Of. Fucking. Course. Of course Tate would be Cole's cousin. Because why in the name of all that is holy can't I just sleep with someone no one knows.
I ran a hand through my hair as Cole spoke up again, "Ariel. What are you doing at my cousin's house? How do you know Tate?" he asked me.
"Um, I wouldn't say I know him, per-say. We-uh, we actually just met today, um-"
"Cole? What are you doing here?" Tate asked, walking down the stairs. Shirtless.
I rubbed my temples and ran another hand through my hair. Cole seemed to catch on quickly, "Oh for the love of God. Did you two sleep together?" Cole exclaimed.
"And on that note, I'm going to leave." I said, beginning to make my way to the door.
Cole grabbed onto my arm, "Oh no you don't. I want you to explain to me exactly what happened." Cole said, looking me in the eyes. I couldn't read his emotions. I couldn't tell if he was angry, surprised, or just plain hurt. And that killed me.
"You sure you want everything, cuz?"Tate asked with a smirk.
"Oh that's disgusting," Cole said with a shudder, "I need to get out of here." He said, turning and running out the door.
"Cole, wait." I called running out the door.
"Let him go Ariel." Tate said, grabbing my arm.
"No Tate. This isn't something I can just let go." I said, pulling myself away from his grip and running out the door.
"Cole wait. I need you to listen to me. Please. I can't lose you too." I said, feeling myself begin to break down.
Cole seemed to sense the fragility in my voice, because he turned around to look at me, "Ariel what happened? Who did you lose?" he asked me.
I ran a hand through my hair, trying my hardest to keep the tears down. I found myself laughing to keep myself from falling apart, "I know all of you know I'm in love with Lucas," I said and he looked at the ground, "and it kills me, kills me to see him with Katie. I don't know why I feel that way about him, but I do. I just, I needed a distraction." I said with a shake of my head.
Cole was quiet as I spoke again, "Yesterday at school, when I found out about the pictures on Twitter, my heart broke. Because it showed me a relationship that would never happen. And when I had to defend him and myself to his girlfriend because he didn't, it made me so angry."
"Ariel, you don't have to explain anything to me. I under-"
I cut him off, "No. You deserve to know the whole story." I interjected. He nodded once and gestured for me to continue.
I took a breath, "Tyler took me out last night to try and get my mind off everything. We got drunk and started making out but I stopped it. It wasn't right. We fell asleep in his room because neither of us could drive in our condition. Lucas found us asleep in bed and assumed the worst. The way he yelled and looked at me, it made me so angry. I just-I didn't understand how he could act so possessive over me when he has a girlfriend.
"So I went to the gym and fought. For hours. And Tate was there. He saw me fight and came up to me when I was done. He was there, he was attractive, and I didn't know who he was. So I slept with him. If I had known he was your cousin I never would have even led him on and I hope you know that." I finished as Cole looked at me.
"Ariel of course I know that," he said as he walked over to me and wrapped me in a tight hug, "and I'm not mad. It was just a bit of a shock to see you walk down the stairs. You're one of my best friends, and I know how hard things have been for you lately. We all do. And we're all on your side." He said to me.
I smiled up at him, "Thank you." I whispered as he hugged me again.
And with that, I went home. I went home and I cried. I cried for messing up so badly. I cried for Lucas. And I cried for myself. Because I was done playing the victim.
I hid myself away in my bedroom for the rest of the weekend, getting homework and assignments done, ignoring any attempt of contact from everyone besides my parents.
Back at school Monday morning, I was standing at my locker, getting my books when Katie and Lucas walked by, his arm around her shoulder, with Rebecca and her minions. As they passed me they came to a standstill.
"Slut." Rebecca coughed out, making everyone laugh. I couldn't see the reaction but I heard Lucas speak up.
"Knock it off, Rebecca." He said.
"Why? It's not like it's a lie. Everyone saw her leave with Tyler on Friday. And a lot of people saw her car still in the school parking lot on Saturday morning. She should just stop trying to lie to everyone." Rebecca said.
I took a deep breath. I was done being the victim. I slammed my locker shut so forcefully everyone in the hallway jumped. I turned around and glared down Rebecca, "What the fuck is your problem?" I spat at her.
She looked at a loss for words, but was able to mutter something out for a few seconds, "What did you just say?" She asked.
"I said. What the fuck is your problem? I don't know why you hate me so much, I really don't. Ever since the third fucking grade you and your dumbass 'friends' have made my life a living hell. I am sick and tired of it. I don't care why you hate me, I really don't. That's your own fucked up problem. But I am done letting you get away with it. So, either you knock it off, or I start fighting back." I said harshly before turning and walking away, headed to history.
I spent the rest of the day with all my focus turned towards my schoolwork. I didn't pay attention to any of my friends who tried to talk to me, and I most certainly didn't pay attention to the stares and whispers. Ignoring those had become second nature.
It wasn't until lunch when I had to face everyone, "Hey. What's up?" Maya asked as she sat down across from me, Cole, Tyler, Miles, Aaron, and Alex following suit. Brian was on his way over.
I rolled my eyes, "Don't act like you don't want to ask me exactly what I know you want to ask me." I said.
Maya put on her best innocent face, "I don't know what you're talking about." She said with a shake of her head.
I rolled my eyes once more, "Go ahead. Ask it." I said, gesturing with my hands.
She launched forward, pushing her lunch tray to the side, and leaning forward on her elbows, "Did you and Tyler fuck? He won't tell me." She said.
I groaned, "That's what you wanted to ask? Out of everything that has happened to me since Thursday, which was when we last talked, by the way, you wanted to ask the questions that I can guarantee you already know the answer to?" I asked.
She didn't say anything, just continued to look at me expectantly. I sighed and smirked, looking at Cole, silently asking for permission. He smirked back and gave a single nod in approval, "No. Tyler and I didn't have sex. But I did fuck Cole's cousin." I said bluntly, making Miles spit out his food and begin choking, which in turn, caused a majority of the cafeteria to turn our way curiously.
Cole and I started laughing as the rest of the table looked at the two of us in stunned silence, "I'm sorry. What?" Maya asked, sounding scared of what the answer might be.
"Long story short, Tyler took me out Friday night to get my mind off of the whole Lucas-Twitter fiasco. We went back to his house and got drunk. Obviously neither of us were capable of driving so we fell asleep in his bed. Morning comes and Lucas practically breaks down the door and accuses us of sleeping together. I get pissed and kick him out, Tyler takes me back to my car and I go back to the gym we went to a few weeks ago. I fight for a couple of hours and this guy saw me and came up to me after. He was hot, I was pissed off, so we slept together and afterwards I find out he's Cole's cousin. That's all." I said before taking a bite of my apple.
Maya laughed and shook her head, "Jesus Christ Ariel. I can't leave you alone anymore. Too much good shit happens around you. I don't want to miss any more of it." She said.
I just laughed to myself and continued eating my lunch. As I ate, Rebecca passed our table with her whole crew following, Lucas and Katie included. There were whispers and snickers as they passed, but no one spoke up loudly or said anything directly to me.
Tyler clenched his fists, "He's such a bastard." he said angrily.
I shook my head, "Let him figure that out for himself." was all I said.
"I just don't understand how he can tolerate them. Even when he was an asshole last year, he would always complain about how much he hated them." Cole piped up.
I sighed and stood up, not in the mood to talk about Lucas, "It doesn't really make much of a difference now, because he's not over here, he's over there. He's made his decision and there's nothing we can do to change it." I said before walking away.
The rest of the day dragged on and I drove myself over to the Hunters' house to babysit Clara. Lucas wasn't there when I arrived, nor did he show up when Clara came home.
"Where's Sebby?" Clara asked as we worked on her homework in the kitchen.
"I don't know. Maybe he's doing some homework with his friends." I suggested, knowing for a fact that wasn't the case.
She seemed to get disappointed, "Why can't he do his homework with us?" She asked.
"I don't know. Maybe he will next time." I said, trying to sound positive.
Clara seemed to settle for the excuse I gave her and went back to her math problems. A few minutes later the front door opened and Lucas walked into the kitchen.
"Sebby!" Clara exclaimed, launching off her chair and running into his already opened arms.
"Hey princess!" He exclaimed with a smile as he hugged her and spun her around.
No matter how angry I was with Lucas I couldn't help but smile at the exchange between him and his little sister. I was too sweet.
"Where were you? Ariel said you were doing homework at a friends." She said.
Lucas glanced at me and I crossed my arms over my chest protectively. He looked back to Clara, "Yeah I was." He answered and I rolled my eyes silently.
"Come on. Let's work on your homework. I'll help you so Ariel can get started on her own." He said, picking her up and putting her back on the chair at the Island.
For the next hour I sat off to the side working on my homework while Lucas helped Clara. Then Tessa came home to bring Clara to dance class, and it was just Lucas and I.
I began packing up my books, putting them back into my backpack as Lucas walked back into the kitchen after following Tessa and Clara out to the garage.
My back was to him so I jumped slightly when I heard his voice ring out from right behind me, "Ariel, can I talk to you?" He asked me.
I knew he was serious, he'd called me Ariel. I sighed and turned around, "What?" I asked bluntly.
"I need to apologize. For what happened this weekend." He said.
"You know, you seem to be apologizing quite a bit lately." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
He dropped his head and looked a the ground, "I know." He said.
I was quiet as he spoke again, "But I need to you to please let me do this. I won't forgive myself if I don't." He said.
I sighed and hopped up onto the chair, "I had no right to do what I did. Not only because I have a girlfriend, but because that's an invasion of your privacy. What you do and who you spend your time with is none of my business. It won't happen again." He said.
"Good." I said simply as I moved to zip up my backpack, "Thank you for the apology. But I have to go. I have a lot of homework to do." I said.
"I want to ask you one question before you leave." He spoke up.
I turned to look at him, "What?" I asked.
"What was that you pulled in the hallway today?" He asked.
I kept my face emotionless, "I'm done putting up with her bullshit." Was all I said before walking out of the kitchen, into the foyer, and out the front door into the driveway.
I drove back home and went up to my bedroom to continue with my homework. About an hour in, my phone buzzed with a text message. I dropped my pencil and picked up the phone, looking to see who had texted me.
It was from Lucas. I opened the notification and saw the massage that read; Hey...are we good?
I sighed to myself as I thought about my answer. I knew he was sincere in his apology. But I also had a feeling that if we were to become closer again (for like, the 80th time, go us) Rebecca would go ballistic, and I couldn't say no to an opportunity like that. I also missed him. I typed back my response;
Yes, we are. But if you ever pull something like that again it will take a lot more than a two minute conversation to fix it.
A minute later my phone buzzed with his answer
It won't happen again. I promise. You can trust me, Ariel.
I answered,
I know I can. You've proven that to me on multiple occasions.
I put my phone down and went back to my homework, surprised when my phone buzzed again with another message from Lucas.
I love you Princess.
I smiled to myself, knowing for a fact that that message could get me in trouble in the future, but not caring at the moment. I had my best friend back.
A/N: AHHHHHHHH THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!! This story is officially at over 10 THOUSAND views! That's CRAZY. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!!! Until next time;
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