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Brooklyn ↑

"He's been in here all first period..."

I made out the voice of Kris as I sat criss-cross on the little bed that the school's nurse let me occupy. I had my head against the wall, staying completely still and paying nobody an atom of attention. I was still just so numb, and I'd dried out all my tears.

They were going to come back, I knew that.

"I couldn't find him, not even in orchestra. He hasn't answered any of my messages." That was Kari.

"Can we blame him? I wouldn't pick up my phone either." Mae.

"Jaden?" Kris walked over to me and sat down on the bed. "I found your friends. Can we keep you company?"

"This was cruel," Kari said, sitting behind me to rub my back. "I'd ask for a name, but I think we all know it was Corbyn. I haven't seen him yet today but god help his soul the moment I lay eyes on him."

Kris tried to hold my hand but I moved it away and tucked it between my thighs. "One of you told him," I accused, shutting my eyes in hurt. "I mean, you're the only ones who know."

"Jaden, I'd never do something like this to you," Kris whispered.

"None of us would," Mae agreed. I lifted my head to scowl at her, my cheeks stained with tears and my face slightly red.

"Are you sure about that? Because I recall Tiana said you'd get Brooklyn's spot as captain, and here you are in your uniform, the same day everyone knows about my mom." I shook my head then looked at Kris. "And two days after I shared this secret with you, it's everywhere. What the hell am I supposed to think? I made a mistake telling you, or trusting any of you." There it was--the tears. All over again.

"Jaden, I understand how this seems like I betrayed your trust, but it wasn't me. I don't owe Corbyn anything, and I wouldn't jeopardize my chance to be with you when I clearly would have nothing to gain from hurting you. Please believe me."

Kari stood up, folded her arms and looked at Mae with an unamused expression. "We all know that I'm not stupid enough to pull something like this. I hate Corbyn's guts; I'd never side with him. Plus, I haven't kissed his ass these past few weeks just because of something I wanted."

"Wait, so you're blaming me?"

Kari lifted her eyebrows. "I'm sorry, but the only reason why you're in his inner circle is because you wanted your spot back as a cheerleader. Which is sad, honestly, because as an empowered female, I wouldn't let anybody become my puppet master and stand in the way of whatever I wanted."

"That's low, coming from you. And you know what? The truth is, Corbyn did ask me for one of Jaden's secrets, but I didn't even consider it. I slapped him and walked away instead because cheerleading isn't nearly as important to me as the security of my best friend. And yes, it's true that I've been m.i.a for a few days, but only because I was wallowing in sadness over something Tiana did and I just wanted to be alone." She shook her head. "But thanks for your honesty, Kari. If that's the kind of friend you guys really think I am."

Kari rolled her eyes. "I saw Corbyn's porsche the day I took Jaden to see his mom. That's when he must've taken the picture, but he couldn't have known it was J's mom or that she left for the second time. Which means someone told him and we're the only ones who knew."

"I mean... you could've taken the picture, right?" Mae insisted.

"Guys, stop pointing fingers at each other," Kris told them. "I promised I'd get to the bottom of this, so I will." He stood up, and hesitated right before he kissed the side of my head. "I'll come back, okay?"

I gave him a somber nod, and he went on his way.

~Corbyn's POV~

Despite the unrest and gossip that was plaguing the minds and mouths of my fellow students, I was having a very relaxed day. Somewhat.

I was innocently strolling to my next class, nursing a red lollipop in my mouth while Ivy and some other girl that I couldn't remember the name of were walking with me, when someone grabbed me by the arm and jerked me toward a row of lockers.

"Excuse you!" Oh, interesting. It was just my ex-boyfriend. "Wow," I acknowledged the anger all over his face and took my lollipop out my mouth. "I almost didn't recognize you without that lovesick gleam in your eyes."

"I know it was you. Why the hell would you do something so sadistic?"

"I do a lot of sadistic things. You'll have to be more specific. Oh, and Ivy! You guys don't have to wait up for me."

My sister and the other girl turned to walk away while I returned my attention to the boy in front of me.

"You know what I meant. Someone spread rumors about Jaden and his mother."

"Oh, the whole drug addict thing? So that's what everyone's so worked up about."

"Corbyn." Kris swallowed. "This isn't a joke to me. Was it you? Just... yes or no, because this is somebody's personal life. He is heartbroken right now and too afraid to even show his face."

"Okay, let me remind you of your own words. It's his personal life, which I do not have access to. Why don't you ask one of his best friends?"

"Why was your car there then? When Jaden went to visit his mom, Kari saw your car nearby."

"Uh, who's Kari? Look, I was dropping Nico off, okay? He lives at the trailer park, and if you don't believe me then ask him yourself. And I sped the fuck off because there is someone that lives around there that I really don't feel like ever encountering. So, please, I have a class to get to. For all we know, Kris, maybe Jaden did this to himself so he could get sympathy from you. People are crazy like that." I pushed past him and continued on to my next class, sucking on my lollipop in the process.

I stopped at my locker for my personal journal of poetry, but when I opened it, a note fell out. I rolled my eyes, already knowing who would slide a note into my locker. I picked it up and turned it over to read it.

You, me. Theater. Lunch. -Marlay

I couldn't help but smile at the simplicity and shake my head, grabbing my journal and shutting the locker. By the time lunch rolled around, the theater room was completely empty which made it seem larger than life. That was one thing I loved about being in the auditorium, how enormous it was. I loved the stage even more.

I walked down the aisle to meet Nico sitting down on the steps of the stage. I stopped in front of him and he just smirked at me. "Wow. It showed up."

I ignored his tease and shifted my weight. "I almost didn't."

He snorted. "We both know that's a lie."

"What do you want, Marlay?" My eyes ran over his entire frame, from the dreads in his hair tied back to his questionable upside down cross necklace, black button-down long sleeves to his tennis shoes.

He sucked in an audible breath. "I know it was you."

"Okay, why is everyone assuming I did something awful today?"

"What did Jaden ever do to you?"

"Not you too. I didn't skip out on lunch to talk about someone I don't care for."

"So why did you come here?"

I shrugged and folded my arms. "I dunno. Maybe because you're not as boring as I expected you to be. You make life at school a bit more interesting, and you're different."

"I'm different?" His thick brown eyebrows rose with flattery and I grimaced.

"That wasn't necessarily a compliment."

"Corbyn. You spread the news of Jaden's drug-addicted mother and I find that very evil."

"I thought evil was your thing." I cocked my head to the side.

"You didn't deny it!"

I scoffed. "Fine. I'm a monster; yes, it was me. Look, it's the truth. At least now he doesn't have to hide it."

"It was his truth, not yours."

"Oh, now you're a disciple of Jesus Christ? Give me a break. Jaden stole my boyfriend, for fuck's sake. Ever since that tiny little boy batted his stupid eyelashes at Kris, I was immediately pushed to the backseat. And right after we broke up, I just knew in my gut he went straight to that violin freak to kiss his ass."

Nico blinked at me, trying to appear blank-faced but laughter quickly overcame him, leaving me confused and disgruntled. He stopped cackling just enough to respond to me."Okay, so your boyfriend dumped you for another guy. That's it? That's where your petty, unnecessary and exhausting foolishness stems from? Seriously?"

"Don't diminish this! I love him!"

"So does a thousand other delusional idiots who attend this district. Hell, I might even be one of them. Who gives a crap? Did you ever stop to think, 'Gee, I have no redeeming qualities. Maybe that's why my own boyfriend is sick at the very sight of me.' Ever give that a thought? Because honestly, if I didn't already like you for some fucked up reason that I may never know, I'd probably be seriously tapping Jaden so hard it wouldn't be funny. Kris is lucky, and he knows it, so he took the opportunity as soon as it came. I don't blame him, and neither should you."

I shook my head in disbelief and scoffed again. "I really, really hate you."

"As do most people. If you hate me, why aren't you hurting me? Why hurt someone who had an innocent crush on your boyfriend who, let's be honest, was already clocked out of your relationship?"

"I just want him to hurt, okay? I want everyone to hurt."

"So do I, believe me. I like this Evil Corbyn but shit, this is cold. And the worst part is that... you're beautiful. You really are. But none of that matters because when you pull shit like this every single day, that beauty fades."

I furrowed my eyebrows, distrusting him. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Gorgeous, actually."

"Really?"

"Yes."

I dropped my arms, along with my defenses and walked closer to sit down beside him. "Literally no one has said that to me ever."

"I can see why." He snickered and I hit his arm.

"Wow. I can't stand you. Thought we were having a moment there for a sec. Look, even if I apologize... I've done way too much damage with this one."

"Oh, this is irreparable. Like he hates your guts. But he's jaden, so he... might be swayed, but it's not likely."

"Well, what the hell do I say to him then?"

"You shared one of his secrets. Give him one of yours to do with as he pleases."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I'm not that guilty. He'll survive. We all do."

"Like I said, he hates your guts. On top of that, he's really hurting right now. If he wanted to dish some damage onto you, there's not much that could stop him. If I were you, I'd take cover."

I stared at him for a minute before heaving a sigh. "I didn't make the same mistake he did. The only person who knows my secret is me. It's gonna stay that way."

"You mean the one that has something to do with Jett Michaels?"

I swallowed and looked away. "I should go. I'll see you later, Nico." As I stood up, he caught me by the hand so I gave him my attention.

"Fix this, even if it's broken beyond repair."

~Jaden~

I was brave today. I had the choice to go home but I stayed and tried my best to weather the storm. I was foolish to think that everyone would just forget and go about their normal lives. Nope. My face triggered the mockery in an instant, but I proceeded to my classes. Lunch was awful, so I found a table far away from the populous center of the cafeteria, away from my friends and as out of sight as I could muster.

A few minutes later, a tray was placed beside me and Kari sat down with a pout on her face. "You were hard to find."

"Didn't want to be found," I mumbled.

"My radar was tingling then I saw you. Couldn't let you eat alone, now could I?"

Another person took a seat across from us. I looked up to find Mae's tight face before she swallowed. "We must wallow in sorrow together," she stated, taking a huge bite of her pizza and chewing it furiously.

I rested my chin in my hand, my appetite lost for the day. "I need to go somewhere today," I said quietly. "I need a car."

"I can take you," Kari offered.

I shook my head. "I need a car, not a ride." But she knew what I was trying to say: I couldn't trust anyone right now.

"How are you feeling?" Kris was the next to take a seat beside me, his face a mess of worry. "Stupid question, I know."

"When did you two get together?" Mae asked, trying to steer the mood away from what had been happening all day.

"We're not together," I answered quickly, shutting her down. There was no need to give anybody a reason to start spreading even more rumors, true or not. I'd had enough for a lifetime.

Kris gently pushed away his tray and Mae cleared her throat. "Okay... sorry."

I was surprised to see someone setting down their own lunch tray next to Mae, and it wasn't Tiana. It was Brooklyn.

"Sis, wrong table," Kari grunted. Ignoring her, Brook pushed her blonde hair behind her ear and looked at me with a deadpan expression.

"I can't believe I'm in the same vicinity as the girl who snatched my spot as captain, especially because she didn't work for it, but I realized that there's only one person I can truly blame for that. Your enemy is my enemy, Jaden."

Kari huffed. "This is rich."

I didn't even know how to respond to Brook, but I didn't have to. She and my friends had caused a chain reaction because soon, a group of students walked right over to our table to join us, none of whom I recognized.

One student in the group, a dark haired girl with piercings for days, spoke up on behalf of the others. "Whoever did that to you on social media is a lowlife sociopath, and none of us will stand for it. People are making fun of you and it's not cool. We all just wanted you to know that some of us in this school are here for you."

"I have a mom who was addicted to drugs," one of the boys said. "I'm in foster care right now, so it's not easy. I know if someone pulled something like this on me, I'd wanna know there were people who had my back."

All of them agreed in unison, and though there were only seven, they were a multitude. So, for the first time that day, I smiled.

🎻🎻🎻

"Well, this is your stop."

I gazed out the window of the passenger seat of Brooklyn's car, a scowl settling on my face. I had skipped on rehearsals for this, and I was sure the directors would understand why I was absent.

"Again. Who are you?" she asked me, and I turned my head to look at her.

"Landon James from theater. I'm a very close friend of Corbyn's."

Brook smirked. "Perfect. Now go."

I grabbed my backpack and exited her car, walking up the steps of the incredible house. I rang the sophisticated doorbell and waited for it to open. In seconds flat, a tall man appeared behind the door and it seemed like his main duty was just to answer the bell.

"This is the Starr residence, how can I assist you?"

"Hi. My name is Landon James. I'm a close friend of Corbyn's from his theater class. May I come in?"

"Corbyn isn't inside at the moment, I'm afraid."

"I'm aware." I sent him a sweet smile. "I came to leave an important message for his father."

🎗🎗🎗🎗🎗

Author Note.

Who dunnit??

Lol I know y'all hate me right now. So who do you think is the culprit and why? Mae, Kris, or Kari? Lemme know!

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