They Wrapped Me Like A Mummy To Make Her Smile Chapter 01

They Wrapped Me Like A Mummy To Make Her Smile Chapter 01

Chloe Bennett—the girl everyone adored—had casually mentioned she’d never seen a real mummy before.

So Ryan Parker, my best friend, decided to give her one.

He and a group of guys from our class turned me into the punchline.

When I woke up, I was wrapped in white bandages and put on display at the front entrance of Brookhaven High School.

Students passing by laughed. Filmed. Pointed.

Some made crude comments.

I was restrained there for what felt like forever—long enough for the entire after-school crowd to cycle through.

Eventually, Ryan showed up.

He strolled over like he was arriving at a party, grinning as he loosened the ropes.

“Chloe said she wanted to see a real-life mummy,” he said lightly. “We were just messing around.”

He tilted his head at me. “You’re not actually mad, right? We grew up together. You know me better than anyone.”

I didn’t answer.

I just looked at him.

At the boys still laughing behind him.

At Chloe standing off to the side, covering her mouth as if she were shocked—though her eyes sparkled with amusement.

That was the moment I understood something.

My dignity was entertainment.

My humiliation was currency.

After that day, I transferred schools.

And Ryan completely unraveled.

“Aren’t you the one who always understood me?” he demanded later.

“Then why would you leave?”

***********

It had started after P.E.

I’d just walked out of the equipment room when a group of guys surrounded me.

Ryan stood at the center, hands in his pockets, smiling like this was all part of some inside joke.

“Emma,” he said, flashing his brightest smile. “Play along, okay?”

Before I could react, everything went sideways.

The last thing I remembered was catching a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.

Just a flicker.

Then it was gone—replaced by excitement.

Darkness swallowed me.

My final thought before I lost consciousness was simple: Ryan, what are you doing?

When I came to, I couldn’t move.

White bandages covered me from head to toe, leaving only small gaps to breathe and see.

Students poured out once classes ended.

The school entrance was the busiest spot on campus. Everyone passed through it.

And there I was. Center stage.

“Is that seriously a mummy?”

“No way—who is that?”

“Record it! This is going straight on Instagram!”

Phones lifted in unison.

Camera flashes stung my eyes.

I tried to speak, but my voice was muffled. Only broken sounds escaped.

Like an animal trapped in a cage.

Someone recognized me.

“Wait—isn’t that Emma Carter from Honors?”

“The quiet genius girl?”

“Yeah, the one who’s always around Ryan.”

“Oh wow… that’s brutal.”

The laughter grew louder.

Every comment sliced a little deeper.

I could feel the pressure of the restraints biting into my skin. My wrists and ankles throbbed from the tension. The bandages pulled tight whenever I struggled, making it hard to breathe.

Time blurred.

Minutes stretched.

Then hours.

I lay there while the crowd cycled in waves—curious, amused, indifferent.

A teacher passed by at one point, paused, frowned.

“Kids these days…” he muttered.

And kept walking.

No one intervened.

No one stepped forward.

Eventually, I stopped fighting the ropes.

I closed my eyes.

Tears slipped silently beneath the bandages.

Ryan.

Was this what you called a joke?

All those years we’d grown up side by side—did they mean so little to you?

I had thought I knew him.

But as I lay there—exposed, powerless, reduced to a spectacle—I realized something else.

I had never known him at all.