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For what was quite possibly the first time in her life, MK didn’t know what to say.
She knew that most of the time, Julia wasn’t a nice person. Hell, that was one of the things she liked about her girlfriend. But doing something like this? Exposing one of her fellow cast mates for being pregnant just to make herself look better? That was totally vicious, even for Julia.
What made it even harder for MK was knowing that when she’d first heard the news, she’d laughed about it. She hated herself for having done it now, but how could she not have? It was a crazy little secret, almost too crazy to believe, and it had just been between her and Julia and that was that…except for the fact that it hadn’t stayed a secret for very long. Amidst the chaos that erupted, one question kept bugging her over and over and over again:
Could I have stopped her?
Deep down, MK knew she couldn’t possibly have. She didn’t even know Julia had connections to the press until she’d seen those exact pictures on the air while watching TV with her family. And even if she had, how was she to know that Julia would pull a stunt like this? To some people, this idea wasn’t too shocking. After all, this was Julia, the girl who had tricked Emma out of an alliance in season one, and had played Caleb and Priya like a fiddle in season two. MK could accept that, game was game. But doing stuff like that in real life? Putting what was easily someone’s most humiliating secret out in the world like it was nothing? That was just ridiculous.
MK shook her head. Dwelling on the past wasn’t going to fix anything. But what else could she do? What was done was done. She knew she would have to be the one to confront Julia, but that was easier said than done. MK would’ve hated to show it, but deep down, she was terrified of losing Julia. Julia had been her first girlfriend. The first one to love her for who she was. The first person to see her sneaky underhanded tendencies and not look at her like she was some sort of weirdo. Even though she usually thought that all that cheesy romance garbage was gross, MK couldn’t see herself with anyone other than Julia. Somewhere deep down, she felt like Julia was “the one” for her. And if she lost that, then she didn’t know what she was going to do.
Logically, even knowing how her girlfriend could be, MK didn’t think Julia would be so petty as to dump her over something like this. But then again, she hadn’t expected Julia to have gotten her in the situation in the first place. Either way, she knew she had to say something before Julia did it again and got herself in serious trouble. But how was she going to do it?
That’s when MK got an idea. Maybe she wouldn’t have to do something like this alone after all. She knew who she was going to have to call to make this plan possible, and she knew it wasn’t going to be easy either. Nevertheless, she didn’t have any better ideas, so she swallowed her pride and dialed the number.
Bowie picked up on the third ring. “MK?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Hey Bowie,” MK greeted halfheartedly, already dreading what she was going to have to do, “Listen, I know we’re not exactly ‘friends’, but…” she trailed off.
MK heard Bowie’s momentary confusion quickly lead to concern, “But what? MK, is everything alright?”
MK took a breath and told herself that this was the right thing to do. “I called you because I had to tell you something. It’s important.”
“Okay…” Bowie registered, “What is it?”
“So, um…” MK didn’t know where to begin, “You know those pictures of Axel that went everywhere online? You know, the-”
“Yes. I know about it. And I’m gonna stop you right there, MK.” Bowie interrupted crossly, “I’d really rather not talk about her behind her back during a time like this, and-”
“I know who did it.” MK heard herself blurting it out before she could stop herself. She heard Bowie freeze up at her statement.
“Excuse me?”
“I…I know who took the pictures. I know who sent them to the press. It was…It was Julia.”
“I knew it.” she heard Bowie murmur to himself after a long silence, “I knew that that two faced, sneaky little liar had something to do with it. I just couldn’t prove it…until now.” He then directed his attention back to MK, “But wait a second, MK…how long have you known about this?”
MK took a breath to calm her nerves, “According to her, I was the first person she told. But honestly, I don’t even know if I trust that right now. And listen, for the record, I didn’t know she was gonna go broadcasting it all over the place like that. I thought it was just our little secret. I didn’t know she’d even told anyone else until I saw the pictures on TV.”
“I see…” Bowie thought aloud, “My god, I can’t believe she would do this. This has got to be the lowest she’s ever sunk and that’s saying something.”
“Well…” MK shook her head, “I hate to say it, but it is Julia we’re talking about. You’ve seen what she’ll do to others just to make sure she stays ahead.”
“There’s a difference between a game and real life. What was she thinking? Does she have any idea how dangerous this could’ve been?! Axel could’ve been seriously hurt or worse if that news were to have been found by the wrong people.”
“Yeah, I’m with you on that,” MK sighed, “But anyways…the reason I called you is because I need your help solving this.”
“And what exactly are you planning?”
“You see…” MK explained her plan, “I have an idea. You’re the only one I know with the balls to confront her face to face for this, but we both know that if you go by yourself, she’s not going to listen. That’s where I come in. Julia will listen to me, so if I back you up, I might be able to get her to see sense.”
“Hmm…” Bowie listened as MK finished, “You know I won’t pass up a chance to drag Julia, but I have to ask, why do you need my help? Julia’s your girlfriend, shouldn’t you be able to just talk to her yourself?”
MK knew Bowie was right, but still, it pained her to think about. “Alright, look, I’ll level with you, Bowie. This is…kinda like Julia and my first…roadbump. Things have been going great so far, and I don’t want to lose that. But I know that if I don’t say anything, she’s probably gonna do it again. And next time she does it, she might get into some serious trouble.” MK quickly realized how pathetic she sounded and brushed it off, deflecting to her usual sardonic attitude, “So I feel like if you come along with me, she gets confronted and hopefully learns her lesson, and I only get a half of her anger. It’s a win win!”
“Oh, MK,” from the tone in Bowie’s voice, MK could tell he felt bad for her and that he’d seen through her act instantly, “You’re telling me you’re worried she’ll break up with you over something like this?”
Aw crap. She’d been caught red handed.
“Well if you have to know, then yes.” MK groaned, “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. Believe me, I wouldn’t be asking you for help if I wasn’t. So come on, help me out? Just this once?”
Bowie stayed silent for a few seconds before finally speaking up again. “Okay. I’ll make you a deal. I will come with you tomorrow for support, and I will initiate the confrontation. But what I will not do is fight this battle for you. You need to talk to Julia and work this out on your own, alright?”
“Deal. I can manage that.” MK replied, already feeling much better.
“Sounds good. I’ll swing by your house tomorrow afternoon so we can go over together,” he said nonchalantly, “Oh, and MK?”
“Yeah?”
Bowie’s voice was surprisingly sympathetic and sincere for once, “I know this is probably really weighing on you, but I just wanted you to know that you’re doing the right thing here. For both you and Julia.”
“Thanks,” MK breathed a sigh of relief at his statement, “I kinda needed that. It’s been a rough couple of days. See you tomorrow?”
“Two o’clock sharp,” Bowie confirmed, “Have a good night, MK. Try to get some sleep.”
“Okay, I’ll try. Night, Bowie.”
The line clicked off and MK flopped onto her bed. Her eyes and body felt heavy as lead, as if she could conk out at any moment. Yet somehow, she felt light at the same time. The weight of her dread had been lifted and she oddly enough felt hopeful. Empowered, even. Maybe Bowie was right. Maybe she was doing the right thing after all. Maybe tomorrow wouldn’t go as badly as she’d thought.
As she yawned and let the sleepiness take over, MK couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t know why, but she had a feeling that things were going to be just fine.