Chapter Text
“God, I mean—Jesus, Regina. Why do you always start shit like this?”
Aaron had that look. Like he was so smart and she was the dumbest bimbo on earth.
Like he knew it all, and she was as dumb as a dodo.
She hated how insecure she felt around him. She was Regina George. Guys were replaceable. They had no worth.
So why on earth did she care so much about what he thought? Why did she hate that he thought she was dumb? When did she get so attached to him?
She had all the questions, but no answers.
So there they were, in the school parking lot, having their fifty-seventh fight of the year. And it wasn’t even November.
“Shit like what? What? What is it, Aaron? What shit do I start?” she snapped, arms crossed, chin lifted. Trying to salvage even the tiniest shred of her self-respect.
The last time she felt like this was when she’d cornered him for not telling her he was tutoring some girl in English. A girl who definitely had a crush on him. But in his eyes, that didn’t matter. What mattered was that he thought she was so insecure she couldn’t handle him talking to other girls.
And maybe she had been.
She doesn’t like to admit it, but slowly, this year, he’d been chipping away at her confidence. Little by little, until the former queen bee was left scrambling, covering herself with cruel jokes and cheap power plays just to hide the wound.
And God, it was a deep, disgustingly disfiguring one.
Aaron took a deep breath. Regina’s heart hammered in her chest. She knew that look all too well. He was about to say something she might never recover from.
“Regina, I—” he started, then looked her straight in the eyes.
“Do you ever stop to wonder why you don’t have anyone in your corner anymore?”
Her heartbeat stuttered. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
He looked right at her. That almost pitying look.
“You’ve made everyone miserable. Gretchen’s scared of you. Karen does whatever you say because she doesn’t want to get iced out. Even Cady feels sorry for you. And me? I’m tired. You act like a queen, but no one actually likes you, Regina. You’re just… someone they survive.”
She felt sick.
She knew her relationships weren’t perfect, but when the person closest to you—the one who’s supposed to love you—tells you they’re tired of you, that no one likes you, they just survive you?
You feel… not okay.
Maybe a little nauseous.
Maybe a lot nauseous.
Oh, fuck. She’s gonna hurl.
Regina spun on her heel, storming through the parking lot in long, angry strides, one hand pressed to her mouth. She could feel his voice calling after her, but she didn’t care.
She wasn’t going to cry. Not here. Not in front of him. Not ever.
She got into her pretty pink BMW, slammed the door, and drove home on autopilot.
“It is hard to believe I’m standing in the ruins of the first ever city—”
The living room light flicked on.
Kylie stood by the couch, staring at her older sister. Regina sat wrapped in a pink blanket, hard mascara smudged around her eyes, clutching a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream like it was life support.
“Jesus,” Kylie said, eyebrows raised. “What the hell happened to you?”
Regina didn’t look away from the TV. She wasn’t even sure what she was watching anymore. She swore it was about dinosaurs, but when she blinked, it was suddenly about some city called Uruk in Mesopotamia. Honestly, who cared.
“Nothing,” she mumbled, shoveling another spoonful into her mouth.
Kylie rolled her eyes and flopped onto the couch. “Whatever you say.” She grabbed the remote and started flipping channels.
“Hey!” Regina frowned. “I was watching that!”
“Were you? What was it even about?” Kylie asked, amused.
Regina hesitated, cheeks pink. “About Mesopotamia, little brat.” She waved her spoon threateningly.
Without a word, Kylie got up and walked to the kitchen. A moment later, she returned with two Coke Zeros. She set one down in front of Regina.
Regina sighed but took it anyway. “Thanks.”
“So, what are we watching?”
Kylie settled in, tucking her cold feet under her sister’s blanket.
“Ugh! God, your feet are freezing!” Regina yelped.
Kylie just laughed as the intro to some cheesy teen drama started playing.
“It’s called To Every Guy My Heart’s Beaten For!” she said proudly.
Regina frowned. “That sounds so fucking cringe.”
Kylie kicked her. “It’s good, okay? The main character, Lily-Jane, wrote six unsent emails to every guy she’s ever loved, and her sister accidentally sends them. Then she has to fake-date one of them to cover it up.”
Regina rolled her eyes, but she didn’t move. Somewhere around the middle of the episode, she realized she was actually watching. By the end, she was invested.
It was ridiculous. Overdramatic. Totally unrealistic.
And she fucking loved it.
So much that she almost wanted to use Lily-Jane’s method in her own situation.
No. No way. That was crazy.
…Wasn’t it?
She pressed her lips together, thinking. If Lily-Jane were in this situation, if she were... Who would she fake-date?
The football guys? No. Too expected. Too dumb.
Debate club? Ew.
Theater guys? God, she’d tried that once. Never again.
She needed someone unexpected. Charismatic enough to make Aaron jealous. Someone funny, a little cool, someone people actually liked.
Oh.
Oh, no.
No, no, no. Not happening. Sorry.
Seriously. Stop trying to make it happen, brain. It’s not going to happen.
Ugh.
Regina groaned, pulled out her phone, and typed out a text before she could talk herself out of it.
to: Rodrick Heffley
meet me tmr after lunch
gotta talk to u
She stared at the message, thumb hovering over send for a full ten seconds.
Then she hit it.
If she was going down, she might as well take down a guy she hated with her.