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Chapter 36

"That's mine," I whispered and felt my throat tightening. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. A large group of students had gathered around my locker. I saw them looking at me and whispering to each other. "Is that her?"

My breathing had quickened as I tried to make sense of why this was happening.

'That day I fell asleep with Robbie. She had to have seen us,' A tiny voice whispered in my mind.

"Alright folks, nothing to see here. Come on, scram!" Lana said, coming down the hall with Damien; they were pushing everyone out of the way and dispersing the crowd that had gathered.

"Lia, what the hell happened?" She said she said her eyes widening and frowning in confusion.

"I don't know?" I said, shaking my head.

"Do you know who might have done this?"

"No. Wait, how did you know about it?"

"I got a text during my last period," She said, showing me her phone.

I groaned.

"Don't worry, Jesse already went to find someone to clean it off. It will be gone by the end of lunch." Damien said, patting me on the shoulder.

"This was Abigail. It almost reeks of her." Lana said, her hands were in fists at her side and her words laced with anger.

I stayed quiet. I didn't know for sure if it had been Abigail, but I didn't know who else would do this.

Coincidently Abigail and her lackeys were just coming down the hall.

They stopped in front of my locker and took a picture with their phones.

"Admiring your work?" Antoine asked.

"Aren't you getting a little old for this, Abigail? 2004 called, they want their mean girl back." Lana sneered.

Abigail turned to face us with a smile on her face. "Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for this. But I have to say it must suck to get your reputation ruined like that so soon, Lia. I hope none of the Ivy Leagues find out." She said with fake sincerity. Then she and her friend walked past us, laughing at me with each other.

"She's totally lying. I mean, who else would do this? The only thing that makes me hesitate is that I have no idea why she would do this. She's a witch, but she usually keeps to herself unless provoked," Lana said watching Abigail's retreating figure.

"I think I do," I admitted.

"What? Why? What happened?" Antoine asked.

"Umm, who are you?" Lana said, suddenly realizing Antoine had been standing with us the whole time.

"Antoine, I've been in your class since middle school," He explained quickly, mildly annoyed.

"I invited him to sit with us; he's cool," I said, my voice miserable as my anxiety got wind of what was happening.

"Lia, what happened?" Antoine asked again.

I sighed. "The day I ate dinner at Maria's house. We went to look at the stars on the trampoline, and Robbie and I fell asleep together. She had to find out somehow."

"You and Robbie slept together?" Lana asked, smiling, her eyes big like saucers.

"No. We fell asleep together. I was fully clothed. At all times," I clarified with a frown.

"Interesting," Lana said slowly to herself.

"No. Not interesting, horrible," I said, feeling my anxiety bubble inside of me.

"Hmm, yeah, if she saw you, that would have certainly upset her. She was livid with Damien and me, and she just had a small crush on him. She and Robbie have slept together, and she acts as if she's in love with him. It's just strange that she waited so long. That party was when? Almost three weeks ago? Usually, Abigail is swift with her punishment."

I shrugged and felt a tear roll down my cheek.

"Aww, Lia, don't cry." She said and pulled me into a tight hug.

"No one is going to talk about this for very long. I had a sex tape made of me, and people got over it a lot faster than you would think. Give this two, maybe three weeks max." she said, smoothing my hair.

"What happened?" I heard a voice ask. Robbie had gotten here. Great.

"Lia, are you crying? What happened?" He asked and stepped closer to Lana and me. He grabbed my shoulder to try and get a better look at my face.

"Why don't you go look at the masterpiece your girlfriend left on her locker," Lana said, and I felt her point.

"My girlfriend?" Robbie asked.

"Yeah, yeah, we know you don't have a girlfriend. You know who I am talking about."

"Lana, I was with Abigail all day. We have pretty much the same schedule," Robbie said quietly.

"Well, whatever if not her, she got one of her puppets to do it."

I pulled away from Lana and wiped my face.

"Did you tell her?" I asked, turning to look at Robbie.

He looked at me, confused, "Tell her what?"

"About that day on the trampoline," I said, my voice shaking. I felt a panic attack coming.

"What? No. Why would I do that?" He asked, sounding sincere. He looked at my locker and sighed, running a hand through his messy hair.

I shrugged and looked down at my feet.

"Lia," he said, walking right up to me. He lifted my chin with his fingers and looked me in the eyes. In the past three months that I've known Robbie, I had seen many variations of looks he'd given me. Never had I seen the imploring desperation they showed now.

"I promise I didn't say anything to her or anyone." He said, his face serious.

I felt two tears escape my eyes, and he gently wiped them away with his thumbs. His eyes became soft, and they scanned my face for acceptance of this truth.

I got goosebumps from his touch and shivered; I think he thought I was cold or crying or both because he pulled me in and wrapped his arms around me resting his chin on my head. I covered my eyes with my hands and buried my face in his chest—the warm smell of Robbie causing the panic that was bubbling in my chest to fizzle down.

At that moment, Jesse came running down the hall.

"They said they were going to clean it up right away." He said, rushing towards us.

He paused when she got to us, "Is she okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine," I said, pulling away from Robbie's warmth.

"Hey, doesn't this school have cameras everywhere?" Antoine asked.

"That's true! That's genius!" Jesse said, "wait, who are you?"

"Are you guys serious?" I said, frustrated for Antoine's sake.

"Nah, he's okay, he's a year older, and I've never had a class with him," Antoine said smiling.

I caught Robbie and Lana looking at each other with a guilty expression on their faces.

"Anyways," Jesse said, "I think we're going to have to wait until Maria is better. If anyone is going to know how to get access to those tapes, it's going to be her."

"That's true," Lana agreed, "don't worry, Lia, we'll find out who it was."

I nodded, and we walked together to the courtyard to eat our lunch with the bit of time we had left.

The rest of the day passed by, full of whispers and quick glances. I felt like I was put on a microscope slide, and I felt a wave of relief when the last bell rang.

I gathered my bags and left the class so quickly; I was sure there was a cloud of dust in my shape left behind.

In my haste to get to the bus stop, I didn't realize where I was going and smashed right into Liam.

"Hey," he chuckled. "What's the hurry?"

"Nothing. I just had a bad day."

"What? Why?" He asked, his hands were on my shoulders and he stooped a little to get a better look at my face.

"It's a long story; wait, why are you here?"

"Came to drop off some borrowed lacrosse uniforms. Are you okay?" He asked, squeezing my shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to get home."

"Walk you to the bus stop?"

"You aren't taking the bus home?"

"Nah, I have some things I need to take care of."

"Okay, sure, walk me to the stop," I said, just wanting to go home.

As we made our way to the stop, I heard someone run up behind us.

"Hey!" I heard Robbie's voice. He grabbed my arm from behind to stop me from walking.

"Did you want a ride home?" He said, slightly out of breath from his sprint. He suddenly noticed Liam next to me, and I saw a shift in his countenance. He frowned, stood up straight, and his jaw clenched.

"Don't mind me," Liam sneered.

Robbie glared at him and turned back to me, "Do you need a ride?" He asked again; his tone becoming more impatient.

"No, I'm fine, Robbie, thanks."

"Are you sure?"

"She said she didn't want the ride, man, geez," Liam said, annoyed.

"It's fine, Robbie, really," I said and smiled at him.

Robbie nodded, somewhat unconvinced.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," He said, nodding at me as a goodbye.

Once he was gone, I turned to Liam. "Why do you have to be so rude? Are you going to pee on me next?"

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah, that was completely unnecessary," I said stomping towards the bus stop.

"I'm so sorry I was rude to prince charming, but you had told him, no, and he seemed not to understand. Just wanted to be helpful." He said, shrugging innocently.

"Whatever. Come on, I don't want to miss my bus," I said, leading the way.

"Don't be upset, Lia," he said, putting his hand around my shoulder.

"I just had a long day, Liam; I'm tired. Some girl wrote rude comments on my locker, and now I'm the school's gossip fodder."

"Do you expect anything less from the kids at that school?"

"Not all of them are like that, but I guess you're right; some really are cruel."

My bus came quickly, and I was grateful to sit on the scratchy bus bench. Safe from rude comments and snobby kids.

I groaned when my alarm went off the next day. I was not looking forward to going to school. Being the center of the hottest gossip aside, I had two exams today, one for calculus and one for History. History made me the most nervous. I was initially supposed to have Mr. Dresmond, a young hip teacher who graduated from Brown and didn't believe in grades.

Thanks to a last-minute switch, he was instead teaching freshman World History. I now had Dr. Barns. I had mixed feelings about her. 

She used to be a judge who was en-route to be on the state supreme court bench. She taught at Harvard law for years before becoming a history teacher at Trinity. She liked to treat us like law students and drill us on the reading she assigned us the previous night. I really wanted to make a good impression with her because a letter of recommendation, especially one from her, would be amazing for Harvard.

I studied till late the night before. I made online flashcards and had created my own lectures to study. I was so nervous and pouring over my notes; I almost missed my stop on the bus.

Arriving at school, waves of whispers and shifty eyes affronted me. I ignored them as best as I could. Some guys made rude comments regarding me doing them sexual favors, and I walked swiftly past them. I made sure to elbow them as I passed by. This day was going to feel long. 

My calculus exam went smooth as butter. I was the first to turn in my exam. My teacher took it skeptically and looked at his watch. I blushed, assuring him I was done, and went back to my seat. A few minutes later, he looked up.

"Perfect paper Ms. Gomez. Good job."

I felt my face become a deeper shade of red.

"Are you serious?" I heard Chris whisper next to me, his face a mixture of amazement and envy.

He looked like he was having an incredibly hard time with his exam. I took the rest of class time to look over my work for science. I had decided that the way I would ensure I did not become overwhelmed with school is to use all available free time during school to do homework, study, or catch up. This ensured that even with track practice, I would have some free time over the weekend. At least most weekends.

My watch buzzed on my wrist as the hour changed. 8:00 am. I looked out the window next to my seat. My class window had a beautiful view of the courtyard, where we ate lunch.

But that's not why I like looking outside. I didn't like to admit it, but I was looking for Robbie. He had rec this period and would sit against the tree outside the window and read. 

Sometimes it was difficult to tell what he was reading, but other times I recognized the cover from a book I already had read in the past. He read fast. In the first week of school, I noticed he read three different books. I wondered if he had a goal he was trying to reach before the year was over. I squinted, trying to make out which book he was reading now, but I couldn't tell.

Chris snickered next to me.

"Don't drool." He whispered. 

Busted. I felt my cheeks turn red. 

"Don't fail." I snapped back.

I went back to reading my book, my cheeks burning after being caught. Soon I felt Chris' knee tapping mine.

"Help me," he whispered.

"No do your own test," I said, refusing to look at him. 

"This is hard, take pity on me, Gomez," He pleaded. 

"Chris, you're going to get me in trouble," I whispered. 

He pouted and went back to working on his exam.

I looked out the window again. Robbie was still reading his book. His long fingers held a pen that he twirled around. I noticed he did that a lot. When he finished reading the page, he would momentarily hold the pen in his mouth, flip the page and then go back to twirling the pen in his fingers.

"He's going to see you if you keep looking; these windows aren't one-way mirrors."

"Leave me alone. Finish your test."

"Lia, please!" He whispered sharply.

The teacher looked up from her computer. I froze. "This is a test; there is no talking," She said and then went back to look at her screen. Whew.

I snuck a glare at Chris, and he gave me a sheepish smile. 

Towards the end, I ended up taking pity on Chris and wrote the answer to the last question on a scrap of paper I ripped from my textbook. I casually placed it on his lap as I went to put my pencil pouch away.

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A/N

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