HIDDEN (Hide Or Die)

Chapter 27

KYLE'S P.O.V.

I yanked myself free from Becky's grasp as quickly as lightning and clumsily organized my jacket before turning to face an angered Matthew.

Matthew, I swear, it's not what it appears to be!” I cried, desperately trying to find a way out of the situation.

“Are you serious? Because it appears that you're both having a good time here while the rest of us are freaking out over there!” Matthew screamed, obviously too enraged to hear anything we or I had to say.

Becky, on the other hand, seemed uncharacteristically cool and unaffected by his anger or my fear. Surprisingly, she made no effort to fix the apparent confusion that existed around us, and it almost seemed as though she was satisfied with the outcome of us being caught by Matthew.

“Can you tell me what's going on? “I heard someone yelling.” Andrew and Albert approached Matthew, appearing perplexed.

“Well, I don't know, maybe instead of looking for a way to get us out of this God-forsaken place, you should ask Kyle and Becky who think it's appropriate to make out here!” My entire world came crashing down around me the moment those words left Matthew's lips.

“Wait, what?” I felt my already guilty heart twist painfully as Andrew whimpered in surprise.

“Becky?!” I exclaimed. Becky just scuffed, walked past us, and continued deeper into the forest, despite my desperate cries for her to say something and help stop the lethal virus of misconception from spreading any further. That's when I realized I was totally alone in this mess.

When Becky walked out on us, Matthew charged after her, while Albert followed quietly behind. Andrew, on the other hand, stood perfectly still, looking at me with a look of utter betrayal on his face, and I could see him fighting back tears. My heart began to twist even more.

I... Andrew...” He blinked quickly at the mention of his name, as if caught off guard, as if he wasn't supposed to be here, and before I could say anything more, he took to his feet and ran away from me.

I stood completely still, stunned, trying to force my brain to explain what had just happened to me. All seemed fine one minute and then became jumbled and unrecognizable the next. Returning to my senses, I dashed back to the clearing where we had last gathered before the incident, but when I arrived, there was no one there. Where had they all gone? I was totally ignorant.

Panicked, I started sniffing the air for his scent, and after what seemed like an eternity, I eventually caught a trail of it leading deeper into the woods, which I hurriedly followed. I followed his soft lavender and chocolate fragrance to a large tree in a denser part of the forest, where he was sitting on the other side of the tree, looking sadly into the now mildly dark woodland. With a heavy feeling of remorse weighing heavily on my chest, I started to say,

"Andrew..." but was cut off.

“How come you didn't tell me?” His voice sounded crusty, as though he'd been crying. “If you were planning on shoving Becky in my face, why did you let me believe you liked me? Why did you trick me into believing you're gay when it's obvious you're not?”

“Andrew, please relax; I'll explain,” I said as I approached him slowly.

“Could you explain? What exactly are you trying to say? One of the many reasons I've stayed with Matthew all these years is that he never lies! At the end, he whispered, "He's my best friend..." “This isn't something he'll make up.” I felt the disappointment he felt for me sag through him in waves as he said it.

“You have no idea how much self-hatred I had to suffer before I could actually recognize my feelings for you, and now...it seems it was all for naught.” He furiously brushed away a single tear from his eyes with the back of his hand.