A hush falls over the area. Even the DJ has stopped playing music, all eyes focus on the livid cheerleader and the fallen leader.
Ace tries to explain, "I didn't-"
"Oh, don't you start with your lies. I know you made Koh dump this stuff on me!" she screeches, flicking her hands in a manner that some punch and frosting lands on the tip of his nose and his left cheek.
"I didn't make Koh do anything," he asserts, wiping the residue off his face. He resists licking it off his hand.
"The hell he did," Koh adds.
Ava curls her lip thinking of something nasty to say, until she takes in Ace's appearance. His hair is messy and out of place from the fondling. His sweater hangs over his shoulder limply. His shirt, while he had put it on, is open, exposing his gray undershirt.
"Why, you have others do your dirty work so you can have dirty fun?" she sneers. "You sure look the part."
A chorus of OOOOoos ring through the room. Ace manages to ignore the taunting and stare squarely at Ava. His gaze is unwavering.
"Why? You jealous?" he snaps with a small smirk. This earns a few smatterings of laughter. Ava silences them all with a glare.
"Shut up! All of you! If you're here to make me take down that website then too bad! The world would be a much better place without you in it," Ava yells, jabbing her finger in his chest. There's a glimmer of triumph in Ace's eyes. "What the hell are you smirking about?"
"Wait, you're the one behind that horrible website? The one targeting me and Ace this whole time?" Rose demands, her normally cheery face darkening with rage.
"N-no! He's lying," Ava gasps, guilt clearly evident on her face. She turns on Ace. "You! You'll pay for this!"
Ace doesn't see her fist coming, so it slams into his chest like a mallet. The air in his lungs wheezes out, making a sound similar to a deflated balloon. He staggers back, getting a flashback.
"You'll pay for this, Bartholomew," his father growled. He barely turned enough for his fist to avoid his chest and slammed into his arm. He staggered back, tears springing to his eyes. He involuntarily lets out a wince of pain.
For a while, he doesn't move, his face frozen in shock. He takes in choppy, shallow breaths. Unfazed, Ava continues taunting him.
"What's the matter? You too scared to hit back, 'cause you know you can't win?" she teases him, "accidentally" clawing his shirt, causing the sleeve to rip off and expose the bruised skin underneath. Everyone gasps. He pales, his heart dropping to his stomach. A strangled cry rises in his throat.
"No, because I know what it feels like to be pushed around like you don't deserve to live anymore," he chokes, before heading out the door. He slams straight into Wes, who was watching the scene from outside the window. A first for Wes, he pulls him into a tight hug. At first Ace is surprised by this, but accepts his sudden break in character.
"I know, Ace. I know," he says, patting his back. "Don't get used to this. By tomorrow you know I'll send you a dirty text. I heard you and Rose had an extended 7 Minutes in Heaven."
"Dssnt mtter. Effeeon ohs the fruth ehbow mh ow," Ace mumbles, still smothered in Wes's hug. Wes pulls back, gripping him firmly by his shoulders.
"What?"
"I said, it doesn't matter. Everyone knows the truth about me now," he repeats.
"At least they won't hate you anymore. Ava's career is finished after this. I got help from a few friends," Wes explains as the teens he met before step out of the house.
"We found out the whole thing from the fabulous Rose," Shane explains. "Whatever possessed you not to tell someone about this?"
"He's a wuss," Wes answers for him. "That's all you need to know. Shane, I know you have connections with the cheerleading scholarship foundation. Make sure that little scholarship check Ava was supposed to get…disappears."
"Consider it gone, sweetheart," he replies with a sassy flourish, posing like a boss.
"Don't ever call me that," Wes snaps. Shane shrugs. "Koh, excellent job riling Ava up."
"Frankly all she needed was to see Ace to lose her cool. I just gave her a little push in the right direction," Koh admits.
"Cool, cool. Quinn, I assume you caught the whole thing on tape?"
"Yep. Right up to Ace leaving the house," Quinn confirms, patting her camera.
"Awesome. Kallie, Ryan, and Calvin, how's your witness credibility"
"We were all in close proximity to Ava, so our defense will be impenetrable," Kallie reports with a small smile.
"Excellent. See, Ace? Even though you've stabbed my back, I've still got yours," Wes remarks. "Wrong choice of words. Koh, make a mental note to smack me every time I say something stupid or insensitive."
"So, smack you all the time? Got it," Koh kids.
"Heh, you're lucky you're cool." An ear piercing shriek interrupts them.
"Sounds like Rose isn't too happy with Ava," Wes comments. "Ezra told me one time she dumped soda on Lena's head for messing with his emotions."
"Yeah, she's nice and sweet most of the time, but she can be a real powerhouse when she wants to," Shane adds as more screams fill the air. They peer in the doorway. Ava looks a complete mess, while Rose fixes her hair. Everyone inside is laughing hysterically. Furious at her humiliation, Ava storms outside. Ace takes this as a hint to run, as she trails him soon after.
"Don't just stand there, bitches! That crazy psychopath wants to kill him!" Shane orders as the others soon follow pursuit.
Ace manages to keep track of his own two feet as the smell of frosting and punch wafts dangerously close to him. He has no idea why Ava, of all people hated him so much as to want him dead. He makes a sharp turn around the corner, nearly spraining his ankle.
"What is your problem?!" he barks at her. " You can't keep doing this!"
"You are an absolute menace," she shrieks, narrowly missing his collar. He doesn't want to do this, but it appears Ava has left him no choice. He puts his foot out behind him and trips her. She swears, but Ace manages to gain a pretty good lead on her. In good timing too. His legs were starting to get tired. When he is 90% sure no one is following him, he sinks against a wall and buries his face in his hands.
"Why is my life like this?" he thinks. "What did I do to be born into such a life? Always having to be perfect, stepping on people I care about for personal gain, everyone hating me, dad…For once, I wish I was dead. Maybe drown in a bathtub, or flip off the Empire State Building, as Ava suggested. For once, would be weightless. No work to do, no one expecting you to be perfect, no beatings, no Ava, no Rose…no Rose. Maybe I shouldn't…Gah! What am I saying? She'll live. She'll do just as fine now as she was before I came in her life...No…if I was gone, it'd break her. I can't do that to Rose. Besides, I'd miss her badly. Beyond our little cute moments and kisses, she makes it easy to love. After being taught all my life that feeling anything but pride and triumph was seen as weak, she showed me it was ok to have feelings for someone that didn't involve gain. She didn't think I was perfect, and I loved that."
"Yo! If you're done playing emu, we gotta go, Ace. Rose said her stomach was hurting her really badly. She got really bloated and passed out. Did you know she's gluten intolerant? And I'm fairly certain it got pretty messy with the cupcakes when she and Ava fought and she accidentally ate one," Wes says, breaking into his thoughts. "Payton said she bakes all her cupcakes, so the ones Rose ate were store-bought. I know you didn't bring jack to the party. Any ideas on who might have done this? Ace, where are you going?"
"Back to the house," he splutters, pushing past Wes, and making his way back to Payton's house.
"Ace, wait! I think Ava might still be there."
"Screw her. It's Rose I'm worried about."