𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒𝟔: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
Alaina had a limo waiting for her at the front door, of course, Damon had arranged for the ride instead of having her walk to the bus stop like the last time. It felt kind of cool coming into school on a fancy ride, but she didn't like the attention it brought. A crowd surrounded the courtyard as she stepped out, although, they were less concerned with her ride and more focused on something else.
Among the crowd were the people who'd mocked and insulted her, the ones who had bullied her from the beginning. At the front of it, leading the crowd, was the trio that hated her the most. She anticipated another plot and more mean comments, but they didn't appear to be hostile towards her. Just like before, they grabbed her and pulled her along inside towards the flat screen, only less against her will and without violence.
"Oh Alaina, come here." Miranda tugged Alaina's hand and pulled her towards the flat screen, the headline reading: "The Ugly Truth Behind Alaina Montez's Scandal: Setup by Best Friend Ellie Tsang!"
"Wait, it was . . . Ellie?" Alaina frowned as she read the text.
It was a shocking revelation to hear that Ellie was behind the setup, of all the people she would have expected, it was her friend. One of the few people she trusted at the academy, arguably the only one she trusted initially. It was hard to believe that someone as sweet as her could be capable of doing something so cruel to her, all while standing by and acting like she had no hand in it.
Amy hugged Alaina, squeezing her arm. "Poor Alaina . . . how could Ellie have done this to you?"
"There's a limit to how much you stab someone in the back," Miranda let out in exasperation.
Paige pushed Miranda out of her way and patted Alaina's shoulder. "It's all her fault that you suffered like that." Her words were dipped in sugar. "She's truly awful. Even we wouldn't do that. Honestly."
Alaina stood still, clearly uncomfortable with the false show of empathy. She turned to the trio as they criticized Ellie. "Hey, cut it out," she interrupted, taking a step back from the trio's fake consoling. "She may have done something horrible, but it doesn't mean you can say those things about her. I don't need to remind you of the things you've all done."
Her friendship with Ellie was genuine, she trusted that much. There just had to be a reason she thought she was doing the right thing setting Alaina up. She wasn't freeing her from blame though. It might have been naïve, but she believed in the best in people; she didn't want to rule out the fact that Ellie was still a good person deep down and that their friendship was real too. So she refused to stand for the judgment from people who didn't even know her.
"Why would she even . . ." Alaina stared back at the screen with a picture of her friend, crossed out and labeled with the word 'traitor'.
"Didn't you hear? She was obsessed with Damon," Paige answered pompously with a laugh. "She totally went crazy when she heard you and Damon were dating."