I love you, I love you not

As We Draw Near

"You... helped? What do you mean?" my head was ringing and I wasn't sure if there was anything holding me up anymore, or even which way up was.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I had to do it" Sharri sobbed.

"You had to do it?" I asked, "yeah right!"

"You don't understand, she had pictures! They were bad, I couldn't let them get out, I had to do what she said. She even had one of me in the locker room..." she cast her face down, ashamed.

"Oh my god..." I whispered, "Sharri, why didn't you just tell me... or anyone for that matter, she can get into serious trouble for that!"

"I was too scared!" she looked up again, her eyes red and puffy.

I pulled her into a tight hug and slowly rubbed her back. That's when I noticed Joey, sitting in one of the chairs nearby, his face hard as if set in stone.

"Joey" I called lightly.

He looked up at me, an expression of regret on his face. He slowly got up and walked towards me as Sharri pulled away. I kept my arms protectively around her shoulder, she was one of  my best friends and I wasn't going to let her get hurt anymore.

"I'm sorry... " I sighed as he walked over.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for... I'm the one who should be saying it. Alyssa just said she wanted to talk to me, I didn't expect..." he swallowed, closing his eyes, "when I saw your face, the way you ran away from me... I... I'm sorry."

"I forgive you. It wasn't your fault and I'm so sorry that I didn't come to you and talk to you about it first" I put my hand up to his cheek and wiped away the solitary tear that had rolled down it.

He reached his own hand up and caught mine in it, interlocking our fingers together. He opened his eyes again and gazed down at me. I took in his face, the curves of his cheek bones, the bridge of his nose, the soft lines of his mouth... and finally, his eyes. They were bright and beautiful but they were also... empty. They lacked the burning intensity I'd seen in Alec's, the vulnerability they'd shown when we were close. I wondered with a jolt if maybe I had picked wrong. I immediately dismissed the thought though... Joey had been the perfect boyfriend and even though we hadn't been going out long we were still extremely close.

I smiled at him, our hands still clasped together, before turning to Sharri, "now, let's go take care of that pest."

***

After leaving backstage, we had gone straight to Sharri's parents and told them about Alyssa and her incriminating photos. They had then, in turn, immediately told the principle of our school, who ended up having to involve the police. I had a funny feeling she wouldn't be bugging us anymore. The past few days of school had been weird, it was as if everyone in the school had been at the show and were now suddenly my adoring fans. People would stop me in the halls just to talk to me and one kid even asked for my autograph. Boatyard Bash had been offered a couple more gigs as well because our first one had been so good. A few things still didn't seem right though. Sharri and I still had a bit of tension between us, Joey and I had even more tension between us than Sharri and I did, Alec wouldn't even look at me anymore and most of all... it was as if every guy in school was trying to win The Challenge before some kind of time limit.

I sat in class looking at the clock, barely paying any attention to a word the teacher said. It was so close to final bell I could almost taste the freedom. Finally, the last minute of class ticked by and the bell rang. I jumped up out of my seat and rushed out of the classroom. To my surprise, Alec was waiting just outside the door.

"Hey" he smiled.

"Uh... hey?" I replied.

"Listen, you shouldn't hang with Joey today" he said.