Fitting In

Chapter 10 - Kiss and Tell

Hattie just stopped. Her face fell. She turned to walk away, but I grabbed her arm.

"We have to get to class," I muttered.

She just nodded. At this point Tyler and Gabby had stopped exchanging saliva, and had noticed us. Tyler looked a little embarrassed, but Gabby looked mortified.

"Hattie..." she started, but couldn't finish because there was nothing to say. She didn't have a good excuse, or a good reason.

I just gripped Hatties arm tighter and started leading her down the hall. After a few feet Hattie leaned on me a little.

I heard her say something, but it was so quiet that I couldn't understand her.

"What?" I asked.

"She has a boyfriend. She is in a good relationship. She has someone who cares about her. And she just was willing to throw it all away," she paused, "She knew too. She knew I still liked him. I just..." She trailed off, but now she was more angry.

I was always one of those girls who was interested in the drama and with whatever fights were going on, but I never got involved or knew anyone who was. I didn't really know what to do. I'd never been in a situation like this. All I could give was my subtle support. All I could do was walk her to class.

As soon as we sat down Hattie pulled out her phone and started texting Macey. I still wasn't completely sure what the dynamic of this group was, but I figured this meant that Macey would take Hatties side.

Nothing much really happened. Well, nothing really happened until lunch. By lunch the rumors had spread like crazy. Everyone knew about Gabby cheating on her boyfriend with her friends ex.

We walked into the lunchroom and sat at our usual table. It didn't seem like Gabby was there yet. I was curious to see if Gabby had the nerve to walk up to us. I wouldn't.

Hattie was scary angry. It was a little terrifying. She had the whole I'm the most popular girl in school and you just crossed the line look on her face. The resemblance to Hollywood mean girls was flawless. Macey walked right up to our table and slid into a seat next to me. She leaned in.

"I heard Gabby was too scared to come to lunch," Macey said.

"She should be," Hattie said frowning at the metion of Gabby.

"So she really... you really saw...?" Macey whispered.

"Oh yeah," Hattie bitterly laughed, "Yep, I should have known that two faced back-stabbing Benedict Arnold was a liar. And to think I believed her when she said she was happy with Brandon. She is such a snake."

"To be fair, it was pretty convincing. She seemed to really like Brandon," I added, hoping to make the situation better.

"Yeah, seemed is the key word. I wonder how long they've been dating, or doing whatever it is their doing. I'm so going to absolutely ruin her."

I've heard about someone wronging the popular kid, but I've never seen it play out with my own eyes. I kinda wanted to ask what Hattie's whole plan was. Is dunking people's heads in the toilet still a thing, or have people evolved and moved past that?

Brandon walked over and sat looking deflated and miserable.

"Hey, guys," he said, "I just wanted to hear it from you first, because I was told you were the ones who saw...it. Did Gabs really? With Tyler?"

I just nodded. He deserved the truth, but I figured it was best to leave out the gory details. Hattie however went all out.

"It was awful. We just turned the corner and there they were. Their lips were locked, and they were using quite a bit of tongue. His hand was on her back and the other was in her hair. She had hers wrapped around him too. They didn't even notice us at first they were so...busy. Their eyes were closed and I think..."

"Okay, we get it," Macey quickly cut her off. Brandon looked as if he was watching a horror movie. He couldn't stop watching and he wanted to hear every word, but it also scared and hurt him. Every syllable was like a bullet.

I was surprised at how much Hattie remembered. I just remember seeing them kiss. She had taken in every detail. She really liked that dude.

What Macey heard was correct. Gabby was a no show. Eventually Brandon left to go find her. Even though she cheated on him, he still wanted to break up with her in person. I still didn't get why she had strung him along. Nothing about the situation made much sense. Maybe that was just how popularity works.

Time dragged by, but I had a lot to process. Gabby's betrayal may have been the headliner for most people, but I was mostly thinking about Conner. Because of the deal of course, no other reason...

There were pros and cons to both. I scribbled a list in history while we were popcorn reading.

Pros
- Get back at Tyler
- Fun/Exciting
- I already have the snake
- I didn't want to seem chicken

Cons
- Risky
- Sneak out
- Owe Connor
- Connor

I forced myself to add the last one. I dodn't know him, I told myself. Sure he plays soccer, and is cute, and he gives me little butterflies, but that doesn't mean anything. I'm just a naive teenage girl, and I'm reading way too much into this. Way too much into this. Maybe. Definitely.

Finally the day ended. We had canceled the girls day because of obvious reasons. I don't think we could have paid Hattie to go near Gabby's house. She was so insulted by the whole situation, but I didn't get why. I mean, yeah, it's never great to find your friend kissing your ex, but they had already broken up. It was Brandon that I really felt bad for.

I said goodbye then walked to the back of the school to the soccer field. I waved at some of my teammates and started lacing up my cleats. I looked up and met the eyes of Connor. I sighed and decided why the heck not? I nodded and refocused on tieing the knot. However, before he left my vision I saw him smile.

Practice was practice. It was normal, but I felt the seed of regret and doubt grow in my stomach. I was naturally a pessimist, and I was usually very cautious. Spontaneous was a little uncomfortable for me.

Near the end of practice I felt Connor brush past me and wisper, "Under your water bottle."

Excitement shot through me despite my worries. I was doing this.

After the Coach ended practice I forced myself to slowly and nonchalantly walk over to the bench. I didn't even look at my water. A few kids discretly asked if I was going to be staying after agian, and I told them I had to get home. "Maybe next time," I said, explaining to them that I lived far away and my parents wanted me home.

Finally I grabbed my water and the slip of paper under it.

The only thing on that paper was a ten digit number. A cell phone number.