Settling The Score

Part 27

He didn't answer me. Not when I called, not when I texted. Not when I showed up at his damn house and basically pounded his bedroom door into the ground.

And eventually, my desperate need for forgiveness turned into anger. I couldn't even count all the times that he messed up, and I always gave him a chance to explain, always forgave him.

Even when he made the bet, I forgave him. But he wouldn't even give me the chance to explain.

He was acting like a fricking five-year-old girl throwing a hissy fit.

He didn't show up for school once this week. Lucy told me he was sick, but I knew better. The worst part was, it was the last week of school before Summer vacation. And who knew where he would be going.

Well, except for Mason hating me, at least the video had its intended effect. The situation was immediately brought to the school board's attention, and although they did not approve of my way of going about things, all four of the guys in the video were suspended. The entire football team was given a strict "talking to," but I doubted it would amount to anything.

No one was ever supposed to know that Carlos and I were involved. In the original video, my face might have been visible, but it wasn't like I was actually going to show it. Until Ashley intervened, of course. And in the second one, my voice was disguised. Sort of like in those "Anonymous group" videos, that just popped out of nowhere and exposed some secrets, stirred things up a little, and disappeared again.

But now, well, everyone knew it was us, that it was me. And I was branded as a heartless bitch who played with Mason's feelings. 

It completely wiped away the good intentions I had by making the video in the first place. But at least everyone knew now, and at least I wasn't the only thing they were discussing. The school even implemented a new support group, for girls that felt like talking about any asshole related problems.

You now, I could handle the gossiping, the thing I couldn't handle, however,  was the unbearable ache in my chest. 

It was already Friday, a week since I last saw Mason. I just wanted to know if he was okay and explain myself.

"If one more person so much as looks at me strange again, I'm going to start knocking out teeth," I ground out as I waited for Lucy at her locker. 

She giggled, giving me a slight rub on the shoulder. "Don't worry, it'll blow over." 

That was exactly what I was afraid of. That soon, everyone would just forget about everything. 

"Yeah, I guess."

We made our way to First period and stopped to meet Jenna and Beth in the hallway. It seemed like they were having some kind of argument. 

"Hey, guys," I greeted, and they immediately stopped talking. 

Beth cleared her throat and gave Jenna a small shove. "Leslie, Jenna has something she would like to tell you."

I gave her a confused look. "Okay..."

Jenna sighed, "Look, Leslie, before I tell you, just know I'm really, really, really sorry and if you want to hit me in the face afterwards, I'm totally okay with that."

I rose a skeptic brow, motioning for her to continue.

"Okay, so you know when I told you Mason asked me on a date? Well, he didn't actually ask me on a date. Ashley kind of forced me to tell you he did. She had a video of me with some really embarrassing stuff on. And I know it's not an excuse, but I freaked out. And like, I didn't know that you actually, you know liked him. So, I played into Ashley's hands and I lied to you."