His Secret

4|The Beginning

Eve's POV

"You can't wear sandals without socks. It's an unwritten rule guys!" Chase shouted at us with passion as we stood in front his locker.

"What if we have no socks?" Belly asked.

Chase immediately put his lips together in a thin line.

"Oh shit," Chase said while looking down the hall.

I looked to see what he was looking at. "What?"

"It's Haze and his two minions. We have to go before they see us!" he said while rushing to put away his books into his bags.

"Why do we have to hide in our own school?" Aaron asked.

"Not this again," I sighed. "We should just go. The bell is about to ring anyway."

"No, not this time," he said before walking forward. "Hey Haze, over here!"

Haze stopped talking to his friends and turned to us.

Chase quickly pulled Aaron back. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm standing up for us! This jerk deserves a beating!"

Chase squeezed the bridge of his nose before talking again. "From whom Aaron? He's captain of the football team and we're...us! We'll stand no chance."

"Um guys, he's coming," Belly said.

Chase quickly held Aaron and Belly's hands before taking off. "Catch up Eve!" he shouted.

Before I could even process what just happened, it was too late; Haze had already arrived.

"Where do you think you're going Eve?" he said as he towered over me with his arms crossed.

I slowly stepped back from him.

"I'm sorry but it looks like I have to do a bag check today," he said with an amused expression on his face.

I held on to my bag tightly and shook my head as I continued stepping backwards.

He rolled his eyes before grabbing my bag and emptying it. He looked down and a smile appeared on his face.

He stooped down to get it. "What do we have here?"

The journal dad gave me.

I ran forward to get it but he held it up in the air.

"Give me back!"

He wiggled his finger in front of my eyes. "No no, I can't do that, I haven't read it as yet."

His eyes sparkled a little. "Now that I'm thinking, it would be rude if I just read it and didn't share with the people around us."

I shook my head. "No, no, no, please!"

He stared down into my eyes before ripping the pages.

I watched as all the pages of questions slowly get torn to pieces as the creator of this problem watched me with no remorse.

I immediately fell to the ground to recover the scattered pages but there was nothing I could do with them. They were all mixed up.

Hot, heavy tears flowed out of my eyes like a volcano during an eruption. This journal meant a lot to me and Haze just ripped it up in seconds.

I looked around me to see people watching me, some trying not to laugh while others shamelessly did so.

I looked up at him to see his usual bored expression. He didn't give one damn about what he just did.

He suddenly frowned. "Oh, did I hurt your feelings? Didn't know people still write diaries in high school."

Everyone around him laughed while I sat down the floor humiliated.

I wiped my eyes before shoving all the bits of paper into my bag and rushing to the old bathroom on the first floor. No one came in here anymore, so I sometimes used this as my hiding place. 

I went into the bathroom stall and sat on the toilet seat cover and watched all the papers in my bag. Even if I taped them back together it would take me hours to figure out what page belonged to what. I wasn't even sure if I picked up all the pages.

My phone started ringing and when I checked, it Belly. I know she wanted to know where I was or if I was okay but I couldn't bring myself to answer her. They ran away and left me. I quickly powered off my phone.

What did I do to deserve this? At first, it was just silly little pranks like hiding my book but now it's gotten worse.

We've never been friends much less had a proper conversation, so I don't know why he constantly picks on me. I do everything to stay out of his way yet he still treats me like this.

I know I told Aaron it's a stupid idea but I couldn't take it anymore. I have to confront him. It's the only way I can get him to stop. What else do I have to lose? He already took away every ounce of shame left in me.

I wiped my face once more before marching to where he would be right now. I overheard him telling Mrs. Vincent he'd be in the History classroom planning out the next game for the team.

Thankfully the halls were empty and the History classroom wasn't too far from the bathroom. I reached in less than a minute.

Before I turned the nob, I took a deep breath. There is no way of knowing what he'll do or say but what I know for sure is that this has to be done.

I opened the door and there he was sitting at the back of the classroom with his headphones in and scribbling on a piece of paper.

I marched up to him.

"What did I do to deserve this?" I shouted.

He continued scribbling things on the piece of paper so I decided to slam my hand on the desk.

He paused before angrily raising his head. His eyes widened a little when he saw that it was me and he took out his headphones.

"Here for round two?" he asked with a serious look on his face.

"Why do you keep doing this to me?"

He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Doing what?" he asked with an amazed look.

Him not even owning up to his actions made me angry.

"Why do you always pick on me? Do you even know how important that journal was to me?"

He just sat there, not even bothering to answer me.

I advanced closer to him. "I just want an explanation, please!"

He stood up and retreated from me. "Stay away from me you freak!"

I stepped closer to him. All I wanted to know is what I could have possibly done wrong to make him hate me. "Just tell me, Haze!"

He kept going backwards until his back hit the hall.

All of a sudden, he went from being unbothered to being completely exasperated. He switched our positions around to that my back was now against the wall.

"You think I want to do all of this? You leave me no choice! You're so annoying and I hate you so much for that. Every time I walk into a room, you're the first one I see. Every time I see those weird friends of yours, I'm reminded of you. I hate having to be in the same classes as you and I hate seeing you in the hallways. I hate that you affect me," he shouted angrily.

We were inches apart and his intense stare didn't make it any easier. Sweat trickled down my face and the room began to get hotter.

I was lost for words. What did he mean?

"Haze-"

Before I could continue my sentence, the unexpected happened.

He pulled me closer to him by the waist and pressed his lips against mine.