Page 17 of Devanté
“I-I don’t need an intervention, Mrs. Carter,” I said, turning my heat prickled face to the counselor.
“Let’s have a seat and talk about all the things your friends have noticed. Sometimes things like this can feel invasive but…”
“I don’t need a damn intervention.”
“I’ll start with what I’ve noticed about Blake’s eating habits lately,” Gabi smirked, moving closer. The echoing click-pop of her heels on the floor sounded like bombs. “She puts everything in her mouth whenever she gets the chance. She even takes things that don’t belong to her.” The false pretense of friendship melted away and I heard the pure jealousy in her voice. It was barbed and thickly gnarled.
“See, that’s a bit problematic if you’re stealing food that doesn’t belong to you. Do you understand why your friends wanted to have this discussion, Blake?” Mrs. Carter had no idea how far off base she was.
My heart pumped anger and bitterness through my veins. I was hot.
Everyone else in the room snickered into their hands while I stood in the middle of the floor holding a piece of fucking cake and looking like a fool. “These aren’t my friends,” I grumbled, putting the cake down on a nearby folding chair.
“Oh, but your bestie is the reason this is all happening. Devanté wanted this for you. He told me to make sure you knew this was because of him.”
“Devanté Morgan?” Mrs. Carter asked.
“Yes, my boyfriend.” Gabi’s words tore me to shreds and left me floating to the floor in pieces.
Her boyfriend.
Hers.
Devanté had changed right before my eyes and I was so damn stupid, I didn’t even see it. I should have known it was happening when we didn’t speak for weeks. He was around Gabi and her friends. Maybe they’d washed away the decade of friendship I’d built with him brick by brick.
“Devanté?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
“He told me he was so tired of watching you eat yourself to death. He told me you were so fat…he’s ashamed to be seen with you lately.” Gabi pretended to whisper but everyone heard and their laughter grew.
Mrs. Carter hardened her gaze at Gabi and shook her head. “Saying things like that is insensitive, Gabi.”
“You know what? This is bullshit,” I laughed. I was tired of being nice. I folded my arms across my body and leveled an icy glare at Gabi. “I don’t know how you’ve gotten into Devanté’s head but whatever. You want him this bad you can have him. We were only friends anyway. It says a lot about you as a person if you’re so insecure you’re worried about me being his fucking friend.”
“Hey, hey…did I miss everything? I was running late,” Devanté’s familiar voice reached me forcing my eyes to his. I refused to cry. I couldn’t give that bitch the satisfaction of seeing me break even though inside I was a mess of jagged pieces and shattered delusions.
“Hey, baby. I was just making sure Blake knew all this was because of you.” Gabi looped her slender arm with Devanté’s and he looked down at where they were connected, then at me.
“Um…yeah. Something like that,” he said, dropping her arm and walking closer to me.
“Get the hell away from me, Devanté!” My voice burst from my chest, sharpened to a deadly point.
“Woah, what the hell is wrong with you, Blake? I thought you’d be happy. I mean I know I could have gone about it a different way but I was trying to help.”
“Help? If you think I’m so fucking disgusting then you should have told me in private. This is cruel. This isn’t you.” My voice wanted to snap under the weight of betrayal but I would not give anyone in that fucking study hall the pleasure of seeing me unravel.
Spine straight. Shoulders back.
I heard my mother’s voice in my head and for the first time in my life, I used her words to push me through.
I looked Devanté and Gabi in their lying faces and said, “I am a fucking queen. I don’t care if you can’t see it. I don’t care how much you try to tear me down. It won’t work because I know who I am. You can’t take that away from me. You don’t have that kind of power.” I jabbed my finger into Gabi’s shoulder as I spoke then I turned to Devanté and tried to ignore my broken heart. “And you…you had the power once but trust me, I’ll never make the mistake of giving it to you again. I thought we were more than friends.” Too much truth was about to slip out. Too much hurt and pain. I pressed my lips together and shook my head. I wouldn’t reveal my feelings to him. I couldn’t. Not around these people. Not after what he did.
I turned to Mrs. Carter and said, “They all lied to you. I don’t have an eating disorder and none of them are concerned about me.”
“What?” I heard Devanté say in the background. I tuned his voice out though. It would hurt too much to listen to whatever he was saying to Gabi.
“Oh, my goodness. Blake…I-I don’t know what to say. I promise this will be dealt with swiftly and accordingly. You have my word.” Mrs. Carter rested a hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it off. It wasn’t because I was trying to be a bitch but any kind touch threatened to pop the façade I’d blown up around myself. I couldn’t have that happen.
I took measured steps out of the study hall and headed toward the nearest exit on knees that had turned to water. I still held my head high though. I didn’t know who was watching me. There would be time for breaking down when I was alone.
