BOYFRIEND EXCHANGE

Chapter 3: Deafening Silence

My world just stopped. It was crushed and buried beyond the depths of the sea of shame. The embarrassment of my genius stunt crept back its way to my mind, mocking me in every way. I wanted to sleep again and never wake up.

“Sacred? Still with me?” my sister asked as she sat beside me.

“Shhh! Chase might walk in here any minute. Don’t call me by my real name,” I reminded her. “And speaking of Chase, why isn’t he talking to me?”

“Oh, that. Well if it makes you feel any better he isn’t talking to me either. He won’t even look at me. But when we brought you here he told me that he would take care of all the Student Council activities until you’re okay so I could stay here with you.”

“He did that?” I asked incredulously.

“Uh huh. At first I got nervous when he approached me. I thought he figured everything out but it turned out he was just being nice. Don’t worry sis, I’m not taking him back. He’s nice, but he’s still not sweet. Look, he didn’t even volunteer to stay with you overnight. You’ve been here for three days. He only visits in the morni—”

“THREE DAYS! I’ve been here for three freaking days?” I yelled, interrupting her.

“Yeah. You’ve been confined here for three days and dad was freaking out. I was freaking out. The cheerleading squad was freaking out.”

“Why is the cheerleading squad involved in our discussion? I asked, my face twisting in an annoyed expression.

“Hello? The whole school knows what happened. They know that Serene Mendez is in the hospital so obviously, I can’t attend my extracurricular activities because we’ll be busted if I do. And even though you’re awake I still can’t attend cheer practice because of your sudden change of appearance.”

Before I could ask her what she meant she had shoved a mirror on my hand. I nearly dropped it when I saw my reflection. It was appalling and disgusting and horrible. I had an ugly scar on the side of my forehead and a bruise roughly the size of Russia on my arm.

“Ms. Mendez. I’m here to check up on you. Mr. Gray sent me here,” the nurse announced as she entered my room.

When I came back to school pretending to be my sister, girls who I assumed as Serene's admirers surrounded me and asked me about my welfare. They took me in a bone-crushing embrace and I was hiding from them since then. This morning was exhausting.

The classes weren't any different. Students and teachers kept asking me the same thing and it’s driving me nuts. I came up with an excuse and kept telling the same story over and over. I might as well record my explanation in my phone and play it when someone asked again.

The last period arrived and I was hoping they’d just leave me alone. My wish wasn’t granted though. The moment I sat down on my desk a group of girls hovered around me. I was forced to act nice. They asked so many questions and it gave me a headache. They’re suffocating me. I needed to breathe. I clapped my hands over my ears and buried my face on the desk. I couldn’t take it anymore.

Cool wind brushed my arms. I heard a commotion, a series of apologies and footsteps away from my spot. I looked up and noticed that everybody was seated at their rightful places. I thought the teacher had arrived but clearly he hadn’t. What just happened?

I turned to my right and almost fell off my chair when I recognized the person seated beside me.

Chase.

He had a few classes with Serene on Wednesdays and Fridays. Today was Friday.

I leaned towards him. “Hey you didn’t come back yesterday,” I uttered. He didn’t reply. He just looked straight ahead like I wasn’t even here in the first place. I tried to hold his arm but he pulled away. Something was absolutely wrong. Whispers enveloped the room. Everyone was watching our little scene. I wouldn’t be surprised if this piece of gossip spread throughout the entire campus like wildfire.

“Are you mad at me?” I whispered. “What have I done? Chase, answer me.” He kept ignoring me until our teacher entered the room.

After class I followed him. He went to the men’s room and stayed there for a long time on purpose. I didn’t care. We had to talk. So I quietly followed him everywhere. Even when he picked up his books from his locker. I had no idea why he was treating me this way. My pride was stepped on but I couldn’t just let this go. This could end up in a break up and my sister would surely kill me if that happened.

My patience was wearing thin.

The hallway was empty now so this was my chance to end this drama. I grabbed his arm and this time he didn’t take it back. I went in front of him and asked him for the millionth time what was wrong. And for the millionth time he didn’t answer.

He tried to walk away but I blocked his path. “That’s enough Chase. Why are you doing this to me? If there’s a problem then say it!” I shouted angrily. It wasn’t in my sister’s character to shout so I shouldn’t be doing this but he’d been like this since yesterday and I was getting tired of it.

He walked past me without sparing a glance. Tears threatened to fall down. I lost total control of my mind and before I knew it I had said something completely foolish.

“I’m not going home until you talk to me! I’ll stay here whether you like it or not!”

He didn’t look back.

NP: Won't go home without you by Maroon 5

Third update! It's kinda late. I don't know, but I've been reading IGNITE ME and it's so freaking good. I've read it twice so you know what happened next. Well anyway here's chapter 3. Please support it! Vote and Comment! LOVELOVELOVE.