Revenge of the Slandered

The class bell had just rung.
The back door of the classroom suddenly swung open.
My cousin Willa Sue walked in carrying a white plastic bag.
She walked straight over to my seat.
With a crash, everything in the plastic bag spilled out onto my desk.
The white examination reports scattered across the table.
The words "gynecology" and "inflammation" were glaringly obvious.
Every classmate's eyes immediately focused on me.
Willa Sue raised her voice.
"Shirley River, your messy private life—why didn't you say anything earlier when you caught such a contagious disease?"
My hand gripping the pen tightened abruptly.
My fingertips went white, and my mind went completely blank.
"I'm doing this for your own good." Willa Sue spoke again, her tone dripping with fake concern.
"You should let your roommates know not to use your towels or cups, or they might get infected."
Some people started whispering.
"Oh my god, I never expected Shirley River to be that kind of person."
"No wonder she's so close with Frankie Larsen, it turns out..."
Those words stabbed my ears like needles.
I looked up at Willa Sue, wanting to explain.
But she didn't give me the chance at all.
"And Frankie Larsen," she turned her head toward my boyfriend sitting not far away, "you need to see her true colors—don't be fooled by her."
Frankie Larsen suddenly stood up.
His eyes were full of disgust as he looked at me.
"Shirley River, you really disgust me."
After saying that, he grabbed the book on the table and walked out.
As he passed by me, he deliberately bumped my desk.
The examination reports scattered all over the floor.
More laughter came over.
I crouched down to pick up the examination reports.
Tears fell onto the cold floor.
I don't understand why Willa Sue would do this to me.
We grew up together since childhood; I always treated her like an older sister.

Everything changed after that day.
My classmates all avoid me when they see me.
People are whispering and pointing fingers behind my back.
My roommates moved all my things to the hallway, saying they were afraid of being contaminated by me.
I went to find Frankie Larsen, hoping to explain everything clearly.
But he didn't even want to see me.
He only sent a friend with a message, saying he wanted to break up with me.
Every day, I lived under everyone's cold stares and gossip, my mind on the verge of collapse.
That night, after working overtime, I was heading home.
As I passed through a narrow alley, two thugs suddenly jumped out.
They blocked my way, hurling filthy words at me.
I was so terrified that I turned and ran.
In my panic, I dashed up to the rooftop of an apartment building.
The thug was still hot on my heels.
I tried to find a place to hide but accidentally missed a step at the edge of the rooftop.
My body went weightless in an instant.
The wind roared past my ears.
I saw the ground getting closer and closer.
Before losing consciousness, all I could think of was Willa Sue's fake face.
Many people showed up at the funeral.
Willa Sue wore a black dress, knelt by my coffin, and cried her heart out.
"Shirley, it's all my fault. If I hadn't said those things, none of this would have happened..."
Everyone around her comforted her, saying she was a good sister who only had good intentions but ended up causing harm.
But I was hovering above, seeing everything clearly.
When she cried, there wasn't a trace of real sorrow in her eyes.
When no one was looking, she even told my mom, "Auntie, don't be too upset. Shirley... she's never been very proper, so something like this is kind of... expected."
I was trembling all over with rage.
But there was nothing I could do.
All I could do was watch helplessly as she kept slandering me, and those who didn't know the truth still treated her like the good one.

I snapped my eyes open.
Blinding sunlight poured through the window.
The familiar classroom, familiar faces.
Willa Sue stood by my desk, clutching that white plastic bag.
With a rustling sound.
The examination reports spilled across my desk again.
"Shirley River, your private life is such a mess..."
She didn't finish her sentence.
I suddenly stood up, raised my hand, and slapped her hard across the face.
A sharp slap echoed.
The entire class instantly fell silent.
Everyone was stunned.
Willa Sue covered her face, staring at me in disbelief.
"Shirley River, are you crazy?"
"Am I crazy?" I sneered, my voice thick with long-suppressed anger. "Willa Sue, how dare you use these things to slander me?"
Willa Sue quickly caught on.
She lowered her hands, a look of hurt crossing her face.
"I'm not slandering you. I'm doing this for your own good, Shirley. How could you hit me?"
"Doing this for my own good?" I grabbed an examination report and held it up for the entire class to see.
"You brought gynecological examination reports from who knows where and spread rumors in front of the entire class, saying I have a contagious disease. You call that looking out for me?"
The classmates began whispering among themselves.
Some of them cast Willa Sue more suspicious glances.
"Yeah, even if it's for her own good, there's no excuse for doing this, right?"
"Besides, are these examination reports really Shirley River's?"
Willa Sue's face paled as she heard this.
She still wanted to argue.
Just then, the classroom door swung open.
Frankie Larsen rushed in.
He clearly had heard what was going on here.
The moment he came in, he glared at me with fury.
"Shirley River, how dare you hit Willa Sue? You've gone way too far!"
I looked at him, feeling a chill in my heart.
In my last life, he blindly accused me and abandoned me.
This time, he's no different.

"Frankie Larsen, look closely—it was her who started the rumors and slandered me first." I pointed at Willa Sue, speaking coldly.
"Slandered you?" Frankie refused to believe it. "Do I not know who Willa Sue is?"
"How could she possibly slander you? She must have said that because you did something wrong!"
He said this and raised his hand to hit me.
In my previous life, I didn't dodge.
This time, I will never let him hit me again.
Just as his hand was about to strike my face, I suddenly dodged to the side.
Frankie Larsen didn't expect me to dodge.
By momentum, his hand swung and struck Willa Sue's face beside me.
There was another sharp smack.
Willa staggered from the blow.
She covered her face, tears instantly streaming down.
"Frankie, why did you hit me too?"
Frankie Larsen was stunned as well.
He looked at his hand, then at Willa Sue, his eyes full of panic.
"I... I didn't mean to, I wanted to hit Shirley River..."
"You actually wanted to hit Shirley?" Willa cried out, "Even if she did something wrong, you can't hit her!"
Though her words seemed to defend me, in reality, they only poured fuel on the fire.
Frankie's face darkened even more.
He glared at me fiercely.
"Shirley River, just you wait!"
Frankie Larsen stormed off in anger.
Willa Sue was still crying.
She cried and kept spreading rumors at the same time.
"Classmates, you don't understand, I had no choice but to say those things." She wiped her tears, her voice choking up.
"I've seen different guys coming out of Shirley River's rental apartment late at night more than once."
As soon as she said that, the entire class exploded into chaos again.
"Is this for real?"
"Shirley River actually rents an apartment outside?"
"No wonder she hardly ever goes back to the dorm..."

I stood frozen, staring coldly at Willa Sue.
She really knows how to make up stories.
I never rented an apartment elsewhere.
"And these examination reports," Willa Sue held up one report, "The name here is a bit blurred, but look— isn't the person in this photo Shirley River?"
The classmates all crowded around to take a look.
I stepped forward too and examined one of the reports carefully.
The person in the photo did resemble me in some ways.
What frightened me even more was that the data on the report, along with the doctor's signature, all appeared authentic.
How is this possible?
I've never had a test like this before.
How could Willa Sue have something like this?
"See, it's real, isn't it?" Seeing all the classmates staring at the examination report, Willa spoke again.
"I didn't want to say anything at first, but I'm afraid she might infect everyone, and I'm worried Frankie Larsen will be fooled by her. I'm doing this for everyone's own good."
A few classmates started to nod in agreement.
"So it turns out Willa Sue really is doing this for everyone's good."
"Shirley River really crossed the line, even hitting Willa Sue."
They crowded around, their eyes filled with contempt and disgust as they stared at me.
"Shirley River, you better move out of the dorm soon; we don't want to catch anything from you."
"Exactly, someone like you doesn't deserve to be in class with us."
Harsh words kept coming, one after another.
I clenched my fists tightly, my nails digging deep into my palms.
The pain keeps me conscious.
I know arguing with them now is pointless.
They've already made up their minds by believing Willa Sue.
I have to find a way to prove I'm innocent.
But these examination reports are genuine.
Where did Willa Sue even get them from?
Could it be that she forged it?
But these examination reports don't look fake at all.
My mind was a complete mess, and all I could do was endure the classmates' exclusion and mockery for now.

The classmates were still crowding around me.
They jabbered on, throwing accusations at me.
Willa Sue stood to the side, a faint, almost imperceptible smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
I took a deep breath, swallowing the anger and hurt inside me.
I can't just let them trap me like this.
I have to fight back.
Slowly, I pushed through the crowd of classmates and stepped out of the classroom, one step at a time.
The classmates were stunned, not sure what I was about to do.
Willa Sue frowned, too.
"Shirley River, where are you going?"
I didn't respond to her.
At the classroom door, I noticed a mop resting in the corner.
I grabbed the mop, then quickly turned and wedged it horizontally into the door handle, firmly locking the door.
"Shirley River, what are you doing? Open the door now!" Willa Sue snapped back, rushing over and tugging hard at the door.
The door didn't move an inch.
The other classmates panicked, too.
"Shirley River, are you crazy? Why did you lock us in here?"
"Open the door quickly, or we'll call the teacher!"
I stood outside the door, took out my phone, and dialed 911 right in front of them.
The call connected immediately.
"Hello, officer?" I tried to keep my voice calm but laced with fear.
"I want to report an emergency. I'm outside classroom 307 in building B2 at A University. Someone assaulted me, and others are spreading lies about me using fake medical reports. Now they're trying to trap me inside."
Everyone inside the classroom panicked when they heard what I said.
"Shirley River, stop talking nonsense!" Willa Sue yelled.
"Who violated you? Don't make baseless accusations!" some classmates shouted back.
I ignored them and kept clearly explaining the address and situation to the police.

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