Persisting Anyway

18) Rory's POV

Rory's POV

"I cannot believe he would do something like that." Claire fumed.

"Me neither, they were perfect together, he was perfect, so him kissing Amanda doesn't make sense at all." I contemplated. "I'm going to talk to him." I had suddnely become furious. Here Sydney was, this unpopular girl that had this popular guy dating her, being kind to her and treating her with respect. Carter was literally perfect in her eyes, and mine. Then after a while we find him kissing the one girl he broke up with?

None of it made sense!

I stormed off towards the lunch room, Sydney was outside with Coach Hersh and two other girls in order to claim her spot. I had faith in her and I knew she was going to do great. I heard Claire behind me, trying to catch up. I heard her panting. We reached the cafeteria and immediately I spotted Carter. My feet carried me towards him and I came right up to his face.

He looked confused and I looked angry. "Uh, hi." Carter squeaked.

"How dare you go and take Sydney as your little project, make her feel wanted and special and then go locking lips with Amanda! You are so selfish and rude! I cannot stand to look at you, I will make sure that-"

"What are you talking about?" Carter cut me off.

"You know very well what I'm talking about!" I exclaimed. "Don't you play dumb with me."

Carter stood there for a moment contemplating. His expression changed when he came to a realization of what I was talking about. He opened his mouth when another voice interrupted.

"Hey hey hey what's going on here?' Max's voice followed the saunter. Josh was right next to him with his googfy grin. Max wrapped his arm around Claire and she leaned into him. I looked towards Josh and found him smiling at me. I smiled back.

Goodness I wish we were dating. He still hadn't asked me out and I was beginning to loose hope.

"I don't know, you tell me." I turned to Max, my eyes shooting daggers.

"Woah there, lets take this somewhere where not everyone can hear." I looked around as Max was talking and noticed many pairs of eyes staring. They all averted their eyes when I made contact with them. I sighed and turned around and walked away from the cafeteria. Max, Josh, Claire, and Carter followed. We walked down a hallway where I was sure no one would hear us.

"Alright Carter, talk." I stood with my feet shoulder width apart and crossed my arms, standing infront of Carter.

He rolled his eyes, shifted his weight and began telling his story. "I was walking down the hallway, going back to class from the bathroom when I saw Amanda. She told me she wanted to talk to me so I listened. She talked about how she was so sorry we broke up and that it was all her fault and she felt so bad for being the cause that separated us and broke us apart. She was sorry for being rude to Sydney and she really wanted to get to know her. Amanda said she still loved me and wanted a second chance.

"I told her that wasn't possible because I was with Sydney. I mean, how could I go back to Amanda when I had Sydney who was loyal and kind and loving. Sydney has the biggest heart and the best sense of humor, these have been the best months with her. I know we are taking it slow and I was perfectly fine with that, I realized I didn't need to speed it up with her, we were perfect as it was.

"There was no way I was giving that up for Amanda. So when I explained that all to her she was fuming for a little bit and then suddnely she was on me. Well, her lips were on mine and she held my face in this tight grip. I had no idea she was that strong. I tried to pull away, I really did, I promise, but the more I struggled the more she held on tight. Eventually I pursed my lips in order to stop it and she eventually dug her nails into my neck," he turned his neck so that we could see the imprints. Claire and I gasped, "Eventually she stopped after a little bit, I was so mad that I stormed off. I tried to find Sydney to tell her what happened but whenever I saw her she would move away and break eye contact. I wanted to explain everything to her but it was impossible to do that when she wouldn't even get within a ten mile radius of me." Carter rubbed the back of his neck where the nail prints were.

"Wait, so you guys thought that Carter was willingly kissing Amanda?" Max asked in disbelief, then he started laughing. Both Claire and I stared at him.

"Well, I had to ask." I stated.

"Okay, well Derek and Amanda had been planning this. I overheard Derek and Amanda talking the day it happened. I tried to find Carter but I couldn't find him. When I did Carter was so worried he was almost in tears." Max explained.

I contemplated their story and I came to a conclusion: "I believe you." I stated. Carter's face relaxed with relief and Max just rolled his eyes.

"Of course you do, Carter would never do anything like that, you know that."

"I know that, now we just have to convince and tell Sydney." I sighed, "it's going to be a lot harder to convince her when she was the one who saw it."

"I know, but you two have to talk to her, you guys are the only ones who she even looks at." Carter's eyes pleaded with Claire and I.

"Don't worry, we've got you covered. We will tell her tomorrow at the meet. You're coming to that right?"

"Miss my little Gem place first in State? Not for the world." Carter beamed.

"Or for Amanda." Max laughed.

"Not funny, dude." Josh punched Max's arm.

"Sorry; go Topaz!" Max fist pumped the air, and I knew then that it was going to be alright.