hey guys!

i'm really sorry I haven't posted since january which is really stupid and most of you have probably stopped reading because of it :(

im really sorry, ive honestly been just writing my chapters on word and not bothering to upload them here !!

on the other hand, enjoy the chapter !

while I just sit here during class listening to heat waves :))

- bree

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All the girls in front of me wear the exact same uniform: a cropped long-sleeved shirt and shorts that look so small and tight they might as well be boy trunks. But, of course, way hotter.

The black crops read 'ELITE' on them in big, glittery purple letters. Every other dancer has their hair up in a ponytail, a quick job of their makeup done and are wearing designer runners.

Serena stares at me with a look of disbelief on her face as she takes in my clothing choice. She shakes her head and mutters something under her breath, then chucks me a pair of tights from her bag.

"You can change in the teachers' lounge." she orders. I nod my head and duck into the room, emerging after a minute and waiting for her next order.

She sighs. "I'll see how fast you can learn first. Position upstage left, if you know stage directions."

Finally, the horror of participating in the school play has come to my advantage. As I step into position, she presses play on her phone and music blares from the speaker. Instantly I recognise the song to be 'More than you know' by Axwell & Ingrosso, a song I was obsessed with a few years ago.

All the girl's hands shoot into the air at the exact same time, delicately fluttering down to their side again. I hurry to match the technique.

"Sarah, posture!" Serena barks. "Head to the side, Bec!"

I saw it coming, from miles away

Everyone steps forward, then back, crouching down and then twirling on the spot. My movements are a few seconds delayed, but that's expected from someone who's never properly danced before, right?

I better speak up if I got something to say

Her bitter gaze watches the team; I have to hand it to her; she really has an eye for these things. Her stare travels to me, her face forming a look of frustration. Or maybe I wasn't as great as I thought. I focus on the next few moves, really concentrating on all the 'suggestions' Serena yells out.

'Cause it ain't over, until she sings

"Carrie, back!"

You had your reasons, you had a few

"Use your shoulders, Carrie!"

But you knew that I would go anywhere for you

"Carrie! Point your toes."

'Cause it ain't over, until she sings

We all repeat the same move from before.

I just need-

Serena hits pause on her iPhone, and everyone inside freezes. Eventually her gaze lingers on me. She scrunches up her nose at me. "Maybe you'd be better just watching for this lesson."

Rebecca gives me an encouraging smile, but it's still so humiliating. I head over to the front, and she passes me her iPhone. "Watch and learn," she says. "And you can control the music for today. Observe the beat that we move to, which means watch and focus." Serena says the last bit to me like I'm a little kid, and I grit my teeth in response.

She strolls back to the front. "Again!" I assume this is code for me to start the song, and I press play. I watch the dancers, their dance is so beautiful, but I also notice Serena, nodding at the Elite approvingly. I grit my teeth even harder. I can't afford to be kicked out of this; I don't even know if I've been accepted. Rage of all the things she's done to me in the past fills my body, and an idea pops into my head. A very cunning plan.

As soon as I know she's not looking and won't be for a while, I head to the app store and download an app, an illegal one, that I know of thanks to David working at a phone repair store. Even though he doesn't have the slightest clue to anything when it comes to technology.

After it's downloaded, I hit some buttons on the app and set the background status for the app to invisible. According to my calculations, this should all blow up in three, two, one-

Kidding. About another thirteen minutes before it takes effect, right before practice ends.

I drift off, staring but not really staring at the such fascinating ceiling, how it's all painted the same amazing white colour...

"Carrie. Carrie!" I shake my head, looking back over to her. My thumb hovers over the pause button. "I said pause." she groans, like I aren't good for anything.

"Sorry." I pause it. She stares at me for a second, as if debating between a decision. Serena turns towards the team and yells, "Water break!" and then heads over to me. She has a fake I'm so sorry you didn't make the team look on her face. Oh no. Maybe I'm too late. I brace myself for the cut-down.

But instead, Serena screams and drops her phone on the ground, earning a few cracks in response.

Some of the girls rush up. "What happened?"

"I don't know, my phone just like...broke." A worried expression now sits on her face. "I had a lot of things on there I need back."

This was my cue. "Why don't you go to the phone repair shop at Brooksway? My brother works there, and I'm sure I could get you a discount."

I watch her face light up at this. I know all too well about this. Rich privileged girls just love the idea of coupons and discounts, for some reason. "How much?"

On this I exaggerate a bit. Or a lot. "About two-thousand." I say casually, like just listening to this price doesn't make my ears bleed.

She nods appreciatively. So yeah, this is how their brains work: expensive: quality. Discount: Special. Special: GET NOW. "Looks like you are good for something." She turns so she's facing all of us. "Friday. After school. Four O'clock sharp."

I can't help but smile proudly at her words. Looks like I'm on the team.

After school and dumbing my bag on the cabinet next to the door, I head straight for David's room. Flinging open his door, I'm greeted with nothing except his horrible taste in shoes and a chocolate wrapper lying on the floor. Great. He's probably hanging out with some of his friends of going to 'Netflix and chill' with a girl. Not that I'm surprised, of course.

I end up making a green mango smoothie while I wait for him to return home. I flop on the couch, grabbing a magazine out of my bag and start to read. I'm going to need to start working out one of these days. Just not now. I'm too lazy.

Thankfully I have a naturally skinny figure anyway.

As I turn the page, I notice there's a section about maintaining a skinny body. How coincidental. When I take a closer look, it consists of standing on those weird vibrating thingies. Eh. It doesn't look like it works, to be honest.

About half an hour later, I hear voices outside the door. Finally. I fold up my magazine, placing it on my shelf and coming back. I grab the handle of the door, about to turn it to let him in, when I hear something else that'll make this all more interesting.

"Yeah, man, that was awesome." I hear, a voice I don't recognise.

"Did you see the look on her face when she realised her phone was missing?" Another says, and they all crack up. I freeze. Did I just hear them right? Are they stealing phones?

"Hey, David!" I peek through the pop hole and watch as David looks over at him, waiting for his response. He looks kind of scared. Now I'm scared. Who are these people?

I slip my phone out of my pocket to take pictures of their face, just in case.

One of them looks like David, only with light brown hair. Another is a pretty short guy, about the same height as Jax. The last one is the phone who scares me, and David, too apparently. There's just something about his sandy blonde hair and his face. He might as well have scars all over his face, but it's sort of perfect. And I think that's what scares me the most.

I watch on in shock as sandy hair guy hands David a large wad of money. "Keep it up," he says in a tone that makes me think he's warning me David's coming inside. Does he know I'm watching?

I run to my room and grab out the magazine again and jump on my bed, my heart pounding. I wait till I hear the front door close and David's 'friends' drive away, then jump out of my bed. "David." I say in a threating tone. "What is wrong with you?"

I've caught him right in the middle of him trying to put the money in his wallet. He looks up casually. "What are you talking about, Carrie?" he sighs tiredly. "I don't have time for your games."

My jaw drops. He's a good liar, I'll give him that. "Stop shitting me, David." He looks stunned at my unusual use of language, then changes to an amused look. "I heard everything."

I'm expecting something from him – yelling, even just getting nervous – but he just looks tired and annoyed.

"Jesus, Carrie. I haven't done anything wrong, and I don't know what you're going on about." He turns around and walks towards his bedroom door. He twists his hand on the handle, and I start to think I'll never prove him wrong, but them it comes to me.

"Wait." I pull my phone out of my pocket.

He gives me a dirty look. "What?"

I smile smugly at him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I think you'll want to see this." I hit a button on my phone, and then go onto my photos app, flipping through all the pictures I got of him and his 'friends'.

"Fine." he says. "You got me. But," now he shrugs smugly at me, "you can't prove it."

I tilt my head to the side. "You'd let me hand these photos to the police, along with the faces of your friends?"

He shrugged again. "They're not my friends."

'Well," I tap a button on my phone again. "I think this may change your mind."

"Fine. You got me." David's voice plays out from my phone. I pause it.

He stares at me. I stare at him. He groans. "God, what do you want me to do? Admit it to the police? Ruin my life?"

I laugh at him. "Stop being so dramatic. I just need a favour."

"So you're blackmailing me?"

"Yup."

He glares at me. "Fine. What do you want?"

I smile sweetly. He'll never really know.

Tuesday afternoon. I head out of Aldi with a bunch of supplies required for this to work: spearmint gum. I'm hungry enough, and good-tasting and healthy food are hard to find.

I make a sharp turn, avoiding a big family with a baby in their hands, and scan the huge shopping centre for the phone repair shop. It's aa tiny stall right in the middle of the mall, though most people usually walk past it. Finally spotting the store, I slide in through the gate and hop behind David, chewing on two pieces of gum at the same time.

"Hey," I said.

He grumbles. "Bye."

I ignore his rudeness. "When Serena finally turns up, I'm going to stand here, my back to her. I'll pretend I'm repairing something."

"Okay." He starts clicking on the computer. I sigh, pulling the company t-shirt on and clipping a random name tag on.

"This is boring." I complain. "Can't you at least talk to me?"

"Nope."

I shove him, then entertain myself with the little wires on the desk. Out of nowhere, David grabs my arm.

"What?" I ask, dumbfounded.

"You were just about to make a little explosion on the desk here."

Huh. He actually does know a little about technology. Or wires.

Immediately my brain has a heart attack. He knows so much about wires, but not devices? What if he's stolen cars before? I try to focus on the people coming into the store, instead of listening to all the possibilities my mind is spinning up.

David isn't the person I thought he was. He's worse.

I clear my throat and ask David for a cap to wear, and he hands me one with the store's logo. I twirl my hair into a high bun, then place the cap on the top. There. She shouldn't recognise me now.

Another ten minutes pass, leaving half an hour until the store closes. Just as I start to get worried she isn't coming, I see her coming out of a clothing store with a bunch of paper bags slung around her arms. I kick David's leg and turn around so I'm facing the back of the store. I place a mirror next to my work so I can see exactly what happens.

I watch as David looks around, and that flirty expression appears on his face. I just mentally shake my head. If all this goes wrong because he throws a few pick-up lines...

Serena throws her handbag on the counter. "Hey. You must be David."

He leans forward. "That's me. And you are...?" I roll my eyes. I know very well that he knows what her name is.

She smiles. "Serena. But you can call me Seren."

"Ah. And I'm assuming you're here for a phone repair? And maybe that's not it." I cringe as he hints the obvious. I'm going to kill him if he screws that up.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she smirks, bringing her face closer to his.

He chuckles. "Aren't you something?"

Serena almost beams, as though he's praising her. "Anyway, my phone, like, blew up. And I need it fixed."

He takes her phone from the counter, inspecting it. "What did you do?"

She gapes playfully, slapping his arm. "Shut up!"

When her eye flicks over to my mirror, I turn away from it as fast as possible, avoiding her stare. Shit, I think she saw me. When she looks back at him, I sneak a look at her. She has a confused look, like she's having a hard time placing me. That's at least good.

Suddenly her phone flicks on, like he'd just powered it up. I want to bury my face in my hands. He couldn't have taken it faster, couldn't he? He's officially screwed it up. Anger flares in my chest.

David notices the screen and places a hand over it, but she's already seen it. "Uh, I think my phone's fine. That's weird. False alarm. Sorry."

"We can still run a background check to see what's caused it, find out the problem."

"That'll be fine." she smiles, taking it back. "Might as well save the money."

Since when does Serena understand the importance of money?

I can see David's mind racing, looking for opportunities to take her phone. "Uh...well, that doesn't have to end our conversation, does it?" He slides his hand up her arm.

She laughs. "You're cute when you're desperate." I sigh, relieved. She thinks it's desperation.

"Is that a yes?"

She slides her tongue over her bottom lip with a hint of a smile. "What did you have in mind?"

David leans closer, whispering something in her ear. A faint blush crawls up her cheek, making my stomach turn over. Hurry up! I don't want to watch this any longer than I have to.

When I see her smile, that kind of smile, I had no choice but to stop looking at the risk of projectile vomiting and a serious stroke. I felt even more sick when I realised I was witnessing my brother say these things to a girl. What's next, talking about my father's non-existent sex life?

I pull my phone out from my pocket to occupy myself. I checked Instagram, barely noticing the tons of likes I had gotten since I last checked my account. It seems pretty normal now, though I didn't skip the pride that came over me every single time I saw these new likes. Of course, it sounds stupid, with teachers always going on about how it doesn't matter, but of course it does. It's where you realise how much people like you, even if they're too scared to say it to your face. It's where you find out how many people actually notice you, and who really cares about you. It's basically the summary of your social life.

I scrolled down my feed, double tapping on a few posts on some of the girl's I recognised but stopped when I came to a picture of Hunter. He had his arm around a girl, not just 'some girl', that girl, and was leaning into each other. I don't deny the hurt and pain that stabs my chest. How could he be with a girl who he knows will cheat on him? How could he be that damn outright stupid?

I let out a frustrated sigh and jump a little when I realise David's standing right next to me. "What's wrong?" he asks, looking concerned. Surprisingly. "Boyfriend troubles?" His teasing smile breaks out and I shove him, cursing myself for being that stupid to think he could care.

"Is she gone?" I ask but look around to see for myself. "You couldn't have just done what I'd asked, could you? You just had to ruin it."

"I didn't ruin it. She's coming over next Sunday."

I sigh frustratingly. "And now I have to wait another week. When it could have happened today!"

"Chill out. Jeez."

I shake my head. "Whatever. You'd better not screw up this time."

When we get home, I find father chatting with someone at the front door. She sees me and says goodbye to him, walking off to her car. She gives me a polite smile as she passes me.

"Who's that?" I ask, suspicious and almost resentful. He hears the irritation in my voice and clears his throat. "Nobody, just someone from work."

Someone from work? Something doesn't sit right here. I nod anyway and he lets me through the door. I throw my bad on the cabinet, same as always, and find an envelope with my name on it in the pile of mile. I pick it up.

"Is this from today?"

"Hm? Yes, came today." Father barely looks over; he's distracted by his phone. I roll my eyes and head to my room, landing on my bed. For the first time in a long time, I'm almost bored. My life has changed so much in the last few weeks it feels like I've been living a movie. But now, it feels back to normal.

All the popularity doesn't excite me that much anymore. I try rereading one of my favourite books but it's hard. It feels like the words have changed, and it takes me a real effort to keep reading. I give up on the second page. Taking out my phone, I check my messages. Nothing new since half-an hour ago. The percentage is almost dead, so I plug it into a charger and turn it off.

Remembering the envelope, I rip it open and stare at the words swimming on the page.

Dear Mr/Miss Evans,

We regret to inform you that an item you ordered recently has come into our warehouse damaged. Defilements include: a small tear to the back cover, creases running through multiple pages and a blunt bottom-right corner (Image is attached below). We take full responsibility for the damages inflicted on your order and offer for another completely new copy to be delivered.

However, this action could take months to fulfil since our headquarters are currently in quarantine, and we would like to present you with a generous offer of $15.99 instead of the original price $19.99.

Please contact us if you decide you would prefer another copy by your original maximum delivery date of your order and we will gracefully comply. Thank you for your patience.

Kind regards,

Diane Rodgers

DiscorveryReads Bookstore

I flip over to the back page where a picture of a brutally ruined book sits. The same one I've been waiting for six months now. This day doesn't get any better, does it?

I check the discounted price again. Fifteen dollars? Gee, thanks, DiscoveryReads. I'd be saving four whole dollars. So generous. As if I'd choose that option for a book as damaged as that. Guess I won't be ordering from this book shop ever again.

I flop onto my bead, staring at the ceiling. I presume by being one of the cool group, I should be out and about now. Going to parties. Going out with people. Texting. Shopping. Anything but getting upset about a novel and lying on my bed, bored and talking to myself. Cool.

I trudge out to the cupboard and have a sudden craving for junk food. As my hand grasps the jar of biscuits, I remember my pact to myself to stop eating like this. It kills me to drop the tin and take out a bowl of salad instead. Pulling out a chair, somehow it only now comes to me that be skinny, I probably have to exercise. Exercise? Such a foreign expression, the only thing that comes to mind is running. I hold my nose as I shovel foods like avocado and mushrooms inside my mouth. The avocado makes a sickening crunch as I chew, forcing it down. Okay, as much as I hate to, back to exercise. Making a face at my own thoughts, I do a quick google search.

Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes for me to finally find a helpful website. Under the headline, it details of morning workouts to do every day. Though, I think to myself, it's past the morning now, so I guess I don't have to do anything yet.

I smile at my crappy excuse and head over to my room, book in hand as always.