Tommy

I got out of the shower and headed to my bedroom to change, rubbing a towel over my hair. My phone buzzed relentlessly on my bed with messages.

I decided to ignore them. All I'd been getting since yesterday were disgusting jokes and memes about Diana and Amy. And when Harry accidentally opened his big mouth and told Lucas, everything escalated.

Why was he always such a blabbermouth? He used to call me the tattletale.

I ran downstairs once I was ready. Harry came after me, yawning tiredly, his mouth stretched wide open. With a smile, I stuck my elbow inside. He stopped yawning and his eyes popped open.

"Tommy!" He tried to punch me as I laughed.

Diana came down, a strange smile on her face. After yesterday, I thought she'd be beyond angry. She didn't even tell our parents what happened, which I found pretty weird. Wouldn't she want us to get grounded or something?

"See you, Mom!" I went to the door.

"Bye, Dad!" Harry yelled.

"Be careful!"

"Don't get thrown off!"

"We won't," Harry snickered, making me laugh.

We didn't expect the driver to literally kick Diana off the bus. All we did was toss her an orange. But if we didn't do something, that girl would've told her everything, and the whole bus would be there for it. We didn't mean for it to go that far.

But we were definitely not getting off with her, especially in front of everyone.

One look at her on the first day of school was enough to spread so many rumors. All in one day. This was exactly why we didn't want her here.

Hopefully, if we kept pushing her around, she'd decide to leave. I'd been counting on her quitting on the first day, but she was a lot more resilient than we thought.

We got on the bus and ignored the whispers and giggles, slumping in our seats. It was best not to feed it. In school, I received the same looks. Yesterday, people had looked at me with shock, confusion, mischief, and pity. Today, it was all sort of... weird smiles and giggles.

Everything was a joke now. The ultimate gossip of the year.

Entering my Honors Art History class, I put down my bag, sitting in the desk I chose yesterday. My phone continued buzzing in my pocket.

I sighed. I'd have to face it sooner or later.

Reluctantly, I pulled it out and went into the FamiliarFaces app. My notifications were flooded and my inbox was overflowing. Bruh, did they have to be so obsessed with this?

Shirley Heffer reacted to your story.

Jason Diver commented on your post.

Lucas Flynn commented on your post.

I frowned. I hadn't posted in a while.

When I clicked on the post, I received the shock of my life. I could feel the color draining from my face.

What. The. F—

"Hey, Field," someone whispered behind me. I turned, meeting eyes filled with laughter. "Could you send me those pictures later?" he said. "Where'd you get stuff that good?"

I huffed and ignored him, returning to the post. Endless comments were posted below, from my family, friends...

Oh, God. Shirley.

Jason Diver: I want someee

Lucas Flynn: (laughing emoji) I wonder what @amythearchitect would say about this... maybe ask her copy lol

Sonya Wellingsly: Tommy... if u need to talk, u can just text me. Dont go down this path pls... tell me u got hacked or something

Kurt Wellingsly: Tommy WTH??? I dont want to judge u but did u have to post it?

Amelia Weber: People, its obvious he got hacked. Relax. @tomarthurfield pls see this and report it

I looked through the list. I soon found a post from Harry, which I was tagged in. Dread filled me when I saw similar screenshots on his wall, as well, with a caption thanking me for 'sending him the link'. I'd never let him see this! He'd blab it all over the place!

I quickly went to my messages. Lots of my family members were asking me if I was hacked, while others were begging me to stop the habit. Guys from the football team, Shirley's friends, everyone was going crazy.

And Shirley...

She sent a long voice message, but I couldn't play it here. Maybe I had some earbuds in my backpack...

I bent down, leaving my phone on my desk, and looked for them. I finally found them buried under my books and pulled them out. When I reached for my phone, it was gone.

"Tommy, how could you do this to me?!"

I whirled around, finding the guy behind me holding my phone. He held it up as Shirley's message played at full volume. "I knew you didn't want me! I knew there was something wrong when I asked you..."

I was frozen. I couldn't move. I wanted to snatch the phone away, to punch the guy in the face, to do something. But I couldn't.

Everyone in the classroom murmured and reacted quietly as they listened to Shirley's sobbing rant, her tone seeping with desolation and anger. I soon managed to unlock my limbs and reach for the phone, but the guy stood from his desk and backed away.

"Give me my phone!" I went after him and grabbed him by the shirt. After a bit of struggle, I finally grabbed it, but the message filled with screams and curses was only a few seconds shy of being done.

I looked around at my staring classmates and stopped the message. Quietly, I moved to my seat and put away my earbuds, stuffing my phone in my pocket. My entire body shivered with goosebumps, despite my temperature rising to the point that my skin burned.

The silence was broken by the final bell. Everyone got into their seats and waited for the teacher. All the while, they glanced at me, whispers and murmurs echoing through the room.

The teacher came in a couple of minutes later, oblivious to the class atmosphere. "Good morning, everyone." We listened to morning announcements and said the Pledge before she started the class. "Everyone take out their books and turn to page 10."

I slowly reached into my backpack and pulled out my textbook. I blankly watched the teacher as she narrated instructions.

What just happened to my life?

Was it Kyle? No... he didn't know my password. Neither did Jack. And Harry wouldn't have doomed himself like that...

How would Diana do this? She never touched my desk drawers. I always told her they were off-limits.

Unless she did...

I kept my phone under my desk as I glanced between it and the teacher, opening the story posted on my profile. It was posted at 8:13 PM. What was I doing...? I was playing PS5 with the guys, right? She could've done something.

I put away my phone, clenching my jaw. This girl wasn't going to quit school. She was going to make our lives more and more miserable the longer she was with us.

We needed to make her leave. But would everything we did come with revenge? Would she just pay us back and continue coming to school?

We were trapped.

~~~

Diana

I decided to sit with Thelma and Kate again. This time, the girls brought their own lunches while I had a tray, having decided to try it out of curiosity.

"So you did it? They're not actually into that stuff?" Thelma laughed.

"Well, Harry isn't. I got those pictures from Tommy." I took a bite out of my school hamburger. The minute it touched my tongue, nausea hit my stomach and I spit the whole thing out. The two girls laughed loudly, annoying the students sitting near us.

"This is disgusting!" I exclaimed.

"Told ya!" Kate laughed.

"I should've listened." I pulled my paper bag out of my backpack, pushing the lunch tray away.

"Anyways... how did Tommy's girlfriend react?" Thelma asked.

"I th-thought Harry had the g-girlfriend."

"No, it's Tommy. Harry's the 'single pringle'."

"That's right," I laughed. "And I haven't seen her reaction. Probably hilarious. Honestly, I'm doing the guy a favor. She's toxic."

"That was so... I don't know. Daring. You really know how to stand up for yourself."

"You mess with me, I'll mess with you more."

"R-remind me not to get on y-your bad s-side."

The rest of the day went on normally. People stared at me a bit less, but there were still plenty of students that gave me the same looks as yesterday. I kept my gaze forward, ignoring them all.

At the end of the day, I went to my locker and switched out my books to get rid of any extra weight. I turned around and instinctively leaned back, bumping into the lockers, when the two Field brothers appeared in front of me.

"Oh. Hi."

"Hi," Tommy said coldly.

"How was your second day?" Harry asked.

I quirked a brow, feigning confusion. "Fine?"

"You hear any new gossip with your friends?" Tommy asked.

I shrugged. "I dunno."

"Let me be more specific. Did you hear anything about us?"

"About you?"

"Yeah," Tommy continued. "Rumors say Harry and I posted some... inappropriate pictures on our FamiliarFaces page. But funnily enough, I haven't posted anything since last month."

"Me neither." Harry shrugged.

"Maybe you were hacked."

"Maybe." Tommy leaned on the locker next to me. "Or... a little rat snuck into our room and tweaked a few things on my computer."

"How do you know?"

"It's pretty obvious. Unless, of course, both our accounts happened to get hacked at exactly the same time, on the same day, after you got thrown off the bus."

I continued my innocent façade. "Okay. Maybe it was Kyle. Or Jack."

"They torture us, sure, but they would never do anything like that."

"The point is, we know you did it, okay?" Harry snapped.

I grinned. "Impressive, Holmes and Watson." I held up my hands. "Okay, I did it. So what?"

"So what? So everything!" Tommy yelled, catching some students' attention. Harry noticed and nudged him.

They looked around restlessly and headed to an open classroom across the hall. Tommy took me by the shoulder and pulled me along, preventing me from escaping. Despite his lanky frame, he was still stronger than me.

Harry closed the door behind us and Tommy continued his rant. "Shirley broke up with me, everyone's talking about us, our family saw it... you've literally ruined everything."

"Oh, get in line. If you didn't want something like this to happen, you shouldn't have humiliated me on the bus."

"Boo-hoo! Diana got teased on the bus!" Harry mimicked. "That's nothing compared to what you did to us!"

"It's not just because of that! All of you have treated me like trash since day one, and I've had enough!" I retorted.

"I thought you were used to it," Tommy said.

My voice momentarily left me. "Excuse me?"

"Isn't it true?"

Harry glanced between us. "Tommy..."

My rage reached new heights. It was so intense that I couldn't form any words. My hands shot out and shoved Tommy. He grunted, stepping back a few paces.

"Hey," Harry began.

"So because I've 'suffered worse', that gives you the right to treat me like this?! What kind of mentality are you guys... my God!" I shoved him again.

"We have the right because you ruined our lives the minute our parents took you in!" Tommy approached me angrily. We were only inches away from each other, rage radiating off the both of us.

"Why? Why are your lives so ruined because of me?!"

Harry closed his eyes, seemingly on the verge of bursting. "BECAUSE YOU'RE JUST LIKE-"

Tommy elbowed him in the stomach, cutting him off. "Look, we did what we did because you've already screwed us up. If you mess with us, we mess with you more. That's the rule."

The rising tension frightened me, but my anger won over. "I don't get what your problem is," I continued. "I know you don't want me with you, but I don't have a choice. I didn't ask to move in with you!"

"You could ask to move out, you know!"

"Why should I?"

"Tommy-"

"No, Harry."

"No? No what? What do you want to say, Harry?" I looked at the younger brother.

"Nothing! He's not saying anything." Tommy's eyes were on fire as he glared at him.

"Somebody will!"

"Harry, shut up."

"Someone has to-"

"SHUT UP!" Tommy shoved him. Harry tripped over one of the desks and fell with a crash, his backpack slipping off his shoulder. My hands flew to my mouth.

The loud volume and the sudden noise of Harry's fall kicked my heart up to 200 beats per minute. I backed away from Tommy, whose face immediately filled with regret. Harry stood, his face red. He silently picked the desk and his bag back up.

"Harry, I... I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I just-" He reached out. Harry pushed him away and yanked the classroom door open, storming away. "Harry, wait! I'm sorry!" Tommy moved to follow, then stopped. He sighed and leaned his forehead on the wall.

He looked at me. I flinched away, bracing myself for a similar or worse blow. I found myself screaming tearfully, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I did all that, I'm sorry, I promise I won't do it again, just please let me out!" I ran out of the classroom before he could say anything.

I thought I was safer with this family... maybe I was wrong.

Thoughts? Do you think Harry will tell Diana the truth?