isaac lahey imagine

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I walked through the doors of the school to have everyone instantly look my way. It was like they were a bunch of mindless droids controlled by a single source. But I guess that's high school.

"Kate, what's happening?" I whispered to the brunette beside me.

It took her a moment to answer, only thickening my anxiety.

"You didn't hear?" she asks as we both continue to look forward at the sea of students staring back at us.

"Hear what?" I asked, feeling the confusion spread across my face.

She sighed heavily before speaking.

"Someone spread a rumor that you...that you've been sleeping with Coach Finstock to keep your grades up."

With that I finally turned to look at her to see if she was joking. However, the discomfort shown in her features told me she wasn't.

I slowly looked back at everyone gathered in the hallway with a newfound nervousness. Eyes widening involuntarily, I gaped at them until Kate linked our arms and started pulling us in the direction of my locker.

People stared at us the whole way, causing me to keep my head down until we reached our destination.

As soon as I raised my head I instantly regretted it. Crude drawings and hurtful words filled the majority of the locker door while photoshopped pictures of the coach and I filled the rest.

"I'm really sorry Ash, people can be so immature sometimes," Kate comforted.

I sighed and turned to her, "it's fine."

"No it's not, whoever did this is gonna pay," she argued.

"Trust me, he will," I mumbled before walking in the direction of a certain curly-haired boy.

I had spotted him, leaned up against the wall laughing with a few other boys from the lacrosse team, while walking to my locker. He was completely oblivious to what I was doing until I grabbed the front of his shirt, his friends 'oh-ing', and dragged him out the front doors. Once we were outside I let go and turned on him.

"How could you tell people that? Did you honestly think that it would be funny?" I demanded.

He looked confused. "Tell people what?"

"Oh, you know, just that I slept with the economics teacher, which is not true by the way!" I exclaimed.

"I didn't tell anyone that you-," he began before snapping his mouth shut, eyes widening.

"What?" I growled.

"I was talking to Greenburg this morning and I told him about the joke that my dad had made, you know the one where he asked if you were-."

"I remember the joke, Isaac!" I interrupted.

"Right, well I told Greenburg, and one of the other boys may have overheard. The locker room isn't very big, you know, so it's possible that someone may have heard and not known that it was joke and then told their friends who told their friends until the whole school knew," he spoke quickly, noticing the quickening of my heart that came with the anger.

But suddenly, all of the anger slipped away, and now I was just sad. Sad that one of the few people I actually thought I could trust stabbed me in the back. It may not have been intentional, but it still hurt.

Isaac must have noticed this change in my heart beat as well, because he furrowed his eyebrows and looked concerned.

"Ash, are you okay?"

"No." He just looked at me, still concerned, so I continued. "Someone that I trusted, someone that I liked, caused me a lot of pain."

"You liked me?" he whispered, as if he couldn't believe it. All I could manage was a slight nod. "But not anymore?" he asked, his face falling deeper than it already was. I chuckled.

"That's the thing, Isaac. I still do." I looked to the side for a few seconds as tears pricked my eyes. I couldn't, I wouldn't cry in front of him. At least not now. Shaking my head I continued, "god. After all of this I still like you-" I turned to look at him, the tears having subsided for now "-Why? Why do I still like you?"

This, all of this, was so confusing. I was so hurt by what had happened, but I couldn't bring myself to be mad at him. I knew that it wasn't technically his fault, that it was whoever had eavesdropped's. Besides, what I said was true. I still liked him, and I still trusted him. He wasn't my only friend, but he was still a friend. He was still my friend. I couldn't bear to lose him.

He didn't answer my question. Instead, in one swift movement, he stepped forward, pulled me into his chest, and wrapped his arms around my waist. He pressed his cheek into the top of my head, whispering the same two words over and over- "I'm sorry".

Finally, I decided to just let go. I let all of it out- the anger, the sadness, the hurt. I sobbed into his chest until my throat was raw, but even then I didn't stop. I kept at it until I felt no more need to cry, to vent. Everything, all of the pain, had been swept away, and I was left with an empty shell. An empty shell that I could fill with anything that I wanted. With Kate. With Isaac. With anything and everything that the world had to offer. And the only reason that I had this opportunity, this chance to bring more meaning to my life than ever before, was because of some stupid rumor from the boys' locker room.

Can you guys let me know if I ended this okay? I kind of feel like I should make a more prominent ending, but at the same time I like it the way it is.