‘What’s Erin’s deal anyway?’ Yvette asked Jackie.
Jackie glanced at her friend through her mirror as she finished slathering another layer of Pink Blossom on her lips.
‘What are you going on about?’ She tightened her ponytail and fluffed her curls one more time. Her look was in place and perfect. She expected nothing less.
Yvette blinked a few times and cleared her throat. She wiped at the corner of her red lips, a habit that gave Jackie insight into how nervous the girl was around her.
Jackie suppressed the smile trying to bubble up. Yvette was a new addition to Jackie’s group, and she was trying way too hard. Though Jackie appreciated the gossip fed directly into her ear, Jackie wanted to show her why she was the gossip queen.
‘She’s sucking up to Mr. Curtis big time,’ Yvette said, glancing over her shoulder.
Jackie took her time, knowing Yvette was waiting for her response. She closed her locker and turned.
Yvette’s eyes were wide with anticipation.
Mr. Curtis stood outside of his classroom with three other students. Tyler, Harry, and Erin.
Tyler and Harry were talking football, of course—those meatheads lived and breathed the sport. To anyone who wasn’t paying attention, it would have all seemed innocent enough.
Jackie had been searching for something to pin on Erin, and it looked as if she’d found a shred of something to work with.
The look on Erin’s face was priceless. Jackie rarely worked with hard evidence. It was too difficult to come by. The rumor mill served her well. It was less work, and it gave her creative freedom. It was a necessary tool to keep her at the top of the food chain.
During her brothers’ reign as the most popular guys in school, they made it appear effortless. As a girl and not part of a set of twins, she had to work harder. But the reward was so sweet. She was almost addicted, fueling the constant movement of information throughout her class and the school.
As she took in Erin’s expression, the wheels in Jackie’s head turned faster and faster, molding and shaping the rumor’s many parts. Erin was a senior, but Jackie’s wrath wasn’t limited to just the junior class. Especially when that senior thought she could bring Jackie down.
Erin’s information about Jackie’s ex-boyfriend was surprisingly spot on. Even though Jackie squashed the pathetic attempt from the co-captain of the cheerleading squad, she wasn’t done with her yet. Not after Erin almost spread the truth. If there was going to be any rumor about her, then Jackie would start it herself.
The sparkle in Erin’s eyes as she watched Mr. Curtis talk to the other football players was unmistakable. For once, she was happy to have mousy Yvette around to witness it. She’d have to keep her a little while longer. Erin only had a few more months of school, but Jackie would make sure they were miserable.
She would have preferred a different rumor. There were so many swirling about the school with Mr. Curtis at the center. Everyone liked him. He was attractive, which made most of the girls swoony around him. And since he was the coach of a winning football team, most of the guys looked up to him.
‘He’s such a creep,’ Jackie said to Yvette. She had to start the story slowly, plant the seed and then carefully fertilize it until it grew into a rooted weed, one that would continue to come back if Erin and her friends tried to cut it off at the head. ‘I heard they kicked him out of his old school for sleeping with a student.’
‘Really?’ Yvette asked, leaning closer.
Jackie had no idea if it was true, but it sounded plausible.
‘They kept it on the down low,’ Jackie said. She made sure to meet Erin’s eyes as they walked by.
The love-struck grin on Erin’s face turned into a grimace as Jackie approached.
Jackie smirked, sending a ‘don’t mess with the best’ vibe to the girl before turning away.
‘Erin seems like his type,’ Jackie said. ‘Desperate and stupid.’
Yvette nodded. ‘Do you think they’ve already done stuff?’
Jackie sighed. ‘I wouldn’t doubt it. Ever since Ben broke up with her, she’s tried to get back at him. But none of Ben’s jock friends will touch her.’
Yvette soaked in the information like a pathetic sponge. With her need to fit in among Jackie’s group, the movement of information would already be halfway around the school by lunch.
She felt rejuvenated as if she had an IV of strong coffee attached to her veins. Her heart drummed in her chest. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Erin’s face when the rumor reached her.
Jackie parted ways with Yvette when she arrived in class. She stopped by several desks on the way to hers, carefully tailoring the conversation back to her. She left the guys smiling and girls pining to be like her.
She skipped past the desk in front of her assigned one, slightly frowning at the occupant.
Q Roberts.
She wished someone cooler sat in front of her, but she couldn’t always be lucky. Her lip automatically curled when he looked up at her.
He said nothing and neither did she. But the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
She hated how he made her feel. It was almost as if he was the male version of her, but played the game differently. Almost like her brothers had. He said what he wanted without any purpose or planning. He appeared as if he didn’t care, but he had to, right? No one could be feared and revered at the same time without forethought.
What must it feel like to not try so hard and still get the results she wanted? In a way, she was almost jealous.
‘Settle down, everyone,’ Mr. Powell said as the bell rang. He adjusted his thick glasses, which he probably bought in the sixties. ‘I have the results of the pop quiz from yesterday. While most of you did well, some of you need to keep up with the assignments. Since we have a lot more material to cover, I won’t go over the results. If you need some assistance, please see me individually.’
Jackie glanced around the room. A few of her classmates were eagerly awaiting their results. She knew she’d done fine. She had no issue with this class and had found the exam quite easy.
While Mr. Powell passed out the graded tests, Jackie daydreamed about Erin’s reaction to the rumor. She wanted to be right there when the girl heard it from her friends or someone close to her, but it rarely worked out that way. She’d at least be able to see the aftermath at practice later that afternoon.
Jackie could hardly suppress her smile.
Mr. Powell returned to his desk and picked up his notes to start the lesson.
Jackie looked down at her desk and saw nothing in front of her. Where was her test?
She didn’t think much about it since she didn’t want to draw negative attention to herself. She shrugged it off until she approached Mr. Powell after class to ask about the mistake. Maybe her test was stuck to his notes, and he hadn’t realized.
‘Jacqueline,’ he said to her.
‘I didn’t get my quiz back,’ she said.
She glanced at the doorway where Yvette stood, shifting from foot to foot. She knew Yvette would wait for her. Jackie rarely moved through the hallways without someone by her side.
‘I wanted to talk to you about that,’ he said, pulling out a sheet of paper from under his notes. ‘I have to say I’m disappointed in you.’
Her attention snapped to him. ‘Excuse me?’
‘You normally do well on these tests. I don’t know why you resorted to cheating.’
‘Cheating?’ she asked. ‘What are you talking about?’ This was not going the way she expected.
He pulled out a photocopy of an exam with different handwriting. The name was blacked out. ‘This is another student’s quiz from last semester. I confiscated this copy from the boys’ bathroom. As you can see here, the answers are identical, even the incorrect ones. Since this is your first offense, I’m going to suggest you attend detention this weekend to think about what you’ve done.’
‘What?’
‘If this happens again, I will have to take stronger action.’
‘This is ridiculous! I’m not a cheater,’ she hissed.
Jackie tried to swallow, but her throat closed up. She glanced over at Yvette who was again soaking up more information. She had to stop this new information from leaving this room. She rounded the desk, so her back was to Yvette.
She lowered her voice. ‘I can’t go to detention.’
‘I have to do something,’ Mr. Powell said. ‘There is a zero-tolerance policy for cheating.’
‘I didn’t cheat,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘I’ve never seen that test before in my life.’
‘The evidence suggests otherwise,’ he said. ‘This is my final decision. You should go to your next class before you’re late.’
He turned away from her.
Her hands clenched into fists, and her cheeks flamed.
She gathered her composure quickly and smiled at her teacher. She had to turn this situation into her advantage.
‘Thanks, Mr. Powell,’ she said and bounced away.
‘What was that about?’ Yvette asked when they reached the hallway.
‘Apparently someone cheated off my test,’ Jackie said. ‘He was warning me to keep a lookout for the culprit.’ She scanned the hallway trying to find out who had done this to her. She knew she hadn’t cheated. Someone had set her up. There were plenty of people who suffered because of her rumors. She had to narrow it down to one person and destroy him or her.