Choking Game

by Yveta Germano

~You have a strange sense of fairness.~

  "Did you call Jessica?" Luke asked as soon as Angelica opened her door.

  "I did. I can't wait to tell you all about it," Angelica said.

  "I bet this'll be interesting."

  ~I'm dying here! The curiosity is eating me up!~

  "When I first confronted Jessica, she denied everything," Angelica said. "So I told her a friend of mine works for the police and his job is to investigate hackers."

  "Is there such a police unit?"

  ~I doubt it, but isn't it smart of her to say that?~

  "I told Jessica my friend found out my computer was hacked from her computer. I also told her about the video, and if she didn't tell me everything she knew, I was going to file charges and she was going to be arrested because that's what my police friend said he would do," Angelica said.

  "Did she believe you?" Luke said.

  "Yep," Angelica said. "She totally freaked out. She basically told me the whole story in one sentence."

  "So what exactly did she do?"

  ~Here it comes! This is exciting!~

  "It wasn't even her idea," Angelica said. "Her mom came up with it."

  "What?" Luke yelped. "Her mother hacked your computer?"

  "No. Her mother paid someone to do it for her. It actually started with this painting competition Jessica and I and a couple of other kids from our school participated in. Jessica, I and one other kid from another school won the first few rounds, and the three of us were going head to head for the final prize, which was a two-page spread in The New Yorker magazine. We were supposed to e-mail scanned pencil sketches of our intended paintings first and then submit the finished canvas within a month afterward. We were given a theme— The Power of a Spoken Word —but no other guidance. Jessica couldn't come up with anything to draw. That's when her mom got the idea to hack my computer. She was hoping to find scanned pictures of my sketches and see what I was doing. They had the guy hack my webcam as well just in case I'd paint on canvas somewhere near my computer. Basically, her mom wanted Jessica to win so badly, she was willing to do just about anything."

  "You have got to be kidding."

  ~I'm afraid not. I think I'm gonna be sick.~

  "But then it got complicated," Angelica said.

  "I can imagine."

  ~No, you can't. Now let her speak, I'm anxious to hear the rest.~

  "The very next day after they hacked my computer, the Roger incident happened, and now they had this video of me and him," Angelica said.

  "That's crazy," Luke said.

  "It gets better," Angelica said. "Turns out Jessica's mom had a recent affair with Roger and was still very much in love with him. She's divorced and loves the good life in the suburbs. I think she was hoping Roger would dump my mom. But that's just my opinion, Jessica didn't say that. Anyway, after watching the video, her mom was pissed. What's really crazy, though, was that she wasn't pissed at Roger; it was me she was after. Jessica said her mom was beside herself screaming stuff like I was a whore sleeping with Roger behind my own mother's back and who knows what else."

  "Do you really believe all that?" Luke said.

  "I'm pretty sure Jessica told me the truth. She was so shaken, I'm positive she wasn't lying. I caught her off guard and she just spilled everything she knew," Angelica said. "I think she was actually glad it was out. To me, she sounded kind of relieved."

  "Hm," Luke made a face, "I'd be careful if I were you."

  "I am, Luke," Angelica said. "Don't worry, I learned my lesson."

  "Pretty crazy lesson."

  ~More like a tough one.~

  "The rest is kind of sad," Angelica said. "Jessica's mom had a fit and posted that picture of me and Roger with a caption on a fake Instagram account. She talked Jessica into re-blogging it. Her mom used everything she could from Snapchat to Facebook to destroy me because to her, I was the reason why she couldn't have Roger."

  "That's sick."

  ~I'd throw up right here if I had a stomach.~

  "That is sick," Luke said.

  "Sick and sad, if you think about it," Angelica said. "I mean it starts as a stupid competition for a magazine spread, and it grows into such a monster that stampedes everything in its path. It's ridiculous."

  "Ridiculous, insane, despicable, hurtful, vile, you name it."

  ~Angelica's back to being a poet. I like that stampeding monster metaphor.~

  "So what are you gonna do now?" Luke said.

  "I'm not going to press charges," Angelica said. "The damage is done. Going to court won't take it back. Jessica is scared and, from what she told me, her mother needs treatment. She drinks and throws fits like crazy. Jessica's going to talk to her dad and see if he can somehow make her mom get help. Even though they're divorced, Jessica's dad supports them financially one hundred percent. I don't think her mom has that many options. I did tell Jessica I was going to use parts of the video to clear my name and set the record straight. I promised not to tell anyone who was responsible for the initial rumor and for the video. But I also told her if she or her mother did anything to me or my family ever again, I was going to make sure the whole world knew what they did."

  "You were too nice to her," Luke said.

  "Did you ever finish the painting for the competition?"

  ~I doubt it.~

  "No, I got too busy killing myself, remember?" Angelica smiled.

  "Did Jessica win that New Yorker spread?" Luke said.

  "No, she didn't!" Angelica said. "The other kid did."

  "Awesome!"

  ~Amen!~

  "What were you gonna draw?" Luke said.

  "Rumors, the one I showed you," Angelica said.

  "You would have won with that painting," Luke said.

  "No, I wouldn't have," Angelica said. "Funny thing is, I had no idea what to paint either at that time. This whole inspiration came to me after the rumors about me and Roger spread and I bled myself into a coma. All that madness turned into the most amazing inspiration I have ever experienced."

  "You can win any competition with this painting," Luke said.

  "I already did," Angelica winked at him.

  "Really?" Luke said.

  "Painting Rumors helped me heal. That's already a win, don't you think?" Angelica said.

  "Absolutely," Luke said.

  "I have a feeling your painting will hang in The Metropolitan Museum one day."

  ~I couldn't agree more.~

  "So, what exactly do you plan to do with that video now?" Luke said.

  "I'm gonna need your help," Angelica said. "This is basically what I've been thinking: I want to create a series of those short fifteen second videos for Snapchat. I want to make sure the story is clear about how it went down, but I want to make sure no one stores the video or any part of it. I stayed up late last night to put together a list of phone numbers of 240 kids who were in my grade back in New York."

  "How did you get so many contacts so fast?" Luke said.

  "I had help," Angelica said. "Not everyone was a total ass back there."

  "Good for you."

  ~I wish I could help her, too. I'd do it in a heartbeat.~

  "I will group Snapchat the videos to all of the people I have the contact for," Angelica said. "Before I send out the videos, I will send a group text about what's coming and why. I want everyone to know I had nothing to do with Roger, and what was said about me was a lie."

  "So you're going to tell the whole story? You just said you promised Jessica you wouldn't," Luke said.

  "That's right, I won't," Angelica said. "I won't name names. I will tell the story of how my computer was hacked, recorded the movie and then how a distorted version of what had happened started this vicious rumor and what it did to me."

  "But everyone will know who posted the video. Once you tell about the painting competition, everyone will know."

  ~Good catch, MJ.~

  "Don't worry, I won't get into that much detail. I'll definitely leave out the competi
tion and why my computer was hacked," Angelica said.

  "You know what will happen, right?" Luke said.

  "Not sure I'm following," Angelica said.

  "If the kids can't figure out why your computer was hacked and who did it, they'll be in a panic mode," Luke said. "They'll suspect each other."

  "Serves them right," Angelica said. "Maybe they won't be so quick to judge and post garbage next time someone starts a rumor."

  "You think people will be ashamed of what they did to you?" Luke asked.

  "Some may, others won't care," Angelica shrugged. "I don't really care either. It's all in the past and I can't change that. I can only put it behind me by telling my side of the story like I should have when it started. That's all I want—to be done and move on."

  Teenage Revenge @TeenageRevenge

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  "Do you see that number? I've got like 48,000 followers! Why didn't you tell me?"

  ~Why bother? I'm not monitoring your followers. That’s your job! It's your account. You said so yourself.~

  "Oh, we're pouting..."

  ~No, we're not. We're just communicating.~

  "Okay. Stop the babble and yes, I thank you for getting all my followers. I'm sure your hashtags made all the difference."

  ~With a little less sarcasm I might even accept your apology.~

  "I'm not apologizing."

  ~Of course you are. You just don't know it.~

  "Whatever."

  ~Good enough, apology accepted.~

  "What do you think of my idea−"

  ~What idea?~

  "Let me finish!"

  ~Oops.~

  "I want to start this blog about kids who are thinking of suicide, kids who have been bullied, kids who are depressed..."

  ~Sounds like a pretty depressing blog.~

  "It's not going to be depressing. I want to post stories that could have ended badly but didn't. You know, like Angelica's."

  ~What about your story? Would you post your story on that blog?~

  "I don't know how my story ends yet."

  ~Would you think about it?~

  "Sure."

  ~Then go ahead, create the blog. It could be interesting.~

  "I'll talk to Luke and Angelica about it tonight. They might want to get involved."

  ~I think they will.~

  "Dude, you've got 52,000 followers!" Luke called. "And these are real kids, no click farm fake accounts!"

  "Are you serious?"

  ~Let me see! Let me see!~

  "Holy smoke! When did this happen?"

  ~Did I fall asleep or something?~

  "It was that last tweet. People retweeted it like crazy. They're still retweeting it. Dude, you're famous!" Luke said.

  "Teenage Revenge is famous. No one except Brenna Greer and you guys knows who TeenageRevenge is."

  ~Who cares! You've got 52,000 followers! I love followers! Everybody loves followers!~

  "Come in, Angelica's already here," Luke said.

  "You have a really nice home, Luke."

  ~This is huuuge! See? Not all homes look alike around here.~

  "MJ!" Angelica said. "How did you get all the followers?"

  "I don't know. People must have liked that last tweet."

  ~Seriously? After all I've done for you? Let me tell you something: if I wasn't attaching all my ingenious hashtags to your silly little tweets, you'd never have any followers!~

  "They sure did," Angelica said. "I have an idea about that. I wanted to see if you guys wanted to set up a blog with me."

  "What kind of a blog?" Luke said.

  "About the stuff people like us worry about," Angelica said.

  "Like what?" Luke said.

  "You know, bullying, school, the pressure, even suicide," Angelica said.

  "This may sound crazy, but I had the exact same idea and wanted to talk to you about it."

  ~Don't change the subject! We're not done talking about my Twitter contributions!~

  "You did?" Angelica said. "That must be a sign! We have to do it!"

  "It's a great idea," Luke said. "I can set it up. This is the perfect time, now that you have so many followers, MJ. All you have to do is tweet everyone to go on the blog and we'll generate loads of traffic!"

  "No problem."

  ~No problem? Yes problem! It's my account, too! I did all the hard work! Where's my appreciation?~

  "I can already see the tweet and the hashtags."

  ~What? Come again? Hashtags? I'm going nuts!~

  "I have this nagging, extremely annoying inner voice that comes up with all of my hashtags. I don't have to worry about a thing. I know I can just let it do its magic and the followers will find us."

  ~Us? Did you say US? Did you really mean it?~

  "I mean it. This voice is incredible."

  ~Oh! MJ! I'm having a meltdown. And it's the good kind...~

  "I wish my inner voice talked to me more often," Angelica said. "Maybe I'm not listening."

  "Frankly, I don't know what's better."

  ~Be quiet. You don't need to end my bliss so soon.~

  "How do you want to name the blog?" Luke said.

  "How about TeenageRevenge? Is that okay with you MJ? You've already got so many followers, it'd be easy for them to remember the blog name," Angelica said.

  "Sure. No problem. We can name it TeenageRevenge."

  ~I can't wait to get to work on this one! I'm going to have a field day!~

  "I can already see one the posts." Angelica stood up and announced theatrically, "All the things zealous mothers and spineless children do to get ahead."

  "That's what I call a Teenage Revenge!" Luke laughed.

  "We can have an open forum for people to tell us what happened in their schools," Angelica said.

  "I'd like to start a forum about all the ways kids were bullied."

  ~I have an even better idea.~

  "I think that would be a great discussion," Angelica said.

  "I also want to dedicate the blog to Stanley Mannick."

  ~Are you listening? I have a great idea!~

  "Absolutely!" Luke called out. "I'm working on it. Look, what do you think?"

  "Luke! That's beautiful! Where did you get that background?"

  ~Are you dense or something? That's Angelica's painting.~

  "Can we use it, Angelica?" Luke said.

  "Of course!" Angelica said. "We should also put a link to our video."

  "Did you finish that video yet? I forgot all about it."

  ~Me too. But hey! What about my idea? Are you going to let me speak?~

  "Yes, I did," Luke said. "I was going to show it to you today and see if you wanted me to upload it to YouTube. Maybe we can launch our video with our blog!"

  "Absolutely!" Angelica clapped her hands.

  "Cool!"

  ~What about ME?~

  "Okay, I give you exactly one minute and then you better shut up because you're giving me a headache. I look like I have a problem excusing myself to go to the bathroom every time I get together with my friends just so that we can talk in private."

  ~You can talk to me in public. People talk to themselves all the time.~

  "People are also called lunatics all the time. Just say what's on your mind or whatever it is you think with."

  ~That wasn't very nice!~

  "Oh, my gosh, stop it!"

  ~Well, let's see. Where was I? Okay. How about this: you build your blog for people not just to vent, but also to come together. You'll have your Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram under the same name and the people who follow you on one will follow you on the other ones. TeenageRevenge will become powerful in numbers so that when someone is in trouble, like Angelica was, for example, all of your followers will be able to help.~

  "I'm not sure I follow."

  ~It would work like this: you'll have your own membership on your blog. People can
sign up to become members of Teenage Revenge. They can share stories and find new friends, just like any other social site. Except when a member is bullied like you, Luke or Angelica, the member can post an alert. Granted, you'd have to set some guidelines of how the story would be verified so that your blog wouldn't be misused, but because you'd be so huge in numbers, you should be able to defend that member.~

  "It sounds interesting. How would you go about defending a member, though?"

  ~That's the whole idea behind this membership. Most kids are on social sites. What bullies fear most is ridicule or being bullied themselves. All you'd have to do is make it clear to a bully that you intend to launch a virtual attack from every single member of your blog on any social site the bully uses. I'm sure if a kid is bullied at school or on his Instagram, he or she knows how to contact the bully. The kid can share the contact information with everyone on your blog if necessary.~

  "I think I'm going to run this by my friends first."

  ~Did you even notice this is the second time during this short conversation that you used the F word?~

  "What F word?"

  ~Friends.~

  "What else am I supposed to call them?"

  ~Just saying. It's good to hear that the word is still in your vocabulary.~

  TWENTY-SIX

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