The Story Of Us

Chapter 43

The Story Of Us
Chapter 43
Emily's POV

Date story took place: 11/21/12
Age: 15

Here's a tip. Don't break your ankle. If you break your ankle then you'll have to use crutches. Using crutches will make your life hell. Right now my life is hell.

I grab my paper sack lunch out of my locker, balancing myself on my crutch. After slamming it shut, I find Madison standing right behind it.

I jump a little, startled by her presence.

"You aren't going to leave me alone are you?" I laugh and shrug my shoulders.

That's when I realized that Ethan was hovering right next to her. I glanced up at him and returned my gaze towards Madison.

"No, probably not until you admit to everyone what a whore you are." She smirked.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You know I cheated on no one."

"I can disagree with that." Ethan piped up.

I snapped my head towards him. He leaned against the lockers, his hand helping him balance.

I shook my head at him. My stomach started tying itself up in a knot. I was screwed.

"Explain to me what that kiss with Caleb behind my back was then." He smiled. He knew he got me.

"Explain to me why you always treated me like shit and ignored me half of the time." I was gripping the handles of my crutches so hard that my knuckles started turning white.

"Stop trying to change the subject, Emily. Just admit it. You cheated on me." He said.

I gave a small laugh and shook my head. "You're a complete ass, Ethan. You always have been."

"Ok, sure whatever." He said. "You're a cheater and always have been. Never once did I see you not make googly eyes at Caleb when I was around. You were such flirt." Ethan snapped.

Angry tears started to form. I rolled my eyes. "You know what? I'm done with this shit." And with that I turned away from them and headed towards the lunch room. I heard mumbles and whispers coming from them behind me, but I tried my best just to keep going and ignore it.

As I swung the doors open towards the cafeteria, as if on cue, every pair of eyes landed on me. Then more whispering.

I took in a shaky breath. I knew for a fact they were talking crap about me. My eyes wandered around the lunch room in search for Caleb. I needed to find him.

"There you are," I hear a tiresome sigh behind me. I turned around to see Caleb. "I tried to get out of class, but then she held me back because of homework. I sprinted to your locker to help you, but you were already gone." Then he stopped. "Are you okay?" He asked, grabbing my elbow. I guess he could tell I was a little shaken up.

I closed my eyes and gave a small nod. "Yeah, fine. Can we sit? My foot is killing me." That wasn't true. I was just getting a headache from everyone around me.

"Of course." He lead me to our table and helped me get situated. I relaxed a little, thankful I wasn't standing in front of anyone anymore.

"I heard that she was cheating on him." Someone from the table in front of me whispered a little too loudly. I snapped my head up and stared in their direction. They gave me scared looks and looked away, pretending that they never said a word about me. It felt like a brick suddenly hit me. My breathing started from a normal pace and slowly it started getting heavier and heavier. Was I having a panic attack?

"What's wrong?" Caleb reached for my hand, but I pulled it away.

"Bathroom," was all I managed to say. "I need to use the bathroom."

"Well, do you need help getting there?" He asked.

I shook my head and wiped my sweaty palms onto my pants.

"I'll be okay." I whispered. I needed out of here. I grabbed onto the crutches and made my way out of the cafeteria as fast as I could.

Once I got inside the bathroom, I locked myself into a stall and threw my crutches down on the ground in frustration. I ran my hands through my hair as tears slowly fell down my face. Sliding down the wall, I eventually hit the ground with a hard thump.

I promised myself I wouldn't let her get to me. Why am I? Why am I so bothered by all of this? None of this is true. Well, partially I guess.

If anything, kissing Caleb wasn't as half as bad as the things Ethan did to me. He ignored me, got drunk, tried grabbing my ass at the most inappropriate times, so I got fed up with it. I guess the thing that bothered me the most was that right after we broke up, he had already hooked up with another girl. Right, in the middle of the lobby, there they were. His tongue practically shoved down her throat. It's hard seeing your ex of only a few days already kissing another girl. That totally shows he cared for me. But I mean then again, there was Caleb and I. Caleb and I didn't immediately start dating right after I ended things with Ethan. He gave me a few days, which was the right thing to do. Then after seeing Ethan with that girl, he asked.

I took deep, shaky breathes as I cried on the bathroom floor. The whole school thought I was some slut. I can't go back out there and I for sure can't let Caleb know anything about this. I just needed someone to talk to. Someone who would listen and help.

I collected myself together and wadded up some toilet paper, wiping away the tears. I grabbed my phone out of my jacket pocket, where I always kept it during school, and dialed the first person that came to mind.

"Hey," I sniffled. "I knew you'd probably answer."

"Yeah, decided to stay home sick again today. What's up?" Addy asked.

I explained the whole situation to her. It sorta felt like Addy was my counselor or something.

"That asshole. I never liked him." She grumbled.

I gave a small laugh. "I don't know what to do. Give me advice."

"Tell Caleb," she said. "It's that simple."

"Addy, it's actually really difficult when you've been lying to him about all this shit that's going on. I can't tell him."

"Listen," she started. "Someone's got to put everyone in their place about you not being a whore, am I right?"

"I guess." I mumbled quietly.

"Okay, so who do you think they're all going to believe? The girl who is supposedly some hoe who sleeps with a new guy every night or the boy who is popular at your school, has over two million subscribers on YouTube, and is famous all over the world?"

I sighed. She had a damn good point and I wasn't going to argue with her.

"You're right." I said, nodding my head.

She laughed. "This bitch you're talking to, is the new Oprah. I think that's the person I'm thinking of."

"I couldn't tell you." I giggled.