Nina called us that night on video chat. I answered first, and Stacie answered not a moment later. 

"Nina, what's wrong?" Stacie said, pouting her lips. She seemed to be leaning back against her bed, a fluffy pink pillow supporting her neck.

Nina sniffed, a tear snaking down her cheek. Her eyes were red and glossy. The background behind her was dark, and I couldn't make out where she was. In fact, it was difficult to clearly see her face, as the video was grainy from lack of light. 

"He's a jerk," she finally said. 

"Who?" Stacie asked, anger lacing her voice. 

"Nick."

I racked my brain, trying to remember someone by that name. It clicked, and I felt anger towards him. No girl should have to cry because of a boy. She didn't deserve to cry because of him.

"Did you guys break up?"

She nodded, swiping a hand over her eyes. "Yeah, we ended it tonight. Gosh, what a jerk. The girl he was cheating on me with saw us at dinner. We got in a fight, he picked hr over me, and I ran out. Now, I'm in the park a few block down. I need to call my mom to get me, but I don't want to tell her what happened."

"Aw, Kiley will pick you up," Stacie said. 

I wanted to help my friend, but it was late on a school night. My dad would get angry. "I don't think I can leave the house without getting in trouble."

Stacie glared at me through the phone. "Excuse me? What kind of friend are you if you can't even pick Nina up after her horrible date?"

"You have a license, too," I pointed out. Sometimes, her attitude irked me.

Stacie rolled her olive eyes. "Yeah, but I'm busy dealing with stuff for the school newspaper. Bye guys." She hung up.

Nina didn't make a sound, and neither did I. We sat in silence for a few moments, my breathing heavy, until a strangled sob escaped her.

"I'll be there in a minute. Share the location on messages," I told her. With that, I hung up, grabbed my keys, and headed downstairs.

It was silent throughout the house as I made my way to the front door. All of the lights were off, and I could hear Dad snoring from his office down the hall. I let out a breath and walked to his office door. It was slightly ajar, so I pushed it open. His head rested against the keyboard of his desktop. Papers were piled up next to him, and the only light came from his desk lamp.

I couldn't wake him in fear of getting caught. Instead, I walked to the couch in the living room and grabbed a pillow and blanket. Walking back to his office, I propped his head onto the pillow and scooted the keyboard out of the way. After draping the soft blanket over his shoulders, I walked out and closed the door.

When I walked outside, I was assaulted by a blast of wind.. Shivering slightly, I walked to my silver Kia. It sat parked in the driveway. When I walked to the driver's side, the dent was still there, just like always. I hopped in and glanced down at my phone. I instantly remembered which park and backed out of the driveway, heading in that direction.

My car was important to me because mom bought it. It was her car until she got a better one, so she gifted me this. That was a month before the divorce. A month before her and Dad decided to live in different places. It broke my heart just to think of how a marriage could be ripped apart. 

Before I knew it, I had pulled in front of the park. Nina recognized my car and hopped off the swing set. I unlocked the car and she got in the front seat. Once she closed the door and I drove off, I noticed her mascara had streamed down her cheeks.

"Hey," I said tentatively. My heart broke for her.

"Hey," she replied. "Thanks for picking me up."

I just nodded.

"Hey, I have another dare for you."

I nearly swerved, but managed to tighten my grip on the wheel. I reminded myself that I had to do this, whatever it was. 

"Oh?" I said, my voice slightly rising.

"I thought about it while waiting for you. You have to do something to him at the soccer game tomorrow."

I stopped as a light turned red. In the glow of the streetlights, I turned to look at her. It looked like her hair was dyed red. "Why?"

"Because it's important to him!" She nearly shouted. "Don't you understand he has to pay?" She folded her hands neatly in her lap. "If you don't, that's okay. Maybe you don't realize what you have left to pay."

My stomach twisted, and it got a little more difficult to breath. "I-I know. It's just, I acted out for Stacie yesterday. I've been doing so much lately."

"Well, maybe it isn't enough," she snapped. "Nothing will undo what you've done."

I bit my lip as panic tried to creep into my thoughts. "I know."

She smirked. "Then tomorrow, you go. Go into the locker room and destroy his jersey."

"What?"

"You heard me. He keeps it in there and hardly ever washes it. Something about luck," she scoffed, wrinkling her nose. "Burn it, cut it, whatever. Make sure there's something left there so he knows that he didn't just misplace it, but that he lost it forever."

A car honked behind me. The light had turned green, so I began driving.

A few minutes later, I had dropped her off at her apartment building. She waved goodbye to me, her mood lifted. As I drove off, a sick feeling churned in my stomach. I didn't want to do this, but I had to. Nina and Stacie had a hold on me that I could never forget.

§

I considered missing school the next day. Yet, I found myself at lunch. Stacie and Nina sat across from me, chattering away. I had decided to get the deed over with towards the end of lunch. That way, no one would catch me. If they did, I would have hell to pay. People took sports seriously at my school. They took vandalism even more serious.

I barely touched my school lunch. After a while of staring at it and listening to my friends talk, I decided to just throw it away and get it over with. I nodded to them and they both smirked. I grabbed my food and threw it on the way out. Anxiety began to rise within me, but I tried to shove it down. My breathing became more rapid. My hands began to shake, and I dug my nails into my palms while I walked towards the boy's locker rooms.

After looking both ways, I crept inside. It smelt like deodorant and sweat. I wrinkled my nose while creeping towards the lockers. Nina said his locker was number 18. I finally found it and gulped in a breath. There were no cameras, but I still felt like there were. I felt like I was about to get caught. Nonetheless, I yanked open the unlocked locker. I wasn't sure why some people didn't bother to use the locks provided to them. If they did, maybe this wouldn't have to happen.

I pulled the lighter out of my pocket. My hand with the lighter shook as I pinched the jersey with two fingers. It smelt disgusting. I lit the pocket lighter and inched it closer to the horrible-smelling jersey. Eventually, it caught fire. I watched as flames spread. I finally let it go and stomped out the small bit that was on fire. It wouldn't go out, so I reached into the bag on my back and pulled out a water bottle. I poured it onto the jersey and stared at the charred remains before picking to up and placing it back in the locker. 

I placed the lighter back in my pocket and let out a shallow breath. I couldn't believe I had just set a jersey on fire. I had destroyed something that meant so much to someone else, and I hated it. I knew why I had to do it, but I still despised it. In a way, I despised myself. I hated who I had become.

"What the hell?"

I whipped around and was momentarily frozen by shock. A boy around my age stood in front of me. He had light brown hair and his dark eyes held suspicion and anger. I recognized his accent as Australian.

"Um, this isn't what it looks like," I stupidly said.

He raised an eyebrow. 

I realized I hadn't closed the locker. I took a step back, and he took a step forward.

"Why are you in Nick's locker?"

I held my hands in front of me. "Look, why don't we both leave and forget this ever happened?"

He shook his head.

"What are you doing here, anyways?"

He laughed harshly. "Me? I was practicing during lunch. What the hell are you doing here?"

I dropped my hands back to my sides. I couldn't think. I couldn't breath. I couldn't stop panicking. "Look, I-I need to go."

I tried to take a step forward, but he shook his head. 

"You're going to be in a lot of trouble just for being in here. Now, show me what you did to his locker."

I balled my hands into fists to keep them from shaking. "No."

"No?"

"No,"I repeatedly softly.

Suddenly, the door to the locker room flew open. An angry girl wearing a hijab walked over to the boy. "August, I swear, you can't just disappear like that! Did you not remember my lunch was in your bag?"

The boy shrugged.

The girl turned to look at me. "Are you tormenting this poor girl?"

August rolled his eyes. "She's the one who did something to my teammate's locker!"

The girl looked at me. 

I bit my lip and let out a breath. I stepped away from the locker and held out a hand. "Look at it. I don't care anymore." I didn't. In that moment, I just wanted everything to go away. I was going to be suspended. No, expelled.

The girl's eyes softened. "Are you okay?"

No one had thought to ask me that sincerely. "No." If I couldn't be honest with my friends, who could I be honest with? "It doesn't matter. I deserve what I have coming to me."

The girl held out her hand. "Maybe all you need is a friend."

August's eyes flickered with recognition. "Aren't you friends with Nick's girlfriend?"

"Ex-girlfriend," I corrected.

The girl waved her hand in the air. "I'm Kalila."

I hesitantly stepped forward and shook her hand. "I'm Kiley."

She smiled as she dropped her hand back to her side. "See, August, not everyone is your enemy."

"We still don't know what she did."

I pointed at the locker, which was still open. "Take a look. I know you'll report me."

August walked over to the locker and pulled out the burned jersey. He gasped as shame overcame me.

Kalila frowned. "Why would you burn it?"

"He hurt my friend. He cheated," I said honestly.

She shook her head. "Cheaters are horrible. Aren't they, August?"

He grimaced and threw the jersey back in the locker before closing it. "I guess, but it's still wrong to burn a jersey."

I turned to leave, but Kalila spoke.

"We won't tell on you. Right, August?"

He grumbled a response that I couldn't hear.

"Hey, at least you were standing up for a friend," Kalila said. "If you need anything, let me know. I'll be there if you need a friend. I don't really have any, either."

I smiled softly. "Thank you." If she knew what I had done, she wouldn't want to be my friend. No one would. That's why Nina and Stacie were right. That's why I had to do everything they said. "Thank you for being so nice."

I walked out of that locker room wondering if either of them would tell.

_____

So, chapter 2! Thoughts? Should I continue?

What do you think of August? Of Kalila? Do you think Kiley's right to think the way she is? To continue to follow Nina and Stacie?

-Sarah