Metanoia

Chapter 16~Hayes

A/N: i friggin LOVE this song❤highly recommend y'all listen to it

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.Chapter 16.

Did he just come out to me?

"Yes."

I was slightly taken aback. "I said that out loud?"

"Mhmm."

"Oh."

"Wait, do you not think you can keep this up for much longer because you like him?"

"What? Oh hell no, he's my best friend! And only my best friend. Geez, Maddie."

"Well sorry, I was just making some wild guesses," I laughed.

"So, you're not weirded out or anything?" he asks, with some creases of worry starting to form on his forehead.

"Of course not, why would I be?" I nudged him reassuringly.

He shrugged and looked off into the distance, focusing on the road in front of him. "I don't know, some people are not very okay with me being closeted."

"Please don't tell anyone else though, okay? I'll tell the others when I'm ready."

"Yeah, sure, my lips are sealed," I said as I "zipped" my lips and pretended to throw away the keys.

He burst out into a hearty chuckle and commented," What are you? Five?" to which I responded, "Actually, I'm Maddelyn." A grin stretched across my face.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and I caught a glimpse of a camera.

"What the fuck?"

"What the fuck?" Malcolm and I uttered in unison.

We shared the same arched-eyebrow expression.

"Who the hell was that?" I asked, going from side to side to get a better view but the photographer's van had already sped off.

"Either the papparazi, a stalker or, you know," he seemed a little uneasy,"one of Aiden's 'friends'." I instantly tensed up at the mention of his name and my breath hitched in my throat.

"It's only a possibility. Calm down, if you need, I could hire a bodyguard for you. If that makes you feel better?"

I sighed and broke into a small smile. Proceeding to shake my head, I say," That won't be needed, I'll be fine. Thanks for the offer though, if I need ever happen to need it, could I still take it up?"

"Of course Maddie," he said, smiling at me before he pulled up near my home and dropping me off.

We waved goodbye to each other and I made my way into the house. I took a nice, cold shower to clear my head of the whole camera thing. Honestly, I still shivered at Malcolm's words.

One of Aiden's 'friends'.

The last thing I needed right now was for him to be back in my life.

I went onto my phone and for a moment, I saw the three dots in Carter's chat and then it was gone. What did the shitbag want to say now? Eh, screw it, it's got nothing to do with me right now. It's funny how things can change all so suddenly in just 2 weeks.

Okay, it is partly my fault, I willingly let myself be susceptible to this stupid feeling of hurt again. Honestly, I should maybe just try out sologamy. There's no way a relationship with myself could fail, right? I burst out laughing at the thought.

***
Nothing else interesting happened. I just continued my routine of going to school, eating and sleeping. The picture of Malcolm never showed up anywhere but I still had my suspicions. We decided to drop the act and just go back to being close friends and all. It was pretty weird anyways.

A few weeks later, and it is now October. Time flew by just like that. It's been pretty a pretty crazy week. A food fight accidentally broke out in the cafeteria on Monday because apparently Cody was trying out his new potato launcher or something and accidentally sent mashed potato flying at Gabe's face.

As much as it was entertaining, it was incredibly messy. The janitors had given Cody a serious tongue-lashing and made him and Gabe clean it up. All the while, Gabe continuously smacked Cody, blaming him for the mess they caused.

***

Later that week

Thursday

I found Eva by her locker buzzing with Emilia. Oddly, so was the rest of the school. "Hey guys, what's u-" I was cut off by Eva literally shoving her phone in my face. "Maddelyn!" Woah, the only time she ever called me by my name is when some serious shit was up. 

I took her phone from her so I could actually see what was on the screen. It was the school's blog page. My jaw dropped when I read the headlines. "Ace Ryder really isn't Ace at all," I continued, "Turns out, our favourite movie star is actually Carter James Hayes, son of Jackson Hayes, the owner of Hayes INC."

Alarmed, I looked at Eva and Emilia. We all wore the same grim expression. "Wh-who wrote the article?" I stuttered as I handed back Eva's phone.

How the heck did this writer find out?

"Someone by the alias of Moon."

"How do you think he is going to react?" Eva asked.

"Well, we're about to find out. Homeboy is headed right this way and he definitely does not look full of sunshine and rainbows," Emilia stated.

I looked ahead to see Carter powering towards us, his gaze locked on to me. His jaw was clenched and he wore a icy cold glare. Other students rushed to get out of his way. He looked like the utter definition of the word 'pissed'.

Oh what the hell, he thinks I exposed him. Put-lease, I may be mad at him and all but I'm not that petty. "We need to talk," he growled. Blankly, I stared at him and said," Okay." We headed to a secluded corner of the school.

"D-" he started but I quickly cut him off, saying, "Look, I may be mad at you but I'm really not this childish and petty to do such a thing." I then folded my arms across my chest.

"Madelyn-" he wore a scowl, "-not everything is about you. Got it? Wake up. I was just going to ask you if you knew who wrote the article."

I grit my teeth. I knew I was wrong to just cut him off before even bothering to listen to him but I was just mad. "Also," he continued, "about what you saw 2 weeks ago, I-"

"Save it, Hayes." I said before storming off. I almost bump into someone on the way to class. I'm about to apologise then I realise who it is. "Aww, did Ace- oops I mean Carter finally break your puny little heart?" Claudia said in her annoying hyena-like voice. "Shut up," I spat, She stuck out her leg to try and trip me, keyword: try, but I "accidentally" stepped on her foot instead and she let out a yelp. She then tried to slap me but I dodged her hand, causing her to stumble forward.

"I'll get you back for that, you...WHORE!" She yelled. "Honestly Jenson, a) you don't scare me and b) stop calling people what you are." There was a chorus of "Oh"s from the surrounding students and I showed her the fingers. I then continued on my way to class.

Sheesh, is there ever a time I can have a drama-free week?

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HEY READERS!

I'm EXTREMELY JOYOUS  to announce that 

METANOIA HAS BEEN RANKED!!! 

#947 for the category loss out of 1.9K stories (SIDE NOTE: the worst has yet to come)

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!! 

I'll catch you guys in the next chapter, see ya!

                                                      PEACE AND HUGS❤️