Chapter 18: Do You Know Something That I Don't?

   I hurried down the hall trying, but seemingly not succeeding, to make it to homeroom before the bell rung. My ponytail swung back and forth as I walked at a brisk pace. I was still walking around school with my head down to avoid people. I wasn't ready to face anyone just yet. That's why I didn't notice all the weird stares that everyone was giving me. Plus, I was still floating on a little happiness cloud from everything that had happened with Drew the day before. Then my little daze was broken when I felt something clutch my wrist and pull me forward. I let out a little shriek, and looked up to see Ryan dragging me down the hall. That boy really knew how to appear out of nowhere.

     "What the heck are you doing, Ryan?" I demanded. I had to practically jog to keep up with his long strides. 

     He waved his hand in the air to dismiss my question. I grunted in defeat and clutched my books to my chest. We then turned a corner and before I could object Ryan pulled me into a storage closet and closed the door. There were no windows in the little room so all that I could see was the outline of Ryan.

      The bell went off outside and I sighed heavily. "C'mon, Ryan! I'm going to be late for class. Can't we do whatever this is later?"

    Ryan put his hand on the doorknob, and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket with his other hand. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what this is all about." He turned his cell phone to face me and on the screen was a picture of Drew and I kissing in front of my locker.

   I snatched the phone from his hand. "Who sent you this?"

   "I didn't recognize the number. But I'm not the only one who has this. Pretty much everyone else in the school got this picture sent to their phone."

        I groaned and leaned back against the wall. I squinched my eyes closed and rubbed my forehead with my hand. I had thought that we were alone. I guess I didn't think about the fact that some people were in after school programs. "Who would do this? Do people find some sick pleasure in completely ruining my life?"

    Ryan doesn't respond; just shrugs his shoulders. I should have known better than to do that at school. I guess I underestimated the cruelty of my peers.

 
      I opened my eyes to look at Ryan. He stared at the ground and stayed quiet. Shadows danced aross the floor from the kids who were rushing to their classes outside of the room.

 
       I pushed myself off the wall and stood up straight again. "Are you mad at me?"

   Ryan looked back up at me. He seemed a little startled, like he didn't expect me to say anything to him. "I'm not mad at you, Kels. I got the hint that you didn't like me way before I got this picture."

     I felt so guilty. It was like no matter what choice I made there was always someone left out. There was always some sort of regret to go along with it. I guess my regret about picking Drew was that I had to hurt Ryan. The one person who I knew would always be there for me. It was a deep guilt, too, because for a long time I had liked him. But then Drew came into the picture and changed it all. In a way it almost felt like I was denying a part of myself. "Ryan, I'm so sorry if I hurt you."

     Ryan shook his head and put his hand on my shoulder. The look in his eyes was so forgiving that it just made me feel worse. "Don't be sorry. All I want is for you to be happy. If being with Drew is what makes you happy then that's what I want you to do. You know that saying, 'If you love something then let it go?"

   I smiled a little and nodded my head. "Yes."

"I'm letting you go. But promise me that you'll be careful. I just don't want you to get hurt."

     All of those words gave me a newfound respect for Ryan. He was a stronger person than I thought. And he had such a deep care for me that I could only hope Drew had, too.

    "I promise."
~~~~~~~~~~

"Kissy, kissy."

    I looked up from the last minute homework I was working on to see the girl from yesterday standing in front of me. You know, the one who said that they should've let me die? Yeah, that girl.

    I glared at her. "Did you take the picture?" It would have made sense. She obviously didn't like me so it was an obvious reason for why she would want to blackmail me.

      She snorted and grinned a little as if she were amused by the question. "I wish," she scoffed, "I guess that's why he stood up for you yesterday. He knew he'd get something in return. I detect a little you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours business." She raised her eyebrows and continued to smirk at me. It was like she knew something that I didn't.

  The nerve of this girl! "No! What do you care?"

   She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't. But if I were you I'd think twice about getting involved with Drew. He isn't as nice as everyone thinks he is."

   I narrowed my eyes at her. "How would you know?"

   "I dated him for a little while sophomore year. There is a lot more to people than meets the eye." She moved her arm, and her jacket sleeve rode up a little. My eyes just happened to look down at that moment and thats when I saw the jagged, bright red scars on her wrist. My mouth dropped open just a little bit, and I heard her snicker. I looked up at her with widened eyes.

     She smiled, but it was a creepy smile. It was a smile that only someone with a lot of secrets could possess. "See what I mean?"

    I stared at her with such confusion. She was right about what she said, though. She didn't look like someone who would cut themselves. Of course, I wasn't really sure what a cutter was supposed to look like. I guess I had always imagined them to be some goth kids who dressed in all black or something. But she had shoulder length, strawberry blonde hair with a thin streak of pink on the left side, Icy blue eyes that seemed to stare straight into you, and soft facial features. She was a relatively petite girl; only a little bit taller than me. Nothing about her looked outstandingly depressed or anything. Although she did wear a little too much eyeliner.

  "Who are you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. It was weird that I'd never seen her before.

       She folded her hands over her chest and tilted her head up a little. "My name is Jadelyne, but you can call me Jade."

  The way she spoke was as if she were talking down to me. It was like I was a child.

    "I'm Ke-," I started to introduce myself.

    She held her hand up to stop me. "I know who you are." There was something about this girl that was just so strange.

      Before I could say anything else Drew walked into the room. I looked up at him, and Jade followed my gaze. "Speak...of...the...Devil," she said slowly and pursed her lips. Then she walked away slowly without another word and took a seat at a desk in the back of the classroom.

    Drew settled into the desk beside mine, and leaned over to talk to me. "What did she want?"

      I looked back at her and to my surprise she was staring straight at me. She cocked her head to the side and an eery smile spread across her thin, pink lips. For a second I was frozen. It wasn't until right then that I really could tell there was something really weird going on with this girl, and I needed to know more.

   I turned back around in my seat. "Nothing," I muttered and went back to finishing my homework.

Author's Note

If the second part of this chapter was a surprise to you then I just want to let you know that it was a surprise to me to. When I sat down to write this I did not plan for this to happen. It just kind of came together. Don't you love when that happens? Initially, I didn't even plan to bring this girl back up. Weird, huh?

Reviews

[Krista Weiss]

Really good! :) I need to know more haha!

[Pugsly]

There's going to be more of this right? It can't just end like that Ryan can't accept it without a fight, I mean there's only so much you can do when someone doesn't like you back without sabotaging the friendship but he should do something later on... the whole drew thing unsolved... Need to know the answers!

[Lydia]

There will definitley be more! If I don't get the next chapter up tomorrow it will be up by Monday for sure! There shall be more twists!

[Pugsly]

-sigh of relief- that's good as long as there is more to come, don't worry about getting the next chapter up, (unless it's already done) I can wait.

[Tsukin Archangel]

lol tell me about it i planned to have Volt and Dare get blown up at the park but then that kinda didnt happen, its funny how things happen in stories sometimes its like they write themselves you know? Anyway great job with this chapter it was really good~ Hehehehehe soooo Drew isnt as innocent as he appears eh~ I feel confrontation brewing >;3 STAY CLOSE RYAN THIS RELATIONSHIP MIGHT BE OVER FASTER THAN YOU THINK!

[Gothic Girl]

love the chapter. but i was left hanging when Ryan obediently accepts Kelsey's decision. I mean, there was not much of an argument between the two. the two were bestfriends for a long time. and i assume, during those times, they liked each other already. so i was just wanting a bit more from Ryan's side to Kelsey's decision. nevertheless, great story again. :)