"...And They Were Roommates"

Their names were Zandra and Paulina and they were polar opposites. 

I sat behind them in Geometry, and it always confused me how they could be best friends, how they managed to get away with being them.

I fiddled with my pencil, staring down at the problem in front of me. We were taking another grueling test, and the duo in front of me was making it really hard for me to focus. 

It was Paulina who was talking, of course. She could have yelled at the teacher’s face and no one would blink an eye. It was just who she was, Miss Popular, Sea Gulch High School’s own cliche Queen Bee. 

I wished that I had the courage to tell her to shut up, that we were all trying to take a test that would impact our grades significantly. We couldn’t all pay for good grades like she did. 

But I stayed silent, trying to blot out the sound of her high obnoxious voice as she nudged her silent best friend beside her, who was trying to take her test same as everyone else did. I wondered why Zandra didn’t speak, she was the only one in the room who could say something to Paulina without suffering consequences. 

Zandra Long looked nothing like the lackeys that Paulina hung out with. The ones who followed her around and told her whatever she wanted to hear. They all had plastic smiles and an obsession with pink and designer clothing. 

In fact, Zandra didn’t have any friends other than her. It was understandable, when she dressed only in gray and beige colors, and her puffy hair covered her eyes, she always seemed to blend in the background. Even now, she was hunched over her desk, as if she was trying to make herself small enough so no one would see her sitting beside Paulina. 

I was trying hard to understand the question. But when Paulina was going on about Chad, or Bret, or whoever was hanging over her shoulder now, I really couldn’t figure out what I was looking at. 

And then the bell rang, and I had only finished two of the sixteen questions. 

Paulina bounced up from her seat, swinging her shiny designer bag over her shoulder. Her pink painted lips looked delighted, elated. She brushed her blonde hair over her shoulder in that cliche way that mean girls did it in movies. Her paper was completely blank, besides the pink cursive handwriting of her name at the top of the it. 

I squashed down my anger and stood up, throwing my pen down. Grabbing my bag, I pushed my chair and walked out, accidentally knocking Paulina over in my angry storm towards the door. If it wasn’t for her calling out to me, I would have marched right out of the classroom without a care in the world. 

“Hey!” She yelled, frustration clear in her voice.  

I turned around, seeing not only Paulina glaring at me but also the rest of the room, curious eyes anticipating a beat down, a source for new gossip. 

Paulina’s blue eyes were hard, but not scary. Not like the rumors said. I couldn’t find myself cowering under her gaze. 

“You bumped into me.” She continued, her voice practically a growl.

I balled my fists at my side, and thought of a number of things I could have said in response. “Yeah, and so what?” or, “You should be happy that’s all you got for ruining my test.” 

But I stayed silent, because I knew I wasn’t scared of her. But I was scared of the outcome of defying her. Everyone knew what happened to Megan Thompson back in freshman year, and how she was thrown out of school for the stunt she pulled.

“I-I’m sorry.” My voice was no louder than a whisper, and I turned on my heel and ran out of the classroom before she could shout another insult to me. 

...

There was nothing more relieving then leaving school. Getting to close your locker, stuff your homework in your already full bag, and walk the hallways with the intention of getting the hell out of the building was something that would never get old. 

I walked down the hallways, plugging my headphones in to ignore the whispering murmurs echoing around me. The whole school now knew about my “face-off” with Paulina, and they didn’t hesitate to show their disapproval of me. 

I stepped out of the building, fiddling with my phone before butting head first with Zandra Lee. I hissed, rubbing my forehead and looking at the girl in front of me who didn’t appear to be in pain. 

I gave a disinterested, “Sorry.” Before continuing my walk away from the building. 

And once again, I was stopped, “W-Wait.”

This time it was Zandra’s meek voice, if one of my headphones hadn’t popped out upon impact, I wouldn’t have heard her at all. 

I turned around, “Yes?” A sigh followed, one that I let slip out involuntarily. 

She walked towards me, but it looked more like a shuffle. Her clothes were so baggy that I could barely see the shape of her legs as she moved towards me. “Um, I-I just wanted to apologize for Paulina.” She murmured, “You didn’t deserve that.” 

I scoffed, “What? Did she send you or something?” 

She shook her head frantically, “N-No! It’s just….” 

I knew what she wanted to say before she said it. She had to apologize because she knew that Paulina wouldn’t. She probably forgot all about me, forgot how she humiliated me. 

“Why are you friends with her anyway?” I lashed out, “She’s a horrible person and you know it.” 

Zandra shuffled uncomfortably, “S-She’s the only nice person in this school.” 

“What are you talking about—” 

She shook her head, “I know what you want to say, and I know she isn’t all that nice to everyone else.” Her face scrunched into an expression that looked somewhat similar to anger. “But when everyone was treating me like-like crap, she was there.” 

I scoffed again, “So what? You think it's okay for her to treat everyone else like crap too?”  

“No.” She shuffled closer to me, “That’s why I came over here. I want you to help me take her down.” 

...

The plan was simple. 

No, it really wasn’t, but I somehow understood. 

Zandra and I had met in secret for weeks devising it, I would have felt guilty if Paulina wasn’t such a horrible person. 

We split it into three parts.

First: We would ultimately show the school how horrible a person she was. To do this, I had to sacrifice myself and do everything I could to irritate her in the easiest ways possible. And do it all around a crowd, victimize myself. 

I winced as I was shoved to the ground, my papers scattering around the floor. It was rush hour in the hallway, so of course it was chock full of passing teenagers. Paulina and Zandra were in the middle of it all. 

And of course me. 

I purposely bumped into her—again—and this time I was violently pushed to the ground. A bruise was forming on my shoulders, she was really stronger than she looked. “How many times do I have to tell you to watch where you’re going?!” 

I was hoping now my acting did me good, “I-I’m sorry, I have my midterm and I’m already late—” 

“Does it look like I care?” She continued, stepping on my papers. Good thing these were random ones I found in the back of my closet. “You don’t bump into me twice and get away with it.” 

The crowd surrounding us was a mix of sympathetic faces and the complete opposite. Paulina ass-kissers. I was surprised, I didn’t think anyone would be on my side right now, especially when Paulina got away with everything. 

“Come on, Z.” Paulina called, pushing a few more of my papers before walking away, Zandra following close behind her. 

No one spoke as she passed, but once she disappeared down the hallway, sort of frightened murmurs erupted around the hallways. People were beginning to feel skeptical about how Paulina White treated everyone.

I smiled to myself as I picked up the remainder of my papers. 

Second: We got evidence of her bribing the teachers. 

This was all Zandra, she’d sneakingly snapped a picture of Paulina hacking over five hundred dollars to our Geometry teacher for the midterm. 

Honestly, everyone knew Paulina paid all the teachers, but no one had the courage to prove it. 

Until now. 

I grabbed my Chemistry textbook from my locker and looked over at the people standing beside me, who like everyone else were gossiping about the leaked picture on the screen. 

Who knew all it took was a fake Instagram account and a picture to ruin someone’s life. 

Then, at that exact moment, Paulina walked down the halls, looking a lot more nervous and irritated than she usually did. Fingers pointed at her from around the hallways, snickering, whispers, giggles, all targeted at her.

I couldn’t help joining in the jeering. I laughed loudly, my chuckles mixing in with the chorus of chortles echoing down the hallway. 

She ran quickly through the halls, a blur of pink and tears.

Third: A sprinkle of convincing. 

I did this part mostly on my own. Going from one person to the other and convincing them that Paulina didn’t deserve to be treated better than anyone else. 

It was all so much easier than I thought, especially when all the teachers were fired and replaced with new ones who didn’t take anything from our Queen Bee. 

And then, when Paulina’s hot pink aura began to mix with everyone else’s when she marched down the hallway, I was satisfied. 

“Why don’t we take over the school?” I asked Zandra one day, who gave me a skeptical look in return.

“W-Why? We took down Paulina already.” She answered. 

“Well, there’s still so many things wrong with our school.” I reasoned, “If we were able to take down Paulina, we could do anything we want with everyone.” 

Zandra left after leaving her answer in the atmosphere. A firm ‘no’ didn’t leave her lips, which was somewhat satisfying because it meant she took it into consideration. 

I came to school the next day with a bright smile on my face. It was the first week after Paulina’s reign came to an end, and I was looking forward to walking the halls without thinking my life was at risk.  

But the sight of the angry stares coming from everyone around me greeted me instead. 

I walked confusingly to my locker, opening it and recoiling at the sight of everything inside vandalized and destroyed. 

I turned around at the sound of snickers echoing through the hallway. 

Slamming my locker closed, I tore down the aisle, looking for the only person who could have been responsible for it all. 

Paulina was sitting in a classroom almost gleefully, Zandra sitting dutifully next to her. It was like everything from the last few weeks had washed away, and I was back to being behind them, thinking about how wrong it was for them to be above all. 

Them. I threw the door open, slamming my hands on Paulina’s desk. She smiled smugly at me, “Are you here to frame me for something else?” 

“What are you talking about?” I screamed angrily. 

Zandra answered instead, “We all know about how you made it look like Paulina was terrorizing our school.” 

“Zandra, you-you helped me with everything!” I spluttered, “I didn’t frame her, she’s just a horrible person, and you all know it.” 

“The only horrible person is you.” Another nameless voice spoke, “We knew about everything you were planning from the beginning.”

“When I came to you outside that day,” Zandra added, “I was testing you and you failed.” 

“So we all played along.” Paulina smirked, “And now everyone sees you as the horrible person you are.” 

“Wh-What…” There was no response I could form. All of the blaming eyes were on me, and I felt like I was in the wrong. I shouldn’t have accused anyone. This was all the karma for messing with Paulina White. 

I hadn't won. I couldn't win.

I ran out of the room, similar to Paulina that day I was chortling at her, the day I looked like the villain. 

I had been fooled. 

The rest of the day was full of taunting and regret. I had solidified myself as the bully, the official school loser. The punching bag. 

I dejectedly left school, and the sight of Paulina and Zandra in front of me wasn’t even surprising. 

There wasn’t anyone around us, and silence filled the empty sidewalk. How did they even find me? And worse: what did they want to do? 

“I hope this teaches you a lesson, Anne Morris.” Paulina said. 

I looked up in surprise, You-You know my name?” 

She chuckled, “Of course I know your name. How else would we have framed you if we didn’t know your name?” 

“F-Frame?” 

“Don’t tell me you’re that stupid.” This time it was Zandra who spoke, “We framed you from the beginning. From the moment you entered the Geometry class that day.” 

“I-I don’t understand.” 

“We needed to solidify our power, and you were the perfect person for that job.” Zandra continued. 

I was speechless. Everything, the talking excessively, the anger, the plotting. It was all a ploy to get Paulina to look like the victim?

“Well, I think we’re about done ruining your high school life.” Paulina smiled at her friend beside her. “We did a good job didn’t we, babe?” 

“Of course.” 

They walked away with hands intertwined and swinging gleefully together, and suddenly everything made sense.