Page 33 of Behind the Bars

As she left, I turned my music up high and silently repeated four words tomyself.

I’m not a whore, I’m not a whore, I’m not awhore…

Chapter Eight

Jasmine

Monday morning,I walked into the hallway, and it felt different. The whole environment of the place that gave me the happiest moments in life wasn’t as fun. People were whispering as I walked through the hallways. I held my backpack straps and started walking faster, trying to get the idea out of my head that it was me they were laughing at, but I couldn’t. My skin crawled as I rushed to my locker to get my books, and then I stood still in my shoes when I saw why everyone waslaughing.

WHORE. SLUT.TRAMP.

It was written in bright red spray paint across my locker. A janitor stood with a sponge and a bucket of soapy water, scrubbingaway.

“Oh, shit,” Todd said, sliding behind me and placing his hands on my shoulders. His nose was taped up, and the skin underneath his eyes was black and blue from when Elliott punched him. “Isn’t that yourlocker?”

“Why would you do this?” I asked, feeling sick to mystomach.

“Me? What makes you think it was me? Trust me, everyone knows you have a million guys on your roster. It could’ve been anyone. As for me”—he moved in closer to my ear and whispered—“I wouldn’t touch your STD ass with a ten-foot pole. I told you, you committed social suicide, Hollywood. Now deal withit.”

He walked off, and I stood shaking as a crowd stood around me. Some girls mocked me, laughing, calling me “disgusting”, repeating the rumors they’d heard about me and Todd’s parties. I didn’t know what was worse—the rumors being spread or the fact that most of them weretrue.

“Come on,” someone said, grabbing my arm and pulling me down the hallway. When my eyes focused enough to realize who was yanking me, a bit of relief hitme.

Katie.

She led me through the hall, and we walked down a set of spiral stairs until we hit the basement floor. No classes were held down there except for auto shop, which was mostly taken by guys, which meant the girls’ bathroom on that floor was almost alwaysabandoned.

We walked in, and she hopped up on the countertop by the mirror. “You okay?” sheasked.

“Define okay,” Ijoked.

She frowned. “I’m sorry thathappened.”

“It doesn’tmatter.”

“Yeah, but it does. What they did to your locker is crap. They’re jerks because they struggle with the fact that this is it for them. High school is where they’ll shine before going out into the real world and realizing they are nothing more than just assholes who belittle girls because they’re terrified of being lesser thanus.”

“Are you always so passionate?” Iasked.

“Only when it comes to guys treating girls like crap. Yeah, I’m always passionate aboutthat.”

My hands raced over my face. “What if they aren’t wrong, though? What if the words aretrue?”

“True or not, what they did is still disgusting. You didn’t deserve that. No one deservesthat.”

I swallowed hard and hopped up onto the counter beside her. “Elliott’s going to see it,” I whispered, nerves writhing in mygut.

“He won’tcare.”

“It’s just…embarrassing, him seeingthat.”

“He won’t care,” sherepeated.

“But—”

“Jasmine.” Katie placed a comforting hand on my shaky leg, and gave me a stern look. “He won’t care.” I listened to her words, but still, they were hard to believe. I wasn’t sure how I could face him, especially after seeing how he reacted at my place when he found out I was screwing around with guys to keep him from getting beat up. I saw it in his eyes when he told me it wasn’t just sex—I saw how I had let himdown.

“He’s too good for me,” I toldher.

---