The Campus Princess's Punchline Chapter 2

A silvery laugh chimed through the phone.

It was Sophia.

“Leo, sweetie, who are you talking to?” Her voice was sickly sweet, dripping with smug satisfaction. “Hurry up, I’ve got my phone ready. It’ll be even better once a crowd gathers!”

“We have to wait for a crowd?” Leo sounded hesitant for the first time.

“Of course!” Sophia’s voice turned into a playful pout. “What’s the point if no one sees it? I want the whole school to see how… bulky the girl who follows you around really is.”

She spat the word “bulky” like it was poison.

Leo was quiet for a moment. Then, “Alright. Whatever you say.”

He hung up. Just like that.

My fingers turned white as I gripped my phone. Twelve years, and that was the first time Leo had ever hung up on me for someone else. No matter how busy he was, he always said a proper goodbye. Even in the middle of a video game, it was always, “Vivi, gotta go, talk later.”

But now, he was in such a rush to please Sophia that he couldn’t spare a single word for me.

My struggling intensified, but the more I fought, the tighter the hole seemed to grip me. My workout pants were digging into my waist, cutting off circulation. My legs were starting to go numb.

Then I heard her voice, getting closer.

“Leo, look! There are people coming already!”

“Yeah,” was all Leo said.

“Make sure you get a good angle when the crowd gets bigger,” Sophia said, her voice buzzing with excitement. “I want her at her absolute worst.”

Tears pricked my eyes. So this was what Leo called “a joke.”