The Roseview High Rumors

CHAPTER TWELVE - AM/PM

"Quit fooling around, Mr Grey. We're going to get caught!"

His warm breath tickled the back of her neck. "You would like that wouldn't you?"

The idea of being 'watched' was raw and uncivilized. Augusta's traitorous mind slid straight into the gutter at the notion. She imagined them in different scenarios and each one was so vivid they were like real experiences. In fairness to Pedro, his words watered a seed that was already planted.

His rested his head on her shoulder. "Bad girl. You're imaging me doing unspeakable things to you, aren't you."

"No, I'm not," she lied.

"Chei. You dey lie." Pedro laughed.

Augusta rolled her eyes, but laughed too. "Who taught you pidgin English?" she asked as she finally turned to look at him.

"I got a few Igbo and pidgin English phrases up my sleeve," he quipped.

"That's kinda sweet."

"I know. Aren't I the best boyfriend ever?"

Augusta put her hands on her hips. "How can you feel okay to do anything online with everything that's going on?"

"Excuse me? Why shouldn't I? I'm the hash tag secret lover of a badass."

His lopsided grin and general optimistic vibe almost made Augusta forget what she was about to say.

"Hmm. I don't know about that," she murmured.

"Babe, did you see the Speakerverse thread? You've got more fans than critics. Someone shared the video of you knocking the socks off a jerk who deserved it."

"I saw it. The video was censored a few hours later, but the vengeance hash tag didn't die," Augusta groaned.

She led Pedro to a more discrete corner of the library, between the Latin and Astronomy shelves. "One of the first people to comment was like if she was being err...." Augusta face palmed. Even repeating it was embarrassing.

"Being pumped with Vitamin D, she'd be a baddie too hash tag secret lover," Pedro concluded with eyes twinkling with mirth. "I doubt she was talking about dietary supplements."

"It all went downhill from there..." Augusta released a tired breath. "Back and forth as people commented and replied: Who's AM's secret lover? Are you living on Mars? Duh, it's PM, someone answered."

Augusta could still not believe how quickly she and Pedro's initials became a 'thing' online. Shortly afterwards, some prick referred to them by their real names. Within minutes, they both gained thousands of followers. Some of which requested for her bikini pics and nudes.

Pedro brought out his phone. "Let me show you one of my favorite threads." He put a casual arm around Augusta's shoulders, and she peered at the screen.

Seven-five-hotz: I once overheard them being rough with each other in a study room. I don't know how they didn't get caught # secret lovers

Augusta sucked a sharp breath in. "Oh my goodness, it's not what they think. It must have been during one of our tutorial arguments. I never even touched you."

MadRosej: AM looks at PM like she wants to eat him raw # geek gone wild

LukKorZade: PM looks at AM like she's a tall, dark glass of water # thirstyAF # save the date # meant to be

"I'm pretty sure that smart ass LukKorZade is my best friend, Lucas Koren," Pedro said. "There's another one right afterwards by an admirer of yours," he added after scrolling through the list of comments:

7thofJuliet: Nothing but justice here. She's a queen and AM/PM are the hottest couple eva # teen love affair # infinity

Augusta tapped her chin. "My best friend, Priya, played Juliet in the school play and her birthday is on the seventh of July. It could be a coincidence though."

The dim light overhead flickered and they both stood in peaceful silence. As much as they could talk about everything and anything, Augusta loved how they could also be comfortable without the expression of words. Perhaps she reasoned, relaxing and letting the whole fiasco blow over was the best thing to do.

"Where are you two? Everyone has gone home. No hanky panky in the library!" the librarian bellowed. His order shattered the silence and Augusta cringed.

"Right. We're putting our clothes back-oof!"

Augusta elbowed Pedro in the ribs. "Pedro needed a book recommendation," she answered.

The librarian tsked. "Indeed."

Just before Augusta rushed to leave, Pedro grabbed her hand. "The whole trending thing probably won't last, but think of it as a sign."

"You sound like my mum."

"But seriously, you've spent the past five years of your life working towards the next four."

"So?"

"So? You're not a freaking robot, Inkaychee. You only live once."

"Fine," she huffed. "I won't go bungee jumping or sky diving. What do you expect me to do?"

"Now you're talking." He rubbed his hands together. "I've got plenty of fun ideas for an unforgettable senior year."

Augusta crossed her arms. "What's the first thing on our itinerary after your family moving to my neighborhood?"

"It's a surprise, but I can promise you one thing, Inkaychee."

"What?"

"We're going to make the Roseview High rumors work in our favor."