The secret in my heart

Chapter #8

At that moment I turn around and see Henry, standing right behind me. I freeze in place, as cold sweat washes over my forehead. I wonder what alibi I should give for being here right now. *I hope he didn't see me following, Jacob.*

"Henry? When did you come here? I didn't hear you." I try to distract him, using questions.

"Just now. Why are you here? Do you need help with something?" he asks me back.

"I was just searching, for Steven. I need to ask him something about our project." I lie, looking away.

Suddenly, Jacob walks out of the office and sees, me and Henry talking. He looks at me suspiciously and then he asks:

"What is going on here?" he raises, an eyebrow.

"Hey Jacob! Clara is searching for Steven, that's why she's here." Henry explains.

"Oh, really? Well, he's having practice outside. That's where you can find him." he says, walking away.

Without being able to answer him, I say goodbye to Henry and run back to my room. Of course, I have no intention of actually talking to Steven. Especially, not after his strange behavior earlier. That's the last thing, I want to do, right now. On my way to my room, I see Nate, so I decide to greet him.

"Hey, Nate! Wait up!" I run, towards him.

"Clara, how are you?" he says, beaming a smile, as always.

"Good, I was just going back upstairs. What about you?" I ask.

"I'm good too. By the way, have you seen Steven? I haven't talked to him, since earlier." Nate looks at me, worriedly.

"No I haven't, but I heard he was at practice, so maybe you can find him there." I reply.

"Nope, I'm just coming back from practice and he hasn't shown up, today." Nate says.

"Very strange, I hope everything is okay. I have to go now, see you tomorrow!" I wave at him and run to my room.

-Time skip-

Brianna and I walk around the school yard, before our classes start and I tell her about how I saw my necklace, in Jacob's safe. I also mention, that I haven't told Nate about it, since I don't know who else is involved. I don't think, he has something to do with it, since he's been helping me all along, but I also can't seem to fully trust him. Then, we see Steven walking towards us and he comes up to talk to me.

"Clara, can we talk for a moment?" he asks me, looking exhausted.

"I'll leave you two, in private." Brianna says, as she goes back inside.

"What is it? Will you apologize?" I tilt my head, to the side.

"Look, I never meant to offend you, with my words. I was only trying, to look after you." he explains.

"There's no need, for you to do that. I can take care of myself!" I reply, about to leave.

"Wait, I'm not finished!" he suddenly, grabs my wrist.

I look at him with confusion, due to his sudden movement. I have no idea, how I'm supposed to react in this situation.

"Don't think I'm against you! I say all of this, for your own good. I want to be there for you, when you need me." he continues.

"Steven, where are you going with this-" I try to ask him, as he pulls me closer, to him.

"Allow me to help you." he says, as he hugs me, tightly.

I suddenly feel very calm and understood. I'm still not entirely sure why he's telling me all of this, but for some reason I feel grateful. As I wonder how to respond to him, I hear someone running towards us, in the distance. *Who is it, again?*

"Guys quick! There's something going on, in the student council's office!" Simon says, as he runs off.

"Alright, we're coming!" Steven replies and we both follow him.

*I wonder, what might have happened there? Maybe one of the teachers, has found out about Jacob's theft? Or maybe one of the other guys, has exposed him? I'm guessing most, if not all of them are already, very well aware of the whole situation. I would like him to be exposed, as soon as possible!*