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To satisfy all the ladies' gossiping needs.

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She was doing it again. She was refusing to talk to him because she was hurt and sad, even though she knew one conversation could solve everything.

On Saturday, she hardly left her room. Her mom, brother, sister and cousin tried to get her to talk, but she just remained holed up in there, wishing to stay there forever, if possible.

Despite the situation of things, she couldn't stay away from social media. She wanted to know what people were saying about her and Beau, and when she saw the posts, she cried even more.

For some reason, no one was blaming Beau or Ashton for anything. In fact, the girls were only ranting about their sinking ships, how much they respected Beau for taking charge with the girl that 'caught his eye', and wishing for something new to happen. They were eye candy, and the girls loved them, despite everything.

She was the one taking the blame. Some said she didn't have enough experience to be able to discern when she was being lied to, some said she was easy, some said she just liked drama and that she had changed, moving from one problem to another, and no longer the sweet Fashionella creator they had come to love.

The Internet was stupid. People just talked when they didn't know what really happened. No one behind their screens knew she was being threatened. No one knew how much she had lost because of YWN. No one knew how worthless she felt. They just thought they could talk because it was the Internet.

Beau called her, countless times. When the phone he got her rang, the number wasn't saved, but she knew it was him. After that, he called and called until he took the hint and left her alone. It was quite a task just watching the phone ring and pretending she wasn't affected. The Lord knew every bone in her ached to hear his voice, to hear him say sorry over and over and over again until he was too weak to speak.

To sum it all up, that Saturday was the worst she had ever experienced.

On Sunday evening, as she was getting ready to go to the beach for some air, Maggie-Lyn walked into the room after spending two nights with Adele.

Bella ignored her and did her best with her hair while also trying to ignore the circles under her eyes, caused by lack of sleep.

But Maggie-Lyn wasn't in the mood to be quiet. "Bella." With the way her voice sounded, it was obvious she was crying, but Bella didn't care; she didn't want to care. "Bella, I'm—I'm sorry. I know I've not said anything about it, but I am sorry. I promise."

At that moment, Cody appeared at the open door and leaned against the frame, his hands in his pockets.

"You didn't talk to me all the way to church and back, and it hurts. I'm sorry, Bella."

She tried to touch her arm, but Bella moved away from her and made her way to the door. Cody stood in her way, staring into her eyes, and she rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Do you want me to break their noses?" he asked softly, and she shook her head, then tried to go out, but he didn't move. "Their legs, then? A good kick in the groin would do them some good. I'm sorry, little sis."

"It's okay," she spoke for the first time in days, her voice tiny. "I'm just going to the beach for some escape." She glanced over her shoulder at Maggie-Lyn, throwing her a glare that could melt Antarctica, and her cousin whimpered, tears running down her cheeks.

Cody studied the both of them for a while before his eyes went to rest on his sister. "Can I drive you? I could wait and bring you back, too."

Bella thought about it, then gave him a gentle nod. Cody affectionately ruffled her hair, much to her irritation, then stood upright. "I'll get the keys."

* * *

Bella unbuckled her seatbelt when the car stopped, then opened the door.

"How long are you gonna be? So I'd know when to be back if I go for a walk."

At the question, her new phone burned through the pocket of her overalls, and she pulled at the neckline of her white T-shirt. "Maybe half an hour. If you don't see me then, you should come look for me. I probably drowned in the water or something," she replied with a bored voice.

"Don't say that. It's morbid. You'll be okay on your own, right? Everyone's worried about you."

"I think everyone is a bit of a stretch," she mumbled, getting out of the car. "I'll see you later."

She didn't wait for Cody to say anything else before she made her way to the sand. Strangely, the beach scene was soothing to her senses, and the sand in her sandals was therapeutic.

The beach wasn't as crowded as it was in July without eighty percent of the tourists, creating the perfect atmosphere for Bella to just think about whatever she felt like. She walked for a few minutes, watching the way the water rose and fell at intervals, then took off her shoes and sat close to it. She was far enough to not get wet when the water came, but close enough to be calmed by it.

She drew her bare knees close to her chest and leaned her chin on them, shutting her eyes for a moment to give her ears and skin the privilege to just sense the world around her.

She sat there for a long time before she started feeling the weight of the phone in her pocket. It was weighing her down in the most uncomfortable way, and she asked herself the question for the thousandth time.

Why am I keeping it?

Maybe it was because it was the last thing she got from him, or maybe it was even because she felt like she had to keep it, but it was still with her. And, despite herself, she checked whether he had called again.

He hadn't.

Her thumb caressed the screen of the phone, her mind flashing back to when she was with Beau in the computer room at school. She remembered how she had felt, how he had taken her breath away for a second, how he had looked at her—like she was the only person worth looking at in the universe—and how his arms had felt around her.

It all felt right, like that was how it was supposed to be. Now all those moments had gone down the drain. She even forced herself to wonder if he felt for her the same way she felt for him. What if it was all fake? What if it was just a temporary attraction? Just to win the bet?

But who was she kidding? Beau had been flirting with her since the third week of freshman year.

When a tear dropped onto her lap, she gasped, looking down at herself. As she wiped her tears, she heard the gentle strum of a guitar in the distance and, as much as she didn't want it to, it reminded her of him even more.

The song was a sad one, slow and heartbreaking, and it made her heart clench. She looked to her right and, at exactly the same time, the guitarist looked in her direction.

A gasp escaped her lips, and it was like the ocean froze. She couldn't hear anything but her shaky breathing that was starting to get heavy. Her chest was rising and falling with panicked breaths, and Beau stared at her from the distance, his hand frozen on his guitar.

Bella's senses responded after a while, and she scrambled to her feet, hurrying to put on her sandals. In her peripheral vision, she saw him keep his guitar in the sand as he stood, and her movements became shaky when she realized he was coming to her.

Tears were dropping from her eyes to the sand and she dropped the phone in her panic.

"Belle."

Ditching the phone and finally getting her shoes on, she rushed away from him, the sand slowing her down. She wanted to run, but her shoes got stuck in the sand and she almost fell.

"Just give me one minute, Bella, and if you don't want to talk to me after that, I promise I'll leave you alone," he said, his voice unbelievably close.

The wind blew her hair in her face and she got a whiff of his cologne. She furiously cleaned her tears off, willing her legs to move faster. Her feet got stuck in the sand again and, this time, she was about falling, but he grabbed her arm.

"Slow down, Bella. You'll hurt yourself."

Bella furiously ripped her arm from his grip, rushing forward and stumbling yet again. He held her by the waist, and she turned to him, immediately giving him a weak punch in the gut and taking two steps away from him.

Her eyes shot lasers at him as she said, "What do you want?"

"I just want to talk."

"Well, I don't want to hear anything you have to say. Not now, not ever." She didn't realize when it was out of her mouth.

"Please, Bella. You can count if you want, just give me one minute."

"No."

She turned to leave, but he stepped in front of her.

"I don't deserve to be listened to, especially not by you, but I'm begging you, Bella. Please."

The tears rushed out again, and she absolutely hated him seeing her cry over him. He didn't deserve it. "There's nothing left to say, Beau, why don't you understand that? The news was in full detail and you didn't deny it, so that's it. I'm not talking to you."

"I know it's a lot to ask—"

"Get out of my way, Beau, don't make me say it again."

She made the mistake of really looking at him, and found herself softening inside. This was the kind of expression she always wanted to hug away. Feeling herself weakening, she folded her arms and looked away.

"Go claim your prize," she said. "Isn't that what's left after using me? I can't believe you even have the guts to show me your stupid face."

"Belle," he pleaded, his voice undoing her a little.

"Don't call me that," she managed to snap, "I hate it now." She didn't look at him, knowing what she would see. "I have to go, excuse me."

When he still didn't move, she walked around him and saw Cody approaching them with a glare on his face.

Even though he said he was cool with Beau, Bella knew how protective he could get, and she knew things could get ugly really fast, so she rushed to him and placed her hands on his chest, struggling to push him back.

"I knew there was a reason you were still here," he said, his eyes fixed on Beau, who had now turned to them.

"Let's just go, Cody."

"He made you cry," he stated, bringing his gaze to hers, and she saw the fire in his eyes.

"No. Let's go, Cody."

"Stop defending people, Bella. If he could fight for his sister, I can fight for mine."

Before she could blink, Cody had walked past her and was already heading to Beau.

"Cody, stop!"

But he didn't stop. His hand was already curled to a fist before he reached Beau, and, without a warning, he hit him across the jaw.

"Cody!" The punch hurt her probably more than it hurt him, and she moved to her brother and grabbed his arm.

"Just go to the car, Bella." He shrugged her off.

"Cody, please. Leave him alone."

He pushed her away and went for Beau, who hadn't quite recovered from the first punch. Bella looked away for a moment, crying at her helplessness.

"Help me give Ashton this one before I see him on Monday," Cody said to Beau, delivering another punch to his jaw.

They were on the sand at this point, and Cody was punching Beau like it was his duty in life. People had noticed the fight and had started screaming at them to stop, and Bella went to grab his arm again.

"Just stop it!" she screamed at him, and in the brief moment of distraction, Beau retaliated, causing Cody to roll off him.

They both stood, Cody going after Beau again, but stopping when he saw the large man approaching them.

Beau cleaned the blood off his nose, his eyes going to meet Bella's sorrowful ones.

"What's going on here?" the large man asked when he was close to them.

"He hurt my sister," Cody replied instantly, gesturing to Beau.

The man looked at the three of them for a while, then said, "Well, the beach isn't a wrestling ring. Get out of here."

Beau didn't wait for another instruction before turning away and walking in the direction he came. Bella's blurry eyes followed him, and she silently blamed herself for what happened.

She didn't talk to Cody the entire way home, feeling the anger rolling off him, and when he stopped the car on the driveway, she rushed out and hurried into the house.

"Hey, honey," her mom greeted, on the sofa with Adele, but she ignored her and went to her room.

Mrs. Quincy knocked on her door when she was in the bathroom, but went back downstairs when her daughter didn't respond.

When Bella got out of the shower, an email was waiting on her laptop. It wasn't long or mocking. It was a simple instruction.

React to what people are saying about you on the Internet. Now! And don't have mercy!

Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly got into her pajamas and sat in front of the laptop. She stared at the email for a long time, biting her lower lip, aware YWN could see her, wherever they were.

She didn't want anyone to get hurt, and she didn't want a punishment either, so, taking a deep breath, she logged onto Instagram and started working on a post, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.