Chapter 2
I never went to college. Five words. No punctuation. No emoji.
It hit the internet like a rock dropped into boiling oil. My Twitter comments went dead silent for three seconds, then the backlash came back even harder.
[??? What kind of crap are you pulling?]
[You never went to college? So your diploma is fake?]
[I'm dead. To clear your name, you're seriously admitting you're uneducated now?]
[Sophie Wells, do you have any shame at all? You did it, so own it!]
The sarcasm and insults came from every direction. Ms. Harper called again, her voice already cracking with tears.
"Sophie! What the hell are you doing?"
"The whole internet is saying you'd rather deny your own education than take responsibility!"
"Oh my God, do you realize how stupid this looks?"
I stayed calm.
"Let them curse me out."
"The harder they go, the better."
Ms. Harper was on the verge of losing it.
"Have you lost your mind?"
Meanwhile, over in Emily Rivers' livestream, when she saw my post, she clearly froze for a second. A flash of panic crossed her eyes, but it was quickly drowned out by more tears.
She started crying even harder, like she'd just suffered the greatest injustice in the world.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..."
"Maybe I remembered it wrong. That memory is just too painful, and I got confused."
"It was... it was high school."
"Sophie Wells, we were in high school together."
She looked into the camera, choking on sobs, with those watery, pitiful eyes.
"You treated me like that in high school too, didn't you?"
"I really... really don't want to relive it."
The tide turned instantly. [I knew it! She just remembered it wrong!] [God, how bad must the trauma be to mess with someone's memory like that?]
[Sophie Wells is evil! She was already bullying people in high school!]
[High school? Emmy was just a kid back then. How could she do that?]
The fire of public outrage only burned hotter. The few random strangers who'd spoken up for me earlier were completely drowned out.
Everyone was waiting for my response, waiting to see how I'd lie my way out of this one again.
My Twitter feed refreshed. A new post appeared, and Ms. Harper had posted this one for me too.
The message was just as short: [Sorry, I never went to high school either.]
The entire internet lost it. If the first post looked like a lame excuse, this second one was straight-up provocation, like a hard slap across every bystander's face.
[She's insane! This woman has completely lost it!]
[Who does she think she is? Pulling a stunt like this for attention?]
[No college, no high school—what are you, raised in a cave?]
[Quit the act, Sophie Wells. Your background is online for everyone to see. You graduated from Riverdale School of Arts. Do you think we're idiots?]
My name shot to the top of the trending list with a bright red viral tag behind it: [Sophie Wells never went to high school], [Sophie Wells liar], and [Poor Emily Rivers].
Ms. Harper didn't call again after that. I figured she was probably so mad she nearly passed out. Fine by me. At least it was quiet.
I turned off my phone and walked into my studio. An unfinished illustration sat on the easel, bleak in color and messy in line.
I picked up my brush and dipped it in paint, but I couldn't bring myself to put it down on the paper. Images from years ago rose in my mind.
A frail little girl in old clothes that didn't fit hid in a dark corner, trembling all over. Several older kids stood in front of her.
One of them was unmistakably a young Emily Rivers. Back then, she was nowhere near as polished and glamorous as she was now.
But the malice in her eyes looked exactly the same as it did today.
I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, they were perfectly clear.
Emily Rivers. You've probably forgotten. We knew each other long before high school—so long before that even you don't dare bring it up.
You've probably forgotten something else too. My name isn't really Sophie Wells either.
Sophie Wells was the new name I gave myself after I crawled out of that hell. As for my real name...
it's the nightmare that still scares you awake in the middle of the night.