Stalk Me

“Oh.” I think about Cush. How I was mad at Brooklyn when I decided to sleep with him. What a mess my life has become since.

Especially since I saw the Facebook video.

Vanessa texted, emailed, and Facebook messaged me the link this morning.

To make sure I saw it.

To make sure everyone saw it.

After I watched it, all my great plans for next year went flying out the window. I don’t even want to go back home.

“I think I’m go

“Why would you do that? I thought you loved school.”

“I was wrong. I gotta get out of there. I think I’m a mean girl. Like I’m becoming plastic or something.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re just being overdramatic.”

“I’m not being overdramatic, and I can prove it.” I grab my laptop. “Watch this.”

I pull up the video in which Vanessa does exactly what I told her to do.

She destroys Mandy’s life.

The video shows Vanessa outside Mandy’s house. You see her ring the doorbell, and Mandy’s father answer the door. Then you get a quick view of Mandy and her parents. For the rest of the video, you can only see their torsos, the coffee table between them, and hear what they’re saying.

Vanessa starts right off. “I told you I was coming here today regarding a school charity, but I’m afraid I misinformed you. I have something much more important to discuss. Your daughter’s future.”

“Her future?” Mandy’s mom asks.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m going to start by showing you a few photos to give you some background. Will that be alright?”

“Sure,” Mandy’s father says, although he doesn’t sound particularly sure.

Vanessa sets a photo on the coffee table between them. It’s one of the photos RiA

You see Vanessa’s long, red nail point to the photo.

“This is a popular couple at our school, Brandon Cushman and Keatyn Douglas. In case you didn’t know, Keatyn’s the daughter of Abby Johnston.”

Mandy’s mom says, “The Abby Johnston?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Vanessa’s hand then slides a prom photo of Sander and me onto the table.

“For the last year and a half, Miss Douglas dated Sander Goodwin. They were our school’s golden couple. They had a great relationship, but broke up after prom. They are still extremely close and while their breakup shocked most of the school, those of us closest to the couple know that their relationship was more about friendship than real passion. You may not have heard, but Sander has since been cast to play Da

She places the photo of Cush and me back on top.

“Brandon and Miss Douglas have been close friends for some time. And Brandon, while he had the reputation of being a bit of a ladies man, never had a serious girlfriend because he has secretly crushed on Miss Douglas. Soon after the breakup, he confessed his love, and they began a whirlwind courtship. It’s easy to see they’re beautiful together.”

Mandy’s mom says, “They are beautiful, and they do look very much in love.”

“Well, they were, ma’am. But a situation arose recently that changed that. A few weeks ago, Miss Douglas was leaving to spend three weeks at her family’s home on the French Rivera. She was in her limo, heading to board their private plane when she decided to stop at Brandon’s house for one last goodbye kiss. Brandon was having a small gathering, just the soccer team and their dates, to celebrate his being voted Team Captain. Your daughter was at the party.”

She pauses for effect.

“This is where things are going to get a little difficult to talk about. When Miss Douglas arrived at the party, someone told her they had seen Brandon go up to his room. Miss Douglas went to his room, opened his door, and what she saw was not pleasant. Brandon was sitting in his desk chair while your daughter was performing oral sex on him.”

You can hear audible gasps from Mandy’s parents.

Mandy yells, “That’s not true! She’s lying! She’s just trying to get back at me because her best friend’s boyfriend cheated on her!”

Mandy’s mother’s voice is angry. “Is that how your nose got broken? Did you and this girl get into a fight?”

“Yes! She was mad at me because her boyfriend is a liar and a cheater! And I would never do something like that to a boy. I’ve never done oral sex. Ever! All we did was kiss, I swear!”

Vanessa says sympathetically, “I was afraid you would say that, Mandy. I’m sorry to have to show you this, but, well, as they say, pictures speak louder than words.”

She slides another photo onto the coffee table.

One of Mandy doing exactly what she was doing to Cush.

Vanessa took the photo to show me proof of Cush’s infidelity, before she found out he was drugged.

Mandy’s parents gasp.

“I’m sorry to have to show you this, but as you can see, your daughter is lying. If you look closely at Brandon’s face, you will see that he looks almost asleep; not at all like a young man receiving oral stimulation should look. That is because your daughter drugged him.”

“She what?” Mandy’s mom yells.

“I did not!” Mandy yells at Vanessa and stands up.

“Sit down, Mandy!” her father says sternly. “This is a very serious accusation, Vanessa.”

“I understand that, sir. Let me continue with the events of the evening. Even with the shock of seeing this when she walked in, Miss Douglas could tell that something was wrong with her boyfriend. She knows that Brandon is a serious athlete. He never does drugs, and he only has an occasional beer. She yelled at Mandy, and asked her what she did to him. Mandy told her that it was no big deal, but that she had slipped a little something in his drink.”

“And that’s when she punched me in the face. She broke my nose! I should be pressing charges against her!” Mandy yells.

“Miss Douglas greatly regrets that your daughter’s nose got broken, but it was an accident. She was worried about her boyfriend, pushed your daughter out of his room, and slammed the door in her face. That is how her nose got broken.”

“That is such a lie! You are the biggest liar!”

Vanessa slides another sheet of paper onto the table. This one filled with typing.

“This is written testament from seven people at the party who witnessed the door getting slammed in your daughter’s face. These are not sworn legal testaments but can quickly be made into such if necessary. Miss Douglas asked me to escort your daughter and her friend, Alicia, out of the party. Needless to say, we don’t want people who would do this to our friends anywhere near us. After that, I quickly got everyone to leave. Miss Douglas called home, explained the situation, and had their family physician meet them.”

She slides another piece of paper onto the table and taps her nail again.

“Here are the doctor’s notes on Brandon’s condition. And here are the toxicology reports that show high doses of valium in his bloodstream. Were it not for Miss Douglas’ quick actions, Brandon Cushman could have died.”

Vanessa stops and lets this all sink in. You can hear Mandy’s mother sobbing.

Vanessa continues. “We have forwarded all this information to both Mr. Cushman’s soccer coach and the cheerleading coach.”

“They can’t kick me off the cheerleading team. We weren’t at school!” Mandy says in a know-it-all voice.

“Mandy, dear, when you drug the school’s star soccer player, you break a moral code. You’ve already been removed as a cheerleader and so has your friend, Alicia. You have not received notification yet, but that is the least of your worries. Aside from the situation at school, there could be legal ramifications as well. Obviously, Brandon could press charges. Here are sworn statements from both Miss Douglas and myself, in which we share that Mandy admitted to us that she drugged Brandon. My father, Patrick Fla