 3) Page 11
