Five - New Year

Tony POV. 

Yesterday at the party, Constance broke every limit imaginable. I swear that if I had any knowledge about what she had set up for Gianna, I would never have pushed her to attend the party. 

I feel disgusted by everyone, the only person I could talk about it with was my sister Mac.”Mac, how could that have ever happened, I told her I would take care of her.” I said with anger and regret. “Tony, Constance is a rotten b***h. She went too far, you need to see how she is.” Mac said.  “I have been trying to call her, but she is not responding to my calls,” I said and got back inside my mind. 

I closed my eyes and saw Gianna's smile and beautiful green eyes. And the flashes of the horrible images that Constance circulated all over the school social media. It was a very well-executed job since you could never see the attacker's face. I was fuming in rage. Hopefully, everything calms down and by the beginning of next semester, I can fix things with her. 

“You like her don't you?” Mackenzi asked me. “Mac, she is a wonderful person, she is just like you, easy-going, kind, funny and smart. I feel like I can be myself around her. Our friendship grew unexpectedly, so yes I care about her. She didn't deserve that.” I said. “Oh brother, I hope you could see yourself while talking about her. The light that your eyes show is wonderful.” She said, 

“I am going to my room,” I said to Mackenzie. Today was Christmas Eve and we had to be ready for family dinner. I took my phone and sent a message to Gianna: “Merry Christmas friend, I wish for a Christmas present that you would pick up my calls, or at least send me a message.” I sent it to her. Nothing, just silence. 

I had a bittersweet Christmas Break, I attended all the festivities with my family, but always in the back of my mind, I had Gianna popping out. This year I decided to draw a line in the sand regarding my friends and decided not to show up to our traditional skiing trip. 

Gianna POV 

I have always been a good person, why did this happen to me?. I felt so disgusted, and so betrayed. I always thought Tony was my friend. I was so stupid and naive, for goodness sake, what kind of friend hides so he can not be seen hanging around you?. So so stupid, I think I deserved what happened to me, all of it just for plain stupidity. 

I didn't want to go back to Dalton, and I couldn't come clean to my dad and aunt about what happened, so I decided to plead with them for a transfer abroad. Hopefully, I get lucky enough that they concede that to me. 

My hair was cut short, I was mocked, pushed, thrown, lied to, used, and assaulted, all of it in a 5-month time frame. But the physical evidence was meaningless against my broken soul. My once not long ago sparkly green eyes were dull, my bright smile now didn't reach my ears and my self-esteem was shattered into tiny pieces. 

I guess my Aunt Vanessa noticed that something was wrong, that when I pleaded my case on transferring aboard, she agreed instantly. So just before Christmas Eve, I made all of the proper arrangements and transferred to a boarding school in London. I needed to put land and an ocean between me and those nasty people. I just hoped I would never run into one of them again. 

I haven't looked at my cell phone for a week. I concentrated on my transfer, and as a Christmas gift, I asked my dad to purchase a new phone and number for me to take abroad. My dad compiled so I had my London number and my American number. I decided that my American number will be permanent without battery, until further notice. I grabbed my American phone to proceed to turn it off and  I noticed several missed calls and messages. All of them are from Tony. What the hell. Hasn't he done enough?. One of his messages read:  “Merry Christmas friend, I wish for a Christmas present that you would pick up my calls, or at least send me a message.” 

I threw the phone shattering it into the wall, I was enraged, He had no idea of the meaning of the word friendship, and at that moment I promised myself I will rise above all this, they will not win.  

Soon it was time to move to London, and my dad took me in his private plane, my aunt Vanessa came along with us. It was a nice family holiday time, considering my emotional state.  My new school was boarding, girls only. I need to make sure I will not experience another assault. The grounds were beautiful and the girls were nice. I shared a room with another girl. This school was not exclusive to wealthy people, but I came to learn the hard way that money does not make people better. 

Rachel Lowell was my roommate's name, and she was quite the character, a breath of fresh air in my somber life. She is short, only 5ft, but what she lacks in height she has in personality. She is a cute blonde with a pixie cut, she reminds me of Tinkerbell with amber eyes. Very soon we became best friends and we confided in everything. 

Rachel was livid when I told her my story, and she swore that if given the opportunity she would make sure they feel her wrath. It was kind of funny seeing that little thing threaten the most powerful people in America. I knew it was nearly impossible that I would get justice, but it was nice to see someone rooting for it. 

Tonys POV. 

Christmas break was over so Mackenzie and I went back to school. During the whole break, Jason, Constance, and the twins sent me messages, but I never answered them. I was disappointed when I found out from the school that Gianna transferred during the break. 

Where did she go? Naturally, I completely understand her motives to transfer, but she never returned my calls, and never answered my messages. I know that maybe she would want to break every connection with this horrible place and her past, but I was disappointed that she even cut ties with me. 

As soon as I came back from Christmas break I broke up with Constance. It didn't sit well with me what she did. It never did, but now I grew a pair of balls and broke every relation with her. She never cared about me, about us. She never respected me, and she was vicious. Sure she was magnificent looking, but it was just a very nice package to a very rotten product. The day I broke up with her she pulled out a tantrum worthy of a 5-year-old, but I didn't back up. 

It was too late for me to do right by Gianna, but I promise myself I would never allow a situation like that to go out of control. When I confronted Jason, he came clean to me. Constance planned for me to bring her to the party since she knew that Gianna had feelings for me. She told Jason that his only involvement would be in splitting us apart, that is why he asked Gianna to dance, and He admits that when Gianna was feeling sick, he thought that she didn´t tolerate alcohol that well, he also admitted that when he saw her struggling he made a couple of nasty comments to her, but never intended to harm her. I have known Jason since we were little kids, and I know that he sometimes gets carried away trying to fit in but deep inside he is a kind soul, a lonely soul like me.  

Later while I talked to Molly and Mandy, I found out that they were the ones that prepared Gianna's cocktail, and they admitted that Constance gave them rape drugs to spike Gi´s drink. They made sure that she took it because our drinks were very different. Jason brought a straight whiskey for me and a fruity cocktail for her. So that way they ensured there were no errors or mix-ups. In the end, all of them admitted that going along with Constance´s plan was wrong, but they also assured me that they didn't know that she planned to have her assaulted, who the perpetrator was, or how she published all those nasty images. Jason offered to find out through his family´s company. I honestly thought it was pointless, the damage had been done, so I declined. 

It is the beginning of a New Year, and the beginning of my last semester of school. Soon I will be heading out to University, and thanks to Gianna I made it into Architecture, which was what I wanted.  The school felt empty, and I silently missed her like crazy, the only person that knew my truth was Mac, my sister. 

 Time flew and everybody eventually forgot about all of the nasty photos of Gianna that were published and moved on. Every day was the same, and time flew away this semester. 

Today is our graduation, and I deeply regret that I didn't protect her. If I had acted sooner, maybe she would be graduating with me. But I could only hope to see her again.