She Bet Against Me, I Bet On Myself Chapter 09
After the recording played out, you could hear a pin drop in the room.
Cora stood rooted to the spot, a mix of shame and fury burning across her face.
“Glenda, what’s with the recording?”
“It was just a harmless joke between old classmates. Do you really have to be so manipulative?”
She went straight for the deflection.
Before I could speak, Emilio frowned. “Using someone’s pain for entertainment–that’s a joke to you?”
Cora’s lips trembled. “Mr. Roberts, you have it wrong. Glenda and I
have always been close. We were just fooling around back then.”
“Close?” I picked up the uniform. “Then put it on,”
Cora froze. “What?”
I held the uniform out toward her. “Put it on, and step on the scale.”
“Then tape this sign to your back and let everyone take pictures.”
“If you think there’s nothing wrong with that, then I’ll admit I was being overly sensitive.”
Every pair of eyes in the room locked onto her.
The classmates who had cheered the loudest earlier didn’t dare utter a single sound now.
Cora’s eyes welled up instantly. “Glenda, don’t push it!”
I laughed. “So you finally realize it hurts once the blade is pointed at you?”
Her face was deathly pale, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Fine! I admit what I did today was out of line!”
“But I wasn’t the only one back then–why are you blaming just me?”
With a single sentence, she dragged half the room into the mud with her.
Rayden instantly panicked. “Cora, don’t be ridiculous! You sent the
video, and you brought the uniform! What does any of that have to do with us?”
“Yeah, at most we just chimed in!”
“Who knew you actually bullied Glenda?”
The very same people who’d been egging her on moments ago were
now scrambling to distance themselves.
Cora stared at them in disbelief. “You’re all playing innocent now?
Who blocked the door in that video? Who carried the scale into the classroom?”
“And Neil!” She suddenly pointed straight at Neil. “He wrote that sign himself!”
Everyone’s eyes snapped over to him.
Neil’s face went dark. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Nonsense?” Cora scoffed. “You knew she liked you back then, so you
made a bet with us–said if she ever dropped to a hundred and
twenty, you’d take her on a date.”
I froze.
I’d never known any of this.
Cora went completely off the rails.
“She starved herself into hypoglycemia and passed out on the track for you!”
“And you said she was just faking it for attention, saying…”
“Shut up!” Neil roared.
Dead silence fell over the room once again.
I stared at him, nausea curling in my stomach.
The person I had desperately tried to get close to had been standing
in the crowd all along, watching me suffer with a smile.
“Glenda, let me explain.” Neil rushed over frantically. “I was just
running my mouth back then. I really didn’t think you’d take it
seriously. But I’m willing to make it up to you now!”
He reached out to touch me.
I slapped him across the face.
The sharp crack resonated through the room.
Neil’s head snapped sideways, completely stunned.
“That one was for the girl who passed out on the track.”
I looked over at Cora and everyone else present.
“As for the rest of you. The videos, recordings, and group chat logs
will all be handed over to my lawyer. Everyone who had a part in this will be held accountable.”
Cora completely lost her composure. “You can’t do that! You’re just
starting in this industry—what good does it do you to make a scene?”
Shelia scoffed coldly. “That’s none of your concern. Starlight’s legal
team happens to be working late tonight.”
Emilio’s face darkened as well. “An actress who can’t even stand up
for the harm she’s suffered–what kind of work is she going to
make? I support her taking this all the way.”
Cora’s legs gave out, and she collapsed back onto her chair.
Without giving her another glance, I turned and walked toward the exit.
Shelia pushed the door open for me.
Behind me, Neil suddenly scrambled after me.
“Glenda! Didn’t you always love me? I know I was wrong now! Can’t we start over?”
I stopped and looked back at him.
Half his face was still red, his eyes filled with desperate unwillingness.
It suddenly dawned on me that it wasn’t that he liked me.
He just couldn’t accept that the girl he once trampled underfoot
now refused to give him a single look.
“No.”
I unclipped the cheap hairpin he had carelessly tossed to me years
ago and threw it into the trash can.
“Neil. I stopped liking you a long time ago.”