How To Tell If Your Boyfriend Is Cheating On You

Chapter 1: An Unfortunate Encounter

A/N: So here's the first official chapter, as usual please remember to vomment (that sounds so gross) if you enjoyed it! Any feedback is greatly appreciated ^.^ Dedicated to ileyray for following!

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Chapter 1.

On my way to the post office, I started to over-analyze things. I mean, what if I was completely wrong about Jason? Who in their right mind would cheat on somebody with Polly anyway? Maybe I was just being stupid. I decided to phone Jason to ask him about it. Who knew, maybe the direct approach would save me from embarrassing myself.

As I was searching through my bag for my phone I must have stopped paying attention to my surroundings because the next thing I knew, I had bumped into someone or something, literally, and was lying sprawled out on the floor from the impact.

When nobody apologized or even offered to help me up, I looked to see who or what the offending obstacle actually was, only to find myself staring at Mason Roberts, one of Jason's friends and my long-term crush before Jason asked me out just over a month ago. On seeing my expression, he bent over laughing, which only served to irritate me further.

"How rude can you get?" I muttered, before pulling myself up and dusting myself down as he continued to laugh. "Get out of my way!" I almost snarled, not in the mood for this. It wasn't as though I was usually this rude, only that when somebody was rude to me, I tended to be rude back.

To my surprise, he blocked my path, his laughter fading as he looked me over. I blushed, trying and failing to get past him, as he kept blocking my way and the pavement was narrow.

"Don't you want this back?" He asked, producing my letter out of seemingly nowhere, one eyebrow raised. "Or shall I just leave with it?"

I glared at him, "Give me that! That's the whole reason I'm here, I need to hand it in to the post office, you jerk!"

Mason snorted, "I was going to give it to you until you called me a jerk. Looks like I might have to take a look at it now."

Ignoring my protests, Mason ripped open the envelope, peering at the scrap of paper inside. "What's this?" He asked, seeming interested. "Why would you want a private detective?"

Folding my arms, I stopped trying to pass him and concentrated on how I could get my letter back instead. "It's none of your business! Why do you want to know, anyway?"

Mason frowned, turning his attention to me again. "Wait...you're Jason's girlfriend, aren't you? I'm sure I've seen you around school. We're in the same Biology class, aren't we?"

Before I could reply, he carried on, "What's your name again? Is it Violet?"

I scowled, "Right, so you can't even remember my name, even though I'm going out with one of your friends?"

"Jason never talks much about his girlfriends. I didn't even know you were going out together until I saw you together in town."

"Charming." I tried to ignore the fact it kind of hurt to think that your boyfriend's friends didn't even know who you were. Like our relationship wasn't already a bit of a joke. I tried to sidestep him again, forgetting about the envelope entirely, but he simply blocked me again.

"So, what is your name then? Wait, it's Verruca, isn't it? I..."

I cut him off before he could go any further. "I'm not a wart, you idiot! My name's Veronica! Now just let me get past, I really can't be bothered with your rubbish anymore."

Mason smirked, "Right. Veronica. I should have guessed, it suits you."

I rolled my eyes, turning away from him as I briefly considered just going back home.

"So, are you going to tell me what all this about a private detective is about or am I going to have to ask your boyfriend?"

I whipped my head round immediately, "No. Please don't tell him. Honestly, it's nothing really. It was a stupid idea anyway."

Mason looked surprised, "You don't look for a private detective for no reason. I promise I won't tell your boyfriend, or anyone for that matter, if you just tell me."

"Fine. But not here, can't we just sit down somewhere first? I've been walking way too much today."

"Okay." Mason looked around, "There's a park across the road, that'll do." I think he noticed that I was about to bolt so he took my hand in his before leading me across the road.

I don't know why but I kind of liked holding his hand, it was definitely a whole lot nicer than holding Jason's. For one, Mason's hand wasn't gross and sweaty. I tried not to think about back when I used to crush on him, instead reminding myself how rude he'd been to me.

When we reached the park, I let go of his hand and sat down on a nearby bench, making a show of wiping my hand against my jeans to rid myself of his germs. He sat next to me, rolling his eyes at my behaviour. "So..." he trailed off, waiting for me to explain.

For a moment I considered making something up but honestly, I really couldn't be bothered and I secretly wanted a second opinion anyway so I decided to just tell him, "I...uh...I think Jason is cheating on me. With Polly Heathrow."

The last reaction I expected was Mason bursting out laughing, almost manically. "Polly Heathrow? As in the ugly Head Girl with all those moles?"

Nodding, I averted my gaze. "I'm glad it amuses you." I muttered, darkly.

"Sorry." He apologized, "It's just, why would anyone do that? And how do you expect a private detective is going to help you? Do you even know how expensive it'll be?"

I scowled, "I didn't think of that, did I?"

"Obviously not." Mason looked as though he was still trying not to laugh, "It'd be much more sensible if you just tried to find out whether he's cheating on you for yourself."

"But how am I supposed to do that?" I almost wailed, "I can't just ask him, I'll sound as though I don't trust him. I can't follow him everywhere, that would be plain creepy, not to mention boring and clingy."

Mason frowned, as though he was considering something. "I could help you, you know. I mean, let's face it, I know him better than you do."

My eyes widened, incredulously. "Really? You'd do that?"

"Yeah, of course! Why not? If we find out he's cheating, we can always get together." He winked and I almost fell off the bench in a mixture of shock and disgust.

"Hell no. There's no way I'm letting you help me now. Go and find someone else to annoy, Mason."

He laughed, "Sorry. But seriously, who else are you going to find to help you who knows Jason as well as I do? One of his exes?"

I glowered at him, staring to wish he wasn't so good-looking and was instead the male version of Polly. It'd be easier to get rid of him then.

When I didn't reply, Mason got up off the bench and shoved his hands into his pockets, turning away, "Okay then. Maybe I will tell Jason. I mean, he's one of my best friends, I can't keep this from him."

I shot up from the seat, horrified. "You can't though! You said you wouldn't! You promised, asshole!" Overdoing the insults was going to be my thing today.

"Well, let me help you catch him cheating then."

"Are you blackmailing me?" I asked. When he just shrugged I let out a deep breath, weighing out my options. "Fine." I decided, grudgingly. "I'll let you help me." He couldn't do more harm than good, right?

The grin I received in response was nothing less than triumphant, "Okay then, I'll see you at school, Verruca!"

As he left, I didn't bother to correct him about my name, nor did I bother asking him for the envelope again. What had I just got myself into?

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A/N: So... any predictions about what will happen next?

Thanks for reading,

~Blossom