The Tables Have Turned
Chapter 32
Monday morning.
These two words are the worst thing in a teenager’s life. No one likes Monday morning and today, my Monday morning was so much worse than others.
I stood in front of my classroom’s door, with Paul by my side.
This morning, we would announce that we’re “dating”.
I felt like throwing up when I thought of how their reactions would be. I was pretty sure that the first thing they would think is how much of a bitch I am. And they’d be right if our “dating” wasn’t fake.
“Ready?” Paul asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. He looked just as worried and nervous as I was.
They will find out the truth in the end, I told myself as I nodded and he took my hand in his.
We opened the door and of course everyone’s eyes snapped to us. Everyone was silent for a bit and I could see the confusion in their eyes. They weren’t sure whether holding hands was a friendly gesture or more than that.
“Um what’s going on?” Chase asked, faking ignorance. I was once again amazed by his acting skills.
“What do you mean?” Paul asked. He was good like Chase and I wondered whether my horrible acting would ruin the plan.
Chase pointed to our intertwined hands and Paul smiled.
“Well, yeah,” he said, seeming shy. “It just happened.”
I really wanted to laugh at how ridiculous the whole thing was but I stopped myself. I just grinned like an idiot.
Silence again.
Tick tock, I sang in my head and my third ‘tick’ was interrupted by Nora as she muttered under her breath, “She doesn’t waste any time.”
I flinched slightly, especially when a few girls murmured their agreements.
Paul squeezed my hand and gave me a worried look. I swallowed the lump in my throat and gave him a smile.
I heard whispers and the word ‘bitch’ was in almost every sentence.
These are the words I should’ve heard at my old school but I never did. I guess it’s time to hear them now.
A part of me believed that these people wouldn’t judge me too fast but they’re human after all and that’s what humans do, they judge others.
“Hailey, what’s going on?” Mariah asked once Paul and I moved away from the gossiping girls.
I wanted to tell her but I didn’t know if I should or if Paul wanted to.
“We’ll tell you later,” Paul said, answering my silent question.
She nodded, still confused, and then walked up to her boyfriend.
“I’m sorry, Hailey,” Paul murmured. “I didn’t know their reaction would be like that. I-I can end that if you want.”
I looked into his blue eyes and knew that he didn’t want to stop the plan but at the same time he was concerned for me.
I looked around the classroom and saw Carson staring at us with pure rage. She looked so jealous and I knew she was probably murdering me in her head.
That gave me the strength to smile at my best friend and shake my head.
“It’s okay,” I said to him. “I think our plan won’t take a long time anyway.”
He beamed at me and hugged me tightly.
“You’re the best girlfriend ever,” He said and I snickered.
I was about to correct him and say ‘best fake girlfriend ever’ but I was cut short by Alex speaking.
“She agreed to give you another bite of her Twix?” He said sarcastically.
I stepped away from Paul’s arms and narrowed my eyes at him.
“Actually,” Paul started before I could say something. “She said she’ll give me half of her Twix bar that’s in her bag right now.”
My eyes widened and I saw the mischievous look in Paul’s blue eyes.
“Oh no, buddy,” I said, punching his arm. “That won’t ever happen.”
He pouted and Alex smirked.
“I thought you loved me so much that you would give me half of it,” Paul said, feigning hurt.
“I can never love someone that much,” I replied and that stupid voice in my head decided to tease me and say ‘except for Alex’.
I’ve never given Alex half of my Twix but I know if he asked, I would give it to him.
“I am deeply hurt, Hailey,” Paul said and I rolled my eyes at him.
“Stop being so dramatic,” I said and he snickered.
“You love it,” he said.
“Right,” I said dragging out the ‘I’ to show my sarcasm.
“Well at least I’m sure that you love me,” he said and I saw an evil spark in his blue eyes. Oh this can’t be good.
I glanced at Alex who was still watching us before my attention focused again on Paul who was moving closer to me.
I knew what was happening. He was going to kiss me and he was doing that because Alex was here. I couldn’t push him away because Alex will immediately know that something’s wrong.
That stupid boy! I feel like slapping him!
Then I started hyperventilating. I was going to kiss my best friend. I’ve seen that on movies a lot of times. Most of the times, the girl falls in love with the guy when he kisses her and sparks fly and all this crap. I can’t deal with it if it happened.
I panicked when Paul’s arm snaked around my waist and pulled me closer to him.
Before I could do anything else, his lips connected with mine. My heart beat picked up as I waited for the worst to happen.
Around seven seconds later (yes I counted) he pulled away and smiled at me.
I smiled back because I was extremely relieved. I didn’t feel anything, no sparks, and no fireworks. It kind of felt wrong but that’s a good thing because it is wrong.
When Paul’s gaze left mine, I remembered that Alex was still there watching us.
My cheeks immediately flared and my heart started beating faster as I looked up at Alex.
His blue eyes were bright with anger as he looked at us.
Was he jealous? I thought, shocked. Was Paul right all along?
I felt a surge of happiness at that thought. He probably still has feelings for me and that was great!
I felt like doing a happy dance right there.
Well, that was before the guys spoke.
“Alex, are you okay? You look a little angry,” Paul said innocently and I wanted to snort. ‘A little angry’ was an understatement.
“I’m fine,” Alex replied, his jaw clenched. “I just thought you were a better friend.”
“You know I’m a good friend,” Paul replied. “You’re just jealous.”
Alex laughed at that and I felt my heart sink. My assumptions were wrong.
“Right,” He then said sarcastically. “I’m extremely jealous.”
“I know that fake laugh,” Paul muttered loud enough for Alex and I to hear it.
“I’m the one who broke up with her so it won’t make sense if I get jealous,” Alex reasoned and I knew he was right but I was annoyed at the way he was talking about me. I was right next to him and he’s speaking as if he doesn’t care if I’m here or not.
“You d—” Paul started and I could sense the anger in his tone so I cut him off, not wanting them to fight.
“Paul!” I yelled at him and he stopped talking, giving me a surprised look. “Just stop, okay? It’s not worth it.”
The whole breakup thing is over so they need to stop fighting over it. And the fact that they are fighting because of me makes it worse.
“Are you saying that I’m not worth it?” Alex questioned and I felt a wave of anger wash over me.
“I said: It’s not worth it,” I said angrily. “Can you guys just get over that breakup?”
“Why? You don’t want to be reminded of how horrible it is to get your heart broken by the person you love? Or how horrible it is to get humiliated in front of everyone?”
I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes at him.
“You know what, Alex?” I said and continued without waiting for a reply. “You’re a jerk and today I’m not in the mood to put up with your attitude so how about you leave me alone?”
Both, Alex and Paul, were shocked at my outburst but really I just wasn’t in the mood today. I didn’t sleep well last night because of the nightmare and the whole fake dating along with the whispering is bothering me immensely.
Paul wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. I felt slightly better at the gesture but I was still irritated.
When I noticed that Alex wasn’t going to reply, I just shook my head and went to my seat.
Paul didn’t follow me but Chase dragged his chair and sat next to me.
“Everyone’s talking,” he pointed out the obvious.
“You don’t say!” I fake gasped and he snickered.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” He asked, serious now.
“Yeah, it’s okay,” I replied, giving him a reassuring smile. “It’ll be over soon.”
“How soon?” He asked.
“Judging by how angry Carson looks, I’ll say by Friday,” I replied and he laughed.
“She is angry,” Chase agreed and I looked over to Carson once again and found her glaring at Paul. I can’t even begin to imagine how much she hates me now.
“Alex looks angry too,” Chase added, glancing over my shoulder at his friend.
I was glad that they made up after the whole fight the day of our breakup. Chase was finally convinced that he should stay friends with Alex and me at the same time.
“He’s just angry because Paul broke the whole ‘bro code’ thing by dating his ex-girlfriend,” I said and Chase laughed.
“Yeah he might be mad because of ‘the bro code’,” he mimicked me and I rolled my eyes at him. “But it’s more than just that. Even I can tell that he’s jealous.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked him. “I thought you didn’t want him near me again.”
“I know you still love him and in a relationship that’s all that matters,” Chase replied and I smiled.
“Since when did you get so wise?” I joked.
“Mariah is changing me,” he said solemnly and I laughed.
“That’s a good thing. You should grow up,” I teased him.
“Stop changing the subject,” he said, rolling his eyes at me.
“He doesn’t like me anymore and even if he does, he will never admit it so there’s nothing to talk about,” I said, shrugging my shoulders as if it were unimportant while in reality the whole thing was extremely important to me.
The teacher came in and everyone took their seats. Chase stood up and dragged his chair back to its place.
“You can do so much better,” he muttered but the thing is I didn’t want anyone other than Alex.
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