The situation got worse as the day progressed.
Somehow, everyone on campus seemed to have seen the video of me getting doused with blood. Within hours, everyone was pointing at me and calling me ‘Carrie’.
Then, there were those who openly called me a whore. The girls were cruel and mean, telling me to my face what an ugly bitch I was. They were ruthless, trying to gang up on me anytime they found me alone.
At one point, I was so scared, I ran inside a nearby shop to use their bathroom. Wyatt stuck to my side loyally but even he had limits to the places he could follow me.
The guys were just as horrible. I’d never been approached by so many boys in all my four years of college. They taunted me, grabbing their crotches, telling me they’d buy me lunch if I let them fuck me.
Wyatt got into a scuffle toward late afternoon after he couldn’t take it anymore. Luckily, Luke and his buddies were present on the scene, so the situation didn’t get too violent.
Even then, Wyatt ended up with bruises on his chin and cheeks.
I wanted to hide in a corner and cry my eyes out but knew doing so would only encourage the bullies. A college campus wasn’t too different from a high school, after all. It was even worse because everyone was desperate to belong to a group, clique, or sorority.
So, torturing a girl they’d never talked to became the popular thing to do.
Two more weeks, I chanted in my head every time I wanted to run.
Noah’s plan to torment me was working perfectly. I had to hand it to him for being a genius at making a hell out of my life. He didn’t need me in his house to inflict pain on me.
He had the whole Silverlake Uni campus doing it for him.
32
Camilla
“Hey, kid! Can I speak to you for a minute?” Jacob, my manager at the café, called me as soon as I entered through the doors.
I gave a nod and hurried toward him.
Pulling up a foldable part of the countertop, I entered the staff area.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He gestured me toward the door that led inside the kitchen.
I followed him, entering the clean, steamy interiors of the kitchen where the food was prepped. Maria and Lyle, the two bakers who worked there, stared at me. They even stopped in the middle of folding pastry to watch me.
“Are you okay?” Jacob asked in a low voice. He wiped the smooth, dark skin of his forehead with a towel and fixed his deep brown eyes on me.
I squirmed under his gaze. He’d been my boss and sort of a friend for over three years now.
“I’m fine,” I lied through my teeth.
“You’re lying to my face now?” He thrust his phone in my hand. “Even I got this shit forwarded to me.”
The screen of his phone was frozen with a thumbnail of me dripping with crimson goo. A header title declaring me as “Carrie Bitch” was slapped over it.
My stomach churned. I handed the phone back to him.
“Everyone’s been talking about you,” he said. “Until this morning, no one even knew your name. Is it true your mom married this guy’s dad?”
“Yeah,” I said with a heavy sigh.
“She’s okay with the way the man’s sons are treating you?”
“She doesn’t know.”