BEAU • [12:00 p.m.]
Piper didn't attend school today, and I think there were just two things as to why she was absent.
A.) She was sick, or
B.) She didn't want to see my face.
It was most probably the latter. During prom, I left her over thirty calls and over twenty text messages asking how she was or if we could talk everything out, and she didn't reply to any of it. In my string of past relationships, I have never left that huge amount of calls and texts, not even to Callista.
Piper will probably hurl a book to my face if we see each other again. Why wouldn't she?
I was the worst prom date ever, and I deserved it.
"I have a meeting with the student council. See you in thirty?" Callista said, giving me a peck on the cheek. For the whole day, I was just going with the flow of things. The last class of the day was over and I didn't even notice it.
I replied, my thoughts still up in the clouds. "Uh, okay. I'll just text you or something."
I watched her disappear from the sea of students in the hallway. I clutched the strap of my backpack tighter and turned around, bumping into Lucas. I asked him if we could go somewhere where it was less infested with people, and he suggested hanging outside the football field by the bleachers.
Feeling like something was off with me, Lucas asked how I was. I gave him a vague, one-shouldered shrug.
Lucas playfully nudged me in the arm. "Are you still bummed about last night? You were hailed prom king, dude!"
"So what. It didn't change the fact that Piper wasn't there." And it was true. I was crowned as the prom king but I wasn't ecstatic at all. During the coronation program, my eyes were still busy scanning the crowd, with no Piper in sight. My frustration grew, and I even hesitated to take the crow; even planned on giving it to someone else and just leave.
But Callista was hailed prom queen, and she was sending me glares as a signal for us to take the prom king and queen dance.
Everything just wasn't right. It felt put-on, it felt forced. During the dance, Callista whispered to me that she rigged her nomination, much to my chagrin. Once again, the situation was to her advantage. The spotlight was killing me, and I needed a dose of something, someone genuine.
"Callista just pissed me off last night," I started, tossing my backpack towards the bleachers. The football field was almost empty, just around three guys playing toss in the open field. "Why couldn't she just be supportive? I was just trying to be a friend to someone, and she went all mental to me."
"That's because she's your responsibility, dude. Not Piper," Lucas started, settling down beside me. I looked at him, confused.
Lucas chuckled, further clarifying his point. "Look. You could've taken Piper elsewhere, if salvaging your friendship was your concern."
I gave him a face that told him to carry on. He sighed and shook his head one more time, clapping his hand on my back.
"Prom is one of a girl's fantasies, Beau. I know I'm being a devil's advocate here but I think there's a good reason why Callista went all prom-zilla over you."
I was silent. A part of me was agreeing to what Lucas told me, but I still begged to differ. If Callista didn't put any meaning behind my completely platonic relationship with Piper, then she never would've had a reason to be mad at me.
"Unless, you know, you actually came to like Piper," Lucas quipped, an impish grin spreading across his face.
I didn't answer him for what seemed like the longest time. What did he mean by "like"—as a friend, or something more? Even I had no clue. I was torn apart. I needed a sign—anything that would tell me how I really felt about Piper.
"You know what they say, silence means yes," Lucas spoke as he cleared his throat after. I was about to say how ridiculous his remark was when all of a sudden a female figure stepped in front of us, catching Lucas and I by surprise.
— — —
[12:16 p.m.]
"Gigi?" We both said in unison.
"Can I talk to you?" She asked, her eyes fixed to mine. She had this worried look on her face, and it looked like she was still catching her breathe.
I pointed at myself to make sure it was me she was talking about. "Me?"
"Yes, just you." She replied, grabbing my hand as she dragged me along with her to the farthest part of the football field, where no one was around.
"Uh, I'll be right here!" Lucas hollered, leaving him with a quizzical look. What did Gigi, Callista's best friend, needed to talk about? This must be something urgent.
Gigi cautiously scanned around, making sure that the coast was clear and we were out of earshot. She dropped my hand, which I pulled it up, crossing it across my chest.
"What's up?" I started, my eyebrows knitted closed together. I wasn't really sure what I was about to hear, but the uneasiness was settling down my bones.
Unexpectedly, she started sniffing, and soon enough, she started to bawl her eyes out. Tears were streaming down her face.
"H-hey, why are you crying? G, is something wrong?" I placed both of my hands on her shoulders, steadying her. Locks of her now-wet brunette hair were covering her face and her blue blouse was stained by her tears. After moments of giving her the time to recover from crying, she wiped her tears away and began to apologize.
"I'm so sorry, Beau. I have something to confess to you," Gigi told me, in the middle of her hiccupping. I took a step back and frowned at her. She stayed still at her spot as I crossed my arms once again. I was waiting for her to open her mouth, but it seemed like she became intimidated by my unnerving look and was suddenly at lost for words. She might think this wasn't a good idea, whatever the hell she was going to tell me.
Quickly shaking her head, she began to speak. "Um, remember that night when we were at Diane's party and Piper was knocked out cold because of that shot?"
My eyes suddenly dropped into slits. "Clear as fucking day, Gigi. Why?"
"I—"
"You let her drink it, did you?" I responded angrily, the tone of my voice in an accusatory manner. I can feel my blood pressure spiking up as that uneventful night began to recur in my thoughts.
Looking down, Gigi went on talking with a trembling voice. "Y-yeah. I was the one who wrote the note. I set up the whole thing. It was because—"
"Because what?!"
"—Because Callista told me to!"
"What?" I looked at her incredulously. I wish I was just imagining things when she mentioned Callista's name, but it was so loud and clear.
"You heard me, Beau. It was Cal. I called her when I saw you and Piper at the party. Obviously, Callista didn't like what she heard so she told me to do something that would separate the two of you together." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The evil mastermind behind it was Callista? I wanted to un-hear everything that Gigi just told me, but the cat was finally out of the bag.
"Are you mad at me?" Gigi softly spoke, as my reaction to what she said was not evident enough.
I rubbed my temples. This wasn't entirely Gigi's fault. Come to think of it, she was just brainwashed by Callista, so I planned to go easy on her. "Yes, I am. But I forgive you. I'm just going to properly talk to Cal about this."
"One more thing," she continued. She was biting the tip of her manicured nails, debating whether or not she should confess more of their evil schemes. "I'm so going to hell for this."
I released a sharp breath as I was growing impatient. Can she just spare me the suspense? "Let's just get this over with, G."
"That day when Piper was drowning in the pool—"
"—Are you fucking kidding me?" I cut her off, raising my voice again.
"I'm not, Beau. Let me finish. Callista—"
"Pushed her?! Is that what you're going to say?!" I snapped and completely exploded. There it was. I couldn't take it anymore. The riots inside my head just got out of hand.
Uncontrollably, I marched towards a nearby pole and hit it with my clenched fist. It left a big dent, and it bruised my hand pretty badly. I didn't care—the news I just heard was even more painful.
Gigi gasped as she ran towards me. "Y-yes. Shit, Beau! Oh my god, are you okay?"
"I'm sorry. Damn it, Gigi. It's just that—nothing. Thanks for telling me the truth." I couldn't finish my thought. I needed somewhere to blow off my steam. The truth was hard to accept, given the fact that the terrible things that ensued with my childhood friend stemmed from the girl I was currently dating.
A few minutes later, I can see Lucas jogging towards us in my periphery. Both Gigi and I quickly regained our composure, as if nothing happened.
"Beau? G? What's going on? Bro, did I just see you hit a pole?" Lucas asked, a concerned look written all over his face. I immediately hid my bruised hand inside the pocket of my letter jacket.
"She'll tell you everything. I'll go look for Callista," I hastily said, walking away from the both of them. I didn't bother answering Lucas's question.
— — —
[12:32 p.m.]
I stood near the classroom door where the student council meeting was held, and waited for a few more minutes until they eventually went out and dispersed one by one. Callista was the last person to exit. She saw me and held up a finger at me, as she was busy texting someone at her phone. I might've popped a vein in my head at her gesture.
After the hallway was emptied and Callista was finished with whomever she was texting, she walked up to me and asked if I was ready to go home.
"How could you?" The words just flew out of my mouth, enraged that she was acting so innocent.
She held a baffled look on her face. "Alright...? So do you want to eat somewhere instead—"
"Damn it. I know the whole story," I whispered angrily to her, raking my free hand across my hair.
"Oh," She said. I noticed her small Adam's apple bobbed in her throat. "So you know something I don't know now, huh? What would that be?" she continued, cocking an eyebrow and stood with her arms akimbo. She might've looked daunting to me, but I knew that deep inside, she was screwed as she didn't expect that her dark secret would even see the light of day.
"Piper."
She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Her again."
"Not only did you intoxicate her, but you pushed her into the pool, and you knew all along she can't swim." My voice had a hard edge. Where was her sense of conscience?
"Don't act like she's the victim here, Beau."
"She is. Why would you do that?"
"I don't know, maybe because I'm jealous?!"
"And that's how you're going to get back? By punishing her like that? What did she ever do to you?"
She gasped, her mouth agape with disbelief. "Why the hell are you even defending her?!" she protested, her shrill voice echoing throughout the hallway.
I winced at her comment and negatively shook my head. "You're not playing fair, Callista. Here I am, trying to fix my friendship with Piper, but you're slowly ruining our relationship. Please, don't be like this." I began to plead. This was wrong. We were wrong. I couldn't be in a relationship driven with deception.
I released my sore hand from my pocket and cupped Callista's cheeks. She took notice of it and touched it gingerly. It stung. "Callista. You're smart, you're athletic, and you're beautiful. The moment I saw you, I instantly liked you."
I dropped my hands and clasped them together. I unconsciously bit my lip, mustering up the courage to what I will be saying to her next. "I just don't—how do I say this, tolerate people who would put someone's life at risk for their own personal gain."
I couldn't believe I had the audacity to say that. I want to take back what I said, but I was sensible enough to know that I couldn't literally slap her on the face. If no one dared to reprimand Callista by her wrongdoings, then let me be her guest.
"Beau," she started, gripping my arm with her hand.
I heaved a sigh. "I know what you're going to say: that I'm such a hypocrite. I admit that I was also being mean to Piper, yes, but I know my limits. I wouldn't and couldn't do the same kind of treatment that you did to her."
She released her grip and looked away, pressing her hand over mouth. I could tell she was hurting and the guilt was engulfing her.
I started to apologize. I knew this wasn't going to end well, but this was for the best of us. "I'm so, so, sorry, Callista. Call me an asshole, a jerk, a douche bag—you name it, but I—"
"You want to break up with me, is that it?"
"Yes."
"And then, you're going after Piper, is that it?"
"To go and apologize to her, if we're on the same page."
Callista looked like she disagreed. She pushed her slick blonde hair back and prodded me in the chest. "But I can see it in your face. You've already found someone else, and that someone is Piper, right?"
"No."
"How about this—let's just pretend this never happened—oh, wait. Let's just pretend we never happened. That would be better." She looked at me like I was her worst mistake. Her words sure did pack a powerful punch. I liked Callista, and I would never deny that we happened.
Callista gave me a wry expression and briskly walked away, disappearing from the hallway. My anger subsided, but it was now taken over by an emotional distress. Then again, in lieu of my seemingly bad confrontation with her, I began to think that this was the sign that I was looking for.