Keeping Secrets (Book I)✔️

Chapter Nineteen

Florence:

Monday morning after my horrible weekend was only worse, if it could be possible. I dragged myself around the corridors and tried my very best to pretend I was okay in front of a very spritely Emma who I had art with first period.

Although art was one of my favorite subjects in school, it still couldn't lift my mood. My classes felt like they would never end and when lunch came around, I was as delighted for a break as I could be. I didn't go to the cafeteria; I didn't want to be around my friends today so I avoided them as much as possible. I went straight to my locker instead, to change my books and then made my way to the bathrooms.

There was no one else in there so I took this time to check out my appearance in the mirror. It really was a sight. My eyes had the darkest circles I'd ever seen under them, they were irritating and itchy from lack of sleep. I was paler than usual too; I noticed a few blemishes on my chin and forehead but was disrupted by the door squeaking open and someone walking in. I turned my head to see who it could be.

Of course, it was none other than Chloe, walking in and standing beside me to fix her make up. She disregarded me for a moment, snobbishly not acknowledging me being here but then we both looked at each other through the mirrors in front of us.

"Hey Florence." She sneered at me, patted some powder on her cheeks. I really wasn't in the mood for her today, of all days. Did she know that I knew? Did she know anything about me? She must because there was no other reason she could know my name. "You know, you look really tired and run down at the moment. Are you sick?" she was using this condescending voice with me that made rage rise within me. She had barely said much to me and I felt like punching her in the face. I never got like this, I knew it was because I was kind of jealous I suppose. Usually I was more laid back and shied away from confrontation with anyone but I guess my bad mood, lack of sleep and pure annoyance of her perfect face had gotten the better of me when I spoke.

"What the hell do you want?" I said angrily, causing her to laugh, and making me want to jump on her even more. I was now considering it, but where was all of this coming from? I was experiencing feelings of rage and anger I had never felt or seen before in myself.

"Some one's touchy today. Any reason?"

"None of your god damn business." She was making me even angrier, and she knew it, she was enjoying this. She absolutely loved it. But I had fallen right into her trap and there I was, standing in the empty bathrooms with her, waiting for her to tell me whatever it was

"I'm guessing it's because you've heard the news then. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find someone else to bring you to prom." Prom? What was she talking about?

"What?" I asked, I was confused now. She was making me even angrier, and she knew it, she was enjoying this. She absolutely loved it. But I had fallen right into her trap and there I was, standing in the empty bathrooms with her, waiting for her to tell me whatever it was she wanted me to tell me.

"Eric, he's taking me to prom with him. You never were good enough for him anyways." Was she worth it? Was she worth the hassle and strength of lunging right at her in the middle of these bathrooms? I want to hit you so badly, I thought to myself. Whoa Florence, where did that come from? I breathed in heavily, trying to calm myself down. How dare she make a statement like that when she knew next to nothing about me? I laughed bitterly at her.

"Eric mustn't have told you very much about me if you think I care about who he takes to prom with him." I said calmly, because it was the truth. I didn't care much for things like that; I had only gone to one school dance in my years of high school. Emma and Kevin had dragged me to it and after that awful night, I never attended another one. Her expression sunk just a little bit but she smiled again.

"Then why are you so angry?" she asked.

"Because you're pissing me off." I said, grabbing my bag and leaving her in the bathroom on her own. I couldn't stand talking to her for another minute, I would freak out. I stormed off down the halls towards my locker again when I saw Mick turn the corner and begin walking in my direction. Oh great, I thought.

"Hey Florence." He used the same patronizing tone with me as Chloe had just minutes ago in the toilets.

"Glad you remembered my name this time Mick." I said sarcastically, he laughed. Using my combination and opening my locker. He still stood there, looking at me. I threw my eyes to him for a moment and spoke again. "Why are you still here?" I knew I was being rude but I didn't care.

"You're actually very funny when you're angry Florence, I can tell why Eric likes you so much." I glared at him for a moment. "I'm guessing you've heard the news about silly old Eric and his stupid decisions, that's what's got your panties in a twist."

"No actually, it's not." I slammed my locker and looked at him.

"You aren't a good liar Flo." He taunted me.

"Don't call me that." I sighed, I wanted to get out of here, quickly.

"Sorry, is Eric the only one allowed to call you that?"

"Look, if you think I care who Eric takes to prom, I really don't. There's nothing more than what you saw the other night between us. You can tell whoever the hell you want, I don't care anymore." I crossed my arms.

"I already have." The penny dropped, Eric hadn't told Chloe, Mick had. He knew what he was doing, Chloe was the biggest gossiper in the school, and she liked to make people's stories her own too. Evan better, I thought, not only would people know about what Mick saw that night, there would be a much more dramatic twist on it. I couldn't wait to hear about this.

"Why would you tell Chloe?" I asked him, I didn't understand.

"I just thought she should know what she's getting herself into before her and Eric become official." Was he usually this annoying? He smirked at me, like some Sharpay from High School musical that actually thought I gave a crap.

"Official?" I was the one laughing now. Where the fuck was all of this coming from right now? I thought. I was glad I didn't know anyone else like Chloe and Mick. Knew very little about them and had only one conversation with each of them and they were the most irritating people I'd met yet. They obviously cared a lot about what happened in high school. Sure, most people did, but the way I always thought of it was that when you're older, who is going to ask you were you popular or how many buys you dated, or whether you were cheerleader captain or of course, if you went out with the infamous Eric, I could not leave that one out could I? The answer was no one. Once you leave high school your reputation is gone, no one cares.

"Yes, didn't you hear?" he asked me but I just like Chloe, I could not waste any more time communicating with him right now.

"No actually I didn't. And quite frankly, I don't want to hear about it because I couldn't give a crap. Make sure you pass on that message to the biggest mouth in school and yours truly, Eric for me will you Mick?" I patted him on the shoulder, smiling at him. He had a defeated look on his face and I felt like I had won this round but would there be any more? "Thank you." I said before slinging my backpack over my shoulder and walking out of school.

I was now in the same place I had been a couple of weeks ago. Sitting here in the exact spot in the park by the lake, my stomach full with McDonalds and junk food and my face stained with tears. It was hard to explain how I was feeling, it was kind of like a mixture of confusion, anger and sadness. I was confused that I was now seeing Eric in another light, the way most people saw him: the playboy who didn't care. I was angry at Eric for doing all of these things coming out that I had never known about and I was angry at myself for caring. I was sad because I understood now that what Eric and I had was definitely gone, there was no going back and whether Eric would feel the same way I did about it (Which I highly doubted) did not matter, we just weren't meant to go together. I had only seen that now.

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Thanks for reading, really sorry about any mistakes!:) This chapter is dedicated to seekerhallow1024, thanks for reading and voting. Everyone should go and check out her book on her profile, it's pretty great!

A. Summers xo