"Soooooo..... are we going to acknowledge the elephant in the room or are we just going to keep ignoring it?" Jake says leaning across the lunch table to take one of Oliver's fries looking eager. Everyone has been like this all day, bouncing on the palms of their feet waiting for the story. I'm trying really hard to ignore the eyes of our swarming peers and hoping my discomfort from all the attention today has gone unnoticed. It's a stupid rumor, and it's not even about me it's about Oliver. Yet everyone has correctly assumed that I had a hand in it and the bugs that have been flying around all day listening in waiting are starting to give me hives. This is all my fault. If I hadn't participated in that stupid car stunt with Brit none of this would have fallen back on Oliver.
"Um... what thing are we supposed to be discussing?" I know what he's referring to, I've already fended off talking about it with a very excited Ty this morning who actually hugged me and said what Oliver did was quote un quote so iconic dude. I didn't reply. I think another girl today used the word shook. I didn't reply to her either. I've never understood how people actually talk like that outside of movies and TV shows. I get confused enough trying to figure out what it means when Brit texts me OFC or IMO and have to google it. It didn't really matter what they were trying to say to me anyway because I wasn't engaging.
This whole thing would blow over soon enough and I'd be fine. I mean I wasn't completely confident in that fact, but Oliver was my main concern. He hates attention, he's sort of always been like a cat, the shy one in our group. When he gets skittish he tends to run away from things. I wasn't Beverly Hills, everyone here knew that already. But Oliver, Oliver had been doing a pretty good job faking his way through things up until now. Now.... oh god this did not look good. The farther away from incriminating ourselves in a crime by admitting it out loud at this lunch table the better.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, I'm talking about-"
"Rebeca Kenns getting high for the first time, because I saw that video and don't get what the hype's about." Brit drops her tray squeezing in next to me and shakes her head. "I mean big whoop a cheerleader tries pot, gasp!" She gasps loudly for effect only adding to the stairs we're getting and I shrink a little in my seat working hard to shove any residual irritation towards her down. It wasn't her fault that people were looking. It wasn't even her fault that people found out. Still, people only started snooping around in the past because of everything with her ex-boyfriend's car.
No, that's not fair. I made my decision and now Oliver's paying for it, this was my fault. I sneak a nervous look at Oliver who's trying his best to look unbothered. His image had been distorted and if I didn't know him I'd think he didn't care at all. The problem is I do know him and he's falling apart. It's clear he hasn't slept well if at all since yesterday which is never a good sign, and now with todays new rumor circulating about him he's run his hands through his hair so much you can't tell he ever brushed it.
"She didn't just try pot though Brit, she snorted it, and anyway you're pulling us off topic. I want to hear about the fire." Ryan rubs his hands together and it's clear they aren't going to give up.
"I don't believe she actually did that, that video was fake. If she really snorted it she wouldn't be here today and she would have gone to the hospital. Now will someone please tell me what movie we are watching tonight for movie night Mondays because if I'm hosting for the first time then I have to get the movie approved by my mom first." Oliver mumbles the last part quietly and Jake lets out a loud puff of air clearly trying not to laugh.
"Your mom has to approve our movie... bro." Ty bites his lip but ultimately sets the table off laughing and Oliver pushes his tray aside burrowing his head in his hands.
"Now you see why I've never had you guys over before."
"Hey your mom's not so bad, she'll have bought a ton of snacks." I'm trying to be supportive of Oliver's half-lie for why the movie needs to be approved and also trying to understand why he hasn't just told them the truth, but all of it is starting to feel like a lot of lying. They have been friends for so long, yet the more time I spend with them the more it seems like they don't know and I shouldn't say. I'm starting to get Jake's frustration from the party. Who am I to judge him for any of it though there are some things that you just feel better keeping to yourself and not sharing. I wouldn't know how to explain it if I was him. It's such a vulnerable thing to share something like that.

YOU ARE READING
It Doesn't Even Matter
Teen FictionMax is struggling, plain and simple. After dropping out of school two years ago to help his mom with the bills and losing his best friend, he's just kind of shut things out. His life has been in pure survival mode. Work, pay bills, survive. But thin...