The Whisper Seekers

116

When I get to the locker room I notice Lily isn't there yet. I wonder if I missed her in the hall looking for me like always. I sit on the wooden bench in front of my locker and pull out my phone. My shoulder is still throbbing while I go through what Derek saw and it does look bad. He even saw that Liam called me at five a.m. this morning. I text Liam: I'm sorry. Please look over the diagram! I know he would want nothing to do with me if it weren't for preventing this disaster. I don't blame him either. I keep picking Derek and now I'm not even sure why.

I see my home screen and frown at the picture of Derek and me sitting by his pool this summer. These past two weeks have completely turned our relationship around. I still have two weeks until homecoming and a lot can happen between now and then. It upsets me to think Derek and I have been together for over a year and we can fall apart in a week. I guess we have never had anything come between us. We have petty fights, but we've never had a blowout. Our relationship has always been easy.

Lily finally busts through the doors as I am putting my phone away and rushes over to our lockers.

"Sorry! I had to stay after class to finish my psychology test!" She notices me still in my school clothes, "You better hurry before we are both late!" She urges me to get going and swings open her locker. I pull out my navy and yellow uniform and trudge to the changing rooms.

"Hey Lily, have you seen Harper?" I shout over the stall door.

"No, her mom let her stay home today. I guess they are doing a girl's day or something." Lucky. My mom would never go for that.

Lily and I rush to gym class and see that the gymnasium has been transformed into an obstacle course. We spend the next hour hopping over beams, ducking under mats, and climbing ropes that hang from the ceiling. My hands burn from sliding down the rope and I am both mentally and physically exhausted. I'm glad I was forced to keep busy for an hour, sparing no time for thinking about Liam or Derek.

I blast through the locker room doors once the bell rings, determined to talk to Liam before English starts. I still take a little time putting myself together, since I spent half an hour deciding on what to wear this morning. I glance at myself in the mirror and agree that my black jeans and blue V-neck shirt that flatters my boobs was a good choice. I wave to Lily, promising to see her at lunch and hurry down the hall.

I see Liam standing outside of our class talking to Brittany. It's the first time I have seen her since the accident and it had to be hard for her to show her face back at school.  I run over to her and throw my arms around her, forgetting that she might be injured.

"How are you?" I gasp and she smiles as I pull away from her.

"It could have been worse," she says and I see some bruising around her collarbone.

"How is Ashley?" I ask and her smile falters.

"She has a concussion. But we are all thankful we were wearing our seatbelts. I was charged with drinking and driving and damaging city property so it's bad. My mom is making me quit cheerleading to get a job and I'm not even able to go to homecoming." I feel bad for her, but what she did does deserve the punishment. "I was just telling Liam how lucky you were not to be in the car," Brittany continues and I look over to Liam but he avoids my gaze.

"Yeah, I guess I was lucky. And I made it home before the cops came thanks to him too." I say while giving Liam a friendly nudge. "Harper got caught though. I know she got a ticket and she's terrified that it will jeopardize any scholarships."

"I'm dealing with that fallout too." She says with a grimace. "Well I'll let you get to class, I guess I'll see you guys around!" I pull her in for one last hug and then she wanders off so I am left standing alone with Liam. The bell rings before I can say anything and we are forced to go into class.