The Crystal 2 by Jones M (reading cloud ebooks .txt) 📕

that, Bianca walked away towards the bus exit. I remained in the same spot, pondering over what I had just heard.

I knew my speculations about Bianca were true, but to hear them come out of her own mouth... It changed everything.

I was hit with sorrow as the awful memories returned. I cried a little, thinking again on how my life had turned awful. 

I still could not believe that Bianca had gone through extreme measures just to get rid of me. I couldn't believe she had done it just because she thought I still loved Zane.

After what he and the rest had done to me, the answer to that question was obvious.

I wasn't in love with Zane. He had hurt me in a lot of ways, especially after he had kissed me and told me he had a girlfriend.

I shook my head, not wanting to revisit the feelings I had gone through when I spotted Zane with his girlfriend.

I turned, heading towards my laptop. I sat in front of it, and I spotted a video recording window. It was then that I recalled I had been recording Bianca confessing to all the crap she had done to me.

I just wanted her to confess to working with Tom, but I had gotten more than I requested.  It was a good thing. I was happy I had tricked Bianca. 

Suddenly, a feeling of paranoia hit me.

What if she found out and decided to delete the video?

I quickly saved the video recording and played it. The camera had recorded everything that had just transpired. It was still morning, and the lighting was wonderful. It fully showed Bianca and me. Moreover, the microphone had clearly picked our voices.

As quickly as I could, I started uploading the video to a private cloud server. 

As I stared at the uploading dialog of the web page, I couldn't help but feel excited. 

Bianca was going down sooner than expected.

***********************************************************************************************

Harry's P.O.V

My bandmates, Selena, Bianca, and I were touring part of the city with our disguises before the concert began. Unfortunately, Emery had joined us. No one had initiated any conversation with her, and neither had she.

The news about the arrested hacker had spread like wildfire. My band, Bianca and Emery were all that celebrity news articles could focus on. As a result, many began to believe that Emery was truly innocent and that what she said about Bianca could be right.

The rest of us didn't.

"I can't believe it," I said with wide eyes as I stared at the tweets about the arrested hacker. "Do you believe this shit? They say Bianca is an evil bitch!"

"What?" Zane asked with wide eyes. I moved my phone to Zane so he could see what the Internet was saying about his girlfriend.

"This is fucked up," Ethan commented. "I can't believe Emery went to these lengths to prove her innocence."

"I don't think I know her at all," Selena said. "I mean, why would she falsely arrest a guy for something he didn't do?"

"I don't know," I replied. "She seems to be improving her acting skills."

Liam nodded in agreement.

"Guys, what are we going to do?" Logan asked. "I can't be near a person like that. I mean, I could handle the insults. But the false arrest of an innocent person..."

"It's not like we were involved with it or anything," Selena reminded Logan.

"Liam, we need to do something about this," I said.

"Sadly, Harry, there is nothing we can do. Let's just hope this mess ends immediately."

Just like that, my mood was ruined.

***********************************************************************************************

Emery's P.O.V

It was about two in the morning. The concert was nearing its end. The excitement that had been there when the boys started performing had decreased as the night progressed. I could not wait to get to bed, and I was certain that I was not the only one. 

I was backstage with Bianca. We had settled on plastic chairs. I had ignored her throughout the concert, watching my surroundings at times while texting Ashley on my phone because I was extremely bored. She had recently decided to hit the hay, and I was left with nothing to focus on.

The area was mostly deserted. There were colorful rotating lights above me. A speaker was positioned on my far left, amplifying the voices of the boys as they continued singing. 

Despite the items being present in my surroundings, I still felt sleepy.

When was the concert ending? 

"Thank you, everybody!" Logan's voice echoed through the nearby speakers. 

Finally!

I winced, feeling tired and exhausted as I got up from the plastic chairs. His voice had gotten rid of some sleepiness I had been feeling, and I was slightly infuriated.

A slap suddenly hit my cheek. My head turned to the side as a result. There was a throbbing burn on my face, and that got rid of any traces of sleepiness that I felt. I turned to face Bianca with a furious look.

Not surprisingly, she was smirking at me. For a moment, I wondered why and how she got the energy to slap me late in the night. I quickly pushed the thought out of my mind when I saw her chuckle.

"You bitch!" I aimed my hand, ready to return the favor.

"Emery!" Zane yelled as he ran towards me. I ignored him, delivering the slap onto Bianca's face. Bianca began to cry, showing her wonderful acting skills as tears escaped her eyes.

"What did you do that for?" Bianca asked as Zane enveloped her in a hug. She sobbed on his shoulder. "Why does she hate me so much? I never did anything to her."

Meanwhile, Zane was glaring at me.

"Guys, she's acting. She started it!"

Selena and the rest of Zane's bandmates had arrived at the scene, and they did not look pleased.

"You must be really enjoying this," Liam said. "You had an innocent guy arrested for supposedly hacking into your Twitter account, and now you slapped Bianca?"

What?

Oh. Bianca was right. Everyone thought the hacker was innocent. 

Not for long.

"Guys, she's faking it! The hacker is not innocent! I mean, why would he try to run from the police if he didn't do anything wrong?"

"Emery, please, shut up. We've had a long night, and we would like to rest," Harry said. "Could you save your 'I didn't do it' speech for tomorrow?"

Harry had spoken with such nonchalance. The way he talked about the subject made it seem like he was talking about a common occurrence. 

It hurt. 

"But guys, this time is different. I have proof!" I confessed. 

I was getting desperate. Maybe the mention of evidence would grab their attention.

"Oh, the same way you have proof about Tom Acker being the hacker?" Logan mocked with raised eyebrows.

"But he is the hacker!" I stayed with my opinions.

"Emery, listen to us," Selena said. "None of us is interested in seeing your damn proof. It must be something that you conjured up to trick us into trusting you. We did that once, and we won't do it again."

"But--"

"Shut up!" Zane yelled with a furious expression. "You heard Selena. We don't want anything to do with you or your freaking proof. Let's go, guys."

"Look. I can understand that you are all tired. What if I showed you the proof tomorrow--"

"Emery, I am begging you to please shut up," Liam said with his hands in his hair. "We have been going on with this argument for almost two weeks now. This has been going on back and forth, and nothing has changed. Nothing will change. You know that we won't believe anything you say, and yet you still bother us."

"Liam--"

"You tried to kill me. Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to get to our good sides? Do you think that will happen after the accident?" Liam asked as anger took over his expression. It was a different kind of anger that had me move a step back in shock. 

"I stayed in a hospital for months because of you! I couldn't walk for quite a long time, and that forced us to postpone this tour. The guys could have lost fans because of the stunt you pulled!"

"Liam--" I stated his name as he sighed.

"Please, don't make us fools. Stop trying to make yourself look innocent when you're not. We know who you truly are, and there is nothing you can do to change that."

Liam's expression turned to one of pain, and I was hurt by his words. 

Who I truly was?

"I can't believe you. I can't believe how you've changed, Emery," Selena stated as angry tears threatened to escape her eyes. "I thought I could trust you, but then... after all the crap you did... You're just an awful person. I don't love you anymore." 

I felt like a knife had pierced my heart when she said the last words.

"I don't care about you. No one here does, and no one ever will. You are no longer my cousin, Emery. Just please do us a favor: do what you have come here to do."

If possible, I felt like an invisible slap had landed on my face.

There was a moment of silence between the boys, my cousin and me. Afterward, they began walking away.

I stood silently as I watched them, shocked by the events that had just occurred and the pain I was feeling. 

They didn't want my proof. I had it, but they didn't want to see it.

Tears clouded my vision, and I did not hesitate to let them fall.

They didn't love or care about me anymore.

A sob escaped my lips as I went to sit on the ground. I hugged my knees to my chest as more heart-wrenching sobs escaped my lips.

I did not care of how I looked at the moment. I could even picture the image in my mind.

A brunette girl curled into herself and sobbing.

The image hurt more, and more tears kept coming.

I felt pain. I felt so much pain.

My mind went back to what Liam had told me. He was angry and sad at the same time as he talked to me. I felt his anger and sadness, but it was not meant to be directed to me. He wouldn't have told me those words if he had heard about my proof.

Or would he?

I had no idea of what to believe in anymore. I was afraid of losing myself to what everyone thought I was. Sometimes, I thought life would be just easier if I just gave up and...

The words I had just been told kept replaying in my mind. However, they didn't feel enough.

I recalled all the arguments I had ever since I had joined the boys on their tour. The insults that were hurled at me also played in a loop, and my form shook as more sobs kept coming.

They hated me. They all hated me. They wanted nothing to do with me!

I couldn't believe it. I still couldn't believe it!

I was such an idiot! Why did I even think that a stupid proof could change anything? There was no way of gaining their trust back. There was no way of getting through to them.

They had made up their minds about me.

I felt like I was back in jail. I felt alone. 

I was alone once again.

I cried harder, not moving from my spot.

Bianca... Oh, Bianca. She was right. The bitch was evil, but she was right.

It was like I was doomed to be marked as an evil person. I was never a friend to them. I was not family.

I had no family. The only people I could talk to were Ashley and the Queen, but Erick could decide to forbid them from seeing me again.

I had not stopped crying. Every bad thing that happened to me resurfaced in my mind, a painful reminder of whom I was made out to be. 

I was a hated person. I was worthless. I was destined to experience pain in my life.

My life was ruined. I couldn't go to college. I couldn't get a decent degree and a decent job. Many people knew me, and so I couldn't make any new friends or even date. Or get married.

I had no purpose.

Just like high school.

Bianca and the OBers were the bullies, and the boys and my