The Great Pretender

29: Have You Ever Had a Feeling?

"Did you know they're going out?" Cherish heard someone ask behind her as she and Ian walked down the hallway. Whoever they were talking about, she didn't care much to know, she was sure she'd hear the news at the dinner table from Ari anyways. Not that she gave a shit.

"Yeah. Everyone knows that," the reply reached her ears. "It wasn't hard to figure out with the way they were making out at the Ball." So they were talking about Delia and Ian.

"Did you know that he's already cheating on her with Cherish, though? Isn't she's supposed to be, like, Delia's best friend." Apparently the girls had no care for the fact that they could be heard by the people they were gossiping about.

"Really?"

"Yeah, they're always together and they're always leaving school early, I know 'cause I have the same spare as them. And Carly saw them coming out of the auditorium together twice this week."

Due to the girls' volume, many pairs of eyes were floating towards Cherish and Ian. The high school rumour mill being what it was, this would be all over their grade by the end of the next period, and all over the school by the end of the day.

"Wow. Poor Delia. Someone should tell her..."

Cherish almost laughed as she imagined Delia's reaction if someone did tell her, she'd probably burst into a hysterical fit of laughter till she either cried or choked. Ian seemed to be having the same thought, a tiny smirk tugging at his mouth.

"You know, I really thought he was gay..."

At this, Cherish bit her lip and chanced a glance at Ian. She knew that Juss and Seven found it amusing and usually teased him about it, but she understood his anger over it. Like him, she'd been labelled something she wasn't, without people actually knowing her. If it were true, she was sure Ian would have no problem with people waving the label at him so carelessly. She'd seen him shrug it off several times before, but it was slowly becoming less of a carefree "so what?" as it was a determined ignorance. Despite wanting to shut the girls up, she said nothing, watching from the corner of her eye as Ian, clearly annoyed, threw an unacknowledged look at them.

"I dunno, I didn't think so. I just thought he was a nice guy, but I heard that Cherish and Seven had some kind of thing and now Ian's messing around with her... They're, like, the worst friends ever!"

Cherish was seeing red now; where the hell were these girls getting their information from? Was some idiot sitting around making up stories all day for lack of anything better to do? Was it too much to ask for even the littlest ion of respect from fellow students? If you're going to talk about someone, do it to their faces, or entirely behind their backs, like most cowards do! She had no patience for people who spoke about her as if she weren't standing right there.

It was a happy coincidence that Delia ran towards them from the head of the hallway and effectively distracted Cherish from verbally bulldozing the girls behind her. Ian caught her eye and grinned as he stepped aside to let Delia squeeze herself between the two of them. "What?" Delia asked.

"Nothing. I'll tell you later," Ian replied. "So lunch at Free Toppings?"

Cherish smirked and rolled her eyes as one of the girls scoffed at their exchanged glances. This would only make the girls think they had proof.

-.-

It was cold in the hallway but the group of them didn't seem to care much. Cherish was happy to be squeezed rather tightly between Juss and Delia. Seven, however, was noticeably absent. According to Ian he'd taken to slinking off campus for lunch with Liz everyday. Cherish wished she'd known earlier, maybe then she could have informed him that it was quite unnecessary.