My Heart's Choice (On Hold)

Chapter 35

Kenneth comes to a halt at the entrance to the locker room and I stop myself, right on time, from slamming onto him.

I look up at him to demand for an explanation.

Mason's voice booms in the background.

"Are you blind, you dumb-" he comes to a halt beside me, staring at something infront of us.

He body is tense and he seems to have forgotten what he wanted to say.

That is when it registers that the locker room is unusually quite. I follow Kenneth's line of sight and my eyes land on Seth, Nora and Rhea at the center of the room.

We move closer, my hand still in Kenneth's. Mason follows us, his eyes looking lost and confused.

Nora is standing to the side of Seth, her arms folded infront of her chest and watching the pained expression on Rhea's face. Seth looks undecided yet holds his hands infront of Rhea to stop her from approaching him.

"How could you do this to me, Seth?" Rhea screams, her body rocking with loud sobs and her makeup ruined with all the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Come on, Rhea. I explained this to you. We had a fling, and now that's over," Seth says.

So it is happening?

Nora notices me in the crowd that is gathering around to watch the drama, and gives me a slight nod. I nod back, making sure that nobody notices.

"You are cruel!" Rhea sobs, her fingers tightening around her hair and her shoulders hunched, "You are dumping me for her?" a storm blows in her usually bright blue eyes, clouding it with loathe, as she points an accusing finger at Nora.

"I love her, okay?" Seth holds both his arms up in defense, "And she loves me back."

"Love," Rhea scoffs, her voice sounding odd due to all the crying, "Do you even know what that is?"

Seth rolls his eyes looking bored.

"You vicious witch!" Rhea ignores Seth and lunges at Nora who ducks behind Seth just in time.

"Keep away, okay?" Seth runs a protective hand around Nora's shoulder holding Rhea away with his free arm.

"What about when you told me to stick to you, no matter what? And never leave you? What about all that, Seth?" Rhea demands, her face crushing and eyes pooling with tears.

"They are stuff that you just say," Seth shrugs.

Rhea's breathing us ragged as she breaks into a fit of sobs. The crowd encircling the three of them, watch with shock, not knowing what to do.

"You...you did this on purpose, didn't you?" Rhea demands, her eyes focussed on Nora.

"No," Nora shakes her head innocently, "I'm sorry for thinking that you still had feelings for Mason and that Seth was only just a fling."

Rhea's body goes tense at the mention of Mason's name.

"But Seth and I... We are in love," Nora emphasizes, her eyes wide, "And this is not just any fling," she adds, looking innocent.

I can see the lost look in Mason's eyes. He watches the scene unfold infront of him, as if he is in some sort of a trance.

"You know, since it is quite famous that Mason is willing to take you back, if you beg for his forgiveness on all your fours, I never thought that you were serious on Seth," Nora says, letting her eyes travel to Mason.

The whole crowd follows her eyes and acknowledges Mason's presence. Rhea turns to watch him, her eyes swirling with regret, pain and defeat.

Mason's brows furrow over his eyes, and rapid breaths escape his nostrils. His fists are balled at his sides and he looks like he can't understand anything that is happening.

The whole room is silent apart from Rhea's ragged breathing as she watches Mason in silence. Her eyes display an array of emotions before returning to the same look of defeat and pain.

She takes a tentative step towards Mason.

I don't know, but watching Rhea right at that moment sends a shudder down my spine. A feeling of guilt washes over me.

Suddenly it felt so wrong to have gone with this plan. It felt so wrong that we had to break Rhea in order to teach her a lesson.

With the look of defeat in her eyes, I realize that this is not about Seth or Mason. It is all about her own self.

Nobody just dumps Rhea Evans.

And now that it has happened, she is struggling in anyway to jump back to her previous glory : Being Mason's Girlfriend.

"Mason," her voice cracks, and her face distorts in pain.

With all the smudged makeup and messed up hair, she resembles a zombie. But her eyes are hardened with a new look of determination.

"Mason?" she trys again, taking a few more steps towards him.

Mason's eyes drift to hers, his green eyes dark with confusion.

And just like that the unthinkable happens.

Infront of all the students gathered to witness it, Rhea Evans drops to her knees infront of Mason.

It takes a couple of minutes for that to sink in. A loud and wild gasp erupts from the students encircling Rhea and Mason.

Mason's eyes go wide with realization and his face goes into panic mode. He dashes backwards avoiding Rhea kneeling at his feet. He watches her with shock, his mouth hanging open.

"It's okay, Rhea," Kenneth says beside me, "Mason has forgiven you," he shrugs.

Rhea looks up at Kenneth with so much hope in her eyes that it is almost so sad to watch.

"Well," Kenneth's voice silences the locker room again, "Dana and Mason broke up last night, and she's with me now. You can go to Mason," he states nonchalantly, holding up our entwined hands as proof.

I blink a couple of times at him.

When did that happen?

I see Penny emerge from the crowd, squeezing her way to the front. He eyes land on me, her lips thinning into a knowing smile.

Rhea gets to her feet, wiping her tears off. She slowly walks towards Mason, who stands frozen in place. Rhea gives him a small smile before wrapping her arms around him and whispering what looks like an apology in his ear.

My heart is beating faster than usual and it does a strange and out-of-character flip which I don't expect. The locker room blasts with applause at having Prestly Grek High's favourite couple back together again.

I see Natalie Carter, the cheerleader who talked to me in the bus, give me a thumbs up from somewhere in the crowd. I give her a small smile, which feels so wrong.

Mason's eyes find mine amidst the loud cheering and pumping of fists in the air. They have confusion written all over them. For a moment he looks like he did not notice Rhea clinging to him like glue.

I offer him a small smile.

He has what he wants. Isn't that what all this was about?

"Come on new girlfriend, you can't be late for class," Kenneth whispers in my ear.

I hear the smile in his voice and the faint sense of disbelief. Nevertheless, I let him pull me to my locker. I pull out the books I want for English Literature and stove my backpack inside it.

Kenneth shuts the door for me, holding his hand out for me. Without thinking twice, I grab his fingers and let him pull me out to the next class.