Love and Decisions

Chapter 16

It was Monday morning. The start of a new week, I thought to myself. I yawned as I got out of bed and headed towards my closet. I should probably do the laundry soon, my dirty clothes are beginning to pile up. I get dressed and head to class.

As I was walking down the hall, I noticed that girls were giving me dirty looks. I passed by a group of girls and they all pointed at me saying, "Look, that's her." A group of boys walked past me and they all smirked, giving me a wink or sticking their tongue out. What's going on?

I entered class and sat next to Charles as usual. He looked worried as he scanned the classroom.

"Charles are you alright?" I looked around the classroom, trying to find whatever he was looking for.

"You're worried about me? Have you not heard what people are saying about you?" Charles began to tap his finger on the table.

"What are they saying? Actually, people were acting strangely as I walked down the hall."

"Apparently there's a rumor that Mason slept with you so you could do his homework and that it's been going on for weeks now. Tell me that's not true!" He grabbed my hand and looked at me straight in the eyes.

"Of course it's not! I did help him with his homework but I never slept with him!" I looked around the classroom, desperately hoping that the rumor wasn't true and Charles was just playing a prank on me.

Jill walked up to our table and threw her arms around me. "Eli, I know you didn't do it! I have no idea how this started but I'm going to help you figure this out."

"Thanks Jill. I don't know how or why this started but, I know I can always count on you." I smiled.

She let go of me and held my hand, giving it a squeeze. "People can be so stupid, we'll figure this out."

Jill let go of my hand and began to walk to her table. As I was about to say something to Charles, she turned around and said, "Oh and Charles, don't leave Eli's side today. You know, because of the rumors."

I blushed a bit and apologized for Jill's behavior. "You don't have to be with me if you don't want to, sorry about her."

"It's fine. She has a point, you don't know what these people could do, they're so obsessed with Mason."

~~~~~

All day, girls have been coming up to me telling me how stupid I am for messing with their man. Boys have asked me to help them with their homework. When will this stop?

Charles has been with me all day, defending me. No one seems to care about him though. At the end of the day, we decided to find Mason.

I led Charles into the woods where Mason usually hung out. As expected, we found him laying in the grass with his eyes closed.

"Hey Mason, I came to talk to you." It was a bit awkward with Charles here but he said he wasn't going to leave me alone.

"Eli! Oh, and this guy. What do you want?" Mason's voice came out flat once he saw Charles. He stood up and brushed off his pants.

"Um, have you heard the rumor?" How was I even supposed to bring it up?

"Yeah. What about it?" He didn't seem to care.

"What about it?! People have said all this shit to Eli and you act like it's nothing!" Charles took a step towards Mason. I held his hand to calm him down.

"Charles, calm down. I just want to know if you know who started the rumor." I turned towards Mason.

He looked at me and smirked. "I started it. So what? Now we have to play along and you can't do anything about it. You'll have to pretend to like me until you actually do fall for me. It's funny how manipulative I can be."

"You motherfucker!" Charles punched Mason's cheek. Mason laughed and grabbed Charles by his shirt collar and slammed him to a tree. He punched Charles's nose and side.

"Guys! Stop!" I yelled and grabbed Mason's arm to try and stop him.

Mason pushed me off his arm with force which caused me to fall back. My hand scraped itself against the broken pathway. I hissed and yelled "Ow!" My hand and my elbow began to burn and bleed.

Mason stopped and rushed towards me. "Eli! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." He picked up my arm which caused it to hurt more.

"See what you did you bastard!" Charles picked me up and gave a dirty look to Mason.

"If it weren't for you trying to fight me maybe this wouldn't have happened!"

"Please stop, both of you. Charles, take me to my dorm please." Not wanting to hear them fight again and being upset with Mason, I decided to let Charles take me back to my room.

Charles picked me up and didn't let me down when I told him I could walk. I didn't look back to see Mason. I couldn't believe he created a rumor just so he could make fun of me.

~~~~~

Charles laid me down on my bed and got a cloth to clean my arm. He wrapped a bandage and gave my hand and elbow a kiss, "So it will feel better." He said.

"I'm sorry about Mason. Are you okay? He hit you pretty hard and your nose is bleeding." I put my hand on his cheek.

"Don't worry about me. I'm just glad you're fine." He grabbed a tissue and wiped his nose. His face was slightly flushed.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Charles got up to get it. Whoever was at the door began to talk to Charles and then came into my room. It was Nico, along with Ethan and Jill.

Jill saw my arm and ran to my bed. "Eli are you okay? Mason is such a jerk!" She gently inspected my bandaged arm.

"I'm fine. Thanks for worrying but, why are you all here and how did you find out so quickly?"

"Charles just told us. Originally, we came to ask if you knew who started the rumor but now we know." Nico was the first to speak up.

"Yeah, I'm shocked. I didn't know Mason would go this far." I moved my arm but Jill quickly set it back down on the bed.

"We came up with a plan. Well, Jill came up with it." Ethan looked at me sternly.

"A plan? What're you going to do?" My heart began to beat faster. Knowing that Jill planned something made me nervous.

"We can't tell you or else you'll try to stop us. Anyways, we'll see you later. Come on Charles!" Jill took Charles's hand, dragging him along with them.

"Wait! What're you planning?" It was too late. The door shut and I was left alone.

Great. Another plan that Jill came up with and she doesn't tell me what it is. Maybe it's for the best. After all, look at what Mason did to you for being so vulnerable. It's that little voice again.

Lately, my conscious has been appearing more often. It's usually harsh and rude. I don't know how to get rid of it but I wish it would go away.