The Heart of Nine

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

“Promise me you’ll at least be nice to him” I say to Alex the next morning on our way to school concluding a conversation we just had about Tristan.

He sighs “I promise.”

We arrive at school a few minutes later and head to homeroom. We take our seats as quickly as we can because we’re already late, but I can’t help but take a glance around the room.

No Tristan.

Maybe he’s just late, I think to myself.

But, at the end of class, there’s still no sign of him.

That, unfortunately, is not the worst part of my day. Everywhere I go people are whispering to each other and glancing my way. What the hell is that about? I ask myself. Then I hear a fragment of a conversation.

“……Kim….. what a whore. Can you believe her?”

I keep walking thinking I heard wrong but I keep in mind to listen for anything else.

Then I hear, “About time Kim got caught, she’s such a slut, how long did she think she could hide it?” one of Kim’s so called ‘friends’ says. I’m about to walk up to her and give her a piece of my mind when someone pulls me into an empty class room. Before I can scream I hear Jason’s familiar voice in my ear.

“Calm down, it’s just me.”

“What the hell? God, you scared the crap out of me.”

He ignores my statement. “Mikayla, what the fuck are all these people talking about? Everywhere I go I hear people calling Kim a whore and a slut and something about bleachers. What’s going on?”

Dammit! Now I have to be the one to tell him.

“I didn’t want to say anything. I thought she was going to be the one to tell you.”

“Tell us what?”

“Yesterday, when she said she got in trouble for getting into a fight, she lied. She got in trouble for PDA.” I say quietly looking intently at the floor.

“WHAT?!?! Kim?!?! Are you fucking serious?!?!” Damn, when I imagined him getting mad about this I wasn’t expecting him to be this furious. “What the hell was she thinking? WAIT! Who did she get caught with?”

Crap! That’s the question I was hoping he wouldn’t ask, but I can’t lie to him now, that’ll just make things worse.

“Tyler Williams.”

If I thought he was furious just a minute ago he’s completely enraged now.

“Tyler?” he hisses through his teeth. I’ve never seen him this angry before, but I guess I can understand why. Jason HATES Tyler, almost as much as Alex does. Tyler and Jason have been enemies since the second grade, right after Alex and I became friends. They were competing in some competition and Tyler cheated and won. Jason, though, would’ve won fairly, but no one saw Tyler cheat except Jason and a couple other people, myself included. When Jason tried to call him out on it they both got into this huge fight.

They’ve hated each other ever since. 

I simply nod, not wanting to say anything in case it sets him off even more. He makes a sound between a growl and scream and punches the wall next to him. He comes up to me and grabs my shoulders, “How come you didn’t tell me?” He yells in my face.

“It-it wasn’t my thing to tell.”

“It doesn’t matter Mikayla, you’re supposed to tell us. This isn’t something that you can help her cover up! This is a big deal! It’s already around the school that she’s a whore! What the hell were you thinking?”