Blackmailing Isn't cool

14. The rumor

Alex POV

"Can you believe they were just kissing! in the middle of school!" Grace says to us, not bothering to keep her voice low enough so Kate, who is only 2 tables away, can't hear.

"Yeah" I say, rolling my eyes. "It's so tragic."

Grace ignores that. "Talk about PDA! They're 12 years old! They shouldn't be kissing in public, if at all!"

"We get it, Grace. Kate shouldn't kiss someone who might be blackmailing you in public" says Cheryl.

"Speak of the devil, here she comes" says Grace.

I look, and sure enough, Kate is walking towards our table, looking sheepish.

"Can I just say something?" she says, when she meets our table.

"Sure, Kate" Caylie says. "You are still our friend" they both smile.

Kate sits down, beside Ashlyn, and says "I'm sorry for getting mad. I just don't think it was Seth, okay?"

"You are personally allowed to think or not think it was whoever you want" Grace says, not making eye contact, and leaving her eyes on her meal. "Fortunately and unfortunately, we have the same freedom as you. We are perfectly allowed to think it is your boyfriend."

Kate looks stunned at these words. "I know you are technically allowed to" she says. "But I think I would know if my boyfriend was blackmailing one of my best friends"

"You've watched Pretty little liars" Grace says, her head finally snapping up, to look at Kate. "You know how many times their boyfriends were blackmailing them? A lot. It is possible that Seth is blackmailing me, and I have the right to think that."

"Fine" Kate says, standing up. "But whilst you think that, I'm on Seth's side. Maybe, when you realize that it isn't him, I will come back, but until then-" she doesn't finish her sentence, she just walks back over to Seth.

"Well" Grace says. "That was-" she pauses, looking for a fitting word. "Clarifying"

"Yeah" we agree.

Ashlyn POV

It is Tuesday. We saw Kate and Seth kissing yesterday. After that conversation with Kate, a rumour started to spread.

I might be wrong, but I think Kate was mad at us, and so she started this rumour.

The rumour is about me. Why me, I don't know. I tried to stay uninvolved it that little conflict, but still, it was about me.

Now, everyone thinks that I have a crush on Draytin. I can't believe it. That rumour couldn't be more wrong. I don't hate him, like Grace does, but he does sometimes get on my nerves.

I can tell that he isn't actually as dumb as he pretends he is. He mostly does it, so he gets attention. He doesn't even try to stop them, when people use his 'catch phrase', lacking intelligence.

This makes me a bit confused. I don't understand why someone would pretend to be really dumb. In my opinion, being smart is so much better than being dumb.

Anyways, about the rumour, I try to tell people it isn't true, but they don't believe me. It's irritating.

Oh, great. Draytin is walking towards me. And my friends. He probably wants to talk to me about that rumour.

My guess was correct. "Can I please talk to you Ashlyn?" he says.

I look at my friends. I can tell Grace is having trouble holding back a giggle fit. I glare at her for a moment, then look over at Draytin. "Sure" I say

I decide to let him say what he wants to say, and hear him out before arguing my case. "So" he says. "About that rumour"

I sigh, but let him go on. "And I wanted to say, that I like you too" he says

Woah. Draytin must have some sort of thing for smart blondes. I was not expecting that. Not at all.

"Ummm, Draytin?" I ask, staring at him.

"Yes?"

"You know that rumour wasn't real, right?"

The smile that he was wearing on his face a second ago vanishes.

He stares at me, with a piercing look, and then, all of a sudden, he just turns his back, and walks away, his face red.

I know he can sometimes be a jerk, but I kind of feel bad for him. Twice in two weeks, had he thought a girl liked him, so he asked them out, and both times has he figured out the hard way that those girls didn't actually like him back.