Secret Diaries (Heartlake Cliche #1)

Chapter Eleven

 July 25, 2007

 You usually find out if sparks are flying during your first real conversation.

      It was bound to be one hell of a week. Or weeks. Who knew?The day after the anonymous hate letter spread through the online world, everyone seemed to want to talk about it—in front of Rachelle. From the moment she stepped out of their house, Rachelle spotted three girls about five meters away looking conspicuously at her while whispering at each other.

      She had a mind to march over and demand what on earth was their problem but she stopped herself. Nothing good would come out of that kind of encounter anyway. She would just end up looking guilty.

     Even the students in the train did not look as if they wanted to be discreet. They talked and stared, making Rachelle feel like some godforsaken criminal. By the time she reached the St. James lobby, she was fuming. She wanted to scream and hit someone.

    People who claimed to be wise often say that, in this world, a person’s character was more important than his or her reputation. Rachelle would have kicked their asses. She had never deliberately hurt anyone and never in her life did she wish for anyone’s disgrace yet one letter, one freaking hate letter, made everyone believe that she was the queen of slutty bitches.

     If you thought about it, maintaining one’s good reputation was a more difficult responsibility than upholding one’s character. Someone’s good reputation was as fragile as glass and carelessness could easily break it. At least a person’s character did not easily change or shatter.

      Her day could have been worse. Except, the scene she witnessed at the school’s entrance hall made her feel happy from head to toe.

      Copies of the hate letter was scattered all over the place and students were still arguing about it. However, after several students showed Liam Milton a copy of the hate letter, he crumpled the paper and gave it back to the boy who handed it to him.

      “If this is the treatment I’ll get when I start attending classes tomorrow, I might as well withdraw my application,” he said in an annoyed voice. “Apparently, you people would believe an anonymous hater over the person you actually get to be with everyday. If that hater is telling the truth then she should have introduced herself. She should have presented proof rather than using the Internet to rant and begrudge someone.”

      He started walking towards the Principal’s office, leaving behind a gawking mob of students.

    Rachelle was practically a stranger to Liam and yet he went and stood up for her in front of everyone. She started to feel the butterflies that were always a mix of a good and bad sign. Good that she was getting attracted to him; bad because there was always a prediction of a doomed relationship.

      And then she realized that she wasn’t able to tell him her full name yesterday. He most certainly didn’t know that the girl who gave him directions was the same girl described in the letter. He defended a faceless person just because he knows it’s the right thing to do. How can I get so lucky?

    She did not waste time and followed him, ignoring the gossip and stares. Liam was about to knock when he saw her approaching him. He dropped his fist and faced her then raised a curious eyebrow.

    Rachelle’s hands played with her blue dress’s ribbon belt before she spoke. “Hi,” she began with a smile.

      “Hello.” His smile was accompanied by dimples.