Chapter 2. Party Confrontation

I kept staring down at my drink, my grip tightening on the glass. My body tensed, every muscle rigid with the weight of their recognition. My eyes widened in disbelief. Why now? Why did they remember me, after all this time?

I stood up abruptly, the stool sliding back with a harsh scrape against the floor. Without a second thought, I turned away, the glass still clutched tightly in my hand. I needed to get away, to escape the suffocating grip of their memory.

I walked too fast, the contents of my drink sloshing over the rim with each hurried movement. The world around me blurred. Now I know I made a mistake by coming here. I have to go. I can feel my heart beating rapidly, yet my hands and body are cold.

"Now you know your place."

"Grow up, Stella. Your father is no more."

I continued walking towards the door, which seemed so far away in this expansive hall. The crowd of people paid no attention to me; I was just a ghost here, and that's how I wanted it to be. But why do these girls remember everything? I kept walking, my gaze fixed on the beautiful tiles that seemed to reflect my own troubled expression.

Suddenly, a tall girl stepped into my path, blocking my way.

"Hi, we meet again."

I looked up, craning my neck to see her smiling down at me.

I hate the way she's looking at me, and that smile, as if I'm something to be ridiculed.

She was much taller than me, and I hated the way she towered over me, looking down at me. Sophie swore she wouldn't invite them. She lied through her teeth.

"So, how is life?" she asked.

I just stared at her in horror. This felt like a nightmare. After all these years, why did I have to run into her today? Sophie had lied. She promised they wouldn't be here.

"It's her fault my life is ruined," my sister's words echoed in my mind.

"Not saying anything, huh?" she said, glancing sideways while keeping her eyes on me. "Oliver, baby, look here."

"What, baby?" Her boyfriend appeared. Their faces were the ones I never wanted to see again, the ones that haunted me every night and day for a whole year. I had tried to move on, but here they were, pulling me back into the past.

"Oh, the scholarship student," her boyfriend Oliver said as he came closer. "Guys, come here. Have a look."

Two more guys with their girls appeared. I'm surrounded by them now.

"Pffft..."

"Smarty pants who wet her pants."

"Oh God, it's so boring. I don't know why we used to do those things," another of them said, sounding uninterested.

"We waited for you, but you never came back to campus the next day," Emma's boyfriend, Oliver, said.

"Did we scare you? Come on... we're just human," Emma said.

I could see their lips moving, but my ears were ringing. I could hear my heartbeat, thud-thud, louder and louder.

"STOP!" I shouted

Now, everyone was looking at me. I tried to pass her. She grabbed my arm and yanked me back.

"Stop right there. Where are you off to? Don't you want to stick around for Sophie's big night?" she said, gesturing towards Sophie's engagement. "The party's just getting started."

"Let go!" I shouted.

"Whoa, girl," her boyfriend Oliver said, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Why are you shouting at my babe?"

I was so angry, seeing their faces, the ones who made my life hell. I hurled the contents of my glass at their faces. The liquid splashed all over Emma.

Everyone gasped. The music stopped. All eyes were on us now.

"AAH!" she screamed. "Bitch!"

I was terrified. I immediately started to run, but another guy grabbed my upper arm, stopping me.

"Stella," Sophie called from across the hall. I saw her with Eric, standing beside a middle-aged man and woman, probably their parents. Her eyes widened as she approached, but I didn't stick around to see her reaction. I had to get out of there. Never again would I trust anyone and waltz into a party. I jerk my hand away.

"Catch her! How dare she!"

I bolted, my heart pounding, my steps frantic. Why did I even bother coming? I should've known better.

"Hey, I remember her! She's that girl from the online video," someone said.

"The one who peed," another voice added.

"Who is she?"

I could hear everyone talking about me, shamelessly gossiping.

"What the hell is going on?"

I was running as fast as I could, tears streaming down my face, feeling humiliated and desperate to escape. Finally, I saw the door. I was almost free. Just a few more steps and I could leave this nightmare behind.

And then, disaster struck. My years-old heels broke, and I stumbled, bumping into a man in his forties.

"Hey, kid, look—" he began, but I didn't hear the rest.

I immediately took my heels in my hand and kept running, keeping my head low. I looked like a joke. Shit, shit, shit, so much humiliation. I will go under blanket in my room and never socialize again. I should not have come here.

I made a fool of myself. God, help me. Finally, I arrived near the door. As I turned the corner, I bumped into a guy.

"Oh wow. I just arrived at the party and I'm already a girl magnet," he said.

I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my hand.

"Let's go somewhere alone."

I turned to look at him and tried to pull my hand away.

"Let go," I said, throwing the heel from my other hand at him.

He let go, and I ran away.

*****