Page 135 of Our Secrets and Lies

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Kelly opened the door of the storage cupboard and peered out. No one on the corridor. She wrapped up her uneaten sandwich and stepped out. At least she was able to be at peace in there during lunchtime. No doubt Melissa would find her new hiding place soon enough, but for now it was a safe haven.

The weekend had been good. Her mum had been in a great mood after Dylan and the team had wonthe cup, so she was talking normally to her again, smiling and laughing. Kelly was so glad the photo thing seemed to be over, but it was still going to be a long week in school. At least they got their Christmas holidays on Thursday – she was living for that. She could spend time with Shannon and try to meet up with Sean – get her life back. Four more days and she would be safe from the hell of school,and maybe by the time they came back after the holidays the whole Taylor thing would have been forgotten.

As she walked back to class she heard people nudging and whispering. She was used to it – it happened all the time, especially now. The entire school knew who she was and what she’d done. She ignored them and kept her head down.

When she got to her desk, William asked her if she’d ‘sorthim out’.

‘What?’ Kelly said.

‘Oh, come on, don’t play Miss Innocent with me. I saw the video. You’re good, Kelly. A real pro.’

‘What the hell are you talking about? What video?’

‘Denial, okay, I get it. You don’t want to talk about it in school. Why don’t I call you later?’ Brendan reached out and squeezed her bum.

‘Sod off.’ Kelly pushed him away.

She turned to sit down and saw Jonathanpointing to his crotch, mouthing, ‘Me, please.’

What the hell?

Melissa strode into the classroom and sat down at her desk. ‘Some girls are just complete whores,’ she announced loudly.

‘Slut,’ Chloë hissed.

‘BJQ.’ Greg tried to high-five Kelly. All the guys cracked up.

‘Nice video, really classy!’ Nina said.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Kelly said.

Mr Harrow came in and thewhispers stopped. Kelly was sweating. What was going on? She asked to be excused and took her phone to the cloakroom.

When she opened it, there was a text from Shannon.OMG, are you ok? WTF? Was it Melissa? Looks like fake account. Call me.

Kelly’s hands were shaking. She opened her Facebook account. There was a video of a girl giving a guy a blow job. The girl could only be seen from behind.She looked like Kelly.

Kelly gasped.No, no, no, no, no.She had to delete this. The video, which was linked to her Facebook page, had come from a blank Facebook page with the title ‘Exposing whores’. Underneath the video on Kelly’s page there were hundreds of messages from guys and girls. Kelly’s phone was beeping and flashing. Messages were flooding in on Facebook.

Everyone was looking at‘Kelly’ giving head to a guy online. Girls called her whore and bitch and slut. Guys asked her to call them – I want some, you’re hot, come to ourschool, my place, I like slutty girls – and then BJQ. BLOW JOB QUEEN.

Kelly felt a tsunami of emotions crash over her. She leant against the cold tiled wall and wept. She was a joke, a laughing stock, charity case, slut shamer, and now a whore. Thiswould go on and on. It would never, ever end. Everyone would think it was her in the video, no matter how much she denied it. She was now known all over the city as a whore. Kelly Murphy BJQ.

Kelly dragged herself up and ran out of the toilets, out of the building, out of the school gate. She had to get away from St Jude’s and all the haters. She couldn’t take it any more.

She pulled out herphone to call Shannon, see if she could meet her, when her phone beeped. Sean! She’d been texting him for two days but hadn’t heard anything back. Thank God, something good.

Her eyes scanned the message:Hey Kelly, really sorry to do this over text but I know you can’t talk with your psycho mother stalking you. I got your messages and I’ve been thinking, it’s just not going to work out. We’renever going to be able to see each other properly and all the hiding and lying is doing my head in. Besides, your mother made it clear I’m never going to be welcome, so it’s best we just leave it and move on. See you around, if you ever get out of prison! S x

Kelly stared at the words. They began to blur as her tears fell onto the screen. Sean was breaking up with her. It was over.

She crossedthe road, opened her backpack and pulled the Christmas present she’d bought for him out of her bag. She dropped it into the bin. The gold paper shone brightly among the banana peel and empty coffee cups. The little gold bow fell sideways into a half-eaten sandwich. Tears flowed out of her, like a river bursting its banks. She sobbed as her heart shattered into little pieces.

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