Deeper

16 | Gossip Girl

"Hey," she rasps, still catching her breath. She's a cute girl, with tanned skin, big chocolate eyes and curly dark brown hair. "Can I help you?"

I just stand, not knowing what to say. I bite my lower lip, regretting my impulsive decision. Maybe I shouldn't have come.

The door to the rehearsal room is half opened, and I can't help but peek.

"You know, I didn't expect they would drill me right away," the girl mumbles, cocking her head toward the room. She laughs, shaking her head as sweats roll down her forehead. "I wasn't prepared for the hard training in my first week of joining the club. But it's really cool."

Oh. So she's a freshman too.

I plaster a slight smile, trying to be polite. "I can see that."

"Are you interested in joining too?" she asks, being so friendly. "I saw you at the booth during the promotion day."

Wow. She remembers me. Maybe she noticed me at that time while I was too busy fangirling Camila in her video.

I chuckle. "I'm not that good of a dancer. I was drawn to the video back then."

The girl's eyes widen, and she beams as I talk about Camila. "I know, right?" she exclaims. "Camila is pretty much a star here. She's my role model." She sighs. "Too bad that she left."

Now that startles me. "Left? What do you mean?"

She stares at me as if she's amazed from hearing my question. "You didn't know about the it couple?"

I swallow.

"Girl, you're missing out." She laughs, approaching me closer with her hands on her hips before shaking her head in amusement. "But I guess it's me who spent too much time browsing the college of my dream."

I start to feel impatient, wanting to know more. Luckily, this girl here can pass as the descendant of gossip girl in those TV series.

"She dated the most wanted guy here, who is none other than our football team quarterback," she chatters.

Oh, right. Of course, I know that.

"But then she broke up with him. I heard he was so devastated, because she just left him without a reason," she continues to spill, and that leaves me surprised.

Apparently, Camila broke up with Vaughn and not the other way around.

"But... Why?" the words escape my lips, even when I don't remember moving them.

"No idea, but you know what's more shocking?" The girl shakes her head like she's about to reveal unbelievable information.

I shake my head slowly, signalling that I have no idea.

"Three months after she called it off, she disappeared," the girl says frantically. "Like, literally disappeared. Poof! No news, and suddenly she was gone, like vanishing into thin air." She's so good at making it sounds so gripping that it even sends chills through my body. Maybe she should become a storyteller.

My jaw drops. I'm still trying to process the information in my brain. "What?"

She leans closer and whispers in my ear, "Trust me, the seniors in the club are still talking non stop about this. I heard the guy went batshit crazy, looking for her. But all her good friends here still resent him, thinking it was his fault."

My mind is blank now.

"Come to think of it," she keeps rattling. "Who would have left after two years of hard work, suddenly missing in the third year? I mean, she basically dumped all of her studies here and her future." The girl sighs. "And all of her friends have tried to talk to her family but got nothing. No one knows where she is now."

My head spins as the penny drops. That's why people always watched us when we were in public. That's why I received those glares. It's not because of jealousy, although perhaps some of those girls were jealous. It's because Vaughn and Camila were basically the public's golden couple who had an unfinished story, and suddenly I came into the picture.

"I can't believe you didn't know about the it couple." The girl shrugs. "But hey, it's not like you've been here forever." She smiles.

Yeah. Now I feel like I'm living in a cave. Jake must have known about this, even way more accurate and classified than the stuff this girl just threw at me. But then again, I can't talk to Jake. That will be too embarrassing.

While I'm pondering in thought, another girl inside the rehearsal room catches sight of me. She starts to eye me suspiciously, making me want to get out of here immediately. I hope that she's not one of the girls who have seen me hanging out with Vaughn.

"By the way, that's not the introduction I intended to give you about the dance club," the girl says. "Sometimes, I just babble around. Bad habit." She scratches her temple.

Clearly. We don't even have each other's name.

"I'm Taylor." Finally. "I wish you could join the dance club too. We can learn together as newbies." She smirks, stretching her hand to shake mine. "You are?" she asks my name.

I accept the handshake, returning the smile. "Melanie." I want to bite my tongue for exposing myself, but it seems pathetic to lie. The senior inside the room starts to approach us, and I automatically prepare to turn on my heels. "I'm sorry. I gotta go now."

With that said, I give Taylor an apologetic look and walk away from that place.