Pangaia: Agendas (Year One: Fall)

Chapter Twenty-One - Cheyenne

 Word of her being the date of two handsome, twin boys must have spread quickly through the school. By the time lunch rolled around the next day, Cheyenne was bombarded by question after question about what was going on with her and the Willam brothers.

After all, she spent so much time with them, far more than any other new student had. The school was finally realizing that perhaps there was more to the relationship than what they saw. Though Cheyenne wasn't sure she wanted to know what everyone thought. She had a sneaking suspicion it would make her blush.

She wasn't counting it all good fortune however. The increase of attention was naturally making her nervous, but what really made her uneasy about the entire situation was Jewl missing from lunch. Normally, the blonde girl would sit and be civil, ignore Cheyenne, and on bad days, shoot her glares from across the table while fighting with Anj in the flirtatious sort of way they always did.

Now she was gone, and no one had seen much of her all day. A few girls Jewl was friends with made sure to do the dirty work for her. They glared and whispered and sometimes would even say rude things loud enough for Cheyenne to hear. They called her a slut, a man stealer, a rebound machine, among others. She hadn't imagined Anj's scheme going like this, and she was starting to wonder if she was the right girl to fit his job description.

All of the extra attention was driving Zes crazy as well, and he reflected visually a lot of what she was feeling on the inside.

"Man, can't these people back off and let you breathe," he said and glared at a group of boys who were coming by to stare at her again. "I swear, if I see another guy come up and give you some lame pick-up line while staring down your chest, I'll—not to say they shouldn't, oh, never mind, I'm just going to stop talking before I dig myself into something I won't be able to get out of."

He then proceeded to resume his food shoveling ritual. His shoulders were more slouched than usual and he stabbed his food with his fork.

"Chaos," Anj said. "I absolutely love it. Isn't it so much fun to watch everyone get so excited over one small insignificant detail?" He, his brother, and Cheyenne had just sat down to eat at their usual table. Their spot was always guaranteed. How did these two boys get so much power over an entire student body?

"Not really, but that's how it always works right? I'm kind of disappointed," Zes mumbled.

"Me too, I was hoping for ritualistic animal slaughtering to be added in, or maybe an orgy or two. But I think I can work on those after I mention to someone Denver and Halyn are coming along with us." Anj smirked. "At the very least, I can get people to say Zes was tied up over the weekend. That's something even I'd believe."

"That's not funny," Zes said darkly. "Why does it have to be me? Why am I always the one who gets picked on and dominated and not you? I don't want people thinking I'm some kind of a—Besides, I mean, I'm not even into tha—ugh, you're driving me crazy!" He threw his hands up in frustration and opened his mouth to start saying something else, and then glanced at Cheyenne. "I'll tell you about it later," he mumbled to his brother.

Another secret she wasn't allowed to hear.

"Oh, I already know," Anj said and picked apart his ham and cheese sandwich. "You don't need to explain it to me. I'm working on that one too. By the end of the night, I think everything will be the way it should, finally. As for everything else, it's because you look so cute when you do your tomato impression. I'm sure everyone is aware none of it's real. Anyone with half a brain knows better, but it doesn't make it any less fun to speculate about."

"I don't know how I feel about your constant devious plotting."

"Just enjoy it and don't question it then."