The drawback of having so many people take care of you is that they start to assume you're helpless. Lots of things happened to make my friends feel that way, valid things I can't deny, but I wished they would stop treating me like a child. I didn't need my brother or my boyfriend constantly keeping guard. All of it irritated me in the same way, especially after Arisa went out of her way to stand up for me. I didn't need her to get involved in my business and I certainly didn't need her to fight my battles.
People were going to talk. It's what they did best. I just had to hang tight and let things return to normal. I knew what was at stake. Losing my presidency wasn't going to break me nor would I let it. I was going to keep working towards my goals, even if it meant losing, because anything short of that would mean letting my bullies win. Those girls from the bathroom, and everyone else who thought Zander was a victim in all this—I wasn't going to let them have the satisfaction.
"Okay," I admitted to my brother and boyfriend. We were still at the Matsunaga home, occupying their living room with our personal drama. "Things could be better at school, but having Loyal swoop in to resolve everything isn't going to help."
"Of course it will," Loyal retorted, crossing his arms. "As someone once said, they don't call me the devil for shits and giggles."
"Who said that?" I asked.
"You're missing the point."
I rolled my eyes. "Then get to it."
"What part of someone is targeting you, don't you understand?" Loyal raised his voice. "Why are you always so passive aggressive?"
"Why are you so confrontational?" I clapped back, also raising my voice. It felt like he was telling me I should have done a better job at keeping my secret if I had no plan of action for the aftermath.
"Alright, alright," Zander intervened. "You both need to relax. Loyal, I've already told Tommy this but I'm happy that our relationship is out in the open. I was getting tired of pretending."
Loyal moved to sit on the leather couch, his arms still crossed.
"You're right that we need a plan of action," my boyfriend went on. "If you coming back to Jackheights is the solution, then great."
"It's not that easy," Loyal replied. "I'm still waiting for the board's decision. Until then, I'm out of commission. You two are going to have to find a way around this yourselves for the time being."
"Why," I spoke up. "Let it fizzle out like everything else does. People will get bored and find new gossip to spread in another week."
"No," Zander said, turning to face me. He got a hold of my shoulders and stared into my eyes. "We're not going to act like everything's okay. No more of that. It's hurting both of us."
I dropped my head.
The basement door opened and Hino appeared with his big brother Kohaku. The Matsunaga brothers smiled awkwardly before making their way into the kitchen. It was obvious they were getting curious about our conversation. I didn't see a point in them hiding out. Loyal was probably going to turn to them for assistance. Maybe not Kohaku. Those two never got along with one another. I wasn't sure why but there was always bad blood between them.
"So, what's the game plan?" Zander asked, addressing the issue at hand. "How do we track down the scumbag who exposed Tommy?"
"Would you stop calling me that?" I sighed, massaging my temples.
"I would talk to Findlay first," Loyal advised.
"The receptionist?" I was confused. "Why her?"
Loyal ignored me and kept his attention on Zander. "See if she knows anything. I'm not sure how things were exposed with her in charge, but send her a friendly reminder to cooperate or else."
"Or else what?" I complained. "Why would the school receptionist know anything about this?"
Hino peered out from behind the kitchen wall. "Is the gang getting back together?" he asked, his eyes almost sparkling.
"Temporarily," Loyal said, welcoming him to the conversation. Kohaku walked out without an invitation. "If we can't get anything out of Findlay then we will need to get in touch with Hakim."
"Hakim?" Hino asked. "The hacker?"
"Didn't he get suspended recently?" Zander asked, walking into the living room with his brother. "For like, infiltrating the school's intercoms?"
Hino nodded. "He's got some balls confessing to a senior like that."
"If he gets caught again he might be expelled," Loyal sighed. "Let's not risk that. Who else knows their way around a computer? It needs to be someone as good as Hakim, maybe even better."
The boys slowly turned to look at Kohaku. "What?" the Jackheights graduate asked. It took him another second to clue in. "Me? Yeah, right. Keep dreaming idiots."
"Uh—hello! Still steering in the dark over here!" I yelled.