A/N : Hey guys, I'm back! I know it's been a while and I'm so, so sorry for that. Some stuff came up and I couldn't update. But uh, I hope you're still here and the story still interests you. If it does, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Every read, vote and comment means a lot to me. Thanks a ton for putting up with me. I love ya all!
PLAYLIST :
I stood transfixed at the same spot with my eyes bulging out and my mouth agape long after Derek drove away.
What the friggin hell was that about! Did Nate tell him about me? No, he wouldn't. Or maybe he did. Oh God, I was totally freaked out. Derek acted crazy. If it comes to it, I was sure he won't think twice about driving his car over me! Why did this even happen? I mean, why on earth did he talk to me that way?
Nate was okay with everything and I apologized. I had a sneaking suspicion Derek did this on his own. No way was Nate involved in this.
His deadpan look had me freaked out. What if he comes back? For some reason unknown to me, he had a vendetta against me. I should've known this all along when he acted like a jerk in Calculus.
I lifted my head and looked around. I was still standing on the road and cars were passing by me. If Derek comes back, he had a clear shot at ramming into me. And he'd have the perfect excuse too - I was mindlessly strolling in the middle of the road.
And why didn't I say anything? Why didn't I talk? His gaze was so condescending, I forgot to talk. Maybe if I had said something, anything, he'd let me live. But I didn't. What if he does come back?
As soon as the thought of him coming back entered my mind, I heard a pair of footsteps behind me.
Oh, darn it! I should've gotten out of the way when I had the chance. Now, he's exactly behind me. But he's walking, so at least I'm not dying yet.
Before I could react, a hand rested on my shoulder firmly. My worst fears came true! I covered my face with my hands in a defensive stance and screamed at the top of my lungs.
"Aaahhhh..."
The hand grabbed my arm and turned me around.
"What the hell, Viv?"
I slowly removed my hands from my face and faced the owner of the hand that was still holding my arm.
"Why are you screaming your lungs out?!"
"Tiffany, it's you!" I exclaimed.
"Ya, it's me. What did you think, the antichrist?"
"Yes, exactly. Maybe that's what I'll call him."
"Huh? What?" She stared at me in confusion. "Are you high?"
"No! I'm freaking out."
"I can see that. Breathe."
"I'm trying," I said annoyed.
She didn't say anything and stood there for me to calm down. Her face was taut with worry seeing me freak out. Was I over-reacting? I didn't know. But one person who was definitely overreacting was Derek. This was about Nate, not Derek. And Nate didn't mind, for the millionth time.
"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Tiffany asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Yes."
When I didn't say anything, Tiffany looked at me straight in the eye. "You know, you actually need to say something after yes for the yes to mean something."
"Uh, oh...ok. Sorry. I was distracted."
"So? What's this about?"
A thought crossed my mind. Calculus!
"What am I supposed to do in Calculus?" I said instead. "I already suck at it. I didn't need this. Now, I have to deal with him too. Like derivatives weren't enough."
"Um, Viv. You kinda lost me there."
Nervous laughter bubbled up in me. "Oh, you've got no idea, have you?"
"Clearly," she agreed. "Let's just sit down, okay?" Tiffany offered and we sat down on the school steps.
"Nate knows it was me. And so does his idiot friend Derek," I explained.
It took a moment for Tiffany to understand what I was talking about and when she did, she exclaimed in shock. "What? Shit! Uh..."
"Yep. Takes time to sink in. But then, you weren't the one about to be rundown by a psychopath."
"What did he tell you? Nate?" she asked urgently.
"Nate didn't say anything. It was Derek. And that's exactly my problem. Like he needs to chill, bruh."
"So Nate doesn't know anything?"
Unbelievable. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Why don't you tell me everything from the beginning. And please include what Nate knows."
I was pissed at Tiffany for only being concerned about Nate and herself. I told her about Nate's call and the run in with Derek, and instead of freaking out like I was, Tiffany calmly asked, "That's it?"
"You did hear Derek's part, right?"
"Yeah, I did," she said a little too enthusiastically. "I know him. You don't have to be scared. He was just having fun. He's not a guy you'd want to take seriously."
"I'm not scared. I'm pissed! And," I added, "he looked pretty serious to me."
"Trust me. I'll talk to him if you want. Or better yet, we'll all hangout this weekend and you'll know-"
"Woah, woah. Let me stop you right there. Whatever his excuse, I'm pretty bummed and am definitely not hanging out with him."
"Sure. Your call," she said. "Just don't freak out, okay?"
"Whatever."
"Are you sure you didn't tell Nate that I asked you to do the whole fake call thing?"
"No, I didn't."
"And you're not going to?"
"No, Tiffany. I'm not," I said exasperated.
"Oh, alright. Okay. I promise I'll never do anything like this again."
One thought was still nagging me. "That's all great, but how did he find out?"
"I don't know," she shrugged. "Does it matter?"
"Yes, it does!"
"Wow. No need to get all heated up. I'll ask Nate."
It did matter. Now that I was back in my senses and the only person who knew about this and would tell, was walking towards us with an apologetic grin.
"Hi," Shayna waved.
"It was you, wasn't it?" I accused her.
"I'll explain."
"I didn't ask you to!" I folded my hands in front of me.
"I'm so sorry," she said it like she at least half meant it. "One thing led to other, and then to another. And I just blurted it out. I didn't mean to."
"Wait. Hold on," Tiffany said. "Why'd you tell Nate, Shayna?"
"What? Nate knows? I told Derek. And only because he already knew about it. When Nate showed him the unknown number, Derek checked it in his contacts and found Gina. Somehow, he made the connection with you being Gina's sister and also Nate's friend. He came to me today morning by the lockers and asked about it. I didn't know what to say. I said you did it for fun. I didn't know he was gonna tell Nate."
"So you blamed me? Seriously? All the hooker chat for three days, all on me? Of course he told Nate. That was why he wanted to know. Why would he want to know for himself?"
"I thought he was just making conversation," came Shayna's lame excuse.
"Yeah, Shayna. I get it that you're not winning the smartest person award, but this was beyond you. You could make some excuse. You could say you had no idea."
"Let me get this straight," Tiffany piped up. "You told him Viv was pranking Nate and that's what he told Nate? That's all you said?"
"Yep. I realized by then that I'd done enough damage."
Tiffany nodded. "Okay."
"Are you effing kidding me?" I tilted my head to the side. "All she gets is an 'ok'? You're not mad at her?"
"No, Viv. Don't get me wrong. But isn't it best if we just let this be? Nate and I are not exactly going great right now."
"Oh, now you say that. Now you wanna leave it be. Awesome!" I taunted her.
Tiffany just shrugged and pressed her lips. I took it as her silently expressing that she should've listened to me.
"What about Derek? He acted like a dick," I said.
"He was kinda sweet with me, though," Shayna chimed in.
"Not helping, Shayna. The least you can do is not take his side right now."
"I said I'm sorry!" Her tone sounded otherwise this time.
I felt the words building up in me come out. "I knew you'd let it all out! You're not one to keep secrets."
"Well, you shouldn't have told me anything in the first place then."
"Oh, don't you think I tried?" I countered.
Tiffany interrupted our short lived altercation. "Okay girls, enough. Shayna, you really are not helping. And Viv, trust me. Derek was just messing with you. I'll sort it all out. I promise."
"He rages like a bull when I touch his notebook! He's got some serious vendetta against me," I blurted out as a last attempt to make them realize that this was serious.
"I'll fix it," Tiffany repeated ignoring my comment.
We walked to the parking lot and Shayna awkwardly said goodbye.
"I'm meeting Caleb later, so gotta go now. We're good, right?" Shayna looked at me as she spoke.
"Yeah," I said. Though I wasn't sure if we were, I didn't want to drag it anymore.
"I thought you guys were breaking up?" Tiffany asked.
"I'm planning to. It just didn't come up yet," Shayna said.
After Shayna drove off, Tiffany dropped me home and before leaving, she insisted for the third time that she'll fix it all. I, on the other hand, wasn't convinced.
A/N : Thanks for reading! Please vote and comment if you liked the chapter. Looking forward to hearing from you guys after a long time :)
# How good are you at making excuses when caught doing things you shouldn't be ;) ?
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