The Enemy Hypothesis: A Brazos High Novella

sneaking their phone around the it. The video shows me standing there looking all nervous as I explain about Annabel. You can’t see the principal but you can hear his voice. And you can clearly hear the entire story I told him.
My cheeks burn as I watch the video, reliving that moment from just a few days ago. I sound so dorky, it’s unreal. But I was being overly cautious when I spoke because even I wasn’t positive this wasn’t a trick. I told him that a concerned student had pulled me aside and told me that Annabel was cheating, and that I’d been watching her score for a while and the evidence seemed real. I also said I didn’t want to harm my chances of winning by making a big deal out of something that could only be a rumor, but I felt I had to tell him just so he knew because if someone was cheating, I didn’t think it was fair. Then the principal looked up the app and asked why I was so concerned because I was currently in thirteenth place and I wasn’t even winning. I told him Abby deserves to win, and I don’t want a possible cheater to ruin it for her.
That whole conversation was caught on tape and shared with the entire student population last night. It must have inspired tons of people to give me a last minute kudos, which not only made me jump ahead of Abby, but it made me win by a large margin.
The bathroom steams up from the hot water in the shower. I can’t believe this. I scroll through so many texts and DMs, but none are from Abby. I send her a message.
Me: Hey. Oh my god I can’t believe this. I’m so sorry.
Abby: Sorry that you tricked me? Nah, I always knew you weren’t genuine.
A lump forms in my throat.
Me: Seriously. I had no idea that video was even taken. I wasn’t supposed to win. You were.
Abby: You can leave my inbox now.
You have been blocked by Abby Pena.
I look up from my phone, only to be met with my face in the steamy mirror. This sucks. I can’t even be happy about winning a new car. It doesn’t even matter anymore. Abby hates me.
* * *
The only good thing about this entire horrible day is that I get an excused absence from school. The principal actually calls me just before school starts and tells me not to come in today since everything will be so hectic and crazy. He tells me to meet him and the Un-bully guy at the car dealership. They’re bringing the cameraman again and filming the whole event for their website. The principal says my parents are welcome to come, but I lie and say they’re out of town.
The car dealership isn’t as big of a deal as I worried it might be. It’s not like there’s a huge party going on or anything, and no one from school is here. I guess I kind of worried that everyone would ditch class to see me get my car. Luckily, they didn’t. My phone is still blowing up with messages from my friends wanting to know the details of what’s going on, but I ignore them for now.
I meet with Roy, the salesman who walked me around last time we came here, and then the polo shirt guy from Un-bully arrives shortly after with the principal and his secretary. They all want to shake my hand and congratulate me, and while this is a whirlwind experience, it makes me sick to my stomach. This win should have gone to Abby. I don’t need a car as badly as she does. And I definitely don’t deserve it as much as she does. She’s sweet to everyone. Even before this month, she was kind and friendly. I was a jerk.
“Let’s go see your shiny new truck,” Roy says, grinning wide as he pats me on the back.
“Actually…” I glance at the Un-bully guy. “Do I have to pick the car I chose last time?”
“No,” he says with a shrug. “You can choose any car in the price range.”
“Great,” I say, smiling for the first time since Julian woke me up this morning. “I want the red Jeep.”

Fifteen
ABBY
I tried so hard to stay home from school today. I begged Abuela to just let me stay home, but she refused. Unlike my teachers who are all happy to ignore class lessons to talk about the Un-bully app, Abuela actually cares about education. So she forced me to go. Also, she had a good point that I couldn’t really refute—that if I skip school today, everyone will just talk to me tomorrow.
Might as well suck it up and get it over with today.
The only good thing in my life right now is knowing the Un-bully competition is over. I uninstalled the app so fast it gave my phone whiplash. Now there’s no incentive to be nice to people, no reason I need to keep smiling and saying friendly things. When Jules and I arrive at school, I head straight for the coffee cart and I don’t say a single hello to anyone. Not that anyone besides my best friend even wants to say a friendly good morning or hello.
They just want to gawk at the school’s biggest loser.
You would think a high school would actually care about educating students, but no. They don’t. All they care about is this contest. It’s Monday, October 1st and this is hands down the worst day of my high school life so far. Every single person is talking about the contest and what’s even worse than that, is how everyone in all my classes wants to talk to me about my epic loss.
Most people see the irony of Mark freaking Caputo winning the new car after he told the assistant principal that I deserve to win instead of