The Thief

6. Rumors

Evane

"Hold on," I tell Ember as we're about to walk into the school building the next Monday. The black car from the other morning has just pulled into the parking lot.

Idiot parks, and I can't believe my eyes. I start walking before I realize what I'm doing. And then I'm standing in front of him.

"This is your car?" I ask.

"Yeah," Asher shrugs. "Nice to see you too, Potthead."

I raise my eyebrows. "You're not going to juvey?"

He smirks and starts walking. "The only evidence they had was that I was wearing the similar clothes. They couldn't hold me on those grounds."

"Lucky for you, I guess."

"I'm a lucky guy, apparently." He winks at me. "Why do you care about my car?"

"Because you almost killed me the other day. You went into oncoming traffic."

"Oh yeah, that was you? Haha! I was just trying to make it to class on time."

"So was I."

"Speaking of class," he looks at his watch, "I gotta run."

"Who was that?" Ember asks as we walk into Mr. Erman's class.

"Asher. My brother arrested him the other day."

"Why did he call you Potthead?" She asks as we sit down.

"He doesn't know my name, but--"

"Evane, a Pothead?" I hear behind me. Oh no, please no, not him, anyone but him. Tom comes into view. "I didn't expect that from you, Evane. Although, it does explain your moodiness. Are you having withdrawals?"

"I don't smoke, Tom. You must be mistaking me for yourself."

He leans down next to me. "Careful Evane. I could destroy you," he says cheerfully.

"Don't listen to him, Evane," Ember interjects. "He just wants to scare you. I know his kind," she looks him up and down, "all talk."

Tom's smile is evil and my heart races as he says, "We'll see."

The bell rings and I couldn't be more grateful. I desperately try to pay attention, but I know Tom is plotting against me. I need to have some sort of defense ready. Class ends before I come up with anything. Tom grins at me before leaving the room.

It isn't until lunch that I hear the whispers. I'm walking to meet Ember when they hit me. Pothead, druggie, stoner. They follow me into the lunchroom.

Ember looks heartbroken. "I tried to stop the rumors, I really did," she says as I sit down.

"It's not your fault, I know how high school is. There's no stopping the gossip. It'll die down eventually, right?" I try to be positive despite the pain in my chest.

She smiles at me. "Anybody who knows you won't believe them anyway and if they don't know you then they don't matter."

"Yeah."

"Evane! Evane!" I hear across the lunchroom. I turn around and see Asher. "Evane." He reaches our table.

"How do you know my name?"

"I heard-"

"You heard the rumor," I interrupt. "Actually you started the rumor, Asher."

"No, I swear I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm so-"

"You know what, save it." I get up and walk out of the lunchroom before anything worse can happen.

I go into the bathroom and make sure there's no one else in there. Then I look at myself in the mirror. How could anyone even think I do drugs? I don't look like it. My eyes aren't bloodshot with bags under them. My hair is done. I look put together, not like I need to smoke another joint before I have a breakdown. And I would never do them, I've seen how badly they can ruin your life.

I hear the door open and I slip into a stall before they round the corner. Two girls are chatting, I don't recognize their voices.

"Oh do you know what I heard during history?" one girl says animately. "You know that loner girl that Tom always talks to?" Please don't be talking about me.

"Yeah, the one with black hair?" Lots of other girls have black hair too.

"Well, Tom said that someone told him that she smokes pot."

"No way, she doesn't look like a stoner, but I haven't really looked at her in awhile."

"No it's totally true," the first one continues. "He said that she used to have a friend, but her friend is in a coma now. Apparently ever since the friend's been in a coma she's been doing drugs hard. I guess she couldn't handle it, I heard her parents are dead and she lives with her brother who, like, doesn't care about her."

It's not true, it's not true, it's not true.

A phone goes off. "Oh it's Devin, we should go."

"Why don't you dump him already?" The other one asks as they walk out the door.

I wait until I can't hear their faded voices before I let the tears fall. I lean my head against the stall door and sob. The bell rings, but I make no move to go to class.

I hear the door squeak open and quiet footsteps. Stifling my tears, I listen as they open a few stalls then come right up to mine.

There's a knock. "Evane?" Ember's voice is quiet. I don't say anything. "Will you open the door?"

I wipe my face and slowly open the door. I don't look up at her.

"We don't have to talk if you don't want to."

"I don't."

"Okay." She doesn't say anything else. "How about we take you home?"

I nod and give her my keys. She grabs my hand and takes me to the car. I turn on the radio as she pulls out and try to lose my thoughts in the music. We don't talk through the drive.

Paco greets us at the door, but Merrik isn't here. He must not have needed him on the job today. I kneel down and pet him, taking comfort in his soft fur.

"Do you want me to go or..." Ember trails off.

"No, um... stay please."

"Okay." We go into my room and collapse on the bed, Paco curling up next to us. "Asher said to tell you he was going to try to stop them and that he was really sorry about the whole thing."

I nod. "They'll go away, right?"

Ember doesn't respond for a minute. "It's hard to know. I've heard rumors that only circulate for a day and others... there's no way to know."

I take a deep breath. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow."

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! So what do you think of this chapter? Will these rumors continue or will they fade away? Do you think it's Asher fault that they started? Let me know what you think in the comments!