Mil SO (Military Significant Other)

9. Two Truths For a Lie

The next day, Nash drove me to school. I sighed nervously as he parked in front of the school. Nash noticed my hesitance and made me look at him.

“You’re going to be fine, I promise. Just… pretend that you like me,” he said. I gulped. I kind of did. He was sweet and nice, and most importantly, he didn’t have a girlfriend. I nodded and we got out of the car. Nash laced his fingers with mine and we walked into the school. The atmosphere of the school felt different somehow. Nash led me to my locker and I sighed in relief. Nash glanced down the hallway before he held my cheek with his hand.

“Heath is coming. Pretend like I said something funny,” he said softly. I smiled and laughed like he told me.

“What’s… going on here?” Heath asked slowly. I purposely didn’t look at him.

“After… what happened between you two; we got to talking and… we are what you see now,” Nash said.

“You asked her out after I kissed her? What the hell man?” Heath asked. His face was slightly red.

“You screwed up, Heath. You knew you were dating Madison when you kissed her,” Nash said. “I’m not that stupid,” Nash smirked at him. Heath balled his hands in fists as his breathing became more labored.

“And you were supposed to be my best friend,” Heath said. Nash shrugged and wrapped an arm around my waist.

“We’re going to be late,” Nash said to me. Heath pulled Nash away from me and pinned him against the lockers. Nash took Heath’s hands off of him.

“Stop it!” I yelled at Heath as I stepped between them. “Go back to Madison or something,” I rolled my eyes at him.

“I can’t,” he snapped at me. I gave him a questioning look. He sighed and closed his eyes briefly. “In the cave,” he said simply. Nash took my hand and lead the way to the cave. Once inside, Heath looked like he was trying to keep it together.

“What do you mean ‘you can’t’?” Nash asked. Heath sighed and calmed down a bit.

“I broke up with Madison… for good,” Heath explained. My eyes widened in shock as I just stared at him.

“Y-You did? No, you didn’t. You did?” I asked in shock. Heath sighed and nodded as he looked straight at me.

“I meant what I said, Iris. I really really like you. I want… wanted us to be together, but I see now that we can’t,” Heath said. I smiled lightly and held my hands behind my back as I rocked on my heels.

“Why not?” I asked innocently. He glared at Nash.

“Because you two are together,” Heath spat at Nash. I hummed and tilted my head slightly.

“No one actually said we were together,” I reminded him. He looked at me confused as Nash chuckled.

“All my idea,” Nash owned up to it. Heath let out a huge sigh of relief as his shoulders sagged slightly. I could only giggle at his display. He strode up to me and pulled me into his lips. I gasped and found myself melting into him as my stomach erupted into butterflies. My hands clutched his shirt as he gripped my waist. Nash coughed dramatically. I chuckled and pulled away from the kiss. Heath pecked me once more before he shot Nash a look.

“Don’t you want to go to class now?” Heath hinted. Nash held his hands up in surrender and backed out of the room.

“Don’t have too much fun. This is still my cave too,” Nash said, leaving his final words. Heath hugged me close to him and chuckled.

“I hate what you guys did,” he muttered into my hair. I chuckled and pulled back slightly to look at him as I shrugged.

“I had to know,” I tried to explain. He shook his head with a slight smile on his face before he pecked me gently.

“We should probably get to class too,” he said. I nodded and let him intertwine our fingers together as he led me out of the cave. Whispering surrounded us as I moved closer to Heath. He noticed and squeezed my hand gently in assurance.

The rest of the day went on like this. Heath tried his best to stay with me but it wasn’t enough. When he wasn’t with me, Nash was, which only caused rumors to spread more.

Over the course of the next week, people got over it.  Well, most people. Madison threw a fit when she found out. Heath kept her away for the most part. Dinner with the Lancaster family was a little different now because I was his girlfriend and not his friend. They accepted it immediately.