Chapter 2 Secrets

Alyssa

Time couldn't have been slower as I stared at the man in front of me, his red pen skating along the edges of the white sheet underneath him. This was the eighty-fifth one.

I would know because I'd been counting, right from when he started marking the damn scripts.

Couldn't he be faster? I wanted to yell out loud, but a tiny part of me wasn't sure I wanted that and I kinda agreed with it.

"Hey." I flinched at the touch of someone's skin over mine. Dainty hands wrapped around mine and only when I'd figured out who it belonged to, did I actually calm down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded as I whispered in the same tone she had used. I nodded again, twice, just so I'd convince her, but I knew deep down it was more for me than it was for her. "Yeah."

"No.I don't think so. " Vivian shook her head slowly, her brown eyes urging me to let her know what was wrong. But could I? I wasn't sure yet. "You're tensed up."

"No, I'm not.."

"You're clutching on to your pen like you're trying to hold on to your dear life." Vivian cut me off and my eyes flickered to my hand that was currently on my desk.

A small curse slid past my lips at the sight in front of me. She was right.

"And you only do that when something's up. So tell me, what's wrong?"

"Okay." I drawled in defeat, finally meeting her eyes. If there was one thing I admired about Vivian, it was how she always looked out for me. I guess that's why it didn't take long for us to be the best of friends. Or more specifically, my only friend.

"Is this about the test?" Oh, and I should have added she had this psychic ability to read minds too. Mine at least. It was either that, or I was really predictable. "Did you get an answer wrong?"

"No." Liar! Someone screamed at me in my head. I was never scared of tests, even if it was a pop quiz just like the one Mr Smith had just given us an hour ago.

But for some strange reason, I couldn't quite shake off the feeling that something was off. "At least I don't think so. What was your answer to the second question though?"

"47." Vivian chipped and I bit the inside of my cheek. I'd gotten a 2 as my final answer. "What did you get?"

"I um..."

"Order." Mr Smith's voice boomed from the front and I closed my eyes in relief, thankful for the interruption.

My eyes flew open again when I realized what that meant.

He was done marking the scripts.

Mr Smith had a rule he always stood by; the pop quizzes always stayed in class. It simply meant you'd get your results immediately and while I always looked forward to it, I wasn't sure I shared the same sentiment today.

"Sir?" I called after a while. I caught the attention of the whole class as I was the only one without a sheet of paper on my desk. "You haven't given me mine yet."

"I was getting to that. " His voice was cool and unnerving. "But before that, I want to ask; is everything okay?"

"Um." I bit down on my lip as the other students stared at me, their eyes boring holes into every part of my body. "Yes sir. Why?"

"This is why." He slammed a sheet of paper in front of me face down. I felt my heartbeat slow to a pause at that action.

Vivian's gentle smile and nod had me picking it up from the very edge. After taking in a mouthful of air, I flipped the paper over, ready to admit my fate.

"A D-?!" Vivian exclaimed a little too loudly and for once, I wanted nothing more than to pull her chocolate brown hair. "How's that even possible?"

Murmurs split through the class but that wasn't important, I had bigger things to be worried about.

"Sir?" My voice was barely a whisper. " I don't understand."

"Neither do I." Mr Smith's voice was curt. "This is the poorest you've done, forever. You got a good number of the questions wrong and it's never happened before. Is everything alright,Alyssa?"

"I.." my heart thumped rapidly against my chest as I scanned the class. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I knew I'd know when I found it. "Excuse me."

Without even waiting for his approval, I swiped my hand over my desk and shoved my belongings into my bag and walked out of the classroom as fast as my tiny legs could carry me.

I heaved a sigh of relief the moment the door to the girls bathroom shut behind me. I stalked to the mirror as I let my bag fall to the ground, a little thud filling the empty stall.

Bloodshot eyes stared back at me under the lense of my glasses. My hazel eyes were a dull color and I could literally see the worry in them.

What was wrong with me?

I'd never gotten less than an A- in any test and those were usually on my bad days. But today, this was unacceptable. A thought popped into my head immediately and I shuddered.

Remember, Bennett isn't who he seems to be.

Another shiver raked through my body. No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't. I was just reading too much meaning into what Cameron said and it was affecting me negatively, right?

Right.

There's no way he could be right. Cameron was literally the social outcast in our school so it shouldn't hold any water right?

If that was the case then why was it hard to focus during the test? Why had his words been ringing in my ears for the past one hour?

"Deep breaths, Alyssa." I cooed as I swallowed huge mouthfuls of air. In a flourish, I took my glasses off and turned on the faucet, letting the cool rush of the water calm my nerves.

I felt slightly better as the water splashed against my skin, before it's cool temperature seeped into my skin.

"It was probably a mistake." I mumbled to myself as I slowly put my glasses on. "I'll just head back to class and tell....Holy!"

The rest of my sentence died in my throat at the sight of the person in front of me.

While my heart hammered loudly against my chest in a desperate attempt to get out, he stood there, almost motionless like he didn't just scare the shit out of me.

"What are you doing here?" I fired at him, steadying my glasses on the bridge of my nose. "I'm talking to you."

Cameron said nothing as he stood still, his eyes raking over me. I peered at his green ones, perhaps I could find an emotion trapped behind them. But there was nothing, nothing at all.

"Cameron." I croaked, hoping it would sound more ferocious to him. "Why are you in the ladies restroom?"

I found myself taking two steps back as he took one towards me, his height looming over me. He didn't stop staring and I found myself sinking deeper into my skin.

"Wait!" My hand latched onto his wrist as he suddenly turned away. Irritation filled his eyes as he stared at the spot where our skin met and I pulled my hand away from him, a blush staining my cheeks. "I want to ask you something. What did you mean by that? What you said on the field."

"Maybe if you stick around long enough, you'll find out." He rasped. "Now let me go."

"Please, just tell me.."

"How about Bennett tell you, huh?" He shot back, a raging fire in his voice. "Go and ask him."

"But I'm asking you..."

"And I don't care!" I flinched at his loud octave. "Goodbye."

"You're bluffing." He halted in his tracks the moment the words left my lips. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"You wish." He scoffed, a dry chuckle following after. "

"Then why don't you tell me then?"

"You should ask your boyfriend." The words rolled off his lips carelessly and I found myself fuming underneath. "Or your friends. I'm sure they'll..."

"No!" I wasn't sure which startled him more; my loud voice or the fact that I was now in front of him, and a little bit too close for comfort at that too. "You're going to tell me what you meant by that comment."

"Why?" He cut me off, totally looking unfazed. "Just tell me one reason why I'd do that."

"Because I'm tired of being kept in the dark." I tossed my hands in the air before dropping them down again. "Literally everyone in the school knows something that I don't and you don't want to tell me about it! No one does."

"Because you can't handle it..."

"Yes I can." I stared him deep in the eye. "I can."

Time seemed to grind to a halt as I waited for his response. With each second that passed I became slightly and more aware of our proximity.

We were only inches away and if I listened closely, I could hear his breaths coming out in short rasps.

"Fine then." Something about the smirk he donned didn't sit right with me but I wasn't going to back down now. "Why don't we go pay your boyfriend a little visit?"