Folklore

Shead High School

Betty POV
Inez Gardener. She sat across from me in math class and was a well known gossip. I've heard lots of rumors from her, like the one about Jason Myers getting caught bringing alcohol to the schools football game or the one about Carter Williams getting his ass beat by some college dude who found out he was screwing his girlfriend. Inez had said that the guy beat him up so badly he had to go to the hospital, but I still wasn't sure if that one was true.

So to say that she wasn't the most reliable source would be pretty accurate. So when she told me what had happened with James over the summer I didn't believe her right away. But she had so many details about it all that I couldn't just let it go. Right?

"Do you know of a girl named Augustine Chapell?" If there was one thing I was sure about it was that Inez was very direct. "No, why?" As she stood against my locker chewing her bubble pink gum she looked like she had a story to tell me. "Well, she lives in New York but spent the summer in Nantucket." I have absolutely no idea what's going on right now. "Umm, okay? What does that have to do with me." I ask politely.

The last thing I need is for Inez to be pissed with me over something small and start a rumor about me. "Well I was just thinking about how James spent the summer there too, right?" Where was she going with this? "Yeah he did." I respond with a slightly confused look on my face. "Okay well like my dad has to go work up there sometimes and for 4th of July he brought me with him. Anyway while I was up there I just thought I saw James hanging out with this girl, right?"

What? What girl? He hadn't called me about any girl? "And I know that you two are dating and it just looked kind of suspicious and I didn't want to leave you in the dark about it so I like went to check it out a bit, you know?" We both know that's a lie, she'll do anything to get her hands on a juicy piece of gossip but I nod my head anyway. "Okay well I found out that they're summer houses were right across from each other and I happened to be passing by after a bonfire and I saw James sneaking in through a window." No. "Well when I asked the old lady who lives next door to us who lived there she said that it was the Chapells. So I did a bit of research and found out that they have a teenage daughter, Augustine."

I know I should be wondering why she was so invested with James climbing in through a bedroom window but right now I just needed her to keep telling me all that she knew.

"Anyway after spending a few days there i happened to notice that they were spending like a lot of time together." Her nasally voice was beginning to annoy me and I just wanted to go ask James what she was talking about. "So on my last day there I decided to pass by James' street again even though it was rainy I knew that I had to help you out." Lies. "When I drove by though this blonde girl was pulling up and telling James to get in the car. Well when he got in she kissed him."

Oh.

I was pretty sure that Inez was still speaking, probably about some unimportant details or some type of pity. But all I could hear was the ringing in my ears. I shut my locker with tears swimming in my eyes. I began to walk away and Inez called out to me but I kept walking until I finally saw my shoes reach the front porch. As I went inside everything seemed blurry.

No one was home so Im not going to be in any trouble for cutting school but I don't really care about that right now. All I know is that Inez just told me that James was cheating on me.

The rational part of me is telling me that she tells plenty of gossip all the time that were total lies. But never once had I seen her approach a victim of the rumors with the pitying look she had in her eyes. Inez may have a big mouth but she has a big heart to match it.

There were just so many details to her story that I couldn't help but have a part of me saying that she was right and that James had betrayed me. I slowly climbed the stairs with my thoughts whirling all around me but all I could focus on was the sharp pang in my chest.

All of a sudden my skin felt too tight and it felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing me in my heart. I felt dizzy and like I was going to be sick but I kept walking to my bed. My clothes felt too tight and the braid my hair was in felt like it was pulling on a million little strands of my hair. I felt hot and cold all at once. I couldn't breathe properly. I couldn't think straight. Everything was spinning. Nothing felt right.

It was all going to be alright I just had to talk to James and he would tell me that Inez had been wrong and he loved me and only me. Right?

Maybe he could even tell me why the room was spinning like a top.

Inez's pov
I know that I'm known as the schools biggest gossip and I'm okay with that. I like finding a story and telling people about it, there wasn't any harm in that right? Okay so maybe the stories weren't ever really mine to tell but a small rumor, true or not, has never really hurt anyone, okay? At least that's what I thought.

I couldn't help but feel pity when I first found out what had been going on all summer on the island of Nantucket with a boy I knew from school.

James Warner had been cheating on Betty Isenhower for the entire summer. And now everyone knew it. This may have been the one piece of gossip I truly kept to myself until I told the poor victim of it. I was the only one who knew what had happened and while I enjoyed telling stories about Carter Williams getting his ass beat by some college dude I couldn't help but feel empathy for anyone who ever got cheated on. It never had happened to me but my mom had gone through it so I knew how dehumanizing it felt to have someone betray you when you believed they loved you.

Now I'm not going to get into my sob story so don't even ask about it. I love a story, really, but I couldn't help but feel pity pool in my stomach when I saw Betty's eyes full with tears when I told her about James and Augustine.

After I told her I began to apologize that the way she found out was through me. I felt bad but I knew that no one else would have told her and in the long run that's much worse. Except when I tried to get her to talk to me she had begun to walk away with tears streaming down her face. I debated running after her but I figured that right now she just wanted to be alone. And even if she wanted company right now I was probably the last person she would want chasing after her.

Well. Maybe second to last. I just didn't think she would want me to try and tell her that I understood. Because while my mom had been cheated on I didn't really know how that felt. All I knew was how annoying it was when people tried to relate to you because they felt pity for you. It felt condescending is what it felt like. I hated that feeling and the last thing I wanted was to make her feel pathetic right now.

So I went to AP world history. But all day the only thing I could think about was the girl who had run away with tears and a broken heart.

And I swear to god when I saw James in the cafeteria that day I thought about killing him right then and there. No one deserved to be cheated on especially by someone who was laughing with his friends without a care in the world.

James pov
Laughter was all that was filling my ears right now. I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be laughing about but I knew Jay, my best friend, would know something was up with me if I wasn't laughing at whatever stupid joke someone just told.

It felt like my shoulders were being weighed down my the world. But I knew that they were just being weighed down by the guilt I felt.

But I didn't want to worry anyone.
So I laughed at whatever joke Jay had made. I guess I was a good pretender because no one seemed to suspect a thing.

I still hadn't told Betty about anything that happened. I felt horrible but I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to tell her.

What would happen if I did? Would she leave me? Or would she be the understanding girl that I loved and forgive me.

Not that I would deserve her forgiveness. Not after everything I've done.

All of a sudden I had a creepy sensation that someone was staring at me. As I turned around I spotted the eyes of Inez Gardener burning into me. Having Inez stare at you with an evil glint in her eye was never a good thing.

Something wasn't quite right.