Chapter 1The school's IT girl said she'd never seen a mummy IRL. So my childhood best friend decided to MAKE one. Out of me.
He and every guy in our class knocked me out cold, wrapped me head to toe, and hung me from the bleachers.
I woke up to people dying laughing. Filming. Some asshole even spit on me.
Two hours.
That's how long I hung there while the whole school walked by.
Cade finally showed up.
"Sutton wanted to see a real-life mummy," he said, cutting me down like it was nothing. "We were just messing around."
"You're not actually mad, right?"
I just stared at him.
At the guys behind him, still laughing.
At Sutton in the corner, hand over her mouth, trying not to crack up.
Oh.
So THAT'S what I was to them.
A joke. Entertainment. Something to humiliate for a girl's amusement.
Fine.
Didn't matter anyway.
Next week, I was transferring out.
He could play knight-in-shining-armor for his precious princess all he wanted.
And me? I'd been saving myself just fine.
---
Right after gym, I was grabbing my stuff from the equipment room when a bunch of guys surrounded me.
Cade was leading them—my best friend since literally forever.
He had this huge grin on his face. "Yo Rhett, c'mere for a sec."
Before I could even ask what was going on, something cracked against the back of my skull.
For like half a second, I saw his face change—this flicker of "wait, should we really—"
But then it was gone. Replaced by straight-up excitement.
Everything went black.
My last thought before I passed out? Cade, what the actual fuck?
When I came to, I couldn't move.
White bandages wrapped around every inch of me—head to toe.
Only my eyes and nose were uncovered so I could breathe
and see just how screwed I was.
And I was tied up—duct-taped to the railing at the top
of the football bleachers.
At least twelve feet off the ground.
Every time the wind picked up, the tape creaked and I swayed forward.
It was lunch period. The busiest time of day.
And I was up there like some kind of twisted decoration.
"Yo, is that a real mummy?!"
"Who the hell is that? I can't even tell!"
"Dude, film this—it's gonna blow up!"
"I'm already recording!"
"This is so fucked up... but also kinda hilarious?"
"Send it to me when you post!"
Phones everywhere. Pointed right at me.
Camera flashes going off in my face.
I tried to scream, but they'd taped my mouth shut too.
All I could do was make these pathetic muffled sounds. Like a trapped animal that knows nobody's coming to help.
Someone in the lunch crowd looked up and froze.
"Holy shit! Who is that?!"
"Wait, isn't that Rhett? The girl who's always following Cade around?"
"Rhett Marino? From Patterson's class?"
"Yeah! The one in that ratty gray hoodie."
"Oh my God, she's literally duct-taped up there. That's fucked up."
"I mean... she's been obsessed with him since forever. Not that surprising."
"For real. She's like a puppy that won't leave him alone."
"Bet Cade finally got sick of her shit."
"Dude, are you filming this?"
"Yeah, this is going straight to TikTok."
"Send it to the group chat!"
Each comment felt like a knife twisting in my chest.
Everyone was laughing even harder.
Some people actually spit at me.
That disgusting sticky crap sliding down the bandages.
My stomach was doing flips, but I couldn't even puke.
Just had to hang there while that nasty shit dripped all over me.
I thrashed as hard as I could, but the ropes only dug in deeper.
My wrists and ankles were on fire.
I could feel the skin tearing, something warm running down my arms.
Blood.
Two hours.
Two whole hours.
I hung there like some object for people to point at, laugh at, humiliate.
A teacher walked by at one point. Frowned a little. Then just kept walking.
Not one person helped me.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Tears streaming down that I couldn't stop.
Cade. This is your idea of a joke?
Sixteen years of friendship means nothing to you?
Chapter 2
Finally, Cade showed up.
Still rocking that cocky walk, hands shoved in his pockets.
Strolling up like he was just here to watch a show.
Behind him were all the guys who'd helped pull this off.
And Sutton.
She was wearing this flowy white dress today, hair down, looking like some Instagram influencer.
Hand over her mouth, eyes wide with shock. "Oh my God, you guys actually did this?! That's so bad!"
But her voice gave her away.
She was way too excited. Trying not to smile but totally failing.
That's when it hit me.
This was all for her.
My humiliation was her entertainment.
"Fuck yeah we did." Cade grinned at her. "You wanted to see a mummy, so we delivered."
His voice had this edge to it I'd never heard before—like he was trying so hard to impress her.
That kind of tone was never for me.
He walked up to the bleachers and looked up at me.
The sunset hit his face, lighting up features I'd known my whole life.
But right then, he looked like a complete stranger.
Those eyes I used to think would always protect me? Now they just looked amused.
"So Rhett, how's the view from up there? Pretty sick, right?"
He was actually joking.
Like the person hanging up there wasn't even human—just some prop.
"Alright alright, that's enough. Someone cut her down."
Casual as hell. Like he was talking about taking down Christmas decorations.
A couple guys fumbled around untying the ropes.
None of them gave a shit if I'd get hurt falling.
I slammed into the ground hard.
Knocked all the air out of my lungs—felt like every organ in my body shifted.
Like all my bones were about to fall apart.
Pain had me curled up on the pavement like a dying bug.
Cade crouched down and ripped the bandages off my face in a few rough yanks.
Didn't care at all that it hurt like hell.
The fabric tearing at my skin made me gasp.
When he saw my puffy, bloodshot eyes, he froze for a second.
For just a moment, I thought maybe he'd feel bad. Maybe apologize.
But nope. The guilt—if that's even what it was—disappeared fast.
He was back to his usual self.
"Why are you crying? Dude, it was just a prank."
"We do this shit to each other all the time. What's the big deal?"
He said it so lightly. Like it really was just some harmless joke between friends.
But he forgot—we'd never done anything like this before.
Never humiliated each other in front of hundreds of people.
Never been this cruel.
I stared at him. My throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton. Couldn't get a single sound out.
Not that I didn't want to—I just had no idea what to even say.
How do you confront sixteen years of friendship?
How do you call out someone you've known since you were in diapers?
He started squirming under my stare. "Stop looking at me like that. It's creepy."
His eyes darted away—totally guilty.
But then he recovered fast. Found his excuse.
"Sutton said yesterday she's never seen a real mummy, so we thought..."
"Whatever. It's not that big of a deal. You're fine."
Fine?
I looked down at my bloody wrists. At my spit-covered shirt.
This is fine?
The guys around him started piling on.
"Yeah Rhett, why are you being so dramatic?"
"It's just a prank. Chill."
"We spent like an hour getting you up there."
"You could at least say thanks."
"Honestly, if Cade wasn't your friend, you'd be a total loner."
"For real. Nobody would talk to you."
Every word hit the same—I wasn't worth shit.
Not worth respect. Not worth kindness.
Only worth being used as a joke for someone else.
Sutton walked over, putting on this apologetic face. "Oh my God, Rhett, are you okay? I'm so sorry! I was totally kidding when I said that!"
"I didn't think they'd actually do it!"
Her eyes got all watery. Like she was about to cry.
Playing victim so perfectly—like she was the one who got hurt.
Immediately, guys rushed to comfort her.
"Sutton, it's not your fault."
"Seriously, Rhett just can't take a joke."
"You're so nice, Sutton. She doesn't even deserve it."
I slowly stood up. Legs still shaking like crazy.
Blood crusted around my wrists and ankles.
Every part of my body screaming in pain.
But I didn't make a sound. Just looked at Cade one last time.
In that look was sixteen years of history. Countless good memories.
And how completely destroyed I felt right now.
Then I turned and walked away.
His voice called out behind me. "Yo, Rhett! Where you going?"
"Come on, chill out! I'll buy you Chipotle to make up for it."
"Rhett! Hello?? I'm talking to you!"
I didn't turn around.
My steps were shaky as hell, but I kept going.
Each step felt like walking on broken glass, but I couldn't stop.
If I stopped, I'd break down.
I'd lose it crying right in front of him.
And then I'd really lose. Completely.
Chapter 3
Soon as I got home, I went straight to the shower.
The second I pulled off my clothes, I saw bruises and welts covering every inch of me.
Looked like I'd been in a car crash.
I cranked the water as hot as it would go and scrubbed myself raw.
Trying to wash off the spit. Wash off the shame.
Trying to wash off every trace of Cade Hartley.
But it wouldn't come off.
The laughter still rang in my ears.
Those hateful stares still crawled all over my skin.
And Cade's casual "just a prank, bro."
Playing on repeat in my head like some nightmare I couldn't wake up from.
Hot water hit my open wounds and I was shaking from the pain.
But the pain was good. Kept me focused.
Reminded me this wasn't a bad dream. This was real.
Cade really did turn me into a toy just to impress Sutton Bellamy.
Mom knocked on the door. "Rhett, you've been in there forever."
"You're running up the water bill, honey. Hurry up."
"Okay, okay!"
My voice sounded wrecked—didn't even sound like me.
Mom was probably heading out to her book club. Didn't notice anything off.
Fine by me. Didn't wanna explain anyway.
How would I even explain it?
Hey Mom, the guy I've trusted my whole life just hung me from a bleachers for laughs?
The entire school filmed me and posted it online?
Yeah, no. Couldn't say it.
The girl staring back at me in the mirror looked destroyed.
Pale as a ghost. Lips totally drained of color.
The marks on my wrists were brutal.
Deep, purplish-red circles—like someone had tried to saw through them.
I grabbed some antiseptic and started dabbing at them.
Stung like hell.
But nowhere near as much as my heart hurt.
Sixteen years.
I'd known Cade Hartley for sixteen years.
Our families lived in the same neighborhood. Total family friends.
Our moms did wine nights together. Our dads golfed together.
We'd been in the same class since preschool.
His first day of preschool, he cried his eyes out. I gave him a cookie from my lunchbox.
After that, he followed me everywhere like a puppy.
"Rhett, wait up!"
"Rhett, want some of my sandwich?"
"We're best friends forever!"
Back then, Cade's eyes lit up when he smiled—pure and sweet like a little kid.
He was always getting into trouble. I was the good kid who kept him outta detention.
When the teacher asked who broke the classroom window, I said it was me.
Even though it was totally him—threw a football through it during recess.
He sucked at school. I tutored him constantly.
Before every final, I'd give him all my notes. Then stay up all night rewriting them for myself.
He told me once, "Rhett, you're the best. I'm gonna marry you when we grow up."
I turned red. "As if!"
But inside? I was secretly happy.
I thought we were soulmates.
Best friends who'd always have each other's backs.
And yeah, deep down I hoped for more.
Hoped that one day he'd look at me seriously and say—Rhett Marino, be my girlfriend.
Turns out, to him I was just a punching bag he could use whenever he felt like it.
Just some backup option who'd never leave.
To impress Sutton, he didn't think twice about hanging me from damn bleachers.
Let the whole school laugh at me. Crushed whatever dignity I had left.
Suddenly, my phone started blowing up.
The group chat.
I opened it like an idiot.
Someone had posted the video from earlier.
Title in all caps: DYING LAUGHING - VALEDICTORIAN GETS HUNG FROM BLEACHERS
In the video, I'm swinging around like a broken toy.
Wind blowing me side to side.
Comments were flooded with crying-laughing emojis.
[omg Rhett finally got what she deserved]
[she looks like a mummy]
[Cade's a legend for this]
[all for Goddess Sutton, what a king]
[Rhett's usually so stuck-up, bet she's embarrassed now]
[been sick of her forever, always up Cade's ass]
[like a barnacle fr, it's so annoying]
[cringe af]
My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped my phone.
Every comment felt like a slap.
So this is how people saw me.
I left the group chat. Then opened Instagram.
Sure enough, videos and photos of me hanging there were everywhere.
Different captions, same message—pure mockery.
Mocking how pathetic I looked. Mocking how I didn't know my place.
Cade posted too: [today's entertainment lol @suttonbellamy you happy now?]
With a pic of me dangling there.
Even added a laughing emoji.
Sutton replied: [omg you guys are so bad~ I was kidding!!]
With three blushing emojis.
What a fake.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
Comments under his post were hyping him up like crazy.
[Cade's the GOAT]
[whatever Goddess Sutton wants, we deliver]
[what should we do next? we got you queen]
I closed Instagram.
Felt completely numb inside.
My pain was their fun.
My dignity was their joke.
And Cade—the person I thought would always protect me—was now the one destroying me.
