#THE HASHTAG

21 | What Do I Mean To You?

Searching for diamonds

When I gave you the mine

unedited.

✝ Chapter Twenty One | What Do I Mean To You? ✝

"What do you mean Adam made you do it?" I inquired, my voice rising with each word.

Henri gave me a reluctant look as he took a step away from me. Even though he was already pale, his face had gone completely white. "I told Adam about my dad being so smart with computers, and he asked if there was a way to do what I did. I said yes, but I'd have to look through my dad's journals. Then he told me he'd get me on the chess team if I did it," he explained.

When his dark eyes met mine again and saw the horror in them, he continued. "I don't even like chess! I mean, I'm kind of good at it but I only joined because Adam would be there. I wanted to see him..."

Groaning, I threw my hands up in the air in frustration. "Yeah, so you can have your little homo fantasies about him, right?"

Henri's lips clamped shut as he shook his head in disbelief. "Lexi, you didn't have to say that..."

"Whatever," I spat bitterly as I turned my head away from him. My arms folded against my chest as my foot tapped impatiently against the floor.

I refused to believe any of this nonsense, because it didn't make sense. Adam was my friend. We've been friends since middle school and he would never do something like that to me. He would never purposely make my life a living hell.

Fear was written all over Henri's face as he took several steps away from me. "You're upset, and I understand that so I'm going to leave now." Taking ocassional glances at me, he gathered his belongings from the sofa and began to walk towards the door.

Almost on cue, the front door swung open and my mom stepped over the threshold. Her short black hair was tied back into the tiniest ponytail, and patches of green stained her skin and clothes. "Well hello there, Lexi! I'm glad that you finally decided to come home," she mused in her sarcastic voice. "Where have you been?"

"Getting my phone fixed," I said quickly. "Um, yeah it went crazy, but it's fine now."

The grin on her face seemed to be permanent as she moved closer and kicked off her shoes. "Where'd you get the money to do that, darling?" Her eyebrows were raised in genuine curiosity, but I knew she wasn't curious.

"It was uh, free. Some kid from school said it was on the house," I lied through gritted teeth. Well, I was technically telling the truth. The service was free on my part because it was Jack who paid for it. And technically, he is a friend from school...

Mom let out a disapproving huff as she placed her hands on her hips. "Funny," she said. "Because Adam said you were out with a boy."

In that instant, Henri and I exchanged glances. He seemed to be just as scared as I was based on the way he refused to meet my mother's gaze.

"Speaking of Adam..." I tried my best to keep my composure, "...I should probably go talk to him. We have a school project and you know, we have to do it."

She wasn't the least bit convinced. "I know that you know you're grounded. So, I'm just going to let that set into your mind before you think about lying to me again." Her eyes had grown cold and unfriendly as she turned into the strict mom I hated to see. "Now I like Adam, so I'll let you talk to him. But you're grounded and I don't want you to see that other boy, especially without my consent."

"But Mom!"

She shot me a hard glare. "I don't want to-"

"I made her go," Henri interrupted, shoulders tensing. "I wanted her to start liking me for once, so I got the boy she liked to ask her out. It's all my fault that she went with him in the first place. If you're going to blame anyone, blame me. I'm sorry." He glanced to the floor and slumped his shoulders.