If You Wanted Honesty (Kellic)

Chapter 17

He stares at me as though he’s actually seriously considering it. “One more question,” he says slowly. “How do you explain the closet? What were you and that kid even doing in there that involved getting naked?”

"It’s called being sabotaged," I reply, "for this exact reaction. This is what Jaime hoped for when he shoved us in there, knocked us out, took off our clothes. Except I think he expected Vic to be the one to do this, not you."

He raises an eyebrow. “Jaime? Is he a junior? I think I know him.”

I nod. “He wants Vic. And he wants me out of the way. He’s made that very clear.”

"So he sabotaged you and made it look like you were cheating," Ian finishes, looking a bit skeptical.

"Yep. He’s trying to break us up. Just like the kids who first started that bullshit rumor that I was cheating on you. They wanted to mess with us, they wanted to break us up…and they did. I’m not letting that happen again."

He keeps staring at me for a few more moments, and then he says the last thing I expected him to say: “I’m helping you.”

Did I hear him wrong? “You’re what?”

"I want to make it up to you. I mean, I know I can’t, but I can sure as hell try. Like you said, some asshole kids already fucked with one relationship. All this time, I’ve tried to be noble. I thought that I was. I thought that you were scum and that I was giving you what you deserved. But I guess you aren’t, are you? I admit it—I tend to assume the worst. I guess it just sort of stuck in my head like it was a fact and I completely forgot that it might not be true. So if this Jaime guy is fucking with you and Vic like those kids fucked with me…I don’t want anyone else to end up like us. So I’m gonna help you with Jaime."

For the first time since our rivalry started, I see us for what we are. We’re not enemies. We’re just two exes with a lack of communication skills who have managed to fuck up their relationship. If there’s one thing we have in common, it’s this: We don’t want to see the same mistakes being made.

So I say, “Okay. You can help me, though I don’t know what you’ll be helping me with. I just don’t want Jaime messing with us again.”

"Then we’ll make him stop."

"How? Beating someone up doesn’t exactly solve the problem. And it especially wouldn’t stop Jaime."

But as I think about the closet stunt he pulled, it hits me: We weren’t just in any closet.

"I’ve got an idea," I say.

—

We walk through the empty halls—second period has already started—and I know that if there were other people around us, they’d all be staring. When Ian and I are near each other, we’re in opposite directions, either walking past each other or facing each other. But right now we’re walking side by side, as allies. I can’t help but think about how the last time we walked like this, back when we were dating, Ian was my height. Now he towers above me.

"You’re sure it was this one?" he asks as we stand in front of the closet Oli and I were found in.

"I’m sure. I know my closets. And I’ve been in this one the most." I open the door and turn on the light.

He heads in after me and stands in the middle, taking a moment to stare. “I’ve never actually been in this one. I’ve heard of it, of course, but I’ve never been in it. How’d you know about this? I thought only the seniors knew. And isn’t the camcorder hidden?”

It’s true—Jaime made the mistake of using the closet with the camcorder in it for his sabotage. He didn’t know, though—like Ian said, only the seniors know. Except for Vic and I.