Chapter 37
37
‘They barely even lasted two months,’ Abeo hooted derisively.
Abeo, Felicity and I were sitting in the lunch hall, catching up. The whole world had now witnessed me and Chloe kissing, with Sanjay standing in the crowd and looking on in disbelief, then storming out.
‘This was bound to happen since they’re polar opposites,’ Felicity said. ‘But I just can’t believe she tried to get with you again, Karim. The disrespect and nerve!’
Abeo snorted. ‘I had a feeling she’d get bored of Sanjay quickly. Chloe likes adventure and spontaneity, and his favourite thing to do is sit in silence and paint. But to get bored this quickly?’
‘Did you check out the footage from last night?’ I asked Abeo, steering the conversation elsewhere.
‘Not yet. Haven’t had the time. But I have an awful feeling it’ll be as pointless as it was at Queen Charlotte’s Ball.’
‘We know he came as Venom,’ I said. ‘We need to check the security footage from the entrance. The guards would’ve made him take his mask off. I can come over after school and we’ll look over it together.’ I gave Abeo a pointed look. ‘Besides, there are other things we need to talk about.’
He appeared annoyingly unbothered when he said, ‘Yeah sure, come over.’
‘What did James come dressed as?’ I still had a hint of suspicion about him; his height and build certainly matched Venom’s. But his voice … ‘And was he with you the whole night?’
‘He came as Count Dracula as well. Tried to steal my thunder and everything. And he decided to stick himself to me like glue. I think I spent most of the night trying to get away from him.’
‘Is that really what you spent most of the night doing?’
Abeo gave me a hard look, and I narrowed my eyes, knowing I had to reel it in until after school, when we were finally alone. I understood Abeo better than the others, and so I knew he wasn’t coming from a bad place; he was just attracted to the guy’s danger. But if the other Exes got a whiff of what was going on between him and Mr Ex, they wouldn’t be so forgiving.
‘Who was that girl you were with?’ Felicity asked me suddenly. ‘You didn’t introduce us. Are you like … officially together?’
I nodded. It was a little strange that I hadn’t introduced her to my friends, but I preferred it this way. Zara wasn’t the type to chill with this crowd anyway; that much was obvious from last night.
‘What’s her name?’ Felicity pressed on. ‘Wasn’t she annoyed about what happened?’
‘It’s Zara. She was at first, but we talked it out and she knows we have something real. I’m relieved it survived the stupid stunt Chloe pulled.’
‘Wait, what’s her full name?’ Felicity asked. She raised her hands in surrender when I gave her a look. ‘Sorry, I don’t mean to pry, I’m just wondering if I could find her Instagram and see the face under that gorgeous mask. Goodness, I sound like such a stalker.’
‘Leave it alone,’ Abeo groaned. ‘It must be nice to have something away from all the drama. I’m happy for you, bro.’
I gave him a tight smile. ‘Thanks.’
‘Things will be so awkward for Sanjay now,’ Felicity said. ‘I don’t know if he has any friends left. At least Chloe will still have her group of twittering suck-ups.’
As if on cue, Sanjay entered the hall, lunch tray in hand. The sound of whispered chatter swept across the spectating crowd, and it intensified as Sanjay came straight towards our table.
‘Oh no he didn’t,’ Abeo exclaimed in sing-song disbelief. ‘I swear if this guy thinks he’s going to sit with us …’
When Sanjay got close enough, he leaned down and whispered, ‘Look, there’s something you guys should know. Chloe’s all over the place. She isn’t stable. She’s been drinking heavily, behaving recklessly. Ecstatic one second and crying her eyes out the next.’
He took a step away, turning his body towards the exit.
‘I’m not sure what’s going on with her,’ he added, ‘but I don’t want to be involved. If you guys still care about her … I just thought you should know.’
It was obvious Chloe had hurt him too. She’d broken his heart and left him completely isolated. He was a loner before I’d welcomed him into The Exes – an invitation he gratefully admitted had changed his life – and I found that I didn’t want him to go back to that loneliness. I knew his heart: he wasn’t a spiteful person; he was passionate, and it was that passion that had brought him close to Chloe, not a desire to cause me or anyone else harm.
‘Sanjay,’ I said. ‘Come sit with us.’
He hesitated. ‘Are you sure?’
I nodded. ‘How long can we really avoid each other?’
Felicity and Abeo glared at me. Sanjay timidly sat next to me, and an awkward silence fell, not just on our table but all around us. It took me a moment to realize it wasn’t because of me and Sanjay.
Chloe had just entered the hall alone, holding a lunch tray. It seemed even the suck-ups didn’t want to be seen with someone who was currently being shamed online for her promiscuity. Perhaps they were enjoying this moment of dethroning the long-standing Queen Bee. Chloe looked right at our table, astonished to see Sanjay sitting with us.
‘You predicted it, Felicity,’ said Abeo. ‘Lo and behold, she has no one left.’
‘Slut!’ someone shouted.
Raucous laughter filled the hall, swiftly expanding and spreading.
Noah stood up, red-faced. He opened his mouth to say something to protect his sister but then looked around and realized he wasn’t quite confident enough. It was difficult to watch him freeze up like that.
‘You’re cancelled!’ a guy yelled.
Chloe burst into tears, put down her tray on the closest table and ran out, covering her face as she went.
‘I think you should go after her, Felicity,’ I said. She began to argue but I cut in, ‘Chloe’s still an Ex. And she’s your best friend. Are you really going to let people treat one of us like that?’
Her eyes shone a little. ‘Fine, I’ll go and talk to her. You’re a good person, Karim.’
Felicity stood before I could say another word.
‘Shut up!’ she roared. ‘If I find that any one of you has been slut-shaming Chloe Clark, I’m going to name and shame you on my personal TikTok tonight. Yes, the most followed account in the damn country. Everyone will know you’re a sleazy bully. The whole world will despise you and we’ll see who’s cancelled then.’
A sharp silence fell upon the hall instantly.
‘I bet you’ve all been enjoying the fake news Mr Ex has been spewing about us, haven’t you?’ Felicity cried. ‘I wonder how you’d like it if your life was being twisted and sold as entertainment? How you would feel if your most private moments were being taken without your permission and splashed in front of everyone to gossip about?’
She took a deep breath to steady the emotion in her voice. ‘It’s easy to sit around and judge us. To slut-shame the girls in our school for exercising the same bodily autonomy that boys do. To laugh at all the things that are going wrong in the lives of the people you’ve always watched.’
By the last word her voice was hard. ‘But I want you to remember exactly who you’re dealing with: we’re The fucking Exes. And don’t you forget it.’
Then she walked out, and no one dared to speak above a tense whisper for the rest of lunch.