Chapter Twenty Four – The Repercussions of Our Actions
Ella POV
Ella peered into Geography where the class had already settled in. Monica and Abbey were busily chatting away and Ella quickly excused herself and headed towards her usual seat. "I heard that Cathy –" Abbey whispered before immediately quietening as Ella sat down.
"Ssssh!" Monica hissed.
Ella raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer. "Heard what? C'mon. Share the gossip," Ella insisted.
"Nah, nah. It's fine," Monica reassured.
"Come on. You guys know I can either give you details or give you the actual story," Ella continued.
"Alright!" Abbey exclaimed. Monica glared at her, but she didn't heed the warning. "So rumour has it, Cathy's been hooking up with Ace and Hunter!"
"What!?" Ella shrieked.
"Is it true?"
"No!"
"Yeah. See? I told you she wouldn't do that," Monica shouted, hitting Abbey on the arm.
A million thoughts swirled through Ella's mind. The party had been Friday night and come Monday morning, rumours were already swirling around everywhere. Who'd had the guts to make up something like that?
Cathy didn't even talk to anyone else.
"Who told you this crap?" Ella snapped.
"Sarah told me this morning. Everyone's been talking about it though," Abbey shrugged.
"Ok, quiet class!" Ms Barker yelled. The class did as they were commanded. Even though the vibrant discussion about the city and its planned changes was going on, Ella couldn't concentrate. She was determined to find out who'd started the rumour.
She continued trying to pry details from the other two, but ended up being shooshed multiple times and being sent to sit alone at the back of the class.
Ella rushed out of the class as soon as she was dismissed and ran into Dean in the hallway. She dragged him over to the side. "Have you heard!?" She shouted.
His friends looked over at them, smirking and wiggling their eyebrows. "Oi, get lost," he said to them, waving his books in their direction. "Heard what?" He asked, turning back to Ella.
"There's some rumour about Cathy and Hunter and Ace. Hooking up, making out, I don't even know! She's going to freak if she finds out!"
"Are you serious? My boys haven't heard anything. They would've said something."
"Help me find out who started the rumour, okay?"
"Too easy."
The creases on her forehead didn't ease as she clutched her books tightly. "Yeah, I'll see you later," she replied, walking off.
"Ella?" He said. She turned around. "Don't worry too much," he smiled. She smiled back and they parted ways.
There was one class before recess, before she would see Cathy. Luckily, the class was sport – the hub of gossip and all things floating around in the social circles.
~
Cathy POV
Everyone had been staring at me strangely for the entirety of maths, and I could've sworn people were talking about me. Then again, I had always been particularly paranoid about this, even though people never even spoke about me.
I tried to shake off the feeling as I waded through the crowds on my way to physics. The chatter was loud by the time I got there, quietening as I entered. "Sorry I'm late," I murmured to Mr Martin.
He looked at the clock on the wall. "You're not. Take a seat," he smiled.
I kept my head down and sat next to Archer, as per usual. "Is it just me or are people looking at me?" I asked Archer, opening up my textbook.
Archer turned around in his seat. "Yeah. I actually think they are. That would be a first," he joked.
"Douche," I muttered, shutting his textbook.
"Honesty is the best policy, I always say."
"Does anyone actually know why people are supposedly looking at me?" I asked, looking from Jenny to Archer and then back again.
"I've heard things," Archer admitted.
"Heard what?" I interrogated. "Have you heard anything?" I asked Jenny.
She shook her head. Archer looked hesitant to tell me. At that very moment, Mr Martin called for silence and began lecturing about waves.
I mentally listed all the things people could possibly be talking about. Was I being accused of some weird case of plagiarism? Cheating? It must've been what I was wearing to the party. Then I remembered exactly why there would be talk about the party. Hunter.
I wasn't thinking straight when I went back downstairs wearing his leather jacket for the rest of the night. I clearly wasn't thinking at all when I accepted his offer to dance.
Mr Martin finally finished lecturing and I had a page full of notes. "So, what have you heard?" I asked Archer, continuing my interrogation.
"Don't worry about it. I'm ninety nine percent it's not true."
"What's not true?"
"I don't know. It's kind of weird talking to you about it. I mean, we're friends," he said tentatively. "I'm pretty sure this conversation is meant to happen between you and Ella," he paused. "And possibly Jenny. I'm your dude friend, and this is weird."
Archer's question dodging was getting on my nerves, and since Jenny insisted she didn't know a thing, I pondered for the rest of physics, glowering in silence.
Recess couldn't have possibly come later. It was the longest class I'd sat in for a long time, so much that I nearly fell asleep. When I reached my locker, before I'd even had a chance to dump my books inside, Ella grabbed me by the shoulders. "Have you heard yet!?" She shouted, looking panicked.
My heart rate was beginning to rise. What was it that was causing such chaos? Why was I involved? I didn't even talk to people! I imagined all the worst case scenarios and my head was starting to thrash at itself.
"I have no idea who started the rumour, but I swear, I'll rip their heads off when I find out!" Ella shrieked.
"What is it? What is everyone saying!?"
She released me and sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Just put your books back first," she sighed.
I quickly shoved my books into my locker and turned back to face her. "Well?"
"I heard it first from Abbey and Monica. Then I went to PE, and everyone was talking about it. At least, all the girls were. First, Abbey said rumour was saying you were hooking up with Ace and Hunter? Then, some people were saying you were sleeping with them? I don't even know. You know how you went home with Ace at Carla's party, and then with Hunter on Friday?"
"They took me to my house! They left me at the front door and then they went home. Sleeping with them? Where the hell did that come from? Hooking up? I haven't even kissed any of them on the cheek!" I shrieked.
People were beginning to look at us weirdly, so I dragged her out of the hallway to talk. "I'm not going to lie. It's pretty bad. Some girls were even calling you a slut? I don't even know anymore. These people are ridiculous. Straight A goodie two shoes, one rumour, and the world already believes it!"
"Then there's Maddy, who's been in love with Hunter for who knows how long. She was ranting on about all of PE. She literally spent the entire time bagging you. It makes me so angry!" She growled. "I can't even work out who started it. I'm asking around, and everyone's telling me someone else told them. And then I find that someone else, and someone else also told them."
We finally sat down on the grass and I forced my recess down my throat. So that was why they were all staring at me. They were all basically wondering if I was screwing two of the badboys?
Jenny sat down and asked the question, "What's going on?"
Ella then retold the entire story in gruesome detail. By the end of recess, I'd have enough time to simmer over it and figured I'd just let it all slide. Why let it bother me? I knew it wasn't true, so I didn't need to worry. Hunter and Ace knew it wasn't true; everyone who was actually involved knew it wasn't true, so there was no reason for it to bother me.
I didn't even talk to anyone, so what they thought about me wouldn't matter. I figured fooling myself into believing that would be enough.
"Right. So that's what's happening," Jenny mumbled. "I can see why they'd misunderstand though," she added. Ella's eyes widened; I wasn't quite sure if she was intrigued or extremely annoyed. "I mean, walking home with Ace one weekend, and then wearing Hunter's jacket the next? The jacket thing though. That could be interpreted as flaunting your relationship around. He's like your arm candy. The good looking bad boy taking you to parties?" She pondered. "No offence," she added quickly.
"What relationship? There is no relationship! What exactly am I flaunting? He invited me, so I went. It's as simple as that!" I snarled.
"Try to think about it. It's pretty obvious. There's a reason he's inviting you to the parties, and then you're ignoring all these signs. You're literally using him as an entry ticket to parties," she muttered. "Who do you even like? Is it Ace, or is it Hunter?"
"I don't like either of them in that way!" I denied profusely.
Seething, I got up and left. There was no way Hunter and Ace liked me, so why on earth would people think that I was using them? And why would I like someone if it was never going to happen? How could people think of these things? Especially Jenny. She'd been around me long enough to know exactly what I was like.
Was I even friends with Hunter and Ace? Sure, I talked to them a lot more, and they made me laugh. I didn't want that to change because the entire school thought I was sleeping with two guy friends. Wasn't there some sort of bro code?
Then I realised.
Something had changed.
My heart had changed. There was something there. I liked having them around.
But that didn't have to mean anything more than just enjoying the experience of having more than one friend. Did it?
"Cathy!" Hunter beamed as I made my way into chemistry. I smiled weakly and looked down again, almost running to the back of the class to avoid everyone's gaze.
It seemed to work for the entire class, until I left.
"Is everything okay?" Ace asked, stopping me by the door.
"Yeah I'm fine," I lied. I looked down at my watch quickly. "And I'm gonna be late. See you."
Was I using them?
If they meant nothing, why couldn't I act normally around them? Why couldn't I talk to them? And most of all, why was I avoiding them?