The hallway was louder than usual on Monday. Not with voices, but with eyes. Everyone was watching Molly.
Because over the weekend, someone had posted a video.
A grainy clip of Molly walking out of the party looking shell-shocked. Captioned:
"The queen just got dethroned. Guess even rich girls get their hearts broken."
And that was enough for rumours to explode.
Some said Jessica dumped her.
Some said Adam found out.
Some said she walked in on a threesome and lost it.
Molly didn't say a word.
Jessica saw her at her locker, and the ache in her chest nearly took her down.
She didn't want to care.
Didn't want to still want her.
But she did.
Especially when Molly turned and looked at her - just for a second- like she was both the fire and the burn.
It all snapped at lunch.
Jessica was walking past Mollys table when Samantha muttered, "bet you're loving this. All the attention, all the chaos. You always wanted to be centre stage, right?"
Jessica stopped dead. "You got something to say?"
Samantha stood. "I think you know exactly what you're doing. You've been playing her since day one."
"Careful" Jessica growlers "I bite."
Moly stood too; voice sharp. "Enough. Both of you"
Jessica's eyes flicked to her. "Control your friend, Molly."
"She's not wrong." Molly said coldly. "You made your choice."
Jessica flinched. "Right. Because you were ever really an option."
Murmurs rippled through the room. Phones came out. A teacher shouted from across the cafeteria - but neither of them moved.
They just stood there, breathing hard, eyes locked, until Jake physically dragged Jessica out of the room.