An hour. Just an hour is all Phoebe wanted. She hardly got any alone time, and when she did she was still plagued with thoughts of the drama that always seemed to be going on at Grand Army. An hour is all she wanted to go for a jog and clear her mind, finally relax for the first time since she can't even remember when. Unfortunately, due to forces outside of her control, Phoebe would not be getting the alone time she so desperately craves.

Stopping her jog, she yanks out her earbuds and scowls at her phone that has been nonstop buzzing for about ten minutes. Her frustration subsides only a little when she sees it's been Leila who's been blowing up her phone.

Frustration quickly turns to anger when she scrolls through the dms. It was all shit about George. That's all it ever seemed to be with the girl. Normally Bee would feel bad for her. She's so young and naive, and George was clearly taking advantage of that; everyone could see it except her. But now the younger girl's obsession with the jerk was cutting into her "self care" time.

She sent Leila a quick message, telling her she was busy and couldn't talk at the moment, and shut her phone off. No more distractions. She was just gonna jog home, take a nice shower, and chill for the rest of the night. Easy-peasy, right?

Phoebe should know that nothing in her life was very easy-peasy for long.

When she got home, the sun had just set and she was ready to wind down, free from all the stress. There was so much in her life making it feel like her head was gonna explode, and she knew she had to manage it all before it got out of hand, but sometimes she just needs a break. Luck, however, didn't seem to be on her side because she couldn't escape stress even at home.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Her mother's slurred words made her stop in her tracks and let out a string of profanities under her breath. The one time the woman was home and actually semi-conscious and it was on her relaxation day.

"Running, Ma," Phoebe responded in a tired voice, already done with the conversation.

"In that outfit?" Her mom gestures to her jogging clothes in disgust, "And this late? You're practically begging for atten-"

"Okay, you know what, Ma? You're drunk. So why don't you sit your ass down and shut your mouth, okay?" Phoebe got close to the woman's face, practically spitting the words at her. The heavy scent of alcohol on her breath almost made her recoil, but she refused to back down.

Phoebe's put up with this woman's shit for her whole life and never once has she defended herself. Well, shit was about to change.

"Oh, so now you think you're all high and mighty after rehab, huh? Wonder how long that'll last." Phoebe backed up at her words, flinching as if she inflicted pain. "Face it, we're the same fucking person. You think you're better than me? You are me! This is your future!" the woman gestured around the decrepit state of the apartment, empty alcohol bottles and dirty paper plates everywhere. "You think that boyfriend of yours actually gives a shit about you?! Wait a couple years and he'll move on to someone smarter, and prettier, and less of a screwup. All your friends will move on because face it, hon......you're replaceable."

Phoebe could faintly hear her mother continue talking as she got the courage to turn away from her and make her way down the hall to her bedroom. The older woman was still going, yells vibrating off the apartment walls that Phoebe drowned out with her heavy breathing and pounding heart.

She hated crying, hated how weak it made her feel. And when you're Phoebe Hertz, you can't afford to feel weak. But against her wishes, tears started flowing down her cheeks. No matter how hard she tried to calm down or wipe away the salty tears, they kept coming. She couldn't help but think she should've known better than to think today would be any different; that today would be stress free.

Though the yelling had stopped, her mother's words still rang in her ears. She couldn't help but dwell on it because a part of her agreed. A part of her knew she was going to end up just like her mother, maybe even worse, and that scared her. It scared her because when she thought of her future, when she thought of her life after high school, maybe even after college, any other future she dreamt up for herself seemed wildly out of reach.

Needing some comfort, Phoebe turned her phone back on, hoping Joey or Anna would be able to help her feel better. But as soon as she turned her phone back on, it started buzzing several times just like it had done during her jog.

She let out a groan, knowing she probably would not find comfort or peace at the moment. She almost put the phone back down before seeing the insane amount of notifications; a couple more dms from Leila and a whole bunch of dms from unfamiliar names, but she assumed went to school with her. She looked through a few of them and scrunched her eyebrows in confusion when she noticed they'd all sent the same Insta Stories, mostly George's and a few Luke's. And the messages were all shit like "Yo, this your mans???" and "Damn, if you two break up, can I hit that?"

Tapping on one of the videos, her eyes are greeted with the sight of Joey and the guys in a cab, high off their asses. She was confused as to what the problem was until she saw Joey getting very close to her boyfriend and poking him with...a dildo???

Phoebe was pissed. She loved Joey more than anyone in the world, which was why she was also hurt. Sure, she and Luke didn't have the healthiest relationship, but it wasn't like any of their friends knew that. And even if they did, it still wouldn't make it right.

And she was even more pissed at Luke. All those months away from him made her super insecure. She was convinced that he wouldn't wait for her, that she was replaceable and he would move on to someone better, completely forgetting about her. Watching how he interacted with Joey brought back all those insecurities.

And to make matters worse, it was all public. She had people she barely even knew sending her the videos. Random people were going out of their way to add to the humiliation.

She was terrified. She wasn't dumb, she knew Luke would come out of this unscathed and everyone would only be targeting her. She was imagining it all; "Her pussy game must be wack", "She wasn't good enough for him anyway", "Guess he got tired of the Junkie Pussy."

Today was turning out to be one of Phoebe's worst days ever. More than anything, she just wanted to curl up and die, but she couldn't give them the satisfaction. She couldn't let Luke think he was off the hook, that he could get away with humiliating her like that.

With a newfound confidence, Phoebe showered, got glammed up, raced out of the house past her mother who had thankfully passed out on the couch, and made her way towards Luke's place.

Luke Friedman will not make Phoebe Hertz his bitch.

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It had taken seeing her best friend poke her boyfriend with a dildo for Phoebe to realize she's a bad bitch. Or rather, she needed to become one. She had the potential to be as much a bad bitch as Joey is, but there had just been something holding her back all this time. A feeling like she wasn't good enough, not just for Luke, but for anyone.

But she refused to be humiliated anymore. She refused to be made a fool of. For once in her life, she welcomed all the looks she got as she strutted into Luke's party. Just by not cowering away in her room she'd shown a tremendous amount of strength, and she could tell that people's respect for her had just gone way up.

"So, how was the movie?" She stopped in front of Luke, George, and the rest of their guy friends. Luke, seemingly at a loss for words, just kept staring at her as his friends watched in amusement.

"Bee! I thought you weren't gonna make it," George interrupted the silence, smiling brightly at her, unaware of the tense atmosphere.

"Well, I decided to grace you all with my presence." She giggled and did a little twirl to show off the tight dress she'd picked to show Luke exactly what he'd be missing if he disrespected her in front of everyone again.

"Wow. Babe, you look-"

"Hot? I know. Too bad you won't get to enjoy any of this tonight."

Without thinking, she plopped onto the lap of one of Luke's friends and grabbed his face. The poor boy looked scared out of his mind, looking back and forth between Luke's angry face and Phoebe's sly one.

"Uh, h-hey, Bee. What-"

She cut him off kissing his neck, which turned into full on sucking as she straddled his lap. She pulled away and dragged an acrylic nail over the mark she'd just left on his neck. His bliss and her amusement were interrupted by Luke who yanked her off his lap surprisingly well for someone on crutches.

"Bee, what the fuck was that?!"

"What was what?" Phoebe faked confusion, cocking her head to the side innocently. "I'm sorry, I thought you wouldn't mind since you did God knows what with Joey in that cab!" Phoebe snapped at him, no longer playing sweet and innocent. She swallowed thickly when she noticed the small crowd gathering after hearing her outburst, but her nerves quickly went away once anger took over.

Luke's face paled, and for just a second he looked guilty, but his guilt melted away as his eyes darkened. Phoebe knew the look all too well, and for once she was thankful for all the attention being on her, because then she knew he wouldn't lash out.

"You're acting like a jealous bitch right now," he mumbled, only loud enough for her to hear. "She came on to me, not the other way around. I would never hurt you on purpose," he spoke a little louder, making sure others heard, and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Phoebe hated this. She was angry, confused, hurt, and yeah, maybe even a little jealous. Even if he wasn't the one who initiated the sexual acts, the videos certainly didn't show him resisting.

The comfort she found in the hovering crowd quickly dissolved as she registered the situation she had found herself in. If she lashed out at him again, she really would be seen as nothing more than a "jealous bitch". Shying away from his intense gaze, her brown eyes unexpectedly locked on a pair of pale green ones, and suddenly her anger had found a new target.

Snatching her arm out of the grip she didn't even realize Luke had her in, Phoebe strode over to her best friend in quick strides, stopping in front of the girl who, frankly, looked like shit.

No words were said between the two as Phoebe glared in seething anger at the taller girl, and Joey stood unmoving, looking at her best friend in....sadness?

But Phoebe didn't interpret it as sadness. To her, it looked like pity. And one thing she's come to realize lately is that she fucking hates pity.

Phoebe tuned out the world, blocking out the sound of the music still playing loudly, the people still chatting who were either unaware of the tense atmosphere, or just didn't give a shit. It all faded away.

Her mother's words replaying in her mind are what set her off again. All the nasty things the woman had said about Luke finding someone better and her being replaceable only fueled her hatred for the girl standing in front of her. She refused to be made a fool of. She refused to be replaced. She refused to end up like her mother.

And so, she did the only thing she could think of: she slapped the shit out of Joey Del Marco.

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Phoebe sat alone on Luke's couch, sipping on a glass of water while silently wishing it was something stronger. The events of the past few hours rushed through her mind, making her feel sick. A part of her felt proud of herself for not showing weakness, but mostly she felt guilty. Sure, she was mad at Joey, but further humiliating the girl in front of everyone at the party probably wasn't the nicest thing to do.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Luke's crutches as he walked over. She could immediately feel the tension as he sat down, not saying anything or even looking at her. He wordlessly took the glass from her hand and set it on the table before turning to face her fully on the couch.

"What the fuck was that, Bee."

She felt like such an idiot. She was crying for the second time that night, and this time she wasn't even in the privacy of her own room. Luke didn't move to comfort her, didn't try calming her down, just stared down at her with a stone-faced expression.

"Baby, I'm so sorry, I-"

"Sorry? Why are you sorry? That was so hot."

She didn't even have time to react before his large hand was gripping her thigh, pulling her onto his lap. Any words she might've tried to say were silenced by his lips attacking hers.

"That was so fucking sexy how angry you were before. How you practically fucked me right there in front of everybody."

She pulled away at his words, really processing what he said. She didn't mean to act like that, but she realized how possessive she may have seemed in the moment. She was just fueled by so much anger and hatred that she may have acted a little out of control. And for once she couldn't blame it on the drugs.

At the time, she had just wanted everyone to know that Luke was hers. She wanted every other bitch at the party, but especially Joey, to know that Luke was off limits.

She also wanted to blow Luke's fucking mind. She wanted any thoughts of any other girl to completely erase from his mind. She wanted him to think about her, and only her, and all the things she could make him feel. So, after she slapped Joey, she'd walked back to Luke and made out with him in front of everybody. She was just filled with too many emotions to care about the people cheering them on and watching.

"Oh, you liked that?" She whispered before kissing her harder this time, feeling a rush of power.

"You're so fucking hot when you're jealous."

Luke had never seen her like that before. Not that he didn't usually enjoy making out with her, but it'd felt different when she'd kissed him earlier. It was like she'd poured all her emotion into it, driven by a ferocity that was foreign for her. And to be honest, it turned him on.

"Oh yeah? Then I guess you gotta make me jealous more often, then."

She didn't mean it, though. She never wanted to be in a situation like that again. Especially when the girl who'd made her jealous enough to make out with her boyfriend in front of a crowd of people is her best friend. Or maybe...was her best friend.

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a/n: im actually not mad at how this chapter turned out so YAY!!!! hope yall like it as much as i do, and please let me know what you think! please don't be a ghost reader! comments and votes really motivate me! k byeeeee!!!!!