The Scorpion Sister
Chapter 1
My little brother dove headfirst off the roof.
He was sprawled out on the pavement in front of me, soaked in his own blood.
Britney, that queen bee bitch from school, was standing nearby, smirking. “All I did was sneak a pic of him in the locker room and post it to Insta. Was that really worth this kind of drama?”
I gave her a smile that probably looked like a death threat. “Well, I’m feeling kinda impulsive myself right now. What do you think I should do?”
She had no idea I was a natural-born monster. I’d been capable of ruining lives since I was a kid.
1.
They’d barely sprung me from the psych ward when the school called.
Benny jumped.
By the time I got there, he was already on a stretcher, being loaded into an ambulance, covered in blood.
A crowd had gathered, and a bunch of girls were giggling.
“Total loser move, right?”
“Yeah, such a waste of a hot bod. He could’ve been a model or something.”
“A model? Nah, he should’ve shared the wealth, if you know what I mean.”
That’s the last thing I heard before I hopped into the ambulance.
The rest was just a blur of sirens and flashing lights.
While they were operating on Benny, I locked eyes with Jason.
He was Benny’s best friend and had helped me get him to the hospital.
I didn’t have to say anything. One look from me, and Jason knew what I wanted to know.
He swiped through his phone and shoved it in my face. It was a post on Instagram. A group shot of the guys in the locker room showers.
The caption read, “Alright, folks, time for the ‘Hottest Hunk’ competition! All natural ingredients, if you catch my drift! Spicy, right?”
The comments were blowing up. First, everyone wanted to know where she got the photo. Then the body shaming started.
“Dude on the right? Face is okay, but those shoulders? And that neck? Proportions are all messed up.”
“Mr. Swan Neck over on the left looks like he’s about to start honking, LOL!”
“And the guy in the back? Short and stocky, like freakin’ Danny DeVito! Gag me with a spoon!”
“But the one in the middle…damn!”
“Seriously. Great build, abs for days…and that package? Textbook definition of a male model!”
“Hey, why don’t you slide into his DMs and see if he can walk the walk, huh?”
…
The one in the middle was my brother. Everything those girls were saying…the way they were laughing…it all made sense now.
But I knew Benny. He wouldn’t jump because of some stupid stolen photo and a few nasty comments. Something else had to have happened.
I glared at Jason, my eyes ice cold. He looked terrified. He swallowed hard and started to tell me the rest of the story.
2.
As soon as Benny and the other guys saw their picture blowing up on social media, they went straight to the source – Britney.
She was the head cheerleader, the queen bee. She was known for stirring up drama, embarrassing people.
When she ran out of girls to torment, she went after the guys, posting that “Hottest Hunk” crap and making fun of their bodies.
Benny was furious. He confronted Britney, demanding she take down the photo and apologize to everyone.
Britney just rolled her eyes so far back, you could practically see her brain. “Everyone’s already seen it, okay? What’s the point of deleting it now? And seriously, nobody’s complaining. Why are you guys being such drama queens? You’re gonna make me apologize? Are you out of your mind?”
She tried to walk away, but Benny grabbed her arm.
“Not so fast. You’re gonna give us some answers.”
Britney flopped to the ground like a dead fish and started fake crying.
“Benny’s hurting me!”
Benny just threw his hands up. He and the other guys went to the school counselor, Mrs. Davis, to report what had happened.
Mrs. Davis was a middle-aged woman, the kind who probably wore mom jeans on weekends.
When she heard the story, she didn’t give a crap. She just glared at them, annoyed.
“What is this? You guys are ganging up on a girl? What are you trying to pull?”
“Ma’am, our privacy was violated. We just want Britney to delete the picture and apologize. How’s that ganging up?”
“It’s not like it was a picture of girls in the showers. You’re boys. What privacy do you have? You’re all just overreacting.” Mrs. Davis rolled her eyes and snorted.
Benny tried to keep his cool. “Mrs. Davis, privacy is privacy, no matter who it is. Do you think guys don’t deserve privacy or an apology when someone violates it?”
The counselor got even angrier. “Don’t try to lecture me. All I see is a bunch of guys bullying a girl. Why can’t you just let it go?”
“Ma’am, you’re not listening…”
“Shut up!”
Mrs. Davis slammed her hand on the desk. “Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? You all write me a letter of apology, and we’ll just forget the whole thing.”
The atmosphere in the room turned ice-cold. The other guys were too scared to say anything. Benny wanted to argue, but Jason pulled him out of the office.
Then a short kid spoke up. “Maybe we should just drop it. Mrs. Davis is obviously going to take Britney’s side. There’s no point in fighting.”
Another kid piped up, “Yeah, Britney’s dad is rich. He donated a ton of money to the school recently. The school isn’t going to risk upsetting him just to help us.”
“Britney’s been getting away with everything because of her dad. We can’t mess with her.”
Jason patted Benny on the shoulder. “Dude… just let it go, okay?”
Benny looked pissed. “Just because Britney’s rich, it gives her the right to walk all over us? I can’t just let this go.”
“Nobody wants to be stepped on, but what can we do?” Jason sighed.
Benny balled his fists. He wasn’t going to just sit there and take it. “If the school won’t give us justice, I’ll find someone who will.”
At the time, Jason and the other guys figured Benny was just blowing off steam. They didn’t think too much of it.
But a few days later, a recording went viral, and they realized what Benny had meant.
It turned out that when Benny went to complain to Mrs. Davis, he secretly recorded the whole thing.
He’d figured Mrs. Davis would protect Britney, so he had a backup plan.
The recording blew up online, and soon, everyone knew what school Benny went to. The internet was on Benny’s side.
Britney realized she was about to be roasted by everyone online, and she panicked.
The school released a statement saying the rumors were false and people shouldn’t believe everything they read.
Britney, using her dad’s influence, managed to get meetings with the parents of the other three guys who were in the photo.
She leaned on them, threatened them, and eventually turned them against Benny.
3.
One day, Benny was eating lunch in the cafeteria when Britney strutted up to him. She didn’t say a word. She just yanked his tray off the table, sending food flying everywhere. People started staring.
Benny didn’t want to start a fight, so he stood up to leave.
Britney blocked his way, smirking. “Still got the stomach for lunch, huh? Guess you haven’t seen what’s going on online.”
Benny was confused but didn’t say anything.
He wasn’t going to waste his breath on trash like Britney.
But his pride only seemed to fuel Britney’s obsession with ruining him.
She pulled out her phone and slapped it on the table, playing a video.
Benny tried to ignore it and kept walking.
Britney leaned in close, a nasty smile plastered on her face. “Don’t you want to see how your ‘friends’ betrayed you?”
Her words hit Benny like a punch in the gut.
He couldn’t help himself. He glanced down at the screen.
It was a video of the other guys from the shower picture.
They looked sincere, even guilty, as they apologized to everyone.
The kid with the swan neck said, “We’re sorry. We shouldn’t have teamed up with Benny to make Britney look bad. We’re sorry for the damage we’ve caused.”
The short kid chimed in, “Britney didn’t actually take the picture. Benny staged everything. He hired someone to take the picture and then stole Britney’s phone so he could post it on her account.”
“Yeah, Benny liked Britney, but she kept turning him down. He got angry and decided to get revenge. He wanted to be the hero who stood up to Britney. “
“And that recording? He paid someone to say all those things, to make it sound like the school was covering for Britney.”
“We’re sorry. We know we messed up. We shouldn’t have done this for our buddy.”
…
Benny was in shock.
He couldn’t believe his friends would sell him out like that.
He couldn’t believe he, the victim, had suddenly become the villain.
Britney saw the look on his face and giggled.
“I just posted that picture for fun. I never thought you’d make such a big deal out of it. Well, look at you now. You’re even more famous than before. Happy?”
Benny, barely holding back his rage, asked, “So… you’re the one behind this?”
“Duh. Everyone has a price. All I had to do was snap my fingers, and your friends were begging me to let them off the hook. Turning on you was easy as pie.”
“You’re disgusting, Britney.”
Britney shrugged. “So what? Everyone thinks you’re disgusting. Funny, right? LOL…”
Benny snapped. He raised his hand to hit her.
Britney didn’t even flinch. She just stuck her face out.
“Go ahead, hit me! Someone will film it, post it online, and you’ll be screwed.”
Benny forced himself to lower his hand.
Britney sneered and spat in his face.
“Pussy!”
Benny, humiliated in front of everyone, couldn’t take it anymore. He slapped Britney across the face.
“You actually hit me?”
Britney covered her cheek, staring at him, stunned.
Benny quoted some trashy TV show. “I’ll hit you whenever I want. Doesn’t need to be a special occasion.”
Britney’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll regret this. I’ll make you pay a thousand times over.”
And she did.
4.
Britney stormed off, and a few minutes later, Benny got a call from Mrs. Davis.
“Benny, could you please come to my office?”
Mrs. Davis sounded polite, but her voice was as cold as ice.
Benny felt his stomach drop.
Remembering Mrs. Davis’s attitude from before, Benny braced himself and headed back to the office he hated.
“You wanted to see me, Mrs. Davis?”
Benny didn’t like the woman, but he tried to stay polite.
“Benny, I heard you hit Britney.”
“Did Britney tell you that?”
Benny’s question made the counselor blow a fuse.
“You’re a guy! Hitting a girl? How embarrassing!”
“Britney provoked me.”
“Whatever. I’m not going to waste my time arguing. Just pack your things and leave. Get out.”
Benny was stunned. “What? You’re expelling me?”
Seeing the anger in Benny’s eyes, the counselor’s tone softened.
“Benny, what happened last time caused such a stir that you have to think that you were at fault? What is the news on social media saying about you? For the sake of the reputation of the school, and to give the victimized Britney justice, the school is obligated to do this. However, in order to protect you to the best of our ability, the school has decided to allow you to take the initiative to withdraw.”
Benny’s mind was reeling. He couldn’t believe the school would kick him out because of this.
He was the victim here!
Anger, betrayal, everything he was feeling welled up inside him, clouding his eyes.
He couldn’t drop out.
It would ruin his future.
He was trapped.
His future or his dignity?
After struggling for what felt like forever, Benny chose his future. He hesitated and asked.
“Mrs. Davis, can I stay?”
Seeing that Benny was willing to listen, Mrs. Davis smirked, “You should’ve thought of this earlier. This isn’t up to the school. You should’ve thought about that before hurting Britney.”
The counselor walked around her desk.
She patted Benny on the shoulder and said, “This can be fixed. If you apologize to Britney and she decides to stop pursuing this, the school will stop the investigation as well, honestly the teacher doesn’t want to see you drop out either.”
Benny knew the counselor was being fake, but it was his only way out.
If he didn’t take this chance, he’d have nothing.
Seeing that Benny still felt conflicted, the counselor continued to try to reel him in.
“It’s just an apology. Britney isn’t even asking you to apologize in public. If you do it privately there won’t be any bad consequences!”
Benny pursed his lips.
In the end, Benny gave in.
“I did hit her. I can apologize for that. But I didn’t do anything else wrong.”
“You can do what you want!”
The counselor didn’t argue. Her eyes glowed with a wicked light.
Benny didn’t notice anything wrong. That afternoon, he tracked down Britney.
Seeing Benny, Britney was mocking. “I thought you were tough, But in the end you still have to come here.”
Benny didn’t want to be there. He responded “I am here to apologize for hitting you this afternoon”
Britney glared at Benny and dismissed him.
“I don’t accept simple apologies! If you don’t I will reject you.”
Benny knew that she was doing this on purpose. But didn’t make the situation any better. So he bit the bullet.
“What do you want?!”
Britney paused to think for a while and then said, “Kneel… I will accept you, as long as you are on your knees!”
Benny did not want to ask for forgiveness on his knees. That was just humiliating him.
Benny balled his fists and tried to restrain himself from showing anger. He spoke with a low voice
“Britney, you’re taking this too far!”
“Are you not willing?” Britney raised her eyebrows and laughed.
Benny didn’t make any noise, but he let his face do the talking.
Britney started to remove her clothes.
Britney asked “Benny, What are you doing?”
