Chapter 82

***Chrissy***

~
Mom and Dad are having breakfast already, Dayle as well. I hurry to join them for breakfast. I sit directly opposite where Dayle is sitting. It's unusual since we are known to sit abreast of each other at all times.
“Morning, Dad. Morning, Mom!” I say to them accompanied by a slight smile and they instantly reciprocate the gesture. They start asking if I have had a good night's rest and so I tell them yes.
“Morning. Chriss.” Dayle interrupts
I force a faint smile and nod lightly. It's quite suspicious to our parents, they stare at us intently.
“Is anything the problem?” Dad asks
“None.” I snap. “Morning. Dayle.” Heaven knows that I'm fucking mad at Dayle, I have been thinking a lot lately and I just can not place my hand on the right things. I'm tired up.
“Okay... Well, the regular chauffeur is unavailable right now so Bobby will be driving you both to school—”
“How about I drive us to school, c’mon!” Dayle interrupts offhandedly.
“How about Bobby just drives us instead?” I snap, Dayle looks at me in an askant manner because he knows what is trying to do. “What do you think, BRO?” I ask sarcastically.
“Whatever! It's... It's fine.” he says calmly without objecting as he would have if it were someone.
“Are you both certain that you are both okay?” Mom asks splitting her gazes between Dayle and me.
“We are okay, Ms. Lena! Didn't worry,” Dayle adds.
The rest of the breakfast time ends in silence except for Mom and Dad.
Bobby drives us to school just discussed, and Dayle has tried to talk to me and even texts but I ignore him. I don't care how he feels right now, I need to be some tone apart—from the Playerz. A lot is going on and it's not favorable.

We step into the school’s building, and through the large double doors, I head my way—to my locker precisely.
Exams have been going on pretty well as well as the preparations for Prom and Graduation. I see Ellen and Ken talking so I walk over to them. We share hugs like we haven't met for centuries but then it's only been a day.
“You look rather pale compared to that summer-hot-hot days. What's up with you, bissh?” Ellen asks, and at the sale time, she tucks my hair behind. “There!”
“Where is your trophy brother? Unbeatable boy president?” Ken sarcastically asks as we all crack up.
“Where he needs to be!” I snap nonchalantly. We start walking off in the hallway.
“It's such a pity that Playerz ain't shit! They are a bunch of hungry asses. How does it feel to have an Ex that's a snitch? No offense.” Ellen says.
“Well, the offense was taken!” I snap rolling my eyes. “Egan is a nice guy that just got carried away...”
“Here we go again, Chrissy Horton. Theodore. You defend these guys like they are saints, How are they nice when all they do is jilt the living shit out of you?” Ken asks he's getting pissed and so am I. Ellen nods her head instead. Her attention is fully on her phone’s screen now. She halts leaving Ken and me to argue. We halt turning to her. Ken and I share a doubtful gaze. We are now in the middle of the hallway with lots of students strutting and hanging around, chattering.
“Okay guys, hold the fuck on! FUCK!” she says. We walk over to her. She raises her head slowly nodding her head negatively. She covers her mouth. Ken gets a notification and so do I, it's from the blog. I don't pay attention to it because my friends are scaring the shit out of me, why have they suddenly switched moods? Ken stares at me after glancing through his cell phone.
“Chriss?” Ellen calls out slowly, her voice is shaky a bit. Ken motions for me to take a look at the notification. I do as he says.
It's a list. A fuck list at that. I see Steve’s and Egan’s list and then I see Dayle’s list.
I rank number 6 on the list, what could this mean? That I have been a part of a bet all these while?
“This is fucked up, Chriss!” Ellen says
“I knew that he—they were assholes!” Ken angrily says sprinting away. I look around, everyone around is talking about it, and they are shocked and confused as I am.
All along, I've been a target in a strange fuck list? Dayle had deceived me all along, he's never been sincere with his feelings—he’s been lying to me all this while.
Why am I just realizing that I'm a big fool to have trusted Dayle? Or Egan or fucking Steve who is currently acting as if he's been cheated Meanwhile he's a fucking cunt but Dayle is the bigger cunt.
I scream I'm my head.
“...Did he fuck you?”
“...OMG! Even you being his step-sis?”
“...You were JUST another girl before a sister!”
“...You’re SO unlucky!”
I hear some girls ask me, their comments are true, everything is true. It echoes in my head nonstop.
I start running off to the restroom in the hope that it's empty. I mean in times like this Hemsville students are concerned over the trends and not the restroom.
I stand by the basin, my reflection in the mirror reflects a girl who's been played by none other than her stepbrother. How did I manage to fall in love with him? How did I not see the signs?
I'm beginning to join the pieces. From the moment Dayle started showing his affection—fake affection, to the moment I heard speculations about the ‘tick off’. This is bizarre, I've been used to the latter.

How could this happen to me now? Especially now that I'm fucking guilty of the truth. Tears only stream down from my eyes, I can't hold them back—the more I wipe the beads of tears the more it rolls.
I have to be strong to at least round up the class hours, I remind myself. At least twice.
My phone starts buzzing, it's Ellen and Molly. Fuck. What do they want to ask anyway, I can't even look them in the eyes.
I try to brace up so I wipe my eyes one last time before stepping out of the restroom. Students are staring at me pathetically, it is now like I'm back to the same old way that I've been, CHRIS-SHIT.
Shame. It's the only thing I feel.
I attempt to step out of the building but Ellen steps in the way. She stares at me with sympathy. I hate that look, I have the fact that I have to be a pathetic little thing in everyone's eyes. I'm not the only one on the list but it seems like that, is it because I'm his sister, or what could be the reason? I ask myself.
Ellen pulls me in for a hug, I needed a hug anyway. I want to be told that the list is only a stunt and it's not real. Lies. I tell myself lies.
“I had no idea,”
“Neither did I. I've been a target... It makes me look like...” I pause. I lack the right words to tell her. Even if I try to explain things to her it won't work out well because I am guilty of Dayle and I having a secret affair. A forbidden one at that. I can't imagine how disappointed she'd be when I tell her the entire truth so I keep my silence. She should think that I'm traumatized by what had happened.
“I'm so sorry about it. You didn't have to be a part of their shitty games! Fuck!” she adds.
“I have to go,”
“Where? Let me drive you home instead, let me do it! I just wanna support you like you always support me, Chriss!” she innocently tells me and I nod lightly. Appreciatively.
We are about to step out but then someone calls me from behind. It's Egan’d voice.
We haven't spoken since the time I broke things up between us.
“What do you want? Can't you see that y'all are nothing but defectors?” Molly blurts out angrily as if she's a direct victim.
“I wasn't talking to—”
“She is right, Egan!” I interrupt him. His fave drops. “You knew that I had been a part of your scandalous games, the plan was to FUCK me and then laugh about it, right?” I ask him firmly, his mouth hanging open. Lost for words. “So, when we had sex did you also broadcast it to your accomplices? Did you also tell them how naïve I was?” I ask again.
“Chriss, I'd never—”
“You've said that for the nth time now! You've always been like them, Egan! Did you know that Dayle had me on his list? Right. You can't fucking talk because you had to come to first to prove your bloody point, isn't it? I didn't know that one of your side jobs in Hemsville was fucking girls for fun, absolute fun!”
“Chrissy, I lied but I've never played with your emotions! I truly love you!” he says
“Another... Lie.” I scoff sadly smiling. “Now I understand where the ‘tick off’ came from, now I understand why Steve pleaded with me to keep you and Dayle close—to protect the fuck list that I was a part of. You all tricked me into believing that you all had one good part in your shitty lives.” I say to him. Tears start welling up again.
“I'll never forgive you for deceiving me—all of you! I'll make sure you pay for all the things you did to me! You're nothing but a fucking cheap liar.”
I step out of the building scurrying away.
“Chrissy please,”
“Get the fuck off of her life, bitch!”
Ellen scowls at him furiously.