Fandomonium

The Coming Secret

Week 9, Day 7:

It's the homecoming dance today. A bunch of alumni have been visiting throughout the week and next week it's parents weekend. I've been following Jakob's advice and trying to live in the now and not stress about the past or worry about the future. Amy and I went to the mall after school yesterday and we picked out dresses for homecoming. Phoenix came with us but they picked out a tuxedo and went to hang out with the guys.

"Clare, you look absolutely stunning!" Amy gasps. "If I were you, though, I wouldn't have picked such a nice dress because judging by the way you look tonight, Hunter is just going to rip them right off you." I swat her arm with the science textbook in my hand. "I'll take that," She grabs the book and I go to look in the mirror.

Phoenix agreed to dye my hair blonde again because we don't want my parents freaking out when they come and the blonde roots were already starting to show. My hair is flowing over my shoulders in tight spirals in the front and loose spirals in the back. I'm wearing a short emerald green dress – close to the shade of Hunter's eyes – with silver straps. I borrowed little black heels from Amy so I at least have the illusion of being taller.

I have a few minutes to spare before Hunter, Jakob, and Phoe meet us at our room so I start scrolling through tumblr. I have twenty missed messages and all of them are out of concern. I quickly respond to all of them when I hear a knock on the door. "Clare, can you get the door?" Amy asks. I groan and put my phone down. I open the door and find Phoenix dressed in a black tuxedo with tails at the end and a royal blue button down underneath.

"Nice outfit," I take them in.

"You think so? I wanted to find something slightly androgynous but it was near impossible so I decided on this. Also my mom sent it to me." They reply.

"Cool. Hey, have you heard from Hunter or Jakob?"

"I got a text from Hunter about ten minutes ago saying they'd be here soon,"

I nod my head in acknowledgement as I go back to tumblr and Phoenix and Amy start hugging and squealing like normal teenagers. Rolling my eyes, I reblog and queue some posts that will look good on my tumblr feed. My phone buzzes and Hunter's name pops up. Smiling at the cat emojis he put next to his name, I read the text: Come here ASAP. And only you.

I look up and see Phoenix and Amy in what looks like a deep conversation. I quickly change into jeans and a cardigan and creep out of the room and I doubt they even notice that I left. I run towards the boys dormitory and don't even bother knocking on their door. I hear muffled screaming.

"My life isn't perfect, you know that?" The voice is wet and full of emotion. It's Jakob.

"And you think mine is? You could have at least told me!" This voice also has a lot of emotion yet it still sounds like a dry anger. Obviously Hunter.

"I know yours isn't, god damn it! But everyone thinks my life is. I'm a two dimensional Barbie doll. Or a very gay ken doll." I can almost hear him smiling but I also hear the tears that are building.

"Please just tell me next time, okay?" Hunter's voice cracks.

"Why the fuck would I tell you?" All the sadness is replaced by anger.

"Because, man, we're friends. And I'd like to think you'd trust me."

I have to press my ear against the door to hear them now. I know it's wrong to eavesdrop but I can't help myself.

"Why would I trust you? You'll probable run off and cry to your little girlfriend." Jakob's voice is dry with cold, hard anger and I have to stop myself from stumbling back. This isn't the Jakob I know. This isn't happening. "You're just a wimp. You're a –"

"Faggot. That's what you are." Hunter is livid.

"It takes one to know one." Jakob's voice lacks emotion and I feel my heart fall to my feet. I can't believe I am so oblivious that I can't even tell that my best friend is in pain. I hear shuffling and I run to the corner of the corridor and act like I'm walking here now.

Jakob slams open the door and storms out in a pitch black long sleeved shirt and black skinny jeans. If it weren't for the fiery blonde hair and lopsided flower crown, he could be Hunter. If the outfit didn't hurt me enough, he didn't even acknowledge my presence. But can I blame him?

I run into their room and find Hunter crouched on the ground, tears rushing down his face and splashing on the ground. I sit next to him and gingerly put my arm around him. He pulls my closer and I let him cry into my shoulder and we sit there for a while. After a while he says, "I'm so sorry I ruined our night."

"You didn't ruin," I promise him. "How about we watch Supernatural and cuddle instead?" He smiles at me and I help him up.

He grabs his laptop and we watch a few episodes just nestled in each other's arms when Jakob walks in. "Out," he says to me. Without even thinking, I kiss Hunter goodbye and walk out the door. However they solve their problems is none of my business.

I turn on my phone and I have five missed calls from Amy and two from Phoenix as well as a series of "where are you" texts. I slip my phone into my back pocket and walk in the freezing cold – it's fifty degrees, that's cold for a Floridian – back to my room. Amy isn't back yet so I'm assuming she's at the dance. I think everyone is just falling apart. 

(A/N: So I feel bad for the crazy short chapter yesterday therefore I updated today. I know, it's also pretty short but hopefully it'll tide you guys over for the rest of the week. This is the storm before the calm, meaning that I'm posting like crazy before I can barely post at all, so enjoy it while it lasts. Comment what you guys think of this chapter. Anyone noticing some dimension being added to Jakob? No longer the perfect princess we all thought he was. Also, I promise the name will start to make sense, hopefully I can explain it in the next chapter I just don't want things to go too quickly as I'm trying to get this book to be a lot longer than it is right now. I also hate filler chapters just as much as the next guy so I try to put as much awesome stuff as I can in every chapter. Well that's it for now, later lovelies <3 )