Re: A Tangled Web
Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2024 1:28 pm
BAILEY
One piece of advice that I’ve consistently heard over the years is “people are far more concerned with themselves than worrying about you.” Other variations of this:
“Nothing from high school will mater the second you graduate.”
“People will forget about it in a week.”
“If they’re talking about you, it’s only cause they’re jealous of you.”
If anyone ever says something like this to me again, I will tell them where to shove it. I once thought the school’s reaction to my leaked topless pic was bad. Ha!
I tried to fake sick on Monday, but Mom and Dad weren’t buying it. I begged them to let me just skip the rest of the year – request to take my finals in private – and then figure things out from there. But they were furious with me, and didn’t believe anything I told them. I was grounded for the whole summer. Ben got a month himself, not that he cared.
And so, I was forced to endure it. An explosion of laughter and cheering as soon as I stepped foot in the school. Ear-to-ear grins, guys going WAY beyond kosher when it came to checking me out. People mocking my dance moves, turning around and shaking their butts. Countless nicknames…
“Bubble Butt Bailey”
“Bailey Got Back”
“Bald Bailey”
“Mrs. Clean”
It went on…and on…and on. Every freaking day. The “I Like Big Butts” song had become my theme song. The “Ayyyy we want some pussssaaaayyyy!” chant had become my theme chant.
“Hey Bailey,” CJ approached me. “Just wanted to say I’m SOOOO sorry about –"
“SHUT UP, CJ!” I screamed at him. “NO, you’re not!” He’s lucky I didn’t slap him. “I saw you cheering and chanting with everyone else! And Craig told me everything you were saying!"
“He’s just trying to make himself look good, he was looking too!”
“Get out of here CJ. We are NOT friends!”
“Fine. Fuck you, bitch!” He stormed away.
One day later, it was Landon.
“Bailey, ya gotta give us another chance, before I’m off to college. You were the hottest thing I’ve ever seen Saturday!”
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of eye contact. I walked away from him and didn’t respond.
Bryce, Brad, and Shelby were, unsurprisingly, the worst. The two guys had printed out a massive copy of my topless picture and taped it to a blow-up doll – making sure my face and boobs lined up with those of the doll. During lunch, they had it stand up on a table and shook it around as Baby Got Back played on a phone. While I put up with most of the schools’ bullshit with a straight face, this caused me to run out of the cafeteria in tears. The guys destroyed the evidence before any teacher could find it, but they still were threatened with not graduating.
Shelby told everyone I let a group of guys “run a train” on me after the party. Even though everyone saw the cops and my parents breaking things up, there were still morons that replied “Seriously?! She did that?!” to Shelby’s stupid made up bullshit.
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to any pics or videos from that dreadful night. At least, none that had surface yet. I remember Taylor had collected most phones when the stripping bets started, and most people she missed were either too afraid to get caught with theirs out, or too distracted and didn’t want to miss anything. Regardless, I was thankful, at least, for that.
I was also thankful for my friends, and for Craig. All of them had been wonderful. Sympathetic, but not overly so to the point of making me feel like some pitiful pariah. Lizzy approached me about pressing charges on the main culprits – Bryce, Brad, Landon, Alexis, Shelby, and Taylor. Her dad, the lawyer, explained it would be tough to go after everyone, especially with no hard evidence. We decided to zero in on Brad and Shelby, as they had been the most physical – constantly pushing me back up on the table and holding me in place. We’ll see what happens.
As far as Craig goes, he ran up to me when the cops showed up and asked me what I wanted him to do. I told him to get as far away as he could. If my parents caught me nude with him, my dad would have beat the crap out of him. We talked over the phone the next day and I let him know I wouldn’t be able to see him for most, if not, all of the summer, but that I still wanted to get back together. I apologized for being so mean to him over the pic that Ben had leaked. He understood. He was about the only thing going right in my life at the moment.
One piece of advice that I’ve consistently heard over the years is “people are far more concerned with themselves than worrying about you.” Other variations of this:
“Nothing from high school will mater the second you graduate.”
“People will forget about it in a week.”
“If they’re talking about you, it’s only cause they’re jealous of you.”
If anyone ever says something like this to me again, I will tell them where to shove it. I once thought the school’s reaction to my leaked topless pic was bad. Ha!
I tried to fake sick on Monday, but Mom and Dad weren’t buying it. I begged them to let me just skip the rest of the year – request to take my finals in private – and then figure things out from there. But they were furious with me, and didn’t believe anything I told them. I was grounded for the whole summer. Ben got a month himself, not that he cared.
And so, I was forced to endure it. An explosion of laughter and cheering as soon as I stepped foot in the school. Ear-to-ear grins, guys going WAY beyond kosher when it came to checking me out. People mocking my dance moves, turning around and shaking their butts. Countless nicknames…
“Bubble Butt Bailey”
“Bailey Got Back”
“Bald Bailey”
“Mrs. Clean”
It went on…and on…and on. Every freaking day. The “I Like Big Butts” song had become my theme song. The “Ayyyy we want some pussssaaaayyyy!” chant had become my theme chant.
“Hey Bailey,” CJ approached me. “Just wanted to say I’m SOOOO sorry about –"
“SHUT UP, CJ!” I screamed at him. “NO, you’re not!” He’s lucky I didn’t slap him. “I saw you cheering and chanting with everyone else! And Craig told me everything you were saying!"
“He’s just trying to make himself look good, he was looking too!”
“Get out of here CJ. We are NOT friends!”
“Fine. Fuck you, bitch!” He stormed away.
One day later, it was Landon.
“Bailey, ya gotta give us another chance, before I’m off to college. You were the hottest thing I’ve ever seen Saturday!”
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of eye contact. I walked away from him and didn’t respond.
Bryce, Brad, and Shelby were, unsurprisingly, the worst. The two guys had printed out a massive copy of my topless picture and taped it to a blow-up doll – making sure my face and boobs lined up with those of the doll. During lunch, they had it stand up on a table and shook it around as Baby Got Back played on a phone. While I put up with most of the schools’ bullshit with a straight face, this caused me to run out of the cafeteria in tears. The guys destroyed the evidence before any teacher could find it, but they still were threatened with not graduating.
Shelby told everyone I let a group of guys “run a train” on me after the party. Even though everyone saw the cops and my parents breaking things up, there were still morons that replied “Seriously?! She did that?!” to Shelby’s stupid made up bullshit.
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to any pics or videos from that dreadful night. At least, none that had surface yet. I remember Taylor had collected most phones when the stripping bets started, and most people she missed were either too afraid to get caught with theirs out, or too distracted and didn’t want to miss anything. Regardless, I was thankful, at least, for that.
I was also thankful for my friends, and for Craig. All of them had been wonderful. Sympathetic, but not overly so to the point of making me feel like some pitiful pariah. Lizzy approached me about pressing charges on the main culprits – Bryce, Brad, Landon, Alexis, Shelby, and Taylor. Her dad, the lawyer, explained it would be tough to go after everyone, especially with no hard evidence. We decided to zero in on Brad and Shelby, as they had been the most physical – constantly pushing me back up on the table and holding me in place. We’ll see what happens.
As far as Craig goes, he ran up to me when the cops showed up and asked me what I wanted him to do. I told him to get as far away as he could. If my parents caught me nude with him, my dad would have beat the crap out of him. We talked over the phone the next day and I let him know I wouldn’t be able to see him for most, if not, all of the summer, but that I still wanted to get back together. I apologized for being so mean to him over the pic that Ben had leaked. He understood. He was about the only thing going right in my life at the moment.