ECHOES OF YOU

Chapter Eleven

I can honestly say that things turned out better than I expected. I was looking forward to that first date with Nathan.

Maybe I was just being lonely and looking for something to take my mind off of everything that was happening. Everyone seemed to be more cautious with me, like a ticking bomb about to explode. I knew it was my fault and I deserved it after what I'd done. But I guess they couldn't bring themselves to scold me because they were scared of what I'd do.

Sheila on the other hand was drifting away. I could feel the distance between us. Her schedule was always packed and I could only see her during classes. After she'd disappeared and the next thing, I'd see is a text from her saying sorry. I'd told her I get it, but did I? I had grown accustomed to spending time with either Nathan or Kelvin that I hardly noticed us drifting apart. I would occasionally go to her cheerleading practice, but that only happened once in a while because it would coincide with my tutoring sessions.

Since we had almost completed almost eighty percent of the work, Nathan would casually take me to the mall to relax my mind from all the reading. It worked and I found it helpful to give one's mind a little break at a time. By now I was still waiting for that official date. I was too scared to bring it up. I didn't want to make it as though I was rushing him into it. I wanted to give him his space and wait for him to bring it up himself when he wanted to. But truly every time he brought going to that mall, I thought this was finally it. But I'd end up strolling with him as he took pictures. I can't complain much since we bonded during these moments.

I was still battling my emotions since I wasn't sure of what I felt about him. He was sweet and all but was I really into him or was it just an illusion in my mind because I had grown accustomed to him and how he treated me? Or was I just so desperate for affection that I decided to cling to the first person who showed it to me? But if that was the case then why was I so distant from Kelvin? It was clear that he was making a move on me but I just never connected to him as I connected to Nathan. Did what I felt about Nathan genuine or was I just using him as a distraction? If only I had all the answers I wouldn't overthink as much. But I wanted to know where I stood with him. Was the feeling mutual or was he just doing all this to make me feel better? If he was, it was working but what if my feelings for him were truly genuine, then I'd end up hurt and I'd break down again. And I wasn't going to let myself go back to that again. I was too scared to let it happen, so I decided to find a truly perfect distraction. And I had my eyes already set on a certain target.

Since I had made up my mind to do this, I had to do it right. So, in school, I started hanging out more with Kelvin. He was a narcissist who thought the entire world would fall to his feet but I was ready to endure it. At the end of the day, he was just a distraction from my messed-up life. I had to listen to him brag about the girls he'd been with and how much girls swooned over him. It was disgusting but I never really cared much about it. Soon rumors started flying about our dating. And just like that, I was the school's hot topic. On the day all this started I was with Nathan and Sheila.

We were busy completing a chemistry project in the lab when I had my phone buzzing endlessly. It was my Instagram account. My followers had tripled in number. Then I saw the notification pop, it was a picture of me and Kelvin. It was altered since I'd never taken any pictures with him. But we looked so intimate in it and the caption made it worse. It was hash tagged for a couple of years. It had ten thousand plus likes and a thousand comments on it. I was tagged on it and to make it worse there was a comment under my account saying make way for the new couple#goals#love. Someone had hacked my account but who and why would they do it? I saw the disappointment on Nathan and Sheila's faces but I had no way to prove it. From how much time I spent with him there was no coming back from it.

"I better go home; we'll finish this up tomorrow. And congrats Leila," Nathan smiled before leaving. And at that moment I felt my heart shutter. This is not how I'd intended things to happen.

"Wow Leila, you outdid yourself this time. You lead him on and end up hooking up with another guy. I don't know who you are anymore," she stormed out without waiting for me to even explain myself.

I ran after her but the moment I walked out I bumped into Kelvin with a crowd. He pulled me in for a kiss as his followers took pictures of us. I pushed him away but before I could even figure out what was happening, he was all over me. My mind was in shambles I could hardly think straight. The only thing I wanted to do right now was clear up all this mess. But then when I looked around, I was no longer the depressed girl who lost both her brother and her boyfriend in a car accident. I was now the top guy's girl. It was kind of great and for a moment I wanted it to stay that way. I'm sure Nathan and Sheila will understand once I explained it to them. So, I decided to play along.

Kelvin was hooked on me. He'd make sure he was always by my side every single time. It was like he was scared I would disappear or something. He made sure he dropped me off at school and picked me up every single day.

Since Nathan and Sheila were both ignoring me, I had no option but to go on with it since I had no one else to hang out with. It all got worse when Sheila decided to come to pick up all her stuff.

"Sheila you're taking this too far. You never let me even explain,"

"What were you going to even say when it's all clear? The Leila I knew would never hurt someone's feelings as you did,"

"I didn't mean to. He never made his feelings clear to me,"

"So, you went ahead and dated his brother,"

"Brother! Wait, what do you mean by brother?"

"Don't act dumb Leila, you knew it when you made that decision. And the worst part is you don't even show remorse for what you've done,"

"No, you're misunderstanding all this, if you only let me explain everything,"

"You don't have to explain anything. You've changed and I don't need to associate myself with this new version of you,"

Her words cut deeper than a knife. And especially since I didn't know what she was talking about. Kelvin and Nathan being brothers came as a shock to me. And why was she siding with Nathan instead of siding with her best friend? Is that what friends do really? She even cut all bonds with me. I was furious and frustrated at the same time. I just didn't know what to do or how to even do it. I was so mad at them for not getting me that I just snapped. If they wanted me as the bad guy, then I'd make sure I played that part as best as I could.