The Label Maker

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: LIAR LIAR

Gwen returned to school on Monday after the weekend was over. She no longer had to watch Apollo. She was glad the Gunbram's returned Sunday night. She wanted to avoid the family for as long as she could. Sunday night Gwen was up late blogging. She stayed up late reading multiple blogs, then wrote her own. She stayed up so late that she was still awake when her alarm went off. Of course, she was in a sleep like state most of the night, but she never truly did fall asleep.

She nearly stumbled into chemistry late. She passed Leo's locker on the way. Fortunately for her, he wasn't there. That Monday morning she was the last one to stumble into the room.

"Cutting it awfully close this morning are we?" Mr. Hughes asks as she passes by.

"Yes sir, she mutters, walking to her seat. She threw her bag on the ground and didn't even bother to get out her notebook. Even though she was the last one in the class, they still had five minutes before school actually started.

"You look like you didn't get any sleep," RJ notes, taking a sip from his thermos.

"I didn't get any sleep," she confirms, laying her head down on the desk. The noise from her surrounding classmates was giving her a headache.

"Why not?" He asks. Gwen opened her mouth, but then she closed it. She didn't want to tell him the truth.

"I just, I couldn't sleep," she lies.

"Well I can understand why. I mean, you had a lot going on this weekend," he agrees. She nodded her head.

"Do you want some coffee? It might give you a little energy," he offers, passing his thermos to her.

"It's not spiked or anything is it?" She asks, eyeing it in his hands.

"No, it's not spiked. I'm not stupid, nor do I drink," he says, looking offended. She took the cup from him and drank. As soon as she tasted the liquid she wanted to spit it out of her mouth. She did her best to swallow.

"What, what is that?" She sputters, coughing.

"French vanilla," he says harmlessly, drinking it.

"I hate french vanilla," she states.

"Next time I bring coffee for myself I'll try to remember that," he teases. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh shut up," she grumbles.

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, you are never like this, ever," he reminds. She lifted her head back up and looked at him.

"When I say I got no sleep, I meant it. I was still awake when my alarm went off," she tells him, trying to keep her eyes open. RJ found her lack of sleep amusing.

"Seriously, what were you doing all night?" He asks. He gave her a look that she took as a sign to tell him the truth. She decided to cooperate by telling him half of it.

"It sounds ridiculously stupid, but I was up all night reading blogs," she confesses, looking him in his gray eyes.

"What blogs?" He asks, placing his elbow on the table and his head in his hand.

"The Label Maker's," she informs, not breaking his gaze.

"I saw that she updated last night. Did you read them?" He asks her. The bell finally rang, cutting their conversation short. She didn't get to answer his question. She wasn't sure if she wanted to. For she didn't only read them.

But she wrote them.

✎✎✎

The beginning of lunch was tiring. Gwen sat and listened to Chris and Emma talk about the Label Maker's new blogs. She listened to them as they tried to put faces to each person she labeled. Of course, they guessed the Queen Bees and the Mean Girls and the Makeup Artists. They were oblivious to the fact that they were written about early on. They were oblivious to the fact that their best friend (at least Emma's best friend) was the actual Label Maker. She ate lunch quickly. She usually hated when food sat out and got cold. She told Emma that she would be back. Her best friend only smiled and nodded her head. She threw away her tray and went around the corner to wash her hands. While in the bathroom, Ingrid along with two of her friends. They were chatting over makeup. But as she listened closer, she found that it was about the Makeup Artist. Gwen decided that it was smart for her to keep herself focused on her hands in the sink, not anything else around her.