AllFreeNovel
Share Us
On the short drive home, I spy the Defender in my rearview mirror and can make out two figures in it. Rhys and Wes are following me home. This should make me feel safe, but there is...nothing.
Again, Rhys doesn’t come home that night.
Tuesday morning,I am in a daze. My mind is foggy from another sleepless night, and Denielle simply shows up at my car, walking with me. She follows me to my locker and first period classroom before she makes her way to her own class. I don’t pay attention to my surroundings, and my first period passes in a blur. By my second class, I’m a little more alert, and by the third, I know for certain that I’m beingwatched. And not just watched. Conversations stop when I enter the classroom, heads turn when I pass, and that’s when it hits me.They know. I’m not sure what, but they know something.
How?
I settle down in my usual window seat in the second row when several things happen at once: Denielle bursts into the classroom, searching for me, Mr. Hayworth is calling my name, followed by a frantic Rhys coming through the back door of the classroom.
What the—?
"Miss McGuire, you’re requested in the principal’s office."
Both Den and Rhys stand in either doorway, staring at me. I slowly stand up, putting my book back in my bag, unsure of what to do.
"Why?" comes out as a croak when I focus on my teacher.
But Mr. Hayworth addresses Rhys instead. "MisterMcGuire, this is not your classroom; please return to your floor." He speaks in a curt tone, but Rhys doesn’t budge. Mr. Hayworth is one of the nicest teachers in school. Even when someone gets out of line, he has never used that tone before.
"I need to talk to Lilly."
"I think you have done enough. If you don’t leave this classroom, I will call campus security."
What is going on?
Sweat starts trickling down my spine. My gaze jumps back and forth between my teacher, Denielle, and Rhys. And while all this is going down, every other set of eyes in the room is locked on me. I slowly take inventory. Two guys in the back are leering at me, two cheerleaders to the left stare with a mixture of disgust and malicious joy, and a group of girls that I barely know glare with pure contempt. The bottom of my stomach plummets.
I walk toward the front of the room and pass Denielle, who immediately hooks her arm around mine and steers me down the hall to the nearest bathroom. Stragglers are still in the hall, and I’m met with the same variety of expressions. All I can do is let Denielle drag me along. I’m faintly aware that Rhys is following.
The door closes behind Rhys,who leans against it, and Denielle checks every stall before turning to me.
"Babe, I’m so sorry." She appears small and distressed when she addresses me. Denielle is anything but those two attributes. She always stands straight, radiating confidence; that’s how she commands every room. But right now, she looks like a little girl, and it sends tremors through my body.
"What’s going on?" I rasp out the question. Deep down, I know, but I need one of them to confirm it.
"Kat knows," Rhys speaks up behind me. I turn and take in his slumped shoulders under his black V-neck sweater, his hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his faded jeans. He won’t make eye contact with me.
"Knows what exactly?" I try to sound calm. I mean, that’s a valid question; there is not just one secret surrounding me. My gaze ping pongs back and forth between them as I wait for one of them to speak up.
Without a word, Denielle holds out her phone, and I’m looking at Katherine’s social media profile. Smack in the middle is a picture of Rhys and me. But not just any picture. The photo is taken from a side angle. I’m wrapped around Rhys, my arms around his neck, my legs around his middle, and his hands on my butt. We’re kissing. It’s the day he surprised me at Denielle’s house.
I swallow several times. There is too much saliva in my mouth. A sheen of sweat begins to build on my skin as I keep staring, but no matter what, I can’t stop it. I thrust the phone back to Denielle and lurch to the nearest stall. I didn’t eat much today, so there is not really anything to expel from my stomach, but the retching won’t stop.
I don’t know how long I hover over the not-so-white porcelain, and at some point, someone holds my hair back. When I’m finally done and sit back, Denielle helps me up.
After cleaning myself up, I take a deep breath. "What else is there?"
Denielle looks at Rhys before meeting my eyes again. Rhys is still in the same position, and a feeling of dread starts spreading through my body. Our eyes meet for the first time since coming in here, and what I see knocks the wind out of me. His voice is low when he speaks. "Kat has suspected something for a while. She’s as smart as she is cunning. I underestimated her."
"YOU KNEW?" I can’t keep the shrillness out of my voice. If possible, he shrinks even further.
"She saw the change in our pattern. We were talking. You came to my match. I went to your meet. Then, I broke up with her. She saw how I looked at you and how you looked at me. She was just waiting for proof, and then—" Rhys breaks off and drags in a ragged breath.
"Kat posted it this morning. I didn’t hear about it until the middle of second period. I couldn’t get a hall pass, otherwise, I would’ve come to you sooner. I texted you, but you never check your phone during class," Denielle explains. "My guess is the school must’ve gotten wind of it, too." My best friend’s voice is full of remorse as if any of this is her fault.
She holds her phone out to me, and I read the caption under the picture. "It looks like ‘Sister’ Lilly has a very special relationship with WH’s QB."
"I was supposed to go to the principal’s office as well," Rhys confirms Den’s assumption.
