Gossip-2


    And as the memories of everythinge crashing back into me, I curl into myself and sob, knowing I can''t findfort in Zaid''s arms.


    And nothing hurts more than that.


    I don''t know how long I stay like that. My body aches from staying in the same position all day. I''ve cried so much that my eyes burn and my head pounds.


    I wipe at my face with the same sleeve I''ve been using all day. It''s damp, crusted with tears. My hair is a tangled mess on my pillow, and my chest feels like it''s caved in. My heart doesn''t beat right anymore. It just kind of stutters.


    A high-pitched voice, loud and unmistakably dramatic, cuts through the thick silence of the house. My brows draw together.


    "I''m fucking seeing her, Zaid!"


    I sit up slowly, blinking in disbelief.


    "Nikki?" I whisper to myself, heart pounding in my chest.


    The voice gets closer and before I can even fully register what''s happening, the door to


    my room whips open. Nikki steps inside in all her chaotic glory. She''s carrying a small tray filled with food and a tumbler.


    She rolls her eyes. "Zaid was heading up here with this, but I told him I would give it to


    you."


    My breath catches, and I detonate all over again.


    A sob tears out of my throat as my entire body folds forward, and Nikki''s already rushing to me, setting the tray down and climbing onto my bed and pulling me into her arms like she knew all along I was seconds frompletely falling apart.


    Eventually, the storm inside me quiets just enough.


    I lean back, face blotchy and sore, my voice barely a whisper. "Why are you here?"


    Gossip-2


    She lifts an eyebrow and pulls out her phone. "Have you even looked online in thest twelve hours?"


    I blink at her. "No."


    "Probably for the best. People are fucking insane."


    My stomach twists.


    "But I''m telling you, anyway. Because you should know."


    She opens something and starts scrolling. "People are talking about everything, Alina. Your name''s all over the ce, all over gossip ounts, everywhere."


    My chest tightens. "What do you mean, everything?"


    "The Mr. Admas story blew up," she says, eyes narrowing. "Which would be good, right? Man''s a pervert. Except people suck. They''re saying you made it up. That you seduced him, then turned on him when he wouldn''t y house with you."


    Nausea creeps up my throat.


    "That''s not even the worst of it. Someone leaked everything about you and Jake, Aiden, and Zaid. Some sick online ''tea page'' got ahold of it and twisted the whole thing. People are calling you maniptive, saying you were sleeping with all of them to get your way. Who even said anything?"


    I stare at her, heart crawling into my throat. "Probably my mother."


    Her jaw drops open. "Okay, what the fuck?"


    "Yeah." I catch my breath for a moment and tell her the shitshow that happened yesterday.


    She says nothing, just watches me with her mouth wide open. You know it''s bad when she has nothing to say.


    "I''m sorry," Nikki says quickly after too much silence.


    Tears brim again, but this time they don''te out in gasps. They just fall. Soft, steady, hopeless.


    Gossip-2


    "I didn''t ask for any of this," I whisper.


    "I know, it''s so fucked up," Nikki says, reaching for my hand.


    I pull away, curling in on myself. "Zaid broke up with me."


    The silence that follows is heavy. Nikki stares at me, jaw clenched, and slowly


    reaches out again, pulling me into her chest. "Oh, Alina."


    I tell her everything, everything he said and how we left things.


    And not when I whisper that I''m scared no one will ever see me for anything other than


    the mess the world turned me into; she just holds me tighter.