Clickbait

by Evelyn Dar

  “Jessie?” Avery asked.

  “Mmhm,” Joanna purred. “He looks so handsome and tall in his tuxedo. And those big brawny arms of his…” She bit her lower lip. “Why did I never notice how big and brawny his arms were before?” She gazed past Avery with a faraway look in her eyes, Fitz the Pomeranian temporarily forgotten.

  Siobhan snickered.

  “Uh, Joanna?”

  Joanna shook her head. “Sorry, darling. You know how I get when Brian’s out of town.”

  “Who’s Brian?” Siobhan asked.

  “My trainer.” Joanna winked.

  Siobhan’s eyes widened. “Can I be you when I grow up?”

  Joanna laughed without opening her mouth and eyed Avery’s dress. “You look nice, darling. Are you and Jessie going out?”

  “Yes, we are,” Avery said slowly. “And so are you.”

  Joanna’s face remained blissfully blank.

  “Teddy’s swearing-in ceremony is tonight,” Avery explained.

  Joanna smiled dreamily. “Of course it is, dear. Should I have Delia send Jessie up?”

  “No, I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  Joanna gave her an air kiss and walked out.

  “Think she’ll make it to the ceremony?” Siobhan asked.

  “Oh, she’ll be there, even if Teddy has to dress her himself.”

  Siobhan stood and stretched. “I’ll let your beard know you’re on your way down.”

  “Can you not call him that?”

  “What?” Siobhan asked. “A beard? That’s what he is.”

  “I know, but I hate that word. It sounds so…”

  “Fake?” Siobhan smirked.

  “Ha-ha.” Avery rolled her eyes. “If I have to date a boy, I could do worse than Jessie. He’s polite and sweet and”–her voice cracked–“safe.”

  Siobhan sighed. “Ugh, I’m such a thoughtless bitch.” She pulled Avery in for a hug. “I’m sorry, honey. And you’re right, Jessie is a freaking peach.”

  Avery maneuvered out of Siobhan’s hug. “It’s fine. It was a long time ago.”

  A year ago, during a drunken sleepover, Avery had confided in Siobhan, the real reason she’d been forced to transfer to Lovett Academy.

  “Three years is not a long time ago,” Siobhan countered. “I swear, if I ever catch that bitch in a dark alley, I’m leaving with both of his balls.”

  Avery grimaced. “That’s...extremely specific and disgusting. Thank you?”

  “Anything for my boo.” Siobhan grabbed her purse. “Hey, now that the campaign’s over, maybe Teddy will let you come out – well, ‘lesbian come out.’”

  “I’m not holding my breath,” Avery said. “Teddy has White House aspirations.”

  “Damn.” Siobhan kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll see you after the ceremony, and heads up, we are getting toasted as fuck tonight.”

  Avery forced a smile. “Can’t wait.”

  After Siobhan left, Avery applied a quick touch up to her make-up, then stood back and studied her reflection with practiced detachment.

  The girl who stared back at her was conventionally attractive and well-liked. A cheerleader that was the right kind of popular; the kind that wasn’t catty and was loved by jocks and nerds alike. The cool girl who didn’t have to be smart to get into Harvard because an SAT score in the 99th percentile paired with daddy’s hefty 3-million-dollar donation to the prestigious University was more than enough.

  Avery wasn’t that girl in the mirror. But she was an expert at pretending to be.

  ****

  The apartment door creaked shut and Laylah froze. Although it was 11 p.m., an hour after her mother’s bedtime, Laylah didn’t want to risk running into Gale. After an additional six-hour shift at Earley’s, she smelled like a tub of grease and had no idea how she would explain the stench to her mother.

  Laylah slipped off her shoes and crept toward her room, frowning as she walked past the vacant couch. She sent up a silent prayer for Kendrick and continued down the hallway.

  A light shone from under her mother’s bedroom door, and as Laylah approached, she heard the muted sounds of a television. After a long day spent on her feet, it wasn’t uncommon for an exhausted Gale to fall asleep with the television on, and Laylah had lost track of how many times she’d tiptoed in and turned it off.

  Laylah opened her mother’s door and was surprised to find Gale sitting up in bed with an open bottle of cheap red wine cradled in her arms.

  Gale’s eyes were glued to the screen and she failed to notice Laylah’s intrusion. Laylah began backing out of the room, but a glance at the television stopped her in her tracks. CNN’s trademark scroll ran along the bottom of the screen, informing viewers they were watching a rebroadcast of an earlier live ceremony.

  A tall man wearing coke-bottle glasses stood beside Teddy on a stage filled with dozens of old white men who were likely present when the constitution was drafted.

  “Theodore Simon Bradley, it is my honor to officially swear you in for your second term as the state of Georgia’s eighteenth attorney general.”

  Teddy raised his right hand. “It’s my honor, Governor Rawlings and I swear to uphold the principles laid before me by my predecessors and serve the state of Georgia with honor and integrity and to uphold the rule of the law to its fullest extent.”

  Gale laughed bitterly. “You lying piece of–” She covered her mouth and sobbed silently into her hand.

  Laylah closed her eyes. A part of her wanted to rush in and comfort her mother, but another part of her wanted something else entirely.

  She glared at the screen. She wanted that bastard to pay. To be held accountable for what he’d done. Laylah closed her mother’s door and pulled out her phone.

  Laylah: Do you have a plan or were you talking out of your ass?

  Maddy: LOL. I have more plans than Elizabeth Warren. The real question is, are YOU in?

  Laylah stared at the text. She had no idea what Maddy was planning, and despite her reassurances…what if it backfired and they somehow made things worse for her mother?

  Laylah lightly touched her mother’s bedroom door and closed her eyes.

  “Dad?” she whispered. “I know you can hear me. And I know I’ve been doing a shitty job of protecting her since you’ve been gone.” She opened her eyes. “But that ends now.”

  Laylah: I’m in. What’s the plan?

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Yo, how long we gotta stay?” Kendrick frowned as he surveyed the packed stadium. “I’m not down with this Friday Night Lights bullshit. Plus, it’s cold as hell out here.” He rubbed his hands together and blew on them, capturing the attention of a woman sitting two rows below them.

  The woman turned around, and Kendrick sneered at her, showcasing his grill. She gasped and returned her attention to the football field where the Lovett Lions were warming up.

  “And why do these rich motherfuckers keep staring at me?” Kendrick asked loud enough for anyone within fifteen feet to hear.

  Maddy reached over Laylah and patted Kendrick on the knee. “It’s okay, hon. They’re more afraid of you than you are of them.”

  Kendrick promptly brushed Maddy’s hand away. “Bruh, I told you not to touch me.”

  “Seriously?” Maddy said.

  Kendrick clenched his jaw but said nothing.

  Maddy scoffed. “Being trans isn’t a disease you can catch.”

  “Whatever you say…bro.” Kendrick crossed his arms.

  “Fine.” Maddy crossed her arms too. “Be a dick.”

  “At least I still got one,” Kendrick muttered.

  “What did you say to me?” Maddy stood up.

  Laylah noticed several disapproving glances being thrown their way and faked a smile. “You guys, people are staring,” she whispered. “Maddy, sit down.”

  “Yeah,” Kendrick mimicked. “Sit down…Maddox.”

  “Whatever. You’re not worth it.” Maddy sat, but her eyes shone with unshed tears; tears Laylah knew she wou
ld never cry in front of Kendrick.

  Maddy turned to Laylah. “If he wants to leave, I say let him. We’ll convince Siobhan to come to the party without him.”

  “Cool.” Kendrick stood and Laylah grabbed his arm and pulled him down.

  “Look,” Laylah said, “I don’t want to be here either, but if I can show my face after what happened to my mom, you can hang out at a stupid football game for an hour.”

  Kendrick grumbled under his breath.

  “Hey,” Laylah said. “Don’t forget, you owe me.”

  “So you say.” Kendrick gave her a side-eye. “How much was that truancy fine you supposedly paid?”

  Laylah cleared her throat. “Five-hundred dollars.”

  Kendrick squinted. “Five-hundred dollars?”

  “Yep,” she said quickly.

  “And you made that much money clogging people’s arteries at Earley’s?”

  “Tips have been good lately.”

  “And Auntie Gale doesn’t know about the fine?”

  “Nope.”

  Kendrick rubbed his chin. “No disrespect cuz, but I think you’re full of–”

  “Laylah.” Maddy pointed toward the sidelines where the Lion’s varsity cheerleading squad had just cartwheeled out amidst cheers and applause. Wearing matching white and powder blue uniforms, the cheerleaders pulled out their pom poms and began warming up.

  Laylah’s eyes immediately sought Avery. The captain of the cheer team was practicing a move with two other girls, and as always, had a perfect smile affixed to her perfect face. Avery’s cheeks were bright red, no doubt from the cold, and as Laylah watched, she was amazed that someone so beautiful on the outside could be so ugly on the inside.

  “Hey.” Maddy snapped her fingers in front of Laylah’s face.

  Laylah blinked. “What?”

  Maddy looked pointedly at Avery. “A ridiculously hot enemy is still an enemy.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you?”

  Laylah recalled the image of her sobbing mother watching CNN while drowning her sorrows in dollar store Merlot.

  She glared at Maddy. “Trust me, I know.”

  “Good.” Maddy checked her phone. “Because Siobhan just got here.”

  “Yo, what y’all need me for again?” Kendrick asked.

  “You’re the bait,” Maddy said snippily.

  Kendrick pulled a blunt from behind his right ear and stuck it in his mouth.

  Laylah gasped. “Can you not do that here?”

  He rolled his eyes but put the blunt back. “Bait for what?”

  Maddy closed her eyes. “We literally explained everything on the way here.”

  Kendrick shrugged. “I was high.” He chuckled. “Shit, I’m still high.”

  “Siobhan has a thing for”–Maddy made air quotes with her fingers–“thugs, and you’re…close enough.”

  “Close enough?” Kendrick scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Maddy and Laylah exchanged amused looks.

  “Oh, so I’m not a thug?” Kendrick stood.

  “You’re the thuggiest of thugs, okay?” Maddy gave him a phony smile. “Can I finish now?”

  Kendrick rolled his eyes but sat.

  “If,” Maddy continued, “we convince Siobhan to come to our party–”

  “Wait, y’all having a party?” Kendrick chuckled. “Ayye, turn up. I’m invited, right?”

  “Oh my God, is this ADD?” Maddy asked. “Is that what’s happening?”

  Kendrick frowned. “Bruh, you are way meaner as a chick.”

  “If,” Maddy practically yelled, “Siobhan comes to the party, she’ll bring Avery and once we get Avery alone–”

  “Avery?” Kendrick said. “The chick who lied on Auntie Gale about that cheating thing? Nah, I don’t want nothing to do with her.”

  Maddy turned to Laylah. “I literally cannot talk to him.”

  Laylah scooted closer to Kendrick and lowered her voice. “At the party we’ll get Avery to admit she lied about cheating on the SATs and film her confession.”

  “And then what?” Kendrick asked. “Her daddy got every judge in Atlanta in his pocket.”

  “Which is why we’re going to broadcast her confession to my five-hundred thousand Instagram followers,” Maddy said.

  Kendrick’s eyes widened. “You got that many followers?”

  Maddy shrugged, a hint of a smile on her lips.

  “Wait, this shit ain’t adding up.” Kendrick rubbed his chin. “How you gonna get her to confess?”

  Maddy and Laylah exchanged looks.

  “Um…” Maddy cleared her throat.

  “Siobhan,” Laylah said.

  “What?” Maddy and Kendrick said together.

  Laylah pointed at a leggy redhead standing at the bottom of the bleachers with her eyes glued to her phone.

  Maddy stood and waved. “Siobhan, up top!”

  They all watched as Siobhan carefully climbed the bleachers in dangerously high wedges. Her faux winter tan contrasted with the gigantic ivory scarf that wrapped around her neck and draped the length of her body. She kissed Maddy on the cheek while eyeing Kendrick.

  “Mads,” Siobhan said. “Don’t be rude, introduce me.”

  “Siobhan,” Maddy said. “This is Layla– uh, Lana and her cousin Kendrick.”

  Laylah smiled and prayed Siobhan didn’t recognize her from her Lovett days. It’d been two years since Laylah had attended Lovett Academy, and she and Siobhan had run in vastly different social circles – in fact, they’d never once spoken to each other – but still…

  Without the slightest hint of recognition in her eyes, Siobhan smiled at Laylah, then gave Kendrick an obvious once over. “What’s up?”

  Kendrick shook his head. “Nothing much.”

  “That’s dope,” Siobhan said as she sat on the bleacher directly below Kendrick’s. “So like, do you go to Lovett?”

  Kendrick made a face. “Nah, this preppy shit ain’t for me.”

  “I totally get that,” Siobhan said. “I’m feeling your vibe, though.”

  Maddy snorted, and Laylah bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

  “Anyway,” Maddy said, “we’re having a party next week and–”

  “Wait.” Siobhan held up a hand and turned to the field. “My girl’s about to do her thing.”

  Laylah held in a sigh as the cheerleaders performed a short routine from the sidelines.

  While Siobhan mouthed the cheer and mirrored the team’s arm movements, Laylah couldn’t tear her eyes away from Avery. With every smile, turn and flip of her perfect body, Laylah’s anger intensified.

  When the cheer ended, Siobhan screamed Avery’s name and Avery waved a pom pom in their direction.

  Because they sat at the very top of the bleachers, Laylah knew Avery couldn’t see clearly enough to recognize her, although a part of Laylah wished Avery could see her. Would the Pretty Little Liar think Laylah’s eyes were so pretty when she saw the hatred reflected in them?

  “That was hot, right?” Siobhan said. “I choreographed like 30% of it. I’m not on the squad, though. I’m more of a dancer.” She batted her eyes at Kendrick. “If you know what I mean.”

  Kendrick’s eyes had glazed over during the routine, and Laylah nudged him.

  “Isn’t that cool, Kendrick?” Laylah asked. “Siobhan’s a dancer.”

  “Mmhm,” Kendrick said.

  “Totes cool,” Maddy said. “Like I was saying–”

  “Oh my God, did you hear my girl got into Harvard?” Siobhan asked.

  Laylah snorted. “Sure, she did.”

  “She totally did. It’s on my Insta and everything.” Siobhan winked at Kendrick. “Hey, you should like follow me. I post crazy shit all the time.”

  Kendrick groaned and stood up. “Sorry cuz, I’m out.”

  Maddy’s jaw dropped as they watched Kendrick jog down the bleachers.

  “What just happened?” Siobhan asked.

  Maddy gesture
d to Laylah with her eyes. “Uh, Lana? Could you maybe check on that?”

  Laylah jumped up. “Be right back.” She raced down the bleachers and caught up with Kendrick in front of the bustling concession stand.

  Before she opened her mouth, he held up his hand. “Yo, I’ll find a way to pay you back for the fine, but you can’t make me sit there and listen to that girl talk. Shorty’s giving me a brain tumor.”

  “There was no truancy fine,” Laylah admitted.

  Kendrick sucked his teeth. “I knew you were lying.”

  “Look,” Laylah said, “I’m not asking you to do this for me, but my mom has gone through hell these past two years and this could be a way to reverse it – at least some of it.”

  “This shit is dumb cuz, and it won’t help Auntie Gale.”

  “And how does getting high and spending all day playing video games help her?” Laylah asked.

  “It doesn’t,” Kendrick said. “But neither does hanging around here, pretending like this is still your life.”

  Laylah’s eyes burned, and her voice wavered. “I have to do something. I can’t let that bastard get away with it.”

  “Look around, Laylah. We’re surrounded by bastards just like him.”

  “Will you keep it down?” Laylah whispered.

  “Why? You ashamed?” He asked. “Man, fuck them. You used to be them.”

  “Kendrick, keep your voice down.”

  “What? You don’t want these Buckhead bitches to know you live in a two-bedroom section 8 apartment in College Park and come home smelling like fried chicken every night?” He paused. “Yo, why you think Auntie Gale yells at me all the time?”

  “Do you want the full list of reasons?” Laylah asked.

  “It’s because she can’t yell at who she’s really mad at.”

  Laylah gritted her teeth. “So why don’t you grow a backbone and do something about it?”

  Kendrick laughed. “When are you going to wake up, Laylah? The world ain’t fair, and that bastard and his daughter already ruined your life. When are you going to notice?”