I was quiet for a solid minute. I swallowed slowly and stared at my friends who looked at me with anticipation.
After another pause I muttered, "What?"
Natalie shifted in her cross-legged position. "There's a rumour going around that you are cheating on Richard with Cole. We know that you aren't actually dating him, but ... is there something going on with you and Cole?"
She was the only one brave enough to speak it seems.
"How... how did this rumour start?" I asked as I felt my heart kick up in speed.
Was this why everyone was behaving so strangely towards me? They were angry with me?
"Apparently someone saw you and Cole come out of a classroom after school hours yesterday," Betty said and paused, choosing her words carefully. "And you were all over each other."
"Is it true?" Tyler asked and I found myself at a loss for words.
A gentle nudge from Anne brought me out of my stupor.
"Yes," I muttered and the group's eyes widened, so I quickly added, "but it's not what you think!"
"Then explain," Natalie said and crossed her arms.
I sighed. "I ... was with Cole yesterday, but not in the way you're thinking. Remember at the beginning of the year we were assigned tutors? Well, Cole was assigned to be mine because he scored the best mark and I the worst. We've been meeting from Tuesdays to Fridays for one hour after school ever since."
"Okay, but where does the 'all over each other yesterday' come in?" Tyler asked and I saw worry in her eyes.
I knew why it was there; I would be disgraced and disowned by my family if I had become a 'fallen' girl.
I gave her a comforting smile. "The floor had just been washed when we left the classroom, I slipped and Cole caught me. That was all."
I sort of purposely left out the fact that we stared at each other for quite a while.
I physically felt the tension leave the group. No doubt they were very concerned about me. I wouldn't blame them though. The girl who has absolutely no confidence around boys suddenly doing ... that with one of the best, not to mention scariest, looking on the school grounds. It might have been viewed as something against my consent, or not.
My face suddenly flushed as a thought crossed my mind and I quickly shook it away. Where did that just come from?
Natalie sighed. "Why didn't you just tell us?"
Anne had remained silent the entire time. I knew she was feigning ignorance. It would not go down well with the group if they found out that Anne had known all along. But one thing that struck me was why Amy was so quiet. True, she wasn't very talkative, but she seemed extra quiet today.
I shrugged. "I don't know ... I guess it's just embarrassing to have people know how badly I do in maths, is all."
Tyler nodded her head in understanding, "It's okay," she soothed, but then a gleam came to her eye and I instantly dreaded the next words that came out of her mouth. "But now you have to tell us everything that's happened!"
-
As you can imagine, I didn't get to eat much at lunch as the girls kept interrogating me with questions, but I didn't give them any juicy details that I knew they were waiting for. I didn't tell them about any non-maths related conversations we had, or the fact that he played with my hair and carried me to the car when I was injured.
I merely said that he was an excellent maths tutor and that my marks were improving, as well as I knew nothing about him because he didn't talk much. Not lies, but not the complete truth either.
Eventually, the warning bell sounded and Anne offered to walk with me to my locker, seeming as though we had maths next. I kind of dreaded seeing Cole. What would he think about all this?
"That was a close one," I muttered to her as we walked and Anne nodded.
"It could've gone a lot worse," she agreed.
We soon arrived at the lockers and I put my combination in and I was suddenly hit with the reminder of my previous predicament: in the form of hundreds of letters that poured out of my locker. I picked up a few and read them. Most of them were from girls giving me a few choice words and a few from guys who had their own ... colourful ideas.
My eyes widened in horror and I looked at Anne. She immediately grabbed them out of my hand.
"Ignore them," she stated and threw them into the bin. "They don't know what they're talking about."
I gave her a tight smile. Although I knew they were falsely accusing me, I couldn't help but feel the words sting me. Anne quickly cleared away the rest of them and grabbed the books I needed before linking arms with me once she closed the locker. My heart warmed at her supporting actions and we made our way to class.
I bent my head low as Anne and I walked down the ever-filling corridor. Apparently now that break had ended, the whole school had heard the rumour and insults were being hurled at me from every direction - insults that I wouldn't dare repeat.
I suddenly wished that I was invisible. Anne was doing her best to try and get us through the condensing crowd, but I felt like they were zoning in on me like a flock of vultures eyeing their prey.
A movement caught my eye and I lifted my gaze, which was previously trained on my black shoes, to see Cole staring at me from a small distance away. His face gave away nothing, but I suddenly felt ashamed of myself – even though I knew I didn't do anything wrong.
"Hey, Lizzy!" a feminine voice sang out and I looked to the direction of the voice.
I gasped in shock as a water balloon collided with my face, drenching me from head to toe. Because of Anne's close distance, she was splashed as well, but not nearly as bad. The crowd around me burst out laughing and I looked around as fingers starting pointing at me, their owners laughing and snickering.
The girl who threw the balloon sneered. "Serves you right, you little-"
I didn't allow myself to hear the end of the insult as I pulled my arm away from Anne and sprinted down the hall, tears burning at the back of my eyes.
"Lizzy!" I heard Anne call, but I didn't stop and didn't look back.
I desperately pushed my way through the laughing crowd and didn't allow myself to stop until I had reached the sanctity of a locked cubicle in the girl's bathroom.
My throat constricted painfully as the tears stabbed my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. No. This is not something worth crying over. You have been through worse, Lizzy, much worse. This does not deserve your tears. I tried to pep-talk myself, but I still felt the tears push harder at my eyes.
"Lizzy?" the soft voice of Anne called in the quiet bathroom.
My legs gave way beneath me and I slowly slid to the ground. I pressed a hand tightly to my mouth to suppress the sobs as the silent hiccups caused my chest to heave. I closed my eyes tightly. I've never felt so humiliated in my life.
I heard the handle move on the door of my cubicle.
"Come on, Lizzy. Open up," Anne's soothing voice called out to me, but I huddled into a tighter ball in response. "Lizzy."
It was silent for a moment when I heard another pair of footsteps approaching. I frowned but didn't open my eyes, keeping them buried in my arms.
My ears caught the sound of jiggling coming from the lock and I heard the door to the cubicle open. I slowly opened my eyes and they widened as I saw Cole standing in the doorway with a concerned Anne looking in through his side.
"Cole?" I asked in slight disbelief that he had come to see me, and also that he was able to pick a lock.
I suddenly remembered what I looked like and I quickly turned my back to them embarrassed. Even though all I had now was the view of a white toilet, which isn't the most breathtaking scenery. I tilted my head to the wall so that they couldn't see me and I tucked my knees beneath me as I wrapped my arms around my cold, wet body.
"Lizzy ..." Anne began, but trailed off as I cowered further into myself.
I couldn't take it. This kind of attention: the pity. I can't deal with it again. It never helped me or anyone the first time. So it won't help now.
I saw Cole step into the cubicle out of the corner of my eye and he slowly sat down opposite me. Although I was baffled by his actions, I refused to look at him.
"Elizabeth," he began and I felt him touch my knee with his warm hand.
I hesitantly looked into his eyes. For the first time ever I saw his eyes soften and empathy filled them. That one look was all it took for something to snap inside me and, before I even knew what I was doing, I flung myself into his unsuspecting arms and buried my face into his chest as the tears slowly rolled down my cheeks. I just needed him to hold me, just like how he did when I injured my eye.
For a moment he just sat there shocked before I felt him slowly relax and wrap his arms around me as he began to rub my back with soothing strokes. He didn't seem bothered by the fact that my clothes were dripping water on his own.
"I'm sorry," he muttered in my ear quietly. I was a little shocked by his words, but I instantly shook my head.
"It's not your fault," I said and took a shaky breath to try and calm myself, with my face still buried in his chest.
"Um, Lizzy?" I slowly looked up at Anne to see her giving an uncertain look. "I have to get back to class. I'll tell Mr Tuttle you weren't feeling well."
I gave her a nod and a small smile. "Thank you, Anne," I whispered as I leaned my face back against Cole's comfortable chest.
She nodded and left enveloping Cole and I in silence. I sighed and closed my eyes as I felt Cole continue to rub my back silently. It was an unusual position we were in: his legs were stretched out and I wasn't sitting on his lap, but was sitting facing him with my legs tucked beneath me.
I felt Cole slowly place his chin on my head and it caused a small smile to come to my lips. He already made me feel so much better and he hasn't even said a word since the apology. Just his presence alone could soothe me. That and also I was cold and wet and his body heat was really welcoming.
But then I thought of something. Why was he here? Was it because this also concerned him or ... did he actually care about me? To be honest, Cole never seemed to be the kind to worry about what people thought of him so ... maybe he was here because he cared or was, at least, concerned about me? The thought made me smile and I relaxed against him completely.