2.3 | Notorious ✓

11 | infamous

1 1

i n f a m o u s

The seconds after Dave's statement were filled with silence. I was rendered completely speechless by his words. Maybe, in the back of my mind, I subconsciously knew that Callum liked me, had always liked me, but I never realised it factored into his feud with Jason.

Suddenly, I recalled the afternoon Greg and I were looking for Callum. I remembered the sardonic look on Greg's face as he said, of Callum -

Didn't you ever catch him staring at you like an idiot whenever we walked past you in the hallway? He always thought you'd already figured it out yourself - given the fact that your friend Burke never stopped being an ass about it.

His words now fell into place, like a missing puzzle piece that I'd been searching for all this while, only to realise it was right under my nose the whole time. I just never opened my eyes big enough to recognise it.

I frowned at Dave. "Explain yourself, please. I kind of get it, but I'm not sure I understand all of it."

But he shook his head, resolutely returning his attention to the questions in front of him. "Sorry, Scout, but I've said far too much."

"So why not just say it all?"

"Well, Jason's my friend," he said, simply. "I'm not going to say things about him behind his back."

And that was that. No matter how much probing and convincing and persuading I proceeded to do for the next forty-five minutes, Dave refused to budge. His expression stoic, he focused solely on the maths questions, and I was utterly exasperated by the end of the lesson.

You see, it eventually dawned on me that, ultimately, through it all, I was still the outsider. I now knew I was the centre of their feud, but that did not make me feel the least bit included. In fact, with all the things kept hidden from me, it made me feel like a complete fool, ignorant and oblivious to everything that had happened thus far.

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It was only when I saw Greg heading to the cafeteria alone the following afternoon that I realised the answer was right before me the whole time. If I couldn't ferret the answers out of Dave, then it was Greg who could give me the answers I wanted.

Quickening my pace, I hastily caught up with him, and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, eyes widening in surprise as he realised it was me.

"Hey, Scout," his lips curled into a friendly, teasing grin. He was vastly different from the menacing, intimidating figure I had seen the Monday after Hell Week. "Looking for Callum?"

"Not at all. There's actually something I need to talk to you about."

His steps slowed, and he cast a hesitant glance at the entrance of the cafeteria, before looking back at me. "Should we go someplace else to talk?"

I shrugged, immediately understanding his underlying meaning - he was popular and I was not, therefore we could not be seen together under any normal circumstances. "Sure."

We changed directions and began to head to the east wing of the building. The corridor of the east wing was relatively empty, save for a few students who gave us rather odd looks as they passed, clearly unaccustomed to seeing Greg with someone else outside his social circle.