Everyone should know this. You can't prove a negative fact.

"You didn't do it?" Rosie Geld snarled. "Prove it!"

You can only prove positives that provide you with an alibi for the negative. I was not there because I was somewhere else. Use a positive to prove a negative.

"You did it, you fat slut. The entire school knows you did it."

But without an alibi, without a positive to dismiss the negative... You can't prove shit.

"Let me go, Rosie!" Audrey Hart tried to yank her hair out of the vice-like grip of the queen bee. "I told you I didn't do it. Those are just stupid high school rumors. You should know that better than anyone."

Rosie's grip only tightened. "Martin saw you. He was there, in their lockers, when you went in, you disgusting whore!"

Audrey tried to escape, but she'd already put up a fight and had been pushed around by Rosie's clique.

Miranda, Donna, Lexi, Ava.

Martin, Davey, Lucas, Antoine.

It's funny how some moments in life stay ingrained in your memory forever. Little details that don't matter stick with you and, as much as you try, you can't forget them.

What certain people wore, exactly what they said, how it smelled, how it made you feel.

Rosie's pink dress was just one shade darker than her highlights. She had a golden necklace on, the sapphire the exact color of her eyes. And with her bared teeth and upturned nose, she looked like a vicious pig. Her pupils were dilated, her breathing heavy. Her words poison.

"You sucked his dick!" Her holler was joined by a sharp thrust of her hand.

Audrey's head hit the bathroom tiles again. Her vision blurred and the smell of industrial sanitizer filled her nostrils. Her eyes, her throat, her soul... Everything burned.

"I didn't do it," she choked out.

"Yes. You. Did." Every word was another thrust against the tiles, another kick in the stomach from Lexi, another slap across the face from Miranda.

"Slut!"

"Whore!"

"Traitor!"

"How dare you?" Rosie raged. "He's my boyfriend!"

Was, Rosie. The past tense would've been obvious to any self-respecting woman. But not to you. Not to someone stupid enough to request the proof of a negative.

But at this point, Audrey had lost any and all abilities to reason. She hadn't heard the rumor before being cornered, after class, in the second floor bathroom of Petraka Academy by queen bee Rosie Geld and her posse. She didn't know she'd need an alibi, so she didn't have one.

Whether she'd really gone into the boys' locker room and provided oral services to the entire football team, like the rumor claimed, was irrelevant. Why Rosie wasn't screeching like hell's bells at her boyfriend was also irrelevant.

What did matter was that her weakness, the surprise, her desire to escape the pain, made her stupid. It made her bargain with terrorists.

We never bargain with terrorists.

"Look." Ava crouched next to her, an understanding smile on her face. "Just admit it and we'll leave you alone. It's not such a big deal. We're juniors. I don't think there's one person in this bathroom who hasn't done it."

Audrey whimpered and rose her blackened eyes to this sliver of kindness. One of them was closing and probably looked like hell. The other was filled with tears and morphed everything around her. It gave Ava sharp, hellish features. It made Rosie look even more like a pig.

"The real problem," Ava continued, "is that you won't admit what you've done to your girls. We're supposed to be honest and look after each other. There's a girl code, too."

Any normal girl, especially Audrey Hart, who wasn't an idiot, would've seen through that. They weren't friends. Not since the start of high school when Rosie's father was elected senator and she rose miles above everyone else. Not since her entire clique was made out of the sons and daughters of rising politicians.

They weren't enemies either. Not until that night.

But Audrey forgot. Audrey was so desperate for relief, to just be left alone, that she forgot. Forgot she and Rosie were no longer friends, forgot the one golden rule.

"Okay," she breathed. "I did it. Now could you please leave me alone?"

"Did what?" Donna asked. "Ava, move out of the way so I can get a good shot."

"Yes, say it," Rosie growled. "What did you do?"

"I... I sucked Rod's... thing."

Ah yes, Rod.

Rod.

He deserves a special place in hell and on this list.

Rosie and Rod. Rod and Rosie.

Of course there was much giggling at her inability to use the actual word, but even in her despair, Audrey was a lot classier than Rosie would ever be.

But you see, it no longer mattered. Because Audrey broke the rule.

We never negotiate with terrorists.

The girls finally pulled back, a look of glee on all their faces. Except for Rosie who still pouted as she kicked Audrey hard in the gut one last time. Then they all gathered around Donna's phone and watched. Audrey's whiny voice filled the bathroom as she admitted she'd done what she hadn't.

"We should've made her say cock," Miranda said, scrunching her nose in displeasure. "Let's shoot it again."

Audrey just curled into a ball and hugged her knees.

"Oh, no," Ava said, already sending the video to all their phones. "It would looked forced. Hart doesn't have the heart to use grownup words."

Rosie wasn't satisfied. She still frowned. And when she walked back to Audrey, she curled tighter around herself.

"You're dead," Rosie said between her teeth. "Your social life is dead. No one will ever talk to you in this school again. Get ready to eat all your lunches in here. I should make you scrub your blood off the tiles. And if you ever breathe anything about this, you'll be literally dead. My father knows people. And there's no way I'll be getting in trouble over a piece of worthless shit like you."

Rosie Geld was mostly right, of course. Not that Audrey would have told. For one thing, no one would have believed her. Rosie had four people with her who could easily provide her with an alibi. Audrey had nothing but blood and bruises and a shattered soul.

So she made no move, didn't let out a sound to stop them as they left. She stayed in that bathroom for hours. Since it was the end of classes and the janitor was particularly lazy that day, no one found her.

It took hours for her to finally move, drag her aching bones to the classroom across the hallway, walk to the window and stare into the darkness. It looked inviting. It looked like an escape.

I don't have to describe what happened next. You can all guess. Rosie Geld had been right. Audrey Hart was already dead. She just took the final step to make that happen.

What's the lesson here? There isn't really one. Anyone can be weakened by assault, by unexpected violence. Fear creates monsters, but it sometimes creates weakness as well.

Audrey wasn't weak. Audrey wasn't stupid. She fought back at first, she shouted, she pointed out how profoundly stupid the entire situation was. She argued that Rosie had no proof and everyone's innocent until proven guilty.

It didn't matter. She was destroyed. She broke her own rules. She gave in to the terrorists' demands and suffered for it.

I won't.

I don't negotiate with terrorists.

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