Kailee Bennett “I bet she cried and pleaded with Sienna to take it down” “She probably promised her lunch money or something” “Or she probably cried to a teacher and told them to tell Sienna to take it down. Fat girl tears always work” I wanted to scream ‘I’m walking right past you gossip machines and I can hear you!’ but I knew they wouldn’t even care and they were probably talking about me so loudly because I was walking past them You’d think the rumors would die down as the picture was taken down, nope, people just started speculating why it could have been taken down But who can blame them, they just lost their only source of entertainment Charlotte had gone home early but I hung around. Being in school was better than going back to a house that felt empty even when people were there Plus, I’d hate if anyone figured out Ryder was my step brother because they noticed we used the same routes home I slipped back into the auditorium. I might as well try to rehea

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Kailee Bennett Oh no! Was someone watching all along? Did Sienna come to take another picture so she could humiliate me all over again? A lot of questions ran through my mind as I opened my eyes. I looked around but there was no one else but Ryder and I in the auditorium I turned to ask Ryder if he heard the shutter sound too but he was smiling at his phone. I went closer to him and stood on my toes to see what he smiling at It was a picture of us. He had taken a picture while he kissed my neck Was the kiss just a distraction? “Ryder, what the fuck?” I breathed out, my hands on my waist, my brows furrowed He looked away from his phone and looked down at me, his lips curving into a wide smile He tilted his head, slightly amused. “Why are you standing like that?” “Why did you take a picture of me without my consent? Are you going to give this to Sienna to post it on the internet? Wait, are you the one who gave out our location on the bleachers so she could

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Kailee Bennett The post was blowing up as more and more people kept commenting and liking the post. Hold up. Is that who I think it is? No way Ryder actually posted someone?? Man got a girlfriend? What did detention do to you, bro Wait… is that Kailee?? She looks so pretty omg ngl this is kinda cute… didn’t think he had it in him This is actually really cute. Didn’t expect this from Ryder of all people lol My face broke from a little smile to a wide grin as I read the comments and the replies I don’t know how but they were no hate comments towards me, and that was really suspicious but it made me feel good For once, I let myself believe that it was all in my head—my size, the way I felt I looked— maybe I was letting my bullies define me and blurring my own vision of myself I couldn’t deny that I still had a problem. Ryder was now bringing me into the limelight and I was used to being invisible. Was I okay with this change? Maybe this was what being seen

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Kailee Bennett His hands trailed up my arm from my wrist while my eyes were on his He ran his hand through my hair, his brows twitching like he hadn’t expected it to be that soft. His hand cupped my chin, stroking my face. I found myself tilting to his touch. Fuck. It was good His touch had a way of breaking every bone in my body and giving me this feeling of calmness “Besides,” he added, “I can’t have people picking on my ‘girlfriend’. It’d ruin my street cred” He bent his fingers in mid air when he said girlfriend, adding air quotes to the word. Oh And there it was. Reality kicked me back to earth. So if we weren’t fake dating for the deal, he’d let people pick on me? I rubbed my arm, trying to chase away the chill that came with that realization. I don’t know what I was even thinking or expecting Why did I let myself think that he actually cared? I seem to want attention and care so bad that it leads me to misunderstand things Why would someone—e

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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Beneath The Act: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 14

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14