Ghosted by Leslie Margolis

Author:Leslie Margolis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

chapter eight

Next thing I know, I’m in the girls’ bathroom watching Harper, Maddie, Lily, and E@11.

Lily is eating M&M’s, sneaking them out of her pocket. Harper applies mascara. Maddie touches up her lipstick. E@11 looks at herself in the mirror. And of course, like the rest of school, all they can talk about is the video.

“OMG, if that was me I would die from the humiliation,” says Harper.

Maddie guffaws. “That dance she did? Do you think she was kidding? Or is that seriously how she moves?”

“The girl has no rhythm,” Lily says, as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

“You can’t even say Marley and rhythm in the same sentence. It’s a total disconnect,” Harper says.

E@11 bites her bottom lip and looks away. She knows she should defend her friend, but she’s scared. She never meant for the video to get out like that. Only sent it to a few friends. At the same time, she knows this is all her fault. But she doesn’t want to accept it. She’s hoping it’ll go away if she ignores it.

“My God, that whole Toby thing? I can’t believe it. If that were me, I would literally melt out of humiliation—I’m talking serious puddle on the floor,” Maddie says. “I’d never show my face in school again.”

It’s too much. They have gone too far. It was just a silly game. No one was supposed to see, let alone take it so seriously. E@11 wishes they would just stop talking about it, but she can’t tell them that. She can’t stand up to her new friends. She’s too afraid of losing them. She doesn’t know them that well, after all. Her position is too new. Everything feels so precarious, like it could disappear in an instant with one false move.

But she has to say something, so she narrows her eyes at Maddie. “Well, if you’re a literal puddle you wouldn’t have a face, dummy,” E@11 says.

The rest of the girls giggle.

There. She’s upset Maddie, made her feel dumb, but hasn’t made fun of Marley in the process. It’s a win-win. She’s doing her best!

Then a toilet flushes. Everyone goes quiet. Somebody else is in the room and she must have heard everything. But who could it be?

E@11 and her posse look at one another with wide eyes.

The lock slides and the door opens with a creak.

E@11 fears the worst. But what are the odds? It could be anyone in that bathroom stall. The chances of it being Marley are minuscule. Except … Except it is Marley. Of course it is.

She steps out of the bathroom stall. Her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are red and glassy. She stares straight ahead and walks stiffly to the sinks. E@11 jumps out of the way of Marley as if she’s got some highly contagious, flesh-eating disease.

Marley washes her hands and leaves without looking at any of the girls. It is the longest forty-five seconds of E@11’s life thus far. E@11 feels like a piece of dirt, but she struggles to appear neutral, cold, steely, and strong.

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