CHAPTER 14

Cleopatra, who had been finally discharged, anxiously bit her finger, seeing the missed calls she had. The past few days had been hell for her because of a certain someone, and that certain someone had called her severally, but she always hung up. She wasn't in any mood to speak to the person.

She got a call again from the same person and this time she answered, although she was scared, she still decided to.

"I'm sorry," were the first things she said, leaving Cleopatra speechless.

"You hurt me," She said with a lump in her throat.

"I know, and I'd never intentional do it, I was just so angry." Neither of them said anything to each other for a while until Cleopatra spoke.

"I know you didn't mean to, I apologize for getting on your nerves. I shouldn't have, knowing how your temper can be." At this point, tears were freely flowing from the eyes of both parties.

"It's fine. Baby, you know I'd never hurt you? I love you so much that I felt really hurt and heartbroken for what I did to you," She said. Cleopatra felt touched by these words and wiped her face, she knew for a fact that she didn't mean to hurt her, but she wanted to hear her say it herself.

"But I said some hurtful things…"

"Babe, it's fine, I know you didn't mean those words. It's all okay as long as we realize our mistakes and apologize for them,"

"Yeah, I guess so," Cleopatra muttered

"It would all be over, Soon." With that, she hung up, leaving Cleopatra smiling that she had finally resolved everything.

The one on the other side also had a massive grin on her face, but a different type of grin, not the same as Cleopatra's.

"We are after all just illusions…"

★ ★ ★

She couldn't help but pace around her room restlessly, she was getting prepared, and it felt like her first day in high school. She knew she couldn't run forever, she had to go to school, so her grades wouldn't be affected. Another reason she wanted to go to school was because she felt bored at home, a day at home felt like a whole week.

She finally breathed and took her backpack before heading downstairs. She saw her mother while having breakfast made by Rosalind, but they said nothing to each other. While Rosalind was surprised, Gabriella preferred it that way, and she couldn't care less.

"Have a good day at school," Veronica said blankly before Gabriella left.

"Hmm."

She had to drive herself to school, though she was already used to her friends driving while she played video games behind her back. She had no other choice, so she had to get used to it. When she arrived, she wasn't too surprised to find the others at school, including Cleopatra, although she had a few patches here and there.

It was a bit too early for her to be discharged, Gabby thought.

Although they had different classes, Gabriella couldn't help but notice the tension between the three girls in the hallway. Avery was organizing the locker and wasn't her usual chatty self while the other two were together.

When Iris sighted Gabriella, she averted her gaze, biting her bottom lip, While Cleopatra seemed unbothered. Avery, on the other hand, wasn't talking to either of them. Gabriella could easily figure out why. They both knew her secret, but none of them told her, and she felt they couldn't trust her enough to tell her.

Gabriella couldn't care less, the whole school knew at least a part of the story, not the main part, so she remained unbothered. Just then, Keith and Renee walked past them, walking hand in hand. He glanced at her for a moment and then looked away. They were at school that day, finally.

"You were the one who spread the news, weren't you?" Gabriella asked Avery, who had an unbothered expression on her face. She looked at her 'ex-friend' in disbelief because that was the only thing she could do. "Answer me…"

"Or what, you'd hurt me, just like you hurt Cleopatra?" Avery suddenly asked in a loud voice. They were at the cafeteria, so obviously Avery's words caught their attention. Gabriella, having noticed everyone's attention, remained silent for a while because she didn't want things to blow out of proportion, making Avery scoff.

"I didn't hurt Cleo, I'd never do that," she muttered under her breath so no one else could hear her except Avery and her.

"Hurting your friend because she threatened to reveal your dirty little secret," Avery stated. "Why don't you just hit me with a baseball bat because I 'exposed' it, bitch." Gabriella knew there was no need to defend herself because no one would believe her, overwhelmed by the stares and whispers, she immediately left the cafeteria. Avery watched her walk away, scoffing one more time, Cleopatra looked unbothered while Iris lowered her head in guilt for not being able to defend Gabriella.

Of course, everyone wanted to know what the problem was, so the whispers and mumbles didn't stop.

Keith, on the other hand, also felt guilty he couldn't do anything. He had his reasons why he didn't, but he wished he could have at least said something in her defense. All he did was convince himself it had absolutely nothing to do with him. Once again, Gabriella ran into the Library, since the place was her sanctuary. This time, she thoroughly checked to see if anyone was there, so she wouldn't 'accidentally' eves drop on anyone's conversation.

She sat on a chair, resting her head on a library desk.

The whole thing had gone out of hand and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Her image/ reputation in school had been destroyed, all thanks to Cleopatra's lie. She wondered why she came to school, since she hadn't fully recovered, it seemed like an intentional act, but Cleopatra wasn't like Renee. Although she loved attention, she wouldn't do something like that for it, so her coming to school had a reason.

Damian had asked her to lie low for a while, so she did as she was told. She couldn't blame him because she hadn't been of help to him.

Although she found a few clues to Nicole's death, the knife or whatever was used was nowhere in the scene, neither was there any footage of anyone entering her house.

Some protagonist she was…

★ ★ ★

She read a bit of what she wrote and immediately deleted it. She didn't like it one bit, it seemed too plain, and she wanted something intriguing.

"Let's add some spice, shall we?" *Grin*