Lexi's POV:

Today was Wednesday. It was gonna be a fresh start, for me, at least.

Yesterday Louis texted me that Tiffany and Hannah made the rumors and also put the notes in my locker. 

I did believe him if I was being honest. I just didn't want to believe it.

My two best friends since elementary, making rumors about me?

I didn't want to believe it. That's why I decided to avoid them.

Louis wouldn't lie, and maybe I shouldn't have been so harsh on him. However, I didn't know who to trust anymore.

Two of my closest friends since kindergarten versus a guy that became friends with me not even a week ago.

It seemed like I knew him forever,  and he was trustworthy. That much, he proved to me.

But if Louis was wrong, I didn't want to accuse my friends of something they didn't do, because then they'd think I don't trust them.

So, I decided to just stick around with Jake.

Even if Louis was lying, and even if he was telling the truth, if I avoided him, Hannah and Tiffany, I wouldn't have to deal with everything just yet.

I got ready for school, then texted Jake to meet me in front of my room in 15 minutes.

He texted me back 'ok', as I waited for jake to come to my room.

A few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door and opened it, to see Louis standing there, looking frustrated.

"Just so you know, I am telling the truth. I would never lie to you, you know that, right?" He frowned.

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just- If you were mistaken about it, though, and I accused them of making rumors about me, that would make me the friend who can't even trust them, you know? And if you are right, I don't want to deal with them right now because I'm scared of the fact that you could be right, Louis, and I don't know what to do right now." 

"I can help you through this, you know," Louis whispered, "I'll always be here for you."

"I appreciate the offer Louis, but I just need a small break from almost everyone right now." I explained.

"Almost everyone?-" Louis started to ask, as Jake came down the hallway.

"Roberts!!" Jake waved, as he ran down the hallway to me.

"Oh hey, Louis, how are you?" Jake asked, nodding to Louis.

"Uh, okay, I guess." Louis responded, then moved away from Jake and I.

Louis glanced at me, as I was talking to Jake about where our school would go this year for Christmas.

"Bye." Louis muttered as Jake and I both replied with a 'bye!' and continued talking.

To be fair, I felt bad for Louis, for distancing myself from him, but I knew I was right. 

My mental health was not stable enough for me to confront Hannah and Tiffany and to find out that they actually did create rumors about me. However, I did really need to find out eventually if Hannah and Tiffany really did make those rumors and put those notes in my locker.

I went to the cafeteria with Jake, trying to avoid as many people as possible, then headed to Jake's room with him to eat breakfast.

He opened his door, as I leaped onto his bed, sighing.

"So....what happened?" He asked as he took a bite out of his sandwich.

"Well," I began, as I explained everything to Jake. "am I a horrible friend?" I asked him, as Jake thought for a moment.

"To me? No. To Louis? Probably... But don't worry you can still fix this!" He assured me.

"How?" I asked with curiosity.

"You have to confront Hannah and Tiffany. That's the only way you can know for sure if they were lying or not. And if they were lying, then at least you know who's fake, right? Besides, you still have me and hopefully, Louis will still be your friend if you apologize." Jake replied.

I nodded. "You're right Jake! Ugh, I'm such an idiot! I'm sorry for bringing all this drama."

"No worries, now go there and confront them. I would say I hope Louis was mistaken about them, but either way, you're probably going to lose a friend, but hey, at least they were the toxic one, right?" Jake responded as I finished my breakfast.

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks, Jake. See you at lunch." I said, as I got up and headed towards my locker.

I got my pencil case and headed towards Art.

I sat down in my spot, and it was a big table with three other students sitting at the table, but unfortunately, Louis had an assigned seat there, which meant I couldn't really avoid him.

Jake had said I should apologize, but I didn't confront Hannah and Tiffany, so technically I had nothing to be sorry at Louis for.

A few minutes later, Louis and a few other students came into the class, as I avoided eye contact with him. 

Our art teacher, Ms. Nory, instructed all of us to pick a partner within our table groups for this art project we had to do.

The other two people at our table already chose each other for partners, so naturally, the only person I had to partner up with was Louis.

It was a bit awkward, with what happened yesterday, and with what had happened this morning, but I dealt with it and continued on with the project.

Art class eventually ended, as I rushed out of there as quickly as possible.

I got to my locker, got my binders for the next class, and headed into the classroom.

Again, Louis sat beside me, as it was his assigned seat.

Class started, as the rest of the class took notes of the Powerpoint.

I could feel his stare at me, but I looked down at my phone instead, scrolling through Tiktok.

"Ms. Roberts!" Our English teacher, Mr. Elfredo, shouted, "your phone should be off during class, did I not make myself clear the few weeks I reminded everyone of this?" He raised an eyebrow, then put his hand out, gesturing for me to give him my phone.

Sighing, I handed him my phone, then got down to taking notes.

I wanted to just confront Hannah and Tiffany, so I could actually tell who was fake and who wasn't.

 However, I couldn't really meet Hannah and Tiffany unless it was during lunch or after school.

I planned to confront them after school. That way, I could talk to them as long as I wanted to, without getting cut off by the lunch bell.

I hoped Louis was mistaken because I really didn't want to lose my two friends that I've been friends with for so long.

After class ended, the class began to head out of the classroom. I did too, just as Mr. Elfredo asked me to come over to his desk.

"Lexi, I don't know what's going on with you, but you need these notes if you want to do good on the test next week. I know you can do better." He said, handing me back my phone.

"Thank you Mr. Elfredo, I'll try to work harder." I said as I left the classroom.

It was snack break, which was more of a '10 minute break to get ready for the next class', but I often used this time to eat some food to get energized for my next classes.

The bell rang, and while I headed towards class, I decided.

I was going to confront Tiffany and Hannah for real. I wasn't going to avoid them anymore.

A/N:

Hi guys! Today I woke up to getting number 2 on the louispartridge hashtag and getting over 1k views!

 This means a lot to me and I am so so thankful for everything! 

I'm sorry about this chapter, it's rushed, shorter than I wanted it to be, and not a very good plot overall.

 I promise it gets better, though! Sorry for the long wait, and if you enjoyed this make sure to vote and comment!

Edit: I just updated a few sentences and stuff so this chapter makes more sense! For everyone still reading, thank you for all your support<333!