Evan stopped me in the hallway right before lunch. "So, have you come to a decision?" I dreaded this moment.
It wasn't a matter of wanting to drown my feelings for Grey anymore; it was a matter of the consequences of me saying no. I slid my phone out of my back pocket and opened it up. My fingers hovered over the keyboard in my notes app, unable to process what I wanted. I repeatedly thought, I don't know Evan, he isn't above cheating, and he most likely isn't a good guy. But what else can happen to me if I say no?
"Evan!" I heard Grey call. I froze, my eyes locked on the screen. Grey approached and stood close next to me. "What's up?"
"Not much," Evan said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pulling me to him. "Just talking to my girlfriend." My eyes met Grey's, his boring into mine. So, I guess this decision is decided for me. As Sasha approached us, I wanted to scream.
"What's going on?" Sasha asked. A flash of anger tore through Sasha's eyes as they landed on Evan and me. Evan noticed, and his fingers tightened around my shoulder, a smile illuminating his face.
"Just talking," Evan said nonchalantly.
"Why is your arm around Mutey like that?" she asked, and my stomach lurched in anger.
"She's my girlfriend," he said, "that's why. Do you like being called Mutey, babe?" It took me a second to realize he addressed me, and I angrily shook my head. "I didn't think so." He glared at her. "Stop calling her that."
"We'll call her whatever the hell we want," Grey said harshly. I fought to ignore the sting I felt in my chest. Sasha's eyes were bloodthirsty as she looked me up and down, saying, "Mutey here isn't even that attractive. Don't know what you're going to get from her."
"You better stop calling her that," Evan warned.
"Or what?" Grey asked, taking a step forward. I pushed my arm in between the two of them.
"Mutey," Grey said, making me want to vomit, "get out of the way." My stomach was tense due to all the conflicting emotions I was feeling, and I was fighting the urge to let them see my tears. It felt awful that the one person I liked could say such harsh things to me. I pushed Evan away from Grey and took him by the hand, leading him away from them.
"You're so sweet," Evan said. "I'm sorry you had to be around any of that." I nodded, unable to think for a moment. I wanted to cry so badly. He noticed and quickly rubbed my back. "They're just mad about us. Don't let them get to you." He walked me to my next class, English, and I practically ran toward Mindy, who was in our seats.
"Hey, darlin'," she said and then processed the awful emotions written across my face. "Oh no. What's wrong?"
I typed out as much as I could while she read over my shoulder before our teacher and Sasha and her plastic posse got to class. They all sent glares, noticed by our classmates around us. I wanted to sink further into my seat.
As the class went on, I could hardly concentrate, nor did I want to. I could only think about what I got dragged into and how Grey completely flipped the switch and turned on me. I was so stupid even to entertain the idea that he'd be nice to me.
Phones throughout the classroom and practically everywhere in the school buzzed or went off, and our teacher, annoyed, said, "Silence your devices."
I peeked at mine and saw a party invite was sent to everybody in our grade via our school emails. The sender was Evan.
Celebration time! Join me and my girlfriend at my house this weekend ;). He put his address so everyone would know where to go. My stomach dropped, and my breaths panicked. I couldn't do this. Even if I had the strength to tell Evan I didn't want to be his girlfriend, it was all gone now. Since he announced to everyone that he had a girlfriend, he'd flip if I bailed out on him now.
But I couldn't handle the fact that everybody in our grade now new. I wanted to vomit, but I don't think that would be very helpful in a moment like this.
After class, Mindy and I headed to lunch. I sulked, and she wrapped her arm around my shoulder. She didn't know what to say, and honestly, neither did I. I felt like I got myself into this mess even though I said nothing!
I arrived in the cafeteria, and as always, it was normal. Like the entire cafeteria staring at me, all my fears were never realized. I let out a small breath of relief and waved to our friends before heading to the lunch line.
After grabbing our food, we sat with our group.
"Did you guys see that email?" Ana asked. Mindy didn't share Ana's enthusiasm. "Yeah, we did."
"Who do you think his girlfriend is?" Blake asked. As if on cue, Evan wrapped his arms around my waist, causing me to jump, and planted a kiss on my cheek. "I'm gonna sit with my friends, but just know I'm very happy about us." He pulled away and looked at our table with a smile. "I hope to be seeing you all there." He walked away.
All my friends stared at me.
"Hazel, what?" Andy asked, astonished.
"He asked me to date him, and I didn't know what to do! He just decided for me, and now Grey and Sasha hate my guts again!" I frantically signed as Ana translated.
"Break up with him!" Arnold said, as if that was the easiest solution in the world.
"I can't! The popular kids already hate me, and he's not an outcast himself." I let out a frustrated sigh. "If both Grey's group and Evan's group are against me, I will have to leave this school!" Blake translated this time.
"There has to be something we can do," Mindy said, "to get you out of this position."
"Or, we let it play its course," Andy said, and we looked at him in alarm. "I mean, come on, it's obvious what he's doing. He's trying to make Sasha jealous of you two so that she'll crawl back to him. You don't have feelings for him, right?" I shake my head. "Great. So in due time, maybe even at this party, Sasha will try to get him back, break Grey's heart, and be over and done with. Nobody will even bat an eye at you. They'll be too engrossed with the new drama."
I don't want Grey's heart to break, though.
"If it isn't my favorite bastard Mutey," Sasha's voice rang behind me, and I turned to see her with her plate of food. "Looking forward to this upcoming party."
Grey said nothing. He glared at me before following her to their table.
My hot anger was at the point of exploding. I turned back to my friends, and a surprisingly calm smile painted my face as I signed, "Let's make sure Sasha destroys him."
YOU ARE READING
Little Sweet Dreamer
Teen Fiction"Oh," he said, as my back hit the wooden wall. Damn it, of course. With nowhere to go, his arms locked me in between him and the wall. He stared down at me as he said, "So you're trying to piss me off?" His lips were surprisingly close to mine. No g...
