Building on Lies (27 page)

“ You’ve been left alone with him plenty of times! I didn’t think you’d actually do it!”, Ro shrieked, then clapped a hand over her mouth. My mother was downstairs with Eduardo.

“ Well we did!”, I said, sassy. “ Over and over and over!”

Ro sighed. “ Oh no! We’ve got another Bruna Porto in town!”

We laughed, but then she got serious and asked me what Chan and I talked about. I told her how he’d ended it with Samantha, and how he’d finally told his parents about his dreams of becoming a woodworker.

“ I know. Ty told me their parents were spitting mad”, Ro said, shaking her head. “ They were threatening to disown Channing”.

I cocked my head to the side, and stared at her carefully. “ You’ve been hanging out a lot with Ty?”

I thought I saw the tiniest blush creep into Ro’s face, but she turned around quickly. “ We just got together when we saw how miserable you and Chan were. He couldn’t stand to see his brother like that, and I couldn’t stand to see my best friend upset. So that’s when we hatched our plan. And then we’ve just been calling each other back and forth”.

She turned back to face me. “ But it’s not what you think. Remember how you said Ty would make a cool friend? Well, you were right. He’s a lot of fun to hang out with”.

I nodded, but it sounded like Ro was trying to convince herself more than me. “ Yeah, he had me laughing so hard on the drive up. And that’s that I was so depressed”.

“ I’m glad Chan did the right thing and ended it with Samantha”, Ro said.

“ So am I”, I said. “ But now I just have to sort things out with Joaquim”.

Chan had already dropped by my house to meet my mother. She was shocked when he came to the door, with a bouquet of flowers for her. She pulled me aside as Chan sat in the living room, chatting with Ro, and Ty, who had come along to give Chan moral support.

“ Nellie, how come you’ve never mentioned this boy to me before?”, she demanded to know.

I looked down at my sneakers, guiltily. “ I know how much you liked the idea of me and Joaquim. But I’ve been seeing Chan since early September”.

“ He’s from Ardsley Park! The Sutton's are one of my biggest clients”, my mom said, with a frown.

“ We love each other, mãe”, I told her gently.

She sighed. “ At least he’s decent enough to come here and meet me. It must mean his intentions are good”.

Channing didn’t exactly win her over, though. As sweet as Chan can be, he often gave off an aloof attitude. It was just a part of his personality. He was kind of reserved, especially when compared to Ty. Of course, Ty managed to charm my mother completely, and she even invited him over for our New Year’s party. She was thrilled a few days later when he called her to wish her a Happy New Year, even though he didn’t come over.

I made my mom promise not to tell Joaquim’s family about Channing. I wanted to be the one to do it. So, I spent New Years with Joaquim, Ro, Tommy and all our friends. My mom looking at me disapprovingly when Joaquim gave me a tender hug as we rang the New Year in. I pulled away from him when he tried to kiss me. I knew he was confused, but I didn’t tell him why I couldn‘t kiss him. I hadn’t quite worked up the courage.

I kept rehearsing in my mind what I would say to Joaquim, but nothing seemed right. I knew how much he disliked Chan. How would he feel knowing all of his suspicions had been true? That I’d been fooling around with him, and Chan, at the same time? He’d probably hate me. I couldn’t stand the thought of that. Joaquim and I had been friends for so long. He was as big a part of my life as Ro and Channing.

Winter break was over, and it was time to go back to school, but I still hadn’t told Joaquim about Chan.

“ Nellie, what are you waiting for? For him to see you and Chan like lovebirds in the halls?”, Ro asked, angrily. “That’s not fair!”

“ I know”. I sighed. We were driving to school. I was feeling anxious and tense. I’d called Chan the night before and told him where I stood with Joaquim. How I still hadn’t told him.

“ So, what are you saying? No PDA in school yet?”, he’d said, lightly, and I was so grateful he understood I actually kissed the phone.
“ I want to declare our love from the rooftops, Chan, trust me. But I’m a little scared, and I want Joaquim to know first”, I’d told him.

“ You were patient with me and Samantha. I can do the same for you, Nellie”, he’d said, softly.

“ Nellie, I know you’re scared. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I think Joaquim will understand. He’s probably going to be very hurt. But we’ve all been friends for so long, you know? And if Joaquim loves you as much as he says he does, then eventually he’ll be happy for you”, Ro said, reassuringly.

“ Gosh, I hope so”, I said, biting my lip. I was so worried, my palms were sweating.

We arrived at school, and I parked in the student parking lot. I glanced at myself in my car’s side mirrors. I looked cute. I wasn’t wearing a full face of makeup, my hair wasn’t done up in some trendy style, and I was just wearing some comfy jeans and boots. But I felt better than I had in a while. Competing with Samantha St. John was a thing of the past.

Yet, I felt people staring at me as Ro and I entered the school building. I thought it was because kids had gotten so used to seeing me all dressed up that now my casual clothes were a shock for them.

I realized it wasn’t my clothes when a group of Cove Kids started pointing at me. They were holding a paper in their hands. When I smiled at them, they looked away. One girl glared at me, while another boy muttered something nasty just loud enough for us to hear.

“ What did you say?”, Ro asked him, shocked, but he just rolled his eyes at her.

It was the same when we passed a group of A-kids. They smirked at me, even when I gave them a confused look. I felt a sense of dread. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know exactly what.

“ Ro, why is everyone staring at me?”, I whispered, clutching her hand.

That was when Emanuela came running up to me frantically, a paper in her hand.

“ Nellie, what is this?”, she asked, holding the paper out. Her hands were trembling, and her huge brown eyes were wide with concern and confusion.

“ What?”, I asked, taking the paper from her. I looked at it, and my heart dropped to my shoes. Everything started spinning, I felt like I was going to pass out. Ro had to put her hands around for me support. She snatched the paper from me.

“ Oh my God”, she whispered, shocked.

The paper was a printout of a picture. A picture of Channing and I having sex. It wasn’t pornographic…you couldn’t see anything revealing…but it was obvious what we were doing. I was naked, and so was he, our bodies intimately intertwined. The picture was clear enough to see our faces. Anyone who knew me and Chan even casually would be able to recognize us.

Underneath in bold black type it said, NELLIE DEPAOLA IS A DIRTY SLUT.

“ Nellie, it looks like you’re…having sex. And that’s not Joaquim! That’s Channing Sutton”, Em whispered.

“ Em, where did you get this?”, Ro asked, her voice shaking with fury.

“ Look around, Ro. They’re everywhere”, Em said, pointing to the lockers.

I followed Em’s fingers. I felt my stomach start to churn, and I knew I was going to throw up. The printouts were everywhere. Someone had hung them up on each and every locker on the first floor, I could see the white papers everywhere. Some had been torn down and were rolling on the floor, and people were bending over to pick them up. It seemed like kids were either staring at the pictures hanging on their lockers, or holding them in their hands, gaping. Everyone had a copy.

I threw up right there in the hallway. I didn’t know what was more humiliating…the pictures, or the fact I hurled all over myself for all the world to see.

My friends came to my rescue. Ana appeared out of nowhere and she walked beside me, while I hung on to Ro. Em moved people out of our way, snatching pictures off the lockers as she did. They herded me to the first floor girls bathroom. There were printouts even in the bathroom. Whoever had done it had made sure to cover every available inch of wall.

There were girls in the bathroom, and they looked at me, open mouthed.

“ Get the hell out!”, Ana snapped, and they scurried out, whispering as they went.

Ro sat me down on a plastic chair, while Ana went to get some tissues. Em started pulling the papers off the wall in fistfuls.

“ Nellie, don’t cry. Be strong”, Ro kept saying, but it looked like she was going to fall apart too. Ana was the one who had to wipe the vomit off my chin. She was wearing a knit sweater with a tank top underneath.

She took it off and made me take off my soiled shirt.

“ You’re going to be cold”, I said numbly, staring at Ana’s bare arms. I was so shocked I couldn’t think straight.

“ It’s OK, Nellie”, she said, softly. “Put this on, baby girl”.

“ Who would do such a thing?”, Ro said, and she was crying.

Seeing my best friend crying, seeing as her as hurt and angry as I was, made me snap out of my shock.

“ It had to be Samantha, Ro”, I said, my voice breaking. “ Chan would never do this to me”.

“ Yeah, but how?”, Ro asked, confused. “ When would she have been able to?”

“ It had to have been Channing. A-boys are disgusting, Nellie”, Ana said, sympathetically. “You can’t trust them. He did this, who knows if he’s even posted it on Facebook or texted it all over the place too.”

“ I swear I’ll rip him apart with my own hands if Channing Sutton did this to you”, Ro spat, her eyes gleaming with fury.

I closed my eyes, trying to imagine Chan doing something so hideous. I just couldn’t. He was the boy who’d carved a sculpture of me from memory. The boy who’d bought me a beautiful set of rare pearls. The boy I’d lost my virginity to.

I remembered the creepy feeling of being watched when Chan and I were at the cabin. And the pictures had to have been taken there. Chan and I hadn’t slept together since. Chan was crashing at his friend Nate’s house because he wasn’t ready to go back home yet. Since then, we’d only seen each other when he came to meet my mother. Whoever had taken the pictures had taken them up at the cabin.

Could Samantha have figured out where Chan was, and followed him there? Taken pictures of us when she saw us together? It was far-fetched, and kind of disgusting, but I was too afraid to think of the other possibility. Maybe Chan had hidden a camera somewhere and taken the pictures himself.

“ Remember the time Bruna Porto slept with Lucas Brewster? A-boy who’s on the basketball team? He recorded it, and then put it all over his Facebook page”, Em said, throwing another one of the printouts away. “ Did you let him videotape you guys

having sex, Nellie? And why would you cheat on Joaquim like that?”

“ No!”, I yelled. “ I would never record myself having sex! It wasn’t just some random sex thing either, Em. Chan and I are a couple”.

Ana’s eyes widened, while Em looked at me as if she couldn’t believe it.

“ But you’re seeing Joaquim”, Ana said, slowly.

“ No, I’m not. Joaquim and I are just friends”, I said, wiping my eyes. “ Channing Sutton and I have been seeing each other since September”.

“ But he’s dating Samantha St. John”, Ana insisted. “ I saw them together just yesterday”.

My eyes flew up to meet hers. “ That’s not possible”.

Ana bit her lip. “ I would recognize those two anywhere. You can’t miss a hot guy like Channing, and Samantha’s hair is so red you could spot it from anywhere. I was at the Ardsley Mall with my mom, and I saw them sitting together in the food court”.

I tried to remember if Chan had called me yesterday. He had, several times. He hadn’t mentioned seeing Samantha. He’d sounded eager about seeing me in school, even if we weren’t out as a couple yet.

“ Listen, we’re not going to get to the bottom of this until you confront Channing”, Ro said, firmly. “ Put Ana’s sweater on and let’s go find him”.

“ I just feel so sorry for Joaquim”, Em said, sighing sadly.

Both Ana and Ro gave her a dirty look, but inwardly I agreed. I hadn’t wanted Joaquim to find out about me and Chan in such a horrible way.

Leaving the girls bathroom was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life. I would have hidden out in there until the last bell rung, if I’d had a choice. But Ro was determined to find Channing and confront him. She was so angry I could feel it coming off her body in waves.

I didn’t know if it was just my imagination, or if the printouts had multiplied in the time I’d been in the bathroom. They were literally everywhere. There were hall monitors with huge trash bags pulling them down.

And it seemed like all eyes were on me. Curious eyes, angry eyes, disgusted eyes, even a few sympathetic eyes. I felt like I was a rare form of zoo animal everyone felt compelled to stare at.

A teacher approached me, his brow furrowed. “ Ms. Depaola, you need to report to the principal’s office”, he said, firmly.

“ She will”, Ro said, quickly. “ But she wants to see the nurse, first”.

The teacher nodded. “ But you need to see the principal before first period”.

There was still a half hour until first period. Ro marched me up to the second floor lockers, looking for Channing.