CHAPTER 12

,Gabriella got to school and realized that although Cleopatra hadn't been discharged, the news from the yesterday's incident had gotten. She tried calling both Avery and Iris, but they weren't answering, they were the only ones who could have told everyone.

Feeling dejected, she went to her class with everyone's eyes on her. She could hear what most what people were saying. Finally, Avery and Iris arrived, but they completely ignored her. She couldn't say she didn't expect this, but she had no idea it'd hurt her the way it did.

She had fought with her friends in the past, but this was just more than a normal fight. She was unable to blame them though, all the evidence was pointing to her, except for the CCTV footage Damian was looking into. That was the only way she could prove her innocence, if it showed she wasn't the only one at Cleopatra's house that night.

During recess, the stares, and whispers increased. She couldn't find Keith, his friends as well as Renee in the cafeteria, so she sat alone until, surprisingly, Iris came to join.

"You're drooling," She said, noticing how Gabriella was staring at her with surprise. She looked around to for Avery, but she was nowhere around.

She got back to eating and didn't say a word, while Iris worriedly stared at her for a while before speaking again.

"I apologise for ignoring you, your calls and your texts. Avery is still not convinced you aren't guilty," Hearing this, Gabriella paused after she had realized something.

"Are you convinced?" Gabriella inquired, while Iris stayed mute for a while. Grinning, Gabriella knew what the silence meant but said nothing. She expected nothing less. Besides, Iris was only there because Avery wasn't there. If she were with Avery, she wouldn't be caught dead talking to her. This made Gabriella wonder where Avery was.

"Gabby, you know you can talk to me right?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, if you were angry with Cleopatra, there were other ways to settle it and…" Gabriella annoying banged the table and stood up, catching the attention of some people.

"Iris, can you please stop? I didn't do it, and if you're not here to tell me you believe me, rather you're forcing me to admit, then you're wasting your time," she said and grabbed her meal to leave.

Iris sat there feeling guilty. She wanted to believe her because more than anyone she knew Gabriella, even though she didn't know her as long as Cleopatra had known her. In fact, she was the first to know about her family situation but never mentioned it since she knew she had her reasons for keeping it a secret.

Until after the incident, Iris had no idea Cleopatra knew about it. She felt mad at herself for not believing her friend and defending her for all the rumors of her family's situation, so she decided to make it up to her by finding out the actual truth. Gabriella's detective side had clearly grown on her, so, no matter how small it was, she wanted to conduct her very own investigation.

After the whole fiasco, Gabriella found Damian waiting for her in front of the school with his car. He had a stern expression on his face, and this told Gabriella that something was going on.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I checked the footage…" He stated

"And?"

"You were the only one a Cleopatra's house last that night," Hearing this, Gabriella looked horrified. She knew she had nothing to do with Cleopatra's incident and the footage was her only way to prove she was innocent, but it all turned back to her.

"I didn't do it," she said with a broken voice.

"I know, but it's best for you to lie low. It's all really complicated right now," He said. Gabriella was on the verge of tears. Why was all that happening to her? Why was Cleopatra not saying the truth? She could be called for questioning it worse, she could be in jail. She didn't want all that.

She didn't drive to school, so Damian offered to take her home.

When she arrived home, she found her mom in the sitting room busy with something on her laptop. Veronica hadn't noticed her daughter was home until she shut the door.

"How was school today?" She asked, hoping her daughter would at least answer her.

"Great," Gabriella sarcastically said and went up to her room. She knew if she stayed, her mother would try to strike a conversation with her, and she wasn't interested.

Frustrated, Gabriella threw her bag across the room and slumped on her bed. She'd probably skip school the following day because she would rather not have to face everyone at school. She later remembered Keith, his friends and Renee weren't at school, which was strange because it never happened before.

If one person wasn't around for whatever reason, the rest would be at school and would most likely check on the absent person later. This was usually between the guys, but now Renee too. For some reason, she felt a bit worried, though it wasn't her concern.

After moping around for a while, Gabriella became hungry. There was no cooked meal, and it was almost dinner, so she decided to make something for herself since she couldn't wait. She freshened up, had a change of cloths, then headed downstairs.

The smell of food hit her nose as she wondered whether Rosalind had arrived, but unfortunately, it wasn't her Nana, it was her mother.

"Oh, Arielle, you're just in time, dinner is almost ready," She said with a smile on her face. Arielle was the name she used to call her when she was little, when everything was normal. The name and gesture brought back some memories she would rather not remember, though they weren't sad ones.

Suddenly, something inside her snapped. She had no idea whether it was out of spite, anger or sadness, but then she said,

"I'd order pizza instead." Luckily, it wasn't too late to order takeouts. This was all to indicate she had no interest in whatever Veronica was cooking. She grabbed her phone and headed upstairs to her room.

She knew she was a bit, or better to say, really harsh, but she just couldn't help it. She couldn't control that part of her, the part of her which she didn't create, instead it was created by Veronica. This part of her was forceful that she was unable to control the hatred it had for her mother.

Just then, she received a notification saying she got a new message. It was from an unknown number and a curious Gabriella wanted to see what the text was, but then she ended up regretting being too eager because of what the sender wrote.

"If you keep meddling like a pest, I'd make your life even more miserable than it already is…