The Best Kind of Betrayal

Chapter 18

Do you need a ride?

I'm all confused. It's way too early for me to function properly, since I'm definitely not a morning person. My knees are wobbly, I'm yawing constantly and I'm busy not to spill the hot tea my mum made me all over my skirt. So why there's an unknown phone number bothering me is completely beyond me, and seriously unnerving as well. I definitely don't give out my number to anyone, means the only ones texting me are Kaia and my mum. And apparently, this unknown person.

Uh, who is this?

"June, do you have a club meeting today?" my mum asks while packing my lunch, "It's so nice to see you spending this much time with your new friends."

I'm not sure if I can already consider all of the council members my friends, but it feels nice. All the new people I hang out with on the regular now, the fact my mum thinks I have friends and am sociable. This never happened before, except maybe in kindergarten. Internally, I'm glowing. Outside, I'm munching on my cereals and act unfazed.

"Not sure, but I think so. Johnny would schedule club meeting everyday if he could. I'll let you know, okay?"

My phone buzzes. It's the unknown number again. I sigh and put down my spoon really slowly, and hope for the dear god this is not someone I'm forced to have awkward text conversations with now.

Matthew – Kaia gave me your number. I'm going to drive to school soon, so if you need me to pick you up ...

Huh. Well, this is surprising. The fact Kaia gave him my number without even asking not so much, but the fact he's actually asking to pick me up. Is this Matthew's plan to rile Logan up, or is he usually like this in a relationship? And why do I care?

No thanks, I have a car. See you at school?

Matthew's reply comes one second later and only consists of a thumbs up emoji.

I stare at our conversation and wonder if I came off a little too rude. If this was Kaia, I wouldn't think twice about it. But this is Matthew, super nice and considerate Matthew, who is doing all kind of things for me even though I'm not exactly friendly, Matthew who is fake dating me – emphasize on dating, if I didn't stress this out enough already. And here I am, not even using emoji in my texts.

"Mum," I say and look up from my phone, "Can you pack me extra lunch – a sandwich maybe? And some of the cookies you baked yesterday?"

"Is this for Kaia?" my mum asks while shuffling around in the kitchen, "I already packed her sandwich in your box."

"No this is," I pause and bite my lower lip, "– for a friend."

"A friend from the club?" my mum asks and is all excited again, "I should bake something for all council members, don't you think? As a thank you they treat you so nicely."

If so, I'll personally make sure Logan and Vivian won't get anything.

"Why not," I say and take the bag she prepared for me, "Thank you mum. I'll get going."

"See you after school, honey," my mum calls and pets my hair.

I wave while running down the driveway, a pair of laced boots with two inch heels in my hands. They'll match well with my black skirt and dark blue blouse. Kaia's usually quick to declare I'll look like a bank employee heading to work, but today all I get is a squeal and a tug on my ponytail.

"How is my not single anymore best friend doing?" she giggles like a maniac, "Oh, I'm so excited – Vivian and Logan are going to lose it, I can already see it. Logan's probably still shocked and Vivian's going to explode."