"Sorry Ivy, can you give us some time to talk in private?" Bridgette popped the question.

Ivy quickly agreed and stood up to leave the two alone. She requested them to speak out openly without any interruption.

"Make sure to end whatever beef you both had right here, and right now."

Ivy's words kicked some sense into Bridgette as she inhaled deeply to face reality. Ivy left the room with doors shut; she went to join Sara, who stayed with Carmel. Sara knew about Carmel's visit, and so, she welcomes Ivy to her room.

"Are they talking?" Sara asked anxiously.

"I guess they should, I locked them together in a room, not technically, but Bridgette requested me to give them privacy. I believe they are talking to each other earnestly."

"It's time they need to sit down, all of this feels out of place," Sara felt the s.p.a.ce inside their friends.h.i.+p as the most difficult one."

"I know, if we leave it like this, then we are sure to break apart. I don't care what others say I want those two to resolve it within tonight."

Ivy confidently expressed her wish to Sara.

Back in Bridgette's room:

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Bridgette initiated the conversation.

"Ever since that day, you stopped talking to me. I thought you were affected by the whole Giselle issue, so I gave you some time and s.p.a.ce."

"You had a week worth of detention, and you looked so p.i.s.sed off. Also, you didn't talk to Ivy normally, who is the one person you cannot ignore. Again, I decided to leave you alone."

"All along I thought you hit rock bottom with whole bullying others, and that's why you needed time to recover. But, it wasn't the case; you are avoiding me for something, aren't you?"

Carmel's h.o.a.rd of explanation left Bridgette still. She chuckled lightly to her amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Am I avoiding you?"

"Wow, that is true. I hate you, Carmel," Bridgette openly admitted.

It wasn't late when Carmel realized the actual reason behind Bridgette's hatred. Knowingly she wanted to sit down for a chat with her and resolve it. As expected, she could see Bridgette beginning to react the way Carmel had antic.i.p.ated.

"May I know the reason for your hatred, Bridgette?" Carmel insisted.

"And you don't know it yet?" Bridgette replayed.

"So, it's true, huh?"

"You were mad at me because of Josh Ryder, right?" Carmel clinched.

"One hundred percent I don't give a s.h.i.+t about Giselle anymore. I get it, I tricked her into chaos, and I got punished, which meant nothing to me. I don't care if Giselle lives or dies but-"

"You, not only did you know about my little crush on Josh Ryder, you were secretly talking to him behind my back. Don't you think you are more of a wh.o.r.e than me?" Bridgette's snide remarks enraged Carmel.

She doesn't like to get involved with Bridgette's bullying acts, but being called as a wh.o.r.e by her insulted Carmel.

"Is that all?" "-or do you have something else to talk s.h.i.+t about me, Bridgette?"

"This time I'll give you all the freedom to do it, do it, talk-"

"-say whatever you have in your mind."

Surprised from Carmel's reaction, Bridgette went on to share about the times Carmel and Josh would privately meet where they would insult Bridgette.

Bridgette used this opportunity to degrade her friend to her heart's content. She had kept it in her for a very long time. From the blond girl's perspective, she had secretly been admiring on Josh for quite a long time and suddenly seeing one of her good friends with him, being closer made Bridgette explode in envy.

"You knew I had a thing for him."

"You knew what I did to those b.i.t.c.hes who tried to approach him."

"You were there all those times and yet, you went on betraying me, Carmel. Is this what you were trying to do to me?"

"I- I didn't even get a chance to confess my feeling for him."

Right now, Bridgette fell apart. Tears poured down as she kept unveiling the suppressed emotions.

"I couldn't do anything because it was you, You being close to him. You both had fun, and I wasn't the reason behind his smile, do you know how much it hurts?"

"It pains when you both talked about me, being the bad guy. I am, it isn't that I'm not admitting it. I am a horrible person, but-"

"But, to think my friend didn't like me."

"The guy I admired for a long time appears to hate me too, do you think that I can be myself and enjoy even after hearing it?"

Bridgette poured her feeling onto Carmel. All of it she had concealed to control herself from exploding once again. It was hard on Bridgette.

During the past week when Bridgette had her detention, Carmel and Josh spent more time together. Soon, gossips spread out like wildfire around the school corridors where the two started receiving stares from their cla.s.smates and others.

Bridgette noticed all of these and kept it inside of her. She never shared it with Ivy or anyone else. Despite her maintaining distance with Carmel, she couldn't do anything else. If it were someone other than her friend, Bridgette might have tried to split them up. However, that wasn't the case. A lot of times, Bridgette found Carmel and Josh fatedly encountering each other and soon Josh would lit up, his face held the most beautiful smile, the smile that revealed his volcanic love for Carmel. Even though Carmel appeared to be natural, she did feel at ease being with him.

Watching the two at their most comforted zone left Bridgette in pain. Unable to hide it well, she started avoiding Carmel outwardly.

She didn't want to expose her aching feelings to anyone and so, excluded herself from her circle. Ivy is the one who is the closest to Bridgette. She tried to cheer her up despite knowing the real reason behind her silence. Ivy believed that Bridgette got affected by Giselle's issue when, in reality, she got hurt by Josh and Carmel's blooming relations.h.i.+p.

"Why don't you confess to Josh?" Carmel spoke after hearing Bridgette.

She continued.

"Josh never confessed his feelings to me."

"We aren't a couple, Bridgette."

"We are close, I can feel comfortable with him, but we haven't talked about dating, yet."

"Why don't you talk to him?"

"Now, I know what were you feeling underneath all that dominant mask. I think it's fair for Josh to know that he was being cherished by someone who would even go to an extent to do crazy things for him."

"You said yourself that it's a little crush, why don't you face it boldly?"

"If this is what prevents you from talking to me, then you should speak to the person concerned."

"I didn't know until the previous night of our trip. We were all texting each other, and as usual, you didn't respond. I wondered why was your mood still out. I had to rethink, and then it hit me!"

"Your little crush on Josh Ryder. Everything fell into plate naturally. You spoke with Ivy after some time, but with me?"

"You hated me, and because Sara stuck with me all the time, you avoided her too."

"It was then I decided to end it. I wanted to use this trip as an opportunity to talk with you and resolve it."

"I like Josh, Bridgette. I will be honest, but we are not dating."

"All this dating in high school is not for me. You know how much I hate breakups. I don't want to fall in love to end it. The kind of emotions I'm feeling for Josh is new to me."

"It's exciting and thrilling but at the same time, I knew, I have to face you at one point."

"I don't want us to be like enemies. I do care about you, but I can't let a guy come in between us. I have a suggestion, Bridgette," Ivy proposed.

Bridgette kept quiet, her face facing downwards, avoiding to see Carmel. Every word she uttered hit her with agony. However, Bridgette knew she had to face it.

Both of them were aware of each other's position. The conversation ended soon with Carmel suggesting Bridgette to chat with Josh the next morning. She also informed her that she would request Josh to be waiting at a spot for Bridgette.

At first, Bridgette appeared to hate the idea, but after some time contemplating about it, she felt it should be the only way to get her out of this regret.

Their chat ended with Carmel leaving Bridgette to settle her feeling.

'I'm still your friend Bridgette. I may not like or support your motives sometimes, but that doesn't mean I hate you. You guys are my friends, and that will never break forever.'

Bridgette remembered Carmel's words stuck inside her mind, continuously taunting her.

When Carmel returned to her room, Ivy hopped vigorously to ask if they resolved. To which, Ivy silently gave the nod. She then went to take a nap.

Seeing sorrowful aura discharging, Sara and Ivy signaled each other to get back to the rooms and take care of their friends.

Ivy returned to her room to find Bridgette already on her bed with a blanket covering her whole body as if she hid under it.

Ivy went in and joined her. Even still with the covers on, Ivy gently caressed her friend and comforted her.