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Chapter Four: Maggie

I'm certain she was anything but sure.

I couldn't stop thinking about how weird her behavior was as well as her responses, knowing there was more to her reasons other than how she just hates the fact Mandy had cheated.

I'm not one to be empathetic when it comes to cheating, if anything, I should be just as mad as her if the reason truly was just about her disdain for infidelity.

But the thing is, someone couldn't be this invested in somebody else's love life like that, and Levi knew it was the only thing I had been thinking about.

"To think you interfering in Evan and Mandy's drama was enough, now Beth has to join in." Levi sighed "Look, just stop worrying about it. I bet it's just nothing."

"But it isn't just nothing, Levi. If it was really nothing, why would she be so affected by a situation like that? To talk about Mandy so harshly in that way?"

"Well, weren't you just as affected as her and talked about Evan just as harshly as well?" he retorted as I rolled my eyes in response.

"Yeah, but unlike her, I had a good reason."

"But still, you two just need to butt out of other peoples' business. You know how she tends to intrude on other people's lives so it was pretty much expected of her to be that way."

"But the thing is, she's never been that way before, and what if it's not just about Mandy? What if this whole thing somehow ties together with Evan?"

"I doubt it."

"How can you be so sure? I know I'm thinking way too deep into this, but I just don't want her to be associated with someone like Evan, the total embodiment of a bad influence."

"Now you know how it feels," Levi mused as I bumped him lightly on the shoulder "Just keep him out of your mouths. There's no point fretting out over a guy who's not worth your time."

I couldn't help but let out an agitated breath as I made my way to the now deserted hallways. Classes had just ended and I wanted nothing more but to cast the previous incidents aside and to be done with it completely just as Levi wanted.

We were already near the exit when I stopped in my tracks and turned to him, a quick realization dawning upon me "I think you should go ahead, I remembered I left a couple of my notes back in my locker and I need one of them for a quiz I'll be taking soon."

"Well, I'll just wait for you then-"

"Hey, Levi!" we turned our heads to see some of the guys in Levi's basketball team "Hurry up! We have practices, remember?"

Levi sighed, giving me an apologetic stare as I laughed it off "It's okay, go. I'll just get a cab."

"Are you sure? I can just tell them to wait so I can drop you off?"

"Honestly babe, I'm fine. It's still early anyway and it's not that hard to hail a cab."

He looked doubtful about my decision at first, but just went along with it either way "Okay fine, just be sure to text me once you get home to let me know you're alright, okay?" I chuckled, giving him a quick kiss before shooing him away as he joined his friends.

I watched him go before turning on my heel to head to my locker, seeing as how the halls had already been deserted completely, I'm guessing I was the only one left wandering around the building.

The second I arrived at my locker I made sure to retrieve everything there that I needed, such as textbooks, highlighters, and notes I had taken during class before deciding to head out.

Not until I heard it.

"Baby, come on. Let's just get out of here and head back to my place..."

I was revolted and didn't think much of listening to the cooing voice and how this conversation is gonna end up, thinking how it's just another bunch of hormonal students not being able to spend the day without getting some action.

But just as I was a step ahead from walking away completely:

"I told you a million times already, just because Mandy and I broke up doesn't mean I'm willing to jump to the next chick I land my eyes on, especially you considering we've gone over this a million times before. I'm not interested."

"Baby, come on. It's not like I'm forcing you into a relationship or anything, take as much time as you need. But that doesn't mean you can't take your mind off the breakup for the time being-"

"Jesus Christ, are you hearing yourself right now? I didn't think you'd get any lower than you've already had when you kept clinging onto me knowing damn well I was already in a relationship with Mandy. Now? No offense, but you're reeking of desperation."

Then there was a scoff "Oh, don't come at me acting like some sort of saint. Just because your girlfriend cheated on you and you managed to keep your dick in place doesn't mean you're excused from the fact you were a lousy excuse of a boyfriend either way-"

I took a step forward and sure enough, what greeted me was the sight of Evan leaning against the lockers while a girl was standing right in front of him, her eyes fierce with a hand on her hip as if everything that was coming out of her mouth was nothing but pure facts.

"You think I don't know? Do you think the entire school doesn't know about how horrible you were to Mandy and how you treated her more as your personal servant than a girlfriend? And word on the streets says you've gone out of your way to even lay your hands on her-"

"Yet here you are, aren't you?" Evan said with a dry cackle as he shook his head "You can try to turn the tables around and paint me as the bad guy but at least I'm not pitiful enough to go out of my way and seduce someone who's already in a relationship, but once gets rejected tries to side with the same girl she kept bad-mouthing wasn't good enough of a girlfriend for me."

"Face it, you aren't any better than Mandy. You're just another raging skank who can't function properly without a dick in between her legs and think she's more worthy than other girls-"

Already being fed up with his words, she abruptly lifts her hand up to slap him (which I'm guessing is a typical reaction he seems to get a lot, especially today) but before it could even connect to his face, did he instantly catch her wrist. Causing me to instantly stiffen as flashbacks from what happened earlier this morning came back to mind.

With his jaw clenched and eyes narrowed, he stares down at her with his gaze heated enough to cause her to squirm in fright, her tough and rather confident composure a while ago instantly thrown out the window right then and there.

"You and Mandy are just the same, always feeling the need to sabotage everything around them because of their fragile little egos. But once they realize everything isn't always gonna be handed to them, they go out of their way to play the victim."

"But you're not a victim here, and you don't have the right to call me out for being a crappy boyfriend because I'm not the one who cheated. If she was so unhappy why hadn't she just broken up with me in the first place? And if you knew, why do you go out of your way to try and suck my dick, both metaphorically and literally speaking, at that?"

She was silent, and just like that he shoves her away, causing her to stumble and fall ass-first onto the ground. "Pathetic." he mocked as she looked away, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Go ahead and try to throw some dirt on my name but just know no matter what, I'll do you one better, and we wouldn't want Mandy knowing one of her BFFs was secretly wanting to fuck her ex-boyfriend behind her back now, would we?"

Her head falls, and even from where I was I could feel the utter vulnerability and complete shame seeping out of her, you could practically feel her embarrassment from a mile away.

"Answer me!"

Evan's loud demand both startled the girl and me, making her frantically shake her head in fear as Evan took a step back, staring her down "Then go," he hissed.

That she did, getting up on wobbly knees as she races out of the hallways-

And into my direction

As she ran past me with tears in her eyes, the wind that came along with the speed of her strides blowing past my hair, I met eye to eye with Evan as his gaze then fell down on me.

And just like that, I'm stuck.

We were the only ones left in the hallways and probably the whole building in general, maybe some janitor mopping away before he locks the school up two hours from now, but that wasn't my main concern at the moment.

Even though it should've because being locked up in school territories wasn't anywhere near my bucket list. But instead, the only thing I seemed to be fussing over was the fact Evan was literally a few feet away from me.

Inching closer and closer as he had his eyebrow raised, either curious with the sight of me obviously eavesdropping, but the amused grin on his face says otherwise.

"Enjoyed the show?"

He asked the question as if this wasn't the first time he's experienced a situation similar to this one before, and I don't know whether to bury myself in utter shame or to run away to avoid confrontation, but somehow a small part of my brain stops me from doing so. In a way, it even encourages me to stand my ground and let him continue to scrutinize me for my crime.

When I didn't say another word, he merely scoffed as he walked towards my direction and briskly walked past me, but not before exchanging a couple of words that immediately sent my blood boiling.

"Pathetic like the rest of them." he snapped "If you wanna rave about this whole thing to the rest of the school, be my guest. Though that does reduce the chances of you getting into bed with me, this shit's gonna spread out anyway."

I don't know why, but the fact that he thinks so lowly of me like that, a person he doesn't even know and immediately assumes the worst of me, and how his tone now is similar to how he talked down to Mandy back in the library, instantly caused something in me to snap.

"I always knew you were an entitled piece-of-shit." I hissed, swiveling around to face him. "But the fact that you even think I would do such a thing that'll remotely indicate that I'm attracted to you is pathetic enough itself."

And just like that, he halts in his steps. His shoes squeaking against the floor's tiles as his back remained turned away from me "What?"

"I mean, don't automatically assume that everybody in this school is head over heels in love with you and that you can just talk down on us because we secretly want something from you. Because believe it or not, some people actually wanna stay as further away from you as possible. Just like Mandy when you finally decided to set her free." I shot back.

With that, he finally whirls around to face me, his eyes displaying nothing but rage and disbelief as he took a step forward "What the fuck did you just say?"

"You heard me." I bellowed "I can try and empathize with you when Mandy had cheated, even though it was clear right from the start you weren't completely innocent yourself, but this behavior right here? You venting out your anger to any person you come across isn't the way it's supposed to go. Acting like a stuck-up asshole who resorts to treating everyone like shit just shows a lot about who you are as a person. Because Mandy might've cheated and that girl might've been way up her own ass, but guess what? So were you."

I walked over towards him until we were literally only a foot apart, my eyes narrowed into slits "I honestly feel sorry for what happened, I really am, but don't go around acting like everyone is out to get you for you to act this way. Maybe try sorting out your shit first."

With that, I was the one who had to walk past him this time, shaking my head as I bump my shoulder into his "I don't even know why the girls here like you to begin with." I told him in a sour tone as he glanced at me from the corner of his eye...

"It's not like there's much to fucking like anyways."

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