DECEPTION; Bradley Simpson

9.

The weekend went by pretty quickly. Thankfully Tim wasn't able to go to our father's, so that meant I didn't go either. I miss Tim obviously, but I hate going to my father's house and pretend that I'm happy for him and his new family. My mother texted me last night, saying we won't go to his house next weekend either, because he's going on a business trip. He's a well-known businessman in Birmingham, ever since he moved here. His wife is his secretary (how shocking) and they had a few problems with the co-workers at the company, but dad handle it easily. He practically threatened everyone who said something bad about their marriage that they are going to be fired. It worked, no one talked about it after that.

Waking up to my alarm, I groaned into my pillow and got up from bed to get ready for school. I put on some light makeup, jeans and a simple shirt, then put my hair in a ponytail. I slid on my sneakers and I was ready to go.

"Evelyn?" Maggie looks at me with a sleepy expression and I stop in my movements.

"Yeah?" my hand rests on the doorknob.

"Can you please drive me to school? My car broke down yesterday just when I parked it in the parking lot," she sits up on her bed and looks at me hopefully.

"Sure. Just hurry up," I nod and walk back to my bed, sitting down and waiting for my roommate to get ready.

After thirty minutes, she's all done. I watched her run around the room like crazy, trying to be as fast as she can. Luckily for her, none of us were late to classes.

"Thanks," she hugs me as we both climb out of the car.

"You're welcome," I return her hug and smile. Maggie walks into the building quickly, but I stay out for a few minutes, noticing Brad and Ashley in the parking lot. I watch as they interract. I can't hear what they are saying because they're too far from me, but I can tell Ashley is trying to force herself on Brad, as always. The boy was trying to get her hands off of him, but this time, Ashley didn't give in.

I decide to stop watching them and walk inside the huge building and towards my psychology class. I'm relieved when I see James sitting at his usual spot. We exchange small smiles and I sit down next to him. Taking out my phone, I check if I have any messages or missed calls, but there aren't any. I slide it back into my pocket and lean my head on the desk, trying to get some more sleep before class starts.

"Long weekend, huh?" James jokes and I lift my head with a smile.

"Not really," I shrug. "I just stayed up late last night to watch a movie," I say, making James chuckle. I hear the bell and everyone starts walking inside the classroom. Brad sits down in front of me, as usual, but instead of turning towards me with a smile  like he does every day, he just scrolls through his phone. He looks mad or something, I don't really know. Did Ashley piss him off?

"Okay, class. Silence," the teacher enters the classroom and puts her things on the big desk in the front. "Today will be a little different. I want you all to write down all your problems on a blank paper. Whatever is happening in your family, or just in general in your life. I want to help you," she smiles, looking around class.

I think about all my problems before I start writing them down on the paper. From my father leaving me, to my "friends" taking interest in me because my father is a millionaire business man known all over the world, but mostly in Birmingham.

As soon as the bell rings, the teacher collects all the papers and dismisses us. I pack my things and head towards the door with James. Brad, for some reason isn't joining us.

Brad's POV

After everyone leaves, I stand up too and collect my things. The teacher walks towards the door with our papers in her hands. One of them fall down and I hurry to pick it up, but the teacher disappears too quickly for me to give it back.

I look at the name and it says Evelyn Granaderos. I furrow my eyebrows and read everything she wrote down. As I'm reading the part where she talks about her "friends" using her because of her father, I can't help but feel slightly guilty. I don't want to do this to her.

I sigh and leave the classroom, trying to find Evelyn. I eventually find her in the hallway, speaking to Maggie, so I approach them.

"Hey," I say, earning both of their attention. "The teacher dropped this and I thought I'd give it back to you," I hand Evelyn the paper.

"Oh, thanks," she takes it from my hands and smiles at me thankfully. I force a smile onto my face and start to walk away, before Maggie calls after me.

"Brad!" I stop in my tracks and turn around to face her. "We're going to dinner again tonight. Wanna join?"

"I'll see," I shrug and hurry down the hallway. I can't manage to look into Evelyn's eyes after reading what she wrote. I'm too ashamed and sorry for her.

Evelyn's POV

"He's weird," Maggie says, not taking her eyes off of the curly haired boy, who soon disappears into a classroom.

"Why?" I ask with furrowed eyebrows.

"I don't know. The smile he gave you... it was fake. And I could see how eager he was to walk away from us."

"You're just paranoid," I tease, making my roommate chuckle.

"Well, see you after classes," the dark haired girl gives me a hug before leaving for her class. I do the same and walk down the hallway and towards my next class, when I bump into someone. I look up and see Tristan.

"Sorry," he apologizes, quickly bending down to pick up my books that fell.

"It's okay," I assist and take out my books of his hands.

"Have you seen Brad?" he asks.

"Yeah, we had the previous class together. Why?" I hug my books to my chest.

"I need to talk to him, but it can wait. Sorry for making you late for class," the blonde haired boy says with a small smile before he walks away. I quickly hurry to my class. I let out a sigh of relief when I notice the teacher isn't inside yet. I'm not as late as I thought.