Chasing Gold

22| call it what you want

If I was being completely honest, I was afraid of losing him. But I knew that I was going to, either way, there was no outcome in which he wouldn't walk away from this. It didn't matter if I had told him a week ago, last night, or today. He was still going to walk away and I wasn't ready to face that.

"Do you think I don't know that?" I glare at my best friend. "And it doesn't matter what I'm afraid of Stensby, at this moment, my fears are the least of worries."

Shortly after Stensby and I finished talking Prof. Emerson walked into the auditorium. "Good morning class," She greeted. "I hope you're ready for today's class, it's going to be a good one. And before you think I completely forgot about the fact that you have a quiz today, you're mistaken. But since I'm feeling a bit compassionate today, we'll have it during the last ten minutes of the lecture."

My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a message from Peyton. It's done. A few seconds after I had read those two words, everybody's phones began to ring and it was the only sound you could hear in the crowded auditorium. Emerson began to scold us for not having our phones on silent but nobody seemed to care. Everyone had their attention glued to their phones. The Macy Kingsley and Emily Cohen Case: Betrayed by the Administration. The title of the article read.

The article had every single detail of what happened to both girls, the way they were treated by Chancellor Scott, and campus security, but best of all, attached to the article you could see the video I took the night Connery took me to Laguna Seca. Everyone started whispering about it, even Emerson chimed in once she realized what was going on.

For the rest of the class, Emerson manages to give today's lecture. She seemed to be in a better mood, it definitely had something to do with the article. Out of all of the professors on campus, she's always been involved with victims of sexual assault and advocating for more security on campus. Hence why she's always butting heads with Chancellor Scott. This is the first time that the paper has published a piece like this one.

Everyone on campus knows what goes around here, but nobody says anything or does anything for that matter. It's one thing to watch from afar how it happens to other girls but a completely different thing when you're the one being held down against your will.

After we took the short ten-minute quiz, Emerson dismissed us. I put all of my things away in my backpack and I walked out into the aisle with Stensby by my side. "Peyton did a pretty amazing job with that article. She must have a lot of powerful people here very pissed off."

"I hope they are," I tell my best friend as we go down the flight of stairs. "It was time someone spoke about the truth. Just like my grandmother says no puedes tapar el cielo con un dedo."

"You guys should be careful," Stensby warns. "If Tommy Scott is part of that gang, it puts you guys at risk."

"I'm not afraid of him Stensby," I tell Stensby as we walk out of Fisher Hall. That may be a little white lie, I must admit. The times I thought of Tommy and his friends doing something to Peyton or I had crossed my mind several times. "The time has come to finally put Tommy Scott in his place and if it has to be me, let it be me."

"I'm meeting with Kelsea at the library, we have this group project thing," Stensby complains. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Since when are you the responsible one?" I ask Stensby and he rolls his eyes. "Wait, isn't Kelsea the girl from the volleyball team that you've been trying to get to bed for the past month? I should've known better than to think that you were capable of being responsible."

"Oh shut up Green," Stensby says making me laugh. "I won't confirm or deny but that's not the reason. I'm this close to failing the class and I can't afford it. Coach warned he would take me off the starting line up."