Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Can you come over tonight and help me pick out my outfit for Friday?" I ask as Michelle and I walk through the doors to the cafeteria. I spot the back of Ashton's head from his curls that have started to get a bit out of hand. "The guys are sitting over there."
"You know what?" She starts pulling my arm. "I'm in the mood for an us lunch under the bleachers today. We haven't done that in forever."
The boys have spotted us by now but Michelle drags me out of the cafeteria. "But they're selling warm cookies for fifty cents today."
"We'll go to Subway later today and I'll buy you all the cookies you want."
"Fine." I sigh but follow her out to underneath the bleachers where we get seated on the cement blocks.
"So will you help me?"
"Huh?"
"Tonight. Will you come over and help me pick out my outfit for Friday?" I start going through my backpack to get my lunch out. "We can go to your place tomorrow for you. I think I might want to borrow that black tank top you bought last week actually."
"I'm not going to the party anymore."
"What? Why?"
"Calum and I broke up last night." I stop my movements to blink back at her. I'm sure there's a crease between my brows from my confused expression.
"I'm sorry you did what?"
"We broke up."
"But you've been dating since freshman year," I dumbfound. "You were fine yesterday. What happened?"
"He broke up with me," she says and I move over to sit beside her. I wrap my arms around her and lean my head against her shoulder. "It just feels weird not to be with him, you know?"
"Oh, sweetie," I coo. "What did he do?"
"I really don't feel like talking about it."
"What are you gonna do?" I ask. "He comes around your house all the time to hang out with Michael."
"I'm just going to stay away. I don't want to see him right now, or any of the other boys really. Can you do that for me, stay away from them?"
"What?"
"Just for now. You know they'll all gang up with Calum so I'd like it if we just stay away from them for a while, until it dies down."
"Of course I'll stick with you, Shelly," I smile at her. "You're my best friend. No guy is going to change that."
"Thanks, C. You're the best."
"Anything for you, M."
...
It's Thursday and I've avoided the boys as if they're the plague. I'm just about to leave school when Calum stops me in one of the stairwells. "Chandler, can we talk for a second?"
I don't have a choice as he grabs my arm and we stand face to face with each other. "I–I need to get home."
"Chandler, just stop." The stern tone behind his voice makes me almost freeze up and I look up at him, biting the inside of my cheek nervously. "Talk to me."
"I don't know what you want me to say."
"You've avoided me for the past almost three days," he starts. "And I know Michelle is your best friend and all but I can't believe you're actually taking her side in this. I thought you had a moral compass."
"What do you mean? You were the one who broke up with her. I'm sorry but you have three other guys to take your side in whatever you did to her, and that includes her brother, so don't judge me for sticking with my best friend."
"Oh my God, she hasn't even told you, has she?"
"Told me what?"
"She cheated on me." The words feel like a slap to the face and for a moment all I can do is gape at him.
"She wouldn't do that to you," I say. "There is no way. She would have told me."
"Maybe you don't know her so well after all," he says through a humorless chuckle.
"She asked me to stay away from the four of you because she called for you to hang up on her because guys stick together or whatever."
"The only reason she doesn't want you talking to any of us is because we all know what she did."
"She confessed to it?"
"Yeah. I mean Luke came to me right after it happened—"
My eyes go wide. "Wait Luke? So Michelle cheated on you with Luke? As in your best friend Luke?"
"Bingo."
"But I saw you with him at lunch."
"Because he stopped it before it got to more than a heavy make-out sesh and he came to tell me about it right after it happened. Besides, she was the one who started it."
"When did this happen?"
"After practice, when I gave you a ride and Luke took Shelly home."
"Oh my God," I say. I grip the railing as a million thoughts run through my head far too fast for me to keep up with them all. "Oh my God."
"Are you OK?"
"I'm fine. Are you OK?" I ask and he shrugs.
"I've been better." I feel so incredibly bad for him. I close the space between us and wrap my arms over his shoulders as I push up on my toes. He tightens his arms around my waist and buries his head into the crook of my neck.
"I'm so sorry, Calum. I really didn't know."
"It's all right." I can feel the vibrations of his voice against my neck as he speaks. I pull away.
"I need to find Michelle."
"She's at home, Michael texted."
"Oh, all right."
"I could give you a ride, if you want."
"Yeah, thanks." We don't talk until we're both seated in the car and well on our way to Michelle and Michael's house. I can't stop looking to Calum constantly, trying to catch a glimpse of any sort of feeling.
"You don't have to look at me like I'm broken," he says but he keeps his eyes on the road. "I'm fine."
"I don't think you're fine."
"How come."
"Because you love her. You can not possibly be fine, Calum."
"I don't..." Calum stops to let out a breath and grip the steering wheel harder for just a second. "I don't want to talk about it. We're not really close friends like that, remember?"
"I can't believe you're still holding on to that. You know it's true. We'd never even speak to each other if not for Shelly being there."
"You really know how to break a guy's heart, Chandler."
