The Study

Chapter 26: Caught them in the Act

After celebrating New Year's Eve with my family, it was time to go back to school. As I walked through the halls, I ran into my friend Jessica.

"Hey, Heather! You missed so much while you were gone," she exclaimed.

"Really? What happened?" I asked, intrigued.

"Charlotte had a combined Christmas and birthday party. It was insane! We also went clubbing on New Year's Eve with our fake IDs. You missed out on all the fun," she said, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Ah man, that sounds like it was so much fun," I replied, feeling a little FOMO.

"It was! But how was your New Year's Eve?" Jessica asked.

"I had a good time with my family. We watched the countdown on TV and had a small celebration at home," I answered.

Jessica looked at me sympathetically. "That sounds nice too, but you should come out with us next time. It's so much better than staying in with family."

"I'll definitely try," I said with a smile.

After school that day, I headed straight to Darryl's room. My driver's test was in a week, and I needed some practice behind the wheel. Plus, since I still had to be Heather for a few more months, I couldn't rely on Darryl to drive me everywhere. I knocked on his door, but there was no response. I tried opening it, but it was locked.

"Hey, Darryl, you in there?" I called out.

"Yeah, give me a minute, Heather," he replied.

Something about his tone struck me as odd. Darryl only called me Heather when someone else was around, or we were out in public. I waited outside for a few minutes until he finally opened the door. His hair was all messed up, and he looked like he had just woken up.

"Hey, Darryl, can you help me drive? I have my test next week," I asked.

He yawned and replied, "Yeah, sure. Is it okay if we go in an hour?"

I agreed and stepped into his room, trying to hide my suspicion. But then I noticed a pair of black heeled boots under his bed. My intuition kicked in, and I knew exactly what was going on.

"Hey, can I use the washroom?" I asked, trying to catch Darryl off guard.

"Uh, Use the one across the hall," he said, trying to be nonchalant.

"Okay, let's cut to the chase. I know there's someone in there," I said, tapping my foot impatiently.

Darryl sighed and opened the door, revealing Kira, he had been seeing her for a while now. Kira and I exchanged awkward hellos, and Darryl tried to change the subject.

"Hey, let's go drive now. You still have a test to pass," he said, gesturing towards the door.

I rolled my eyes and started teasing him about being caught in the act. Kira laughed along, and Darryl's face turned bright red.

"Okay, okay, let's go," he said, ushering us out of the room.

As we walked towards the car, Kira turned to me and said, "So, you and Darryl are close, right? Like, is he your brother or something?"

I chuckled and replied, "Something like that. We're not actually siblings, but we've known each other for years. He's practically family." That sounded like a good excuse.

Darryl tried to interrupt us, clearly embarrassed by the conversation. But Kira and I continued to chat and joke around, and I knew that this was just the start of a new friendship. "Hey we should hang out sometime." I said.

"That won't be necessary," Darryl said. "I'd love to," Kira said as she gave me her number.