Holland nods too. “Yeah, I get that part.”
“She blackmailed me and I saw her true colors. She also started hanging out with Elijah, my editor at the paper. They met for lunch so, I guessed she was gunning for my spot on The Gazette. I know she applied and didn’t make it, even though she’s a sophomore. I figured there were only a certain amount of spots. I just never figured she would stoop so low as to steal information from me.”
“Holy shit balls,” Holland gasps and her mouth drops. “Don’t tell me.”
“Let me finish,” I say because her eyes are wide. “I started to leave my journal around. On my bed. Under my pillow. On my desk tucked away. Only it wasn’t my journal. I ordered the exact same one online and started writing all kinds of lies in it about Declan and me. I know it was sneaky but I felt like I had my hands tied. The girl wanted to out me and Declan. I don’t know why she didn’t, other than she wanted to buy time for herself to get closer with Elijah. I saw her flirting with him shamelessly and Elijah isn’t the type of guy who has game. I saw right through her and I clearly wasn’t wrong. She brought this on herself,” I declare.
“Holy shit, Poppy, you’re badass,” Holland says, laughing.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen now. She clearly convinced Elijah that she had enough information on Declan to write the story, and Elijah isn’t beneath sensationalizing to get more readers. He might be pissed with me. He could kick me off the paper and that will be very bad for my career goals,” I say.
Suddenly it looks like students are crowding around each other. They are hovering over tables and whispering. Everyone seems to be intrigued by their phones.
“What the hell is going on?” Holland asks.
“I don’t know but can we keep all this underhanded stuff between us?” I ask her.
“You know I would never say anything, but you don’t need to feel bad about what you did either. Bonnie put you in a tough place. Whatever happens to her she brought on herself. I wonder if Declan’s read these lies?” She cocks her brow.
My stomach sinks when I think about Declan and his reaction. He had so much on his plate at the time, with his brother being unwell, that I didn’t want to burden him with Bonnie’s blackmail. Besides, I’m sure he can fight the story and ask The Gazette to write the real story sans lies.
We walk back to the table. “What’s going on?” I ask the girls, who are hovering over their phones.
“You guys aren’t going to believe this,” Blossom says, holding up her phone.
It shows Declan yelling at Elijah for writing a story about him filled with lies. He’s threatening to take it to the Dean or the board.
“Holy shit,” I say.
“He’s at the paper. We should go to him,” Cait urges.
“We should?” I ask.
“Totally. You have to hear what he’s saying,” Cait says.
“OMG,” Blossom screeches. “He was freaking out on Elijah for taking the story from you. Then he realized that someone passing by had him on live stream and he turned to the camera and said. ‘Poppy, if you’re watching this, I love you and I will not put up with these lies.’”
I’m speechless but Blossom holds up her phone and rewinds the live stream where Declan declares to everyone on campus that he loves me.
“Poppy, I’m really sorry for how I handled things. And everyone, I want you to know this garbage that was written in the Spotlight is all lies. I grew up dirt poor but if you want to read the story then there’s only one person who can tell it properly and that’s Poppy McGuire,” Declan says then he spins back to Elijah. “This isn’t over.”
Elijah looks like he’s two seconds away from pissing himself.
“Let’s go,” Cait says.
“Where?” I ask.
“To The Gazette,” she says like it’s obvious. “He’s still there, I bet.” Cait is super excited, which is really nice but I’m not running to Declan. My ego is hurt and so is my heart.
“Let him come to me,” I say.
“She has a point,” Holland says, backing me.
Blossom is still enamored with the live stream. “It’s streaming from some girl named Angela’s phone.”
Blossom holds the screen. Declan is still on it. “Poppy, I don’t know where you are right now but we need to talk,” he says, and my traitorous heart lurches in my chest from excitement.
What happens next is a little surreal. The girl sitting at a table next to us screams. “She’s Poppy” and she points to me.
Suddenly all the people around us are posting on TikTok. “She’s in the student center at the food court.”
Tons of people are posting beside us and Blossom scrolls through her feed. Given their close proximity, some of them are coming up on her FYP.
“I need to get out of here,” I say to the girls because I’m feeling too anxious with so much unwanted attention on me.
“Sure, yeah,” Blossom agrees. She takes me by the hand because I feel frozen and we all head out of the Student Center.
“You should go back to my place,” Holland says. “I have to get to class. Mary is there with CC. She’s probably down for her nap.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that. I don’t want to have to face Bonnie right now. She’s going to be pissed when she finds out what I did,” I say.
“That’s on her. You don’t need to feel bad about it,” Holland says, and she looks down at her phone.
“Ryse says he’s been trying to text you and you aren’t answering. He’s worried,” Paris relays, reading a message off her phone.
“Can you just tell him I’m fine?” I say to Paris.
She nods and texts Ryse. Again I have somehow become the center of attention and I hate it. The girls walk me out of the building and down a path toward Holland’s house before we split up. I’m going to be missing a class right now but I need to get away from this hailstorm.
THIRTY-SIX
Declan
By the time I get to the Student Center, she’s gone. I didn’t mean to cause another scene but they seem to follow me wherever I go. I call Ryse because I feel terrible about all the attention my commotion at The Gazette is causing. My intention was to speak with this Elijah dude and tell him that his story is a bunch of lies. I can’t believe he gave the piece to Poppy’s roommate, who I’ve maybe said half a word to in my life. I don’t understand how this girl wrote the information she did. It’s just way off base. My intention was to get Elijah to reinstate Poppy on the Spotlight. This piece was important to her. I know she wants to make editor. I don’t know why or how she got removed from the story but I’m guessing our relationship was to blame, which makes me feel guilty as hell.
Ryse finally picks up. “Ryse, holy shit. Things are getting out of hand. I’m so sorry. I wanted the editor to reinstate Poppy on the Spotlight and this chick came out of nowhere and started taping the whole thing. It went viral,” I say huffing.
“Calm down, first of all,” Ryse says. “You need to go to the Dean and report this. The campus paper isn’t allowed to spread lies about you. It’s illegal.”