PREVIEW: Treat Myself Better
There’s only one Zoey and five Jacobs. Which Jacob will Zoey choose at the end?
Treat Myself Better is my first young adult novel, under the pseudonym, Ryenne Nova, that combines mystery with contemporary high school drama, centered on the protagonist trying to move forward while her past threatens to catch up with her.
It follows the main character returning after enigmatically disappearing for several years. From there, she bonds with the five most popular guys of the school, all with the same name. As she bonds with these five guys, she attempts to keep her past life surreptitious to prevent being judged.
The main themes are:
Identity and Reinvention: The protagonist’s return to a New York high school as a new student after disappearing years ago, suggesting themes of starting over and redefining oneself.
Secrets and Pasts: The dark secret the protagonist is hiding connects to her mysterious disappearance, exploring how the past shapes the present.
Popularity and Social Dynamics: It focuses on the protagonist bonding with the five most popular guys and the resulting social tensions.
Jealousy and Revenge: Five suspicious girls planning to get back at the main character out of jealousy, examining the destructive nature of envy.
Belonging and Acceptance: The struggle to fit in while hiding parts of oneself, and finding genuine connections.
High School Drama: The social pressures and conflicts that come with the typical lives of adolescence.
The entire intention with Treat Myself Better is to raise awareness to bullying and how bullying can negatively impact the victims’ lives. There is also the didacticism about the daily lives of being a teenager in a public high school that any high school student can correlate to when it comes to drama and peer pressure.
Preview
Prologue
I have to leave this world.
I can’t stand being with him anymore. He is nothing but a jerk, an unfaithful jerk. I caught him cheating on me. I saw him dating that bitch with blue eyes, fair skin, and blonde hair.
How could he do this to me? I thought he loved me. It turned out that he’s just a player.
I can’t believe that I fell for this. Not only has he cheated on me, but he also told me that I’m nothing but a stupid girl. I’m just somebody who is crazy and has serious issues, somebody who needs to understand that a crush is not the same as love. I’m just somebody who needs to get away from him and leave him and his girlfriend alone.
I cannot deny—he’s right.
Now, I have to leave. I don’t know where I’m going, but who cares? I want to be anywhere but home.
Home is too traumatizing for me to stay. I have to run away; I have to leave everyone I cared about…
And never be in this world ever again.
Chapter 1
Today is the day: the first day of school for a special someone.
All around the campus of Kennedy High School in Brookfield, New York, there are a diverse students of cliques: the athletes, the drama club, the preps, the techs, skaters, rock stars, the mean team, fashionistas, and much more. They are standing and roaming around the school’s front entrance yard and inside the hallways in between classes, either gossiping or passing by one another with a quick face-to-face interaction.
What they didn’t know yet is that Kennedy High is adding an addition to the students. Someone new. Someone unique from others. Someone who may become Miss Perfect or Miss Popular in seconds once she enters the building. She may even become the eye candy once she enters her classrooms and greets herself to her classmates.
But who is she? It’s such an enigma.
That’s when the time comes.
The double doors to the entrance open, and in she comes. Her straightened ebony hair is waist-length, with her front chin-length bangs swept to both sides of her face, giving an appealing appearance as her dark brown eyes sparkle like a pair of stars. Her attire bears a striking façade that is unique from many girls, showing off her slender figure. She’s wearing a black sleeveless top that almost reveals her belly, a short pleaded purple-plaid skirt, fishnet tights, a pair of black knee-high books with laces and zippers, and to finish it off, a black and purple checker-patterned messenger bag over her shoulder to carry her books and school necessities.
When she steps into the school for the very first time, everyone stops and stares at her amid the fracas of their colloquies. They can’t help but stare at her beauty. While walking through the corridors, the young new student passes by everyone.
The way they stare at her is pretty awkward and uncomfortable for her, even when more boys are giving her flirty comments as she passes by and more girls glare at her with jealousy. There’s also awkwardness between some of the high school sweethearts. An example is when she passes by one of the couples—a track star and a cheerleader—this happens:
The track athlete is hypnotized by the way the girl walks through while the cheerleader is feeling dissatisfied. When the new girl is out of sight for them, the cheerleader notices that her boyfriend is in a trance.
“Theo!” She shouts out as she smacks him in the back of his head to wake him up.
“What?” He replies with dimwittedness.
The new girl continues walking until she stops by the admissions booth. She stands at the front window with one of the faculty sitting on her seat on the other side. She glances up at her.
“Hi,” the girl begins. She has her hand resting on the edge of the booth. “I’m new here.”
“Last name?” The lady behind the glass asks.
“Wu,” she answers, and she watches her flip through a file case filled with organized paperwork.
“Ah, here we go.” The faculty lady takes out the appropriate papers and hands them to her with confidence. “We are expecting you to show up today. Here is your class schedule, your locker number, your school ID, and a form that needs to be done by Monday and signed by your teachers.” She smiles at her. “I hope you have a great first day, Miss Wu.”
“Thanks,” the girl responses as she carries her paperwork and necessities into her bag. She turns in a different direction and resumes walking through the hallways. Unbelievably, the students still can’t stop staring at the unfamiliar girl.
While looking for her locker, right in front of her are the five most popular guys in the school, talking and laughing with one another. Each of them has a different style. The five happen to be friends for a long time, kind of like brothers. Despite that these five have the same name, there are no blood relations.
They are Jacob Caleb the rockstar, Jacob Martine the bad boy, Jacob Chris the prep, Jacob Daniel the emo, and Jacob Bryant the jock.
All five Jacobs—known as Jacob x5 to everyone else—seem hypnotized by her façade when the girl passes by them. They can’t seem to help but to remain silent and stare at her. All five are entirely stunned. Their eyes are vast, and their jaws dropped. When she notices how they looked at her, the new girl decides to do something that she has never done before.
She spins around, gave each Jacob a flirty smile and a cute giggle. She reveals herself as Zoey Wu, the one who ran away from home several years ago before she enrolled in Kennedy High. She faces back to the front and resumes strolling to her assigned locker.
Jacob x5 continues to watch her stroll away, all speechless.
“Guys!” Someone calls out as he runs to the group along with his twin brother. They’re Liam and Levi Woods.
“Have you heard? Zoey Wu just returned to Brookfield, and she’s now in this school!” Liam continues with enthusiasm. “Can’t you believe that she disappeared for, like, years and then suddenly came back?”
“And have you seen her?” Levi says in bewilderment. “She’s changed! I’m guessing that puberty did her right!”
They didn’t reply. It’s as if they are paralyzed. The Woods twins notice their numbness.
“I’m guessing they did,” Levi chuckles to Liam.
Returning to Zoey, she finally finds the locker she’s looking for. It’s right next to a group of girls, standing around and leaning against the other lockers. While she’s reading the combination from the slip of paper and undoing the lock, the girls begin to glare at her, knowing that she’s new.
Soon the locker opens, and Zoey notices the peculiarity. She glances at the girls for a moment. “Can I help you all?” She asks.
There are five girls in the group, and they’re all entirely different:
Renee Sanchez, Brandy Caser, Phyllis Wong, Jacqueline “Jackie” Simon, and Brooklyn Mason. Zoey seemingly doesn’t know that all five of them are self-proclaimed girlfriends of the Jacob x5.
“Are you new here?” Brooklyn coldly asks Zoey.
“Yes,” Zoey replies while organizing her bag inside her locker. “And I believe we have met before.”
Brooklyn quickly looks at her friends. They shake their heads, and Brooklyn turns back to Zoey. “I don’t think so.”
“Yeah, we did. Remember me?”
“Well, we don’t. I think you’re looking at the wrong ladies,” Brooklyn responds with a hint of malice. In reality, Brooklyn did know Zoey several years ago before Zoey’s runaway. Brooklyn decides to deny the fact. Unfortunately, she is the one Jacob cheated with while he was with Zoey; she was the one who stole him away from her and caused her to disappear mysteriously. Not a lot of people know about this.
Zoey sighs as she carries on, gathering the things she needs for her first-period class, trying her best to sweep away the bitterness Brooklyn gave her. Phyllis, who, along with Jackie and Renee, happens to be the most sincere and less immoral out of the five, takes Brooklyn away from Zoey and then steps closer to her.
“Please, excuse her. She’s having a slight distaste for new students,” Phyllis informs Zoey, but Zoey didn’t even look up. She’s too busy reading through her schedule. “Uh-huh.”
“Let’s start over,” Phyllis continues with integrity. “I’m—”
“You’re Phyllis Wong,” Zoey cuts her off, still not looking at them. “And the rest of you are Brooklyn Mason, Brandy Caser, Jackie Simon, and Renee Sanchez.”
The girls are stunned to hear that she knows their names as if she has some psychic gift.
“How did she—” Renee asks, all stunned.
“It was a lucky guess,” is all Zoey answered, deciding not the mention she met them before.
Just when Zoey lifts her arm to close her locker, the sleeve of her black jacket suddenly slips down. The girls could see some strange red marks on her wrist.
“Uh,” Renee is the first to notice her marks. She steps a bit closer to Zoey. “I know this is none of my business, but can I ask you what happened to your wrist?”
“Oh,” Zoey looks at the marks. She comes up with a lie, “I just got into an accident.”
“Accident? What kind—” Renee gets cut off when someone else calls out.
“Zoey!” Zoey finally closes her locker and turns to where the voices are coming from. Kelly Price and Daisy Harper. They both run up to Zoey.
Zoey gasps happily when she sees two of her closest friends after all these years. She gleefully says to them, “Oh, my God! Kelly! Daisy! It’s you!” She hugs the two.
“Where have you been?” Kelly asks cheerfully.
“It’s like you were gone forever!” Daisy excitedly asks.
Before she can answer, Zoey turns back at the group. “Sorry, everyone, I have to go.” Zoey turns back to her old best friends, and the three walk away together, leaving the five girls feeling flummoxed about her.
“So, tell us,” Daisy persists while holding Zoey elbow to elbow. “What happened?”
Zoey shrugs, “Nothing much. Let’s just say that I wanted to start something new.”
Minutes of talking later, it is almost time for the first period.
“Sorry, Zoey, we have to go!” Kelly informs.
“We’ll see you around, sweetie,” Daisy says.
“All right, bye,” Zoey waves bye to the two for now, and she watches them walk away together to their classes.
Now, Zoey is left standing by herself in the hallways, searching for the room number she’s supposed to go to. She’s too busy looking through her schedule as she is walking. She couldn’t see where she is going.
Zoey quietly asks herself, “Now, where’s room 1010—” and then…
She lets out a grunt when she bumps into someone, and she takes a step back. Zoey gazes at whom she just ran to. Her face has a sudden though subtle blush of embarrassment, and her eyes begin to shine.
“Jacob,” she whispers inaudibly. It’s been so long since the two have last seen each other.
“Heh,” Jacon replies nervously. “Sorry about that. I didn’t see where I was going.”
Zoey lets out a smile and a chuckle. “No, it’s my fault. I was too distracted by my thing.”
She then looks down at the piece of paper in her hand. Jacob takes a peek as she reads it.
“English. Room 1010. Cool,” Jacob casually says.
“Yeah,” Zoey replies in awkwardness, not even minding that he’s nosy. “It’s my favorite subject. I love reading books, and maybe someday, I may become a writer, like all these authors out there.”
“That’s cool,” Jacob says. Suddenly, there’s a moment of silence between the two as they make eye contact. Jacob breaks the silence, “You’ve changed, Zoey,” he compliments her. “Liam and Levi were right. I just want to say—welcome back.”
“Thanks,” Zoey replies.
It’s becoming very awkward, especially when they haven’t made any form of contact with each other throughout all these years. Although, it’s a good thing that they still remember one another. During their moment, it seems that Jacob is too distracted by her pulchritude; he can’t stop looking at her eyes—and her figure. He remembered that she used to be so eccentric and used to dress up in girly childish clothes before she disappeared. She even used to hug him around, like a fan who is obsessed with her idol.
But not anymore. Those frilly clothes are gone for good, and now, Zoey’s wearing something more mature, and that black fake leather jacket brings out the sexiness on her slender figure. Zoey is no longer an eccentric child; she’s becoming more mature with a hint of enigmatic than ever.
It seems that Jacob and Zoey are alone in the hallways. They’re not.
“Hey!” Somebody else calls out and has woken up the two from their diversion. They look to see who it was, and Zoey considers the rest of his friends. It was one of the other Jacobs. He continues, “Aren’t you going to give us a chance to know her more?”
“Oh, yeah,” Jacob looks back at Zoey. “Hey, you don’t mind if—”
“No, not at all,” she answers right away. “But let’s make it quick. I don’t want to be late on my first day.” She smiles.
Jacob happily takes Zoey’s hands, and he leads her to the rest of the group. Feeling fascinated at the same time, they all smile when they see her.
“Hey,” Zoey begins.
Inarticulately, they respond.
“Hey,” Jacob number two chuckles softly while giving her a sneer that girls love to see.
“Hi,” Jacob number three waves one of this drumsticks to show off.
“Hello,” Jacob number four gives her a quick wave.
“What’s up?” Jacob number five flicks down his sunglasses and winks at her, along with a mischievous grin.
Zoey cannot help but giggle at their different personalities.
“Zoey,” Jacob begins. “You remember—”
Instantaneously, she playfully cuts him off. She first looks at one of the Jacobs.
“Jacob Caleb. Aspiring rockstar. Favorite activities include playing drums and guitar, skateboarding, writing his music, and enjoys being boisterous among friends. Hopefully, someday, he would want to start a rock band and become famous.”
Caleb is completely bewildered. “She’s right,” he comments with amusement.
Zoey gazes at the next Jacob, giving her a deviant though sexy look through his sunglasses.
“Jacob Martin. Kennedy High’s bad boy. He likes to occasionally skip classes, break the school’s policies without even showing one care to the world, and even seek revenge on teachers he despises. Also, one of his most prized possession is his leather jacket with a flaming skull on the back that helps him get all the ladies.”
Martin removes his sunglasses to put away in his jacket pocket. “You got that right.”
Then, Zoey looks at the third Jacob.
“Jacob Chris. Preppy honor student. The grade point average of three-point seven. Loves to read and educate himself to new subjects and considers himself an autodidact. He’s going for valedictorian, and when he’s finished with high school, his biggest desire is to become a university professor.”
Chris incredulously gasps. “Impressive. All veracious.” He comments, and Zoey responds with a chuckle.
She looks at Jacob number four.
“Jacob Daniel. Mister Dark and Mysterious. He doesn’t like to be referred to as an ‘emo boy,’ but he enjoys the dark world without being cynical and loves to write confessional poetry regarding darkness and emotions. Plus, he enjoys listening to specific rock and metal music, like Story of the Year and Bullet for my Valentine.”
Being the quiet one, Daniel chuckles as he rubs the back of his emo black hair and blushes subtly.
Finally, Zoey glances at the final Jacob.
“Jacob Bryant. Kennedy’s High’s most favorite jock of all time. Captain of the varsity football team and has great leadership skills. Despite having an arrogant personality, he is not like any other stereotypical jocks; he’s too much of a nice guy with a great heart and would never beat up anyone with a weaker side.”
Bryant lets out a warm smile, and at the same time, he’s surprised. “You’re right, Zo.”
The whole group is surprised. Nobody else can correctly describe one another fittingly like that.
“How did you manage to know all of this?” Daniel asks. “It’s like you can read our minds, like a psychic.”
“You sure have a way with knowledge,” Chris tells her.
“I just remember you guys, that’s all.” Zoey is feeling modest about this. Just when she is about to say something, the school bell rings. It’s already time for the first period.
“There goes the bell. Time for class.” Before she heads off, Zoey quickly takes out a little notepad from her messenger bag and writes down her number. Then, Zoey tears off the page and hands it to the first Jacob she sees while giving them a flirty look. “You can all share the digits for now. See you around." She winks at them, and then she turns around, strolling away to her English class.
Jacob x5 begins to watch her leave with hints of infatuation. Once again, they start to go in some kind of trance, just thinking about her.
“My God, she’s so freaking perfect,” Daniel says.
“She’s astounding,” Chris comments.
“I think I want to date her,” Bryant informs.
“I think I will marry her,” Caleb says.
“I so want to bang her,” Martin says, impulsively.
Everyone else shakes their heads to wake up and gaze at Martin with peering facial expressions.
“What?” Martin responds. “I’ll use protection.”
The second bell rings—it’s the warning bell, reminding the students that they’re halfway late and all of the hallways need to be dispersed before the third bell rings.
“Oh, crap,” Caleb notifies. “We better get going.”
With that, they gathered all of their belongings, and Jacob x5 run off to their separate ways.
As soon as they’re completely gone, five girls from earlier suddenly appear out of the corner of the corridors. They have been eavesdropping this whole time; they heard everything Zoey said about their proclaimed boyfriends, and they even heard about what they have said about Zoey.
They’re envious, and suspicion was written all over their faces, knowing that something is not right about Zoey Wu.
Chapter 2
The first period is done, and English was excellent for Zoey, primarily when she is assigned to read Wuthering Heightsas the class reading. Her next class is American History, then Trigonometry, Lunch, Art, Biology, and Physical Education. Even though none of her friends were in the same class in English, Zoey couldn’t wait to see who she would be in American History.
Before the second warning bell rings, Zoey makes it to the appropriate classroom with her notebook in her arms. There, she sees some students sitting on top of desks or standing around in the back of the classroom, having some mindless incoherent colloquies before the teacher walks in. What catches her eye is that preppy Jacob is sitting at his desk in the front row, reading through his history textbook and taking notes.
Zoey smiles when she sees that empty desk next to Jacob Chris. She’s about to walk up to that desk, albeit Phyllis—who didn’t notice her yet—rushes in and immediately sits down adjacent to Jacob. It’s first-come, first-serve. This makes Zoey frown a little.
Phyllis Wong grins at Jacob as she stares at him while setting her bag down on the floor beside the desk. She happens to have some similar personalities as preppy Jacob; she’s as intelligent as him, and usually, she is the brains of the group she’s in. She wears clothes that resembles a schoolgirl, from plaid skirts of different colors with matching ties to dark-shaded cardigans and headbands and some adorable hair accessories.
“Hi, Jacob,” Phyllis says to him, feeling sanguine. Jacob looks at her, but he seems slightly unimpressed with her. It appears that the two have a complex relationship.
“Oh, hi,” Jacob replies wryly.
Phyllis is about to give him a warming hug, though something else is distracting him. When he sees Zoey walking to another desk in the second row—about three seats away—Jacob smiles sympathetically. He can even see that almost gloomy expression on Zoey’s face.
Jacob looks back at Phyllis, “Phyllis,” he says. “You don’t mind if you sit somewhere else for today?”
Phyllis is perplexed. “Why?”
“I just want to welcome Zoey to this class. Just for today, no big deal.” Jacob gazes back at Zoey, and she returns the eye contact. Zoey tries to let out a smirk, and Phyllis sees their interaction.
“Please, Phyllis?” Jacob asks. She thought about it; the feeling is making her envious, but she cannot deny the offer because she’s too much of a good person.
Phyllis sighs as she grabs her bag from the floor and stands up.
Jacob gestures to Zoey to come to sit next to him, and Zoey accepts. Both Zoey and Phyllis switch desks. With that done, Phyllis is beginning to feel doubtful about the way Jacob and Zoey look at one another, smiling and blushing.
“It’s just a switch,” Phyllis thought. “Nothing bad. I just hope that—” Phyllis couldn’t let her negativity get the best of her while thinking about Zoey taking Jacob away from her.
Minutes passed by, and the second and third bells have rung. The teacher, Mr. Hawthorne, walks into the classroom, and the students immediately end their conversations to take their seats quickly.
“Good morning, class,” Mr. Hawthorne greets while setting his messenger bag and binder full of notes on the teacher’s desk. He then takes a dry-erase marker and writes down today’s lecture on the whiteboard. “Now, before we move on to the next part of the topic,” he faces the class. “Let’s see how much we remember what we’ve covered from our previous lecture.”
Mr. Hawthorne puts the cap back onto the marker. “Who can briefly explain the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution?”
Jacob raises his hand and answers without hesitating. “Granting the right to vote to all citizens with no denial to color and race. Completely ratified in 1870.”
“Excellent, Jacob.” Mr. Hawthorne responds before he turns back to the board to write down some notes while lecturing the class about the approval of all races.
Zoey glances at Jacob. “I was right all along. You are brilliant.” She whispers to him, so the teacher wouldn’t hear them over his talking about diversity.
“Thanks,” Jacob whispers back with a smirk. He points to the temple of his head, “It’s all about memorization.” Zoey inaudibly chuckles.
Phyllis tries her best to write down her notes in her notebook, but the side conversation between Jacob and Zoey makes her feel distracted from doing so. Phyllis now has the urge to break her pen in frustration.
“Now, moving further ahead, who can tell me what the Nineteenth Amendment is all about?”
Wanting to at least get attention from the most intelligent guy in class, Phyllis answers without even thinking. “It’s the prohibition of the possession and sale of alcohol.”
There’s a brief silence. Jacob lets out a loud laugh. “Close, but no.”
“Actually,” The entire class gives the new student attention. Zoey answers with no issues. “The Nineteenth Amendment is forbidding the rejection of the right to vote regarding sex and gender, which led to the significance of women’s rights. The prohibition to the purchase and possession of alcohol is the Eighteenth Amendment,” Zoey looks at Phyllis. “You’re one Amendment apart.”
“I knew that,” Phyllis mutters in disappointment and embarrassment under her breath.
“That’s correct,” Mr. Hawthorne comments Zoey. “Thank you, Miss…” he trails off.
“Zoey,” she responds. “I’m new here.” Behind her, Zoey can hear the classmates complimenting her in disjointed whispers.
Jacob and Zoey make another eye contact. They smirk at one another once again, and Jacob gives her a thumbs up. This makes Zoey blush a little.
Seeing this moment for Phyllis has made her feel more envious. However, she tries to keep it to herself and tries her best to control her jealousy throughout the period.
X
Several hours passed by. With Trigonometry done and using her lunch period to go to the library to read, Zoey is now in the Art classroom. She’s just sitting at one of the tables all alone, doing some sketching on a sketchpad and minding her own business. As for the rest of the classmates, they’re either working on their sketches or talking amongst themselves.
“Look at her,” Brandy Caser says to Renee Sanchez about Zoey while they’re sitting together at three tables down, trying—or not—to do their work. They’re too distracted as they have their conversation together. “Just look at her, sitting all by herself like a pathetic little bitch she is.”
“Brandy,” Renee replies. “I get the whole idea that she’s new and all, but being a hater won’t solve anything. It just makes matters worse. And besides, she’s not even doing anything.”
Zoey hears their small talk, and she glances at Brandy and Renee for a mere second. Brandy gives her a sinister glare as if she wants to harm her. Zoey, feeling scared, turns away from them and resumes doing her art assignment.
“You know what I’ve heard?” Brandy continues as she creates something libelous about Zoey. “I’ve heard that she’s a slut. She’s trying to get all of the guys in this school, even the ones who are already taken.”
“What?” Renee gasps. “No, that’s impossible.”
Suddenly, Jacob appears through the classroom doorway, handing in the hall pass and holding something small and heart-shaped. It’s a pink box with a small thin purple ribbon on the lid. He’s casually strolling through the aisle between the art tables. He passes by Brandy and Renee. Brandy grins, standing up from her seat.
“Hey, Jacob.” Brandy seductively greets while stopping him for a moment. Jacob reluctantly looks at her, feeling bothered. Brandy looks at the candy box he’s holding. Remaining flirtatious, she asks, “Did you go out and get that for me from the school store?”
Brandy is about to take it. Jacob pulls it away from her before she even gets her hands on it.
Jacob says to her, “Brandy, we’re not even together anymore.” He sounds very cold to her, “I didn’t buy this for you. This is for someone else.”
This disappoints Brandy, “What? Who?”
“That’s none of your fucking business,” Jacob resumes walking away from Brandy, and she, along with Renee, watches him walk to Zoey.
Jacob stands adjacent to her, grinning while giving the candy box to her. It turns out that the little heart-shaped box is a welcoming present to Zoey. Zoey smiles at Jacob back. She gets up from her seat, and she gives Jacob Martin a warming hug.
“Thank you so much,” Zoey says, which Brandy and Renee heard.
From their perspectives, it seems that both Jacob and Zoey are already together. Brandy is angered from watching this. She turns to Renee, swinging her long hair.
“See what I mean?” Brandy snarls. “She already stole my Jacob Martin from me!”
“Well,” Renee calmly informs her. “That still doesn’t mean that she’s a guy thief. She’s basically—”
“You two!” Brandy and Renee jump at the stern voice. They look to see the art teacher in bohemian style, Mrs. Plath, not looking happy at them. “Just what are you doing?”
“Uh, working, like you said,” Brandy, sitting down, lies with a bad attitude. Brandy is the school’s most delinquent girl with a nasty attitude, while Renee aspires to be a singer, like Jacob Caleb.
“I don’t believe you, Brandy,” Mrs. Plath replies, scolding them. She knows about Brandy lying all the time to get away from her bad behavior and that she’s always so reckless about not doing her assignments. Mrs. Plath then gazes down at their blank sketchpad pages. “Do you think I’m going to fall for this? You do know that this is twenty percent of your grades.”
“Sorry, Mrs. Plath,” Renee apologizes.
“Wow! This is amazing!” Jacob exclaims. Mrs. Plath turns to where the commotion is. There, she sees Jacob Martin sitting next to Zoey with his arm around her shoulders and Jacob Caleb staring at Zoey’s sketch. Jacob Caleb continues, “I swear to God, this is, like, the most realistic thing I’ve ever seen!”
Zoey’s sketch is a still-life of an orchid bouquet sitting on Mrs. Plath’s desk. It’s incredibly drawn with a grayscale done accurately. Zoey modestly and shyly says, “Thanks, Jacob. Well, I have to be honest, this isn’t the best work I’ve done.”
“Are you kidding?” Jacob Caleb says. “You sure have a way with art. Hell, you may be related to Michelangelo!” He jokes, then winks at her. Zoey responds with a laugh.
“Hey,” Jacob Martin playfully points to Jacob Caleb as he pulls Zoey closer to him. He snickers, “You better go easy on her.”
Mrs. Plath gazes back at Brandy and Renee. For one last time, she informs them, “You two should be more assiduous, like our new student over there. I expect more from you, Renee.” She turns and walks away to check on other students, making sure they are working.
Brandy glares at Renee. Renee informs her, “Maybe you’re just overreacting. Just don’t let your jealousy take control of you.”
“Open your eyes, Renee,” Brandy replies. “It looks like that Zoey girl is taking your man, too!”
Brandy gestures to Jacob Caleb, sitting next to Zoey. Both are happily laughing with each other. Renee watches them; she gasps when she sees Jacob touching Zoey’s free hand as she’s still working on her sketch—and his face is closer to hers. It seems that Jacob is flirting with her.
Renee abruptly loses her levelheadedness. Brandy can see her expression.
“You were saying?” Brandy asks.
“I so want to kill her,” Renee snarls quietly.
X
It’s time for Biology, and today, the class is taking place in the school lab. Everyone gathers around with their partners for the semester and then sat at their assigned seats. After the third bell rings, Jackie Simon quickly struts through the doorway of the lab.
“Jacqueline,” the biology teacher, Mr. Whitman, informs sternly. “You’re late again—as usual.”
“Sorry,” Jackie apologizes. “It’s just that—”
“No excuses,” Mr. Whitman says. “Please, head to your station. And no distractions.”
Jackie, also known as the fashionista, sighs. She likes to be “fashionably” late at certain times, so she can have her chance to show off her appearance. Clothes nothing but gold, pink, black, and white, with different types of hats, and even crop tops revealing enough to break the school’s dress code. Her narcissistic personality affects her grades and attendance, but it was worth it for her. Although, the main reason why she does this is to win over the dark Jacob.
Jackie strolls straight to her station, and right next to her empty seat is Jacob Daniel. She smiles as she watches her favorite Jacob staring at the beakers—left from the chemistry class—looking so enigmatic as usual. Jackie then sits down, still smiling flirtatiously at Jacob. Jacob notices this, and he looks at her with a solemn look.
“Oh, it’s you.” Jacob sarcastically says. Like the rest, he, too, has some complexities with her.
“Is something wrong, darling?” Jackie replies with a flirty tone, and of course, Jacob doesn’t like that. He never tolerates flirting when it comes to him.
“Yeah, you,” he responds with coldness. “And I hate to break this to you, but we’re getting a third partner today.” Jacob’s scowl turns into a crooked smile.
Jackie is flummoxed. “Who?”
Jacob darkly chuckles and points to someone behind her. “Her.”
Jackie turns around, and she sees Zoey.
“Hey,” Zoey says as she takes her seat next to Jacob. Both Jacob and Zoey smirk at each other, and this makes Jackie feel slightly bothered. “Unfortunately to you,” Zoey informs Jackie, “Mr. Whitman told me that there is now an odd number of students in this class, so it looks like we’re a trio for now.”
Jackie kept a scowl on, knowing that this is something she’s not going to like. “Yeah, for now.”
After the brief lecture, Mr. Whitman hands out trays of fetal pigs, one per station. It’s time for the dissection. When Jacob, Zoey, and Jackie got their tray, Jackie can’t resist but feel sickened and disgusted about the dead baby pig in front of her.
“Oh, God,” Jackie says to herself, feeling as if she may vomit at the smell of decay. She has her hand covering her mouth and nose. Jacob sees her, and just looking at her reaction amuses him.
“You ready, Jacob?” Zoey asks with audacity while holding the scalpel.
“Zoey, would you like to give Jackie here the honor to do the first cut?” None of the two girls know that within his mind, Jacob wants to see how Jackie would react when she gets her hands on the pig and laugh at her cowardice.
“Sure,” Zoey hands the scalpel to Jackie. Jackie, trying to gather her audacity to impress Jacob, reluctantly takes the blade.
“Thanks?” Jackie swallows her nerves. She begins her task, being as meticulous as she could to prevent ruining her manicure. She slowly inserts the scalpel in the center of the fetal pig’s chest while attempting to control her nausea. Jackie slides the blade down to its belly, and soon, the innards are about to be seen.
Already, her sickening feeling worsens. Jackie gags, and right away, she throws the blade onto the tray, giving up. “I can’t do it!” She laments.
“Coward,” Jacob snickers.
“Here, let me do it then.” Zoey takes the scalpel, and she has no issues with seeing internal organs. She resumes the dissection with Jacob, who surprisingly has a thing for gore.
Within minutes, Jacob and Zoey are nearly done with their project, while Jackie is just sitting there, refusing to get her hands on the fetal animal or even looking at the entrails. As she reluctantly watches the two working together, Jackie can’t help but have negative feelings about Jacob and Zoey working together.
“Did you know?” Zoey informs Jacob. “That the intestines are connected by the peritoneum called the mesentery. Some regular people believe that they spill out separately once the abdomen is slit, but that’s impossible. They watched too many horror movies.”
Jacob is stunned by Zoey’s knowledge of anatomy. “Wow, that’s pretty coherent.” He didn’t anticipate her to be that smart. Zoey responds with another one of her adorable chuckles and a subtle blush.
Jackie, having to watch the entire moment, lets out an inaudible scoff. “I don’t believe this,” she says to herself.
Through the rest of the period, Jackie attempts to control her emotions despite having the urge to disrespect Zoey.
X
“Okay, so let me get this straight,” Brooklyn, in her cheerleading uniform, says as she is talking to the girls out in the hallways. “She’s smart, she can draw, she can cut up a dead animal without puking, and now all of you are telling me that she’s stealing all of the Jacobs?”
“Well, she already took Jacob Martin!” Brandy angrily exclaims.
“And my Jacob Chris!” Phyllis complains.
“My Jacob Caleb!” Renee whines.
“And she just stole Jacob Daniel away from me!” Jackie is the last to lament.
Brooklyn is disgusted. “Unbelievable! Four guys in one freaking day?!”
“I’m telling you, Brooklyn,” Brandy remarks. “Something’s messed up about that Zoey girl! She’s only been here for one day, and already, she’s taking over the whole damn school!”
“Just since when Zoey has decided to become,” Jackie shudders as she is about to say the word she doesn’t want to mention. “Little Miss Perfect?”
“She could be a perfectionist,” Phyllis states. “But in my perspective, she’s more of an attention whore. I’m already assuming that she’s faking everything just to have all the attention from guys she wants.”
“You could be right,” Renee responds. “Also, is it me, or does anyone else find it weird that she’s able to know our names, even though we didn’t know her that well without the proper introduction? She can even express each guy perfectly in a matter of seconds.”
The girls realized this.
“Oh, yeah. I remember that. She could be stalking everyone. That’s, like, illegal,” Brookly says with her arms crossed and leaning her back against a locker. “But still, how the hell can she—”
Brooklyn’s statement gets cut off when she hears some familiar giggling. She glances at where the laughter is coming from.
“Shh, here she comes,” Brooklyn whispers. Soon the entire group stands silent.
Zoey appears nearby them—with Jacob Bryant. She’s holding onto his arm as they go straight to Zoey’s locker. Jacob is also holding her messenger bag over his shoulder, like a gentleman. The girls begin to eavesdrop.
“So, Jacob. You have two older twin sisters?” Zoey asks him.
“Yeah, I do. And thank God they’re in college two hours away. Victoria and Veronica are roommates in their dorm, and they’re both majoring in fashion and beauty. I don’t have to worry about them until they graduate in four years.” Jacob sounds optimistic, informing Zoey about his sisters, Vicki and Veve.
“How is that a good thing?”
“I don’t like to sound mean, but Vicki and Veve always treat me like their guinea pig and mannequin whenever Vicki designs clothes and Veve experiments beauty cosmetics. But despite it all, I still love them, and I can at least Skype them whenever they’re available.”
After the small talk, Jacob and Zoey make it to her locker, just several feet away from the girls. Brooklyn, Brandy, Phyllis, Jackie, and Renee are still overhearing their colloquy. They watch as Jacob takes her bag off his shoulder and hands it back to Zoey while she’s undoing the lock and opening it.
Jacob persists in the tete-a-tete. “So, Zo.” He rubs the back of his head and then leans his arm against the lockers. “I was thinking, if maybe after school, you want to show up at the football field and watch me practice? I could use some friendly encouragement. Now that Brooklyn and I are broken up, you seem the perfect girl to do so.” He smiles at her.
Zoey looks at him and smiles back. “Wow, Jacob. I don’t know what to say. But how can I say ‘no’ to that face of yours? Of course, I’ll show up. Just for you.”
Jacob chuckles softly. “And afterward, would you like to go hang out with the guys and me? After all, it’s Friday, which means we can do whatever the hell we want before the weekend.”
“It’s a date… well, sort of.” Jacob and Zoey laugh at the joke.
“Well, see you there, Zo.” Jacob gives Zoey a quick hug, and then he moves his way towards the exit that leads to the field. Zoey watches him leave until he’s entirely out of sight.
Zoey resumes gathering her things in her bag and organizing her textbooks and supplies inside her locker. She then closes her safe, and she gets startled when she sees the five girls already standing right next to her, and she didn’t even notice.
“Oh, it’s you,” Zoey says to them.
Brooklyn steps a little closer to Zoey while keeping that disdainful look on her face. “So, Zoey,” she begins. “Having fun stealing other guys away from girls?”
Brandy, Jackie, Phyllis, and Renee are surrounding Zoey while glaring at her with mutual disdain. They’re the cronies to the leader.
“What are you talking about?” Zoey asks. This is all a misunderstanding.
“You know what we’re talking about. You’ve just stole my man, and you did the same to my friends here all day. We all saw it. What do you have to say about that, Miss Fucking Perfect?” Brooklyn spat the last word on Zoey’s face.
Zoey sighs and truthfully tells them, “Look. I didn’t steal them. That’s not my intention. You need to understand that they’re just supporting me by being playful and friendly on my first day, nothing too serious. And for your information, I’m not even perfect. Nobody is. I may be smart and talented, but I am not perfect.”
“Playful and friendly, huh?” Brandy remarks.
“I don’t know what else to say, alright? Now, if you don’t mind, I have somewhere to be.”
Zoey takes off, putting her bag over her shoulder, but on her way to leaving them, Brandy intentionally trips her as she maliciously grins. When they see her stumble, something falls out of Zoey’s jacket pocket and drops onto the tiled floor.
All five girls see the object: it’s a clear plastic Ziploc bag, and inside, the item is small, gray, metallic, and has sharp edges on the sides. With a closer inspection, it comes with a ball-up tissue with bloodstains.
Brooklyn, Brandy, Phyllis, Renee, and Jackie are shocked. At the same time, they are perplexed,
Zoey panics, and she quickly retrieves the bag from the floor and then hurriedly puts it back into her jacket pocket. She looks at them.
“You didn’t see anything,” Zoey tells them. Lastly, she hurries away from the group.
The girls watch her leave. What now catches their eyes is that Zoey, the “perfect” girl, is hiding a dark secret.
Chapter 3
School is done for the day, and Jacob Bryant’s football practice went well. As she promised, Zoey made it there; she was sitting on the bleachers and watching Jacob perform. Jacob was focused and powerful on his endurance. On the other hand, he was occasionally distracted by Zoey cheering him on, but he wouldn’t let this distraction interfere with his stamina. Nevertheless, at lease Jacob got the encouragement he deserves.
After practice, Jacob and Zoey are on their way to a nearby pizzeria, where they will be meeting with the rest of the Jacobs. As the two walk into the door of Niccolo’s Pizza, they start another tete-a-tete.
“Wow, Jacob, you were amazing back there,” Zoey comments about Jacob’s practice. “I never knew that you were that agile.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Jacob remarks. “I’ve been training at home with my dad and with the team lately. They don’t call me the ‘King of Speed’ for nothing.” He tosses his football in the air and catches it without missing it.
Zoey laughs at his arrogance. “And I know I shouldn’t be laughing at this, but I find it funny how one of your teammates was hit on the face with the ball, and he nearly got out cold.”
Jacob returns the laugh. “It’s true. Cameron needs to learn how to keep his eye on the ball. And Levi sure can tackle anyone. It’s great to have him on the team.”
After the talk, the duo finds the rest of the group already sitting at the booth to fit six people, waiting for them to come. Jacob and Zoey both walk towards them. Jacob Martin is texting. Jacob Caleb is drumming onto the table with his drumsticks. Jacob Chris is reading a James Patterson novel. And Jacob Daniel is listening to death metal in his headphones.
“Hey, guys,” Jacob greets them. The four stops what they were doing; Chris bookmarks his book, putting it away in his backpack; Martin puts his phone in his pocket; Daniel pauses his Spotify app, taking off his headphones before hanging it around his neck; and Caleb puts his drumsticks away in his backpack. All four gaze at Bryant and Zoey with positivity.
“Hey! How’s practice?” Caleb asks while Bryant is putting his football away into his backpack.
“It was great,” Bryant remarks as he and Zoey sit at the booth with Zoey in the very center. “Thanks for asking.”
“Hey, everyone,” Zoey begins. “Thanks for inviting me over. I could use some socialization after my first day.” She takes her bag off her shoulder to set it beside her.
“Don’t mention it, Zoey,” Martin smirks at her.
Bryant removes his varsity jacket. Zoey notices this as he sets it behind his back. Due to the warm heat inside the pizzeria, Zoey wants to remove her jacket, but she can’t reveal her entire arms. Instead, she pulls down the top part so that only her shoulders are showing and the sleeves are still covering her forearms. It looks appealing to Jacob x5, though it feels somewhat uncomfortable. It’s the only way for her to keep herself cool, only to herself.
“Zoey,” Chris asks. “Don’t you want to take your jacket off? It’s pretty warm in here, you know.”
Zoey tries to come up with an excuse. Impetuously, she says, “No, thanks. I’m good. I’m used to the heat, anyway.” She attempts to let out a smile after a little white lie.
Bryant then changes the subject, “So, did you guys order yet?”
Daniel answers, “Yup, but we weren’t sure what kind of toppings Zoey likes, so we ordered a large half-meat and half-plain.” He looks at Zoey with a crooked smile. “Is that okay?”
“Yes,” Zoey instantly answers. “Plain’s okay for me. I don’t like toppings, anyway.” Inexplicably, anxiety is starting to build up inside Zoey. Without letting the others know, she’s trying her best to ease herself down by taking deep, subtle breaths.
Zoey fixes her eyes on Bryant, “So, Jacob.” He gives her eye contact. “I don’t mean to take this personally, but,” she pauses. “How did you and Brooklyn break up? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“Actually, I do,” Bryant replies. “I broke up with Brooklyn because I realized that it’s not going to work out between her and me, so I told her that I thought it’s better off if we see other people. And besides, ever since she joined the cheerleading squad, she suddenly turned into a demanding bitch.”
Zoey is surprised, “Really?”
“Yeah, I would never date anyone who happens to be a selfish bitch. But I’m not the only one.” He points out to the other Jacobs. “They have girl troubles, too.”
Zoey looks at them. They nod. She asks them, “What happened?”
“Brandy was my girlfriend, but then I caught her cheating on me, and then she wrecked by good motorcycle with a baseball bat when I dumped her,” Martin says.
“Jackie is a narcissistic stalker who wouldn’t leave me alone,” Daniel says.
“Renee has a crazy crush on me, and she is annoying the hell out of me, trying to impress me with her singing,” Caleb says.
“And Phyllis is okay, but her infatuation with me is getting on my nerves. It was hard for me to concentrate,” Chris says.
Zoey realizes. “Seriously?” Then, she quietly tells herself, “So, that explains the coldness I’ve been getting from them.”
“What?” Martin asks.
“Nothing,” Zoey answers to them.
“You said something about them giving you the cold shoulder,” Bryant informs. “Are the girls bothering you, Zoey?”
“If they are,” Daniel finishes off. “We can help you.”
“No, that’s okay,” Zoey cuts him off. “I don’t need that much help, really. I can take care of myself. I appreciate the offer, though.”
Right after their conversation, one of the servers shows up with their pizza. He sets it onto the center of their table, and then leaves them to enjoy it.
“Oh, good! It’s here!” Caleb shouts out. He, along with the others, takes their first slices.
“Oh, finally! I’m starving!” Bryant exclaims in excitement before he takes his own piece.
Zoey is the last to take hers. Her anxiety is rising, and it’s averting her from eating. She slowly takes a plain slice, and only little by little, Zoey takes her time to eat her pizza.
X
About ten minutes later, the gang creates a raucous.
“And then I yelled, ‘Dude! Heads up!’ and I threw it right onto his face, and he totally got knocked out in seconds, right onto the field!” Bryant exclaims with a haughty laugh. He even demonstrates with an imaginary football in his hand. Everyone at the table is laughing at his story. Bryant persists, “I swear to God, he was, like, seeing stars or something.”
“No way!” Caleb responds, unable to hold his laugh.
The entire group is still laughing. But not everyone. Zoey is being distracted by something else. She’s gazing at something below herself.
“And Zoey saw the whole thing!” Bryant points to her. “Right, Zo?”
“Huh?” Zoey snaps back to reality. “Oh, yeah, I did. That was pretty laughable.” And then she fakes a laugh.
“Feeling okay?” Bryant asks her as he’s holding back his laughter.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Then, Zoey gets up while holding onto her messenger bag. “Will you guys excuse me for a moment?”
“Sure thing,” Bryant answers. He, Chris, and Caleb get up to move aside, so they can let Zoey pass.
With Zoey out of their way, she walks straight to the restrooms, and she can still hear them having fun, loud enough for the entire pizzeria to be disturbed by their fracas.
“You know,” she hears Caleb beginning his story. “This reminds me of something back in the school’s music room…”
The colloquy fades away as Zoey enters the women’s restroom. The voices and laughter are faint behind the closed door, though audible enough to hear.
Zoey walks to the sinks; she sets her bag down onto the floor, and she looks at herself in the mirror. Her facial expression is entirely different from before. Instead of her useful cheerful smile—she has a sad scowl, along with her eyebrows furrowing in solemnity.
Looking at her reflection, Zoey takes off her jacket and sets it on top of her bag. With the sleeves off, scars are revealed all over her forearms and even her wrists. Most of them are discolored.
Zoey looks back earlier today when she ran into Brooklyn and her crew.
I don’t mean to ask you this, but can I ask what happened to your wrist?
Oh, I just got into an accident.
Accident… accident…
The word echoes inside her head as she stares at her scars. In reality, every time Zoey feels stressed, depressed, emotionally hurt, or even anxious, she would relieve herself by cutting. She keeps a little Ziploc bag with a razor blade inside and hides it in her pockets. When it fell out of her jacket pocket, she’s scared that her secret might’ve been revealed. She’s meticulous enough to make sure that no one in the school would know that she brings a concealed tiny blade into the building. Otherwise, she may undergo serious consequences. Zoey is forced to make up lies whenever people ask her about what was wrong with her skin. The more lies she tells, the worst she feels.
It's not just that. While still looking at the mirror, Zoey elevates her top a bit to reveal her midriff. After all that pizza she just ate, she’s beginning to feel guilty. Zoey examines her stomach by feeling down and around the abdomen. Despite that she’s already slender, something doesn’t feel right about her.
“My, God,” Zoey whispers to herself. The pressure kicks in.
Quickly, taking her bag and jacket with her, Zoey runs into one of the stalls before locking herself in. She sets her things aside onto the floor. She gets down on her knees with her head near the toilet bowl. Zoey then jams two of her fingers down her throat, and she vomits into the toilet.
The sounds of gagging and retching are audible, though she’s alone in the bathroom. Zoey repeats the purge until she feels like nothing is inside of her. Unfortunately, the pain is unbearable for her to handle, both physically and emotionally. Emotionally, all of the self-pressure she’s having is giving her pain. Physically, she’s suffering severe weakness and stomach pains.
After a couple of minutes of purging, Zoey moves away from the toilet and leans her back against the stall. Zoey would fast and starve herself at prolonged times or eat only minimal amounts of food. At times, albeit not very often, Zoey would start binge eating and then self-induce vomit afterward.
The guilt, shame, and anxiety are persistent. Zoey cannot handle the pressure to stay thin, and she doesn’t even know how long she will have to keep wearing the mask of lies. She’s forced to fake her happiness when in reality, she’s in despair.
Suddenly, Zoey goes through the pockets of her jacket to look for something. She takes out her plastic bag with the razor blade in it. She opens it and then takes out the sharp object. Very languidly, Zoey puts the edge on her forearm.
One minute later, Zoey gets out of the stall with her messenger bag over her shoulder, her jacket over her arm, and a large handful of toilet paper in her right hand, compressing it onto her left arm to stop the bleeding. Zoey hurriedly runs back to the sinks. She discards the bloodstained toilet paper in the garbage bin. She turns on one of the sinks’ faucets.
When her freshly cut arm is underneath the lukewarm running water and rinsing away the blood, Zoey hears one of the Jacobs calling out from the outside of the women’s restroom. He knocks on the door.
“Zoey, are you okay over there?” She can’t tell which Jacob it is behind the closed door.
“I’m fine!” is all she can answer. She lies again, “Sorry! My cycle just came! I’ll be out soon!” Zoey can hear him walking away. She sighs in relief and resumes her quick treatment.
Zoey uses the foamy soap from its dispenser and washes the cut before she rinses her forearm. When the blood is washed off, Zoey dries it off with a sheet of paper towel from its dispenser. She discards it before she exits the restroom. Zoey steps out of the doorway and puts her jacket back on, so no one can see her scars.
On her way back to the booth, Zoey can see that the Jacobs are still there, waiting for her before they leave. Although, Bryant, Caleb, Chris, and Daniel appear to be covering Martin doing something.
Zoey stands closer to them. She says, “Sorry I took so long. You know how girls are once a month.” Then, she lets out one of her fake smiles.
“It’s no big deal,” Chris says. “We understand your nature.”
With a closer observation, Zoey sees Martin behind their backs, and he’s grinning mischievously. He has two Ziploc bags filled with two different spices, one bag filled with garlic powder and the other filled with chili flakes. Another hint is that the two spice shakers on the table are opened with their lids off.
“What are you doing?” Zoey chuckles, thinking that this might be a prank they’re pulling on the servers.
“He’s stealing some spices,” Daniel says in a quiet tone while snickering. “And we’re covering for him. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Why?” She asks.
Martin answers while screwing the lids back onto their appropriate shakes. “Because I like to add some spiciness on my food, and they’re free here, one for every table. So, why not take some home instead of spending five bucks from the store?” Martin stuffs his bags of stolen seasonings in his jacket pockets.
“He’s also a cheapskate,” Chris jokes to Zoey. She laughs.
“Alright, let’s go,” Martin says.
“All done?” Bryant asks, and Martin nods. “Okay, let’s get out of here.”
Everyone gathers their belongings. Soon, all six head out to the door.
Jacob x5 decided to walk Zoey home together. During their stroll, they begin talking about their day. They were almost to Zoey’s block.
Caleb comments, “Now, that was fun, wasn’t it?”
“We should do this every Friday after school,” Bryant responds. “What do you think, Zoey?”
“I’ll think about it,” Zoey replies after a second of silence.
While walking behind them, about two inches apart, Zoey looks down towards the ground, attempting to hide away her surreptitious pessimism. Some irrational thoughts are coming back to her about her eating disorder and self-injury.
Zoey knows that she cannot keep playing hide-and-seek every day whenever she is around her peers.
One day, they are going to know her true self. Someday.
End of Preview
