Secrets & Scandals

Mondays were simply the worst.

As I walked through the hallway, I sighed, wishing that the weekend had been twice longer. My legs felt too heavy, I honestly could have used another twenty-four hours to sleep.

Dragging my tired self along, I rounded a corner without thinking and bumped into someone, smacking my face hard against what felt like a rock, or maybe a chest. I staggered back, totally ready to fall.

Strong hands caught me, stopping me from hitting the floor.

"Oh my God," I gasped, my face instantly going hot. I wanted to disappear.

I closed my eyes for a second. Just a quick thank you to whoever was watching out for me.

I was about to say sorry, but then I looked up, and wow.

Staring back at me were the most breathtaking sea-green eyes I had ever seen.

His eyes were... yeah. Definitely not helping.

Liam.

The star quarterback of our school football team.

For a second, I swear I forgot how to breathe.

My whole body became tensed as I realized what I had done. I had just bumped into our school's golden boy.

I forced myself to look up to gauge his reaction.

He was tall, towering over me. I already felt small. Now, I felt invisible.

He stared at me like he could see right through me. I looked away, avoiding his eyes, but he was too close, and I could feel his eyes anyway.

His hands brushed against my skin as he held me up, and instantly goosebumps covered my arm.

I snuck a glance at him, peeking through my lashes. But his face was totally blank, his eyes giving away nothing. I was so caught up, I forgot to breathe.

"Careful, little one," he said, his voice low. "You're too tiny, we wouldn't want any crushing, would we?"

I almost swooned, my cheeks instantly blazed hot.

I hastily untangled myself from his hold, skittering back a few feet, nearly tripping over my own feet in the process.

Unconsciously wrapping my hands around myself, as if that would somehow protect me.

His lips twitched.

He kept staring at me. I bent my head and used the leverage of few loose hairs to shield my face from his view.

I completely missed the moment he moved.

Large hands swept across my face, tucking my loose hairs behind my ear.

I froze.

My eyes went wide open, jaws dropped open in disbelief. I lost all trains of thought. I couldn't even move.

What was happening?

I stood there, brain still scrambled. I barely noticed Sophia, running toward me.

Her gaze flickered between me and Liam, her face a look of confusion mixed with questions.

But underneath that look, I saw something else.

Longing.

It clicked.

Her eyes lingered on Liam a second too long before finally settling on me.

Sophia had always had a thing for him, even with his cold, mysterious nature.

"Ivy, are you okay?" she asked softly, almost pulling me from Liam's arms, which I hadn't even realized held onto me.

I nodded, and tried stepping back, only to realize Liam's hands still held onto mine.

I hadn't realized I had gone mute, staring confusedly at Liam, until Sophia shook me.

I looked to her. "What's wrong?"

She subtly nodded to Liam's direction. "What happened?"

"I...... just tripped."

I glanced over at Liam. Instead of looking away, he took a few steps back but kept on staring as if to make sure I was really alright.

His actions confused me.

A hidden part of me actually warmed up, to think that he was not as bad as he portrayed to be.

I looked back at Sophia, and caught her straight up staring at him like he was some kind of movie star.

I nudged her with my elbow, already grinning, ready to tease her.

But when she turned to me, her smile slipped.

She winced, and something in her eyes just... hurt.

The amusement vanished.

Why the sudden change?

Was it jealousy? Regret?

I made a move to hug her, but misstepped and almost landed on my butt for the second time that day. Liam's hand immediately shot out to hold me steady.

"Careful," he said, steadying me like it was no big deal.

"Seriously, you're gonna knock someone out one day."

My eyes immediately went to Sophia, mortified. She froze, hands extended, mouth slightly open.

I yelped, darting away from Liam and hid behind Sophia.

Oh, Lord!

I peeked at Liam from Sophia's shoulders.

Liam's face relaxed, just a little, and for a second, I could swear I saw it. There was a tiny bit of amusement in his eyes.

Before I had time to figure out what that meant, Claire showed up out of nowhere.

The head cheerleader.

Liam's "supposed" girlfriend.

She walked up to Liam, but her eyes occasionally moved between Liam and me.

She put her arms around Liam but kept staring at me. I didn't know what to say. So I just looked away.

I could feel her still staring, so I avoided eye contact.

Liam finally looked away from me. His expression went blank.

"Hey Claire."

The shift in tone was immediate.

Sophia snorted. Claire turned to glare at us before facing Liam again.

I panicked.

Should I leave?

Was this the moment I was supposed to walk away or what?

My heart skipped. I looked up. His sea-green eyes were locked onto mine again.

What was with the constant eye contact?

From everything I'd heard about Liam, he was cold, mysterious, no nonsense. Never chatty or caring. He only talked to the A-listers, the trendsetters.

But he had just stared at me like I was the only person in the hallway.

Claire whispered something to him. I had no idea what. It didn't matter. Whatever it was pulled his attention away.

That's when I noticed people were watching.

Whispers filled the air.

Claire's hand grazed his arm as she smiled, like I wasn't there. "Coming, Liam?"

Sophia yanked my arm. "Hurry, Ivy. We've got class."

I nodded, turning back to Liam.

I lifted a hand in a small, quiet wave.

His expression didn't change, but he gave a small stiff nod and looked away.

My hand dropped immediately.

Sophia elbowed me and leaned in. "What was that about?"

I shook my head. I didn't say anything.

What was there to say?

I turned to look back. Just a small peek.

His eyes were on me once again. His lips moved.

He was saying something.

My heart skipped.

"Run"

I blinked.

Sophia pulled harder. "Ivy, come on!"

I turned away.

Run?

I didn't imagine that. I couldn't have imagined that. Right?

With my head slightly bowed and hastened steps, I made it a few minutes late into Mr. Sanchester's class. He was the English teacher.

Luckily for me, he hadn't started lectures. I hurried to my desk and slumped into my seat. Sophia sat next to me.

I sighed. Call me lucky.

Carefully arranging my textbooks and writing materials, a warm satisfied smile spread across my face.

Barely five minutes into the lecture, the class was interrupted. My eyes widened and my mouth fell open as I saw who walked into the classroom. My stomach jolted, I almost fell off my seat as I watched them, in fact the entire class watched their every move.

They were the A-listers, as we call them, headed by Liam.

The once quiet and coordinated class became rowdy, filled with hummed murmurs.

What were they doing here? I groaned, a trail of sweat painfully made it's was down my back. I was tensed.

Liam looked around the classroom with a bored expression like he didn't care. His eyes finally settled on me. I sucked in a nervous breath, praying he would look away.

His eyes stayed on mine for five seconds-yes, I counted. It actually felt longer than that. He eventually looked away but started walking in my direction.

My chest constricted, I was almost hyperventilating at this point. I gripped my chair as hard as I could.

Please, walk away, I silently pleaded.

I didn't want any attention on me. I loved my boring life as it was, and being under the scrutiny of an A-lister was going to weigh heavily on me.

It would only bring unwanted attention. I loathed the thought of that.

He kept walking closer, my heart raced, everywhere became hazy as my vision clouded, I could clearly hear the sound of my heart beating. I slumped down in my seat trying to make myself as invisible as possible.

With the distance between us drastically reducing. I readied myself for his approach, mentally prepare myself.

My chest-God, it felt tight. Too tight. I shifted, fingers digging into the seat, the fabric rough under my grip. Breathe. Just breathe My knee wouldn't stop bouncing. Damn it. I sucked in a breath, slow and deep, but it didn't do a thing. Instead, I just sank lower into the chair, eyes shutting fast, like maybe that would make it all disappear.

Just a little longer. Just breathe

Nothing happened.

My eyes slid open. I expected to see Liam standing right in front of me, but I was met with nothing. He wasn't there.

Exhaling sharply, my shoulders relaxed. My body slightly sunk into the chair.

What a mighty God!

I turned to see where he was and saw him seated at the back of the class, five rows away.

I faced the class again, my mouth forming a smile. I placed a hand on my still racing chest.

"What had I been thinking?"

I silently laughed at myself. 'My thoughts was really spiraling out of control'.

As soon as the bell rang, I picked up my school bag, said a quick goodbye to Sophia, barely hearing her response, I slipped out of the classroom to avoid running into Liam.

At my locker, I looked around the hallway. Seeing none of the A-listers, I took a deep breath.

"Thank goodness I didn't run into any of them."

At least I was safe here. There was no chance of me coming in contact with them. Or so I thought.

As I swapped books for my next class, Claire and her friends walked up to me.

"Hey, Ivy", she greeted.

"Hi", I timidly responded.

The girls standing beside Claire giggled at my response before waving back at me.

I forced a smile, confused as hell.

"Hey, Ivy, uh... wanna sit with us at lunch?" Claire asked.

My books slipped from my hands, and I stumbled back against my locker.

Was this a trick?

She saw me with Liam this morning. I knew there were rumors about her dating Liam, which he hadn't refuted.

I looked around for help, I had no idea what to say.

Their eyes were on me, waiting, expecting. My throat tightened. I had nothing to give them.

I swallowed hard. Didn't help. That damn lump was still there, stuck like glue. My fingers twitched-restless, useless. Say something. Anything. But the words wouldn't come.

I swallowed hard, trying to push down the emotion. When I felt a familiar presence beside me. Sophia flung her hands over my shoulders, pulling me close, saving me from further embarrassment.

"Ivy's busy. We have something going on,"she said. "Maybe some other time."

Closing my eyes and leaning back into Sophia, I almost cried. I wanted to tell her how much I loved her in every language I knew.

Claire's smile slipped, before she got a hold of herself. She forced a smile, and spoke with a pinched mouth. "No problem, maybe next time."

They walked away, I sighed, turned around, and pulled Sophia into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Soph."

"You're very welcome, munchkin,"she replied, rubbing my back gently.

Gripping her arms, i muttered in a soft voice. "I hate this Soph. I don't understand why any of this, why they keep coming to me. I don't like this at all." I looked up to her, desperate for some kind of explanation.

Sophia snorted, her eyes lit up. She was clearly enjoying the whole thing. "Looks like you're now parts of Claire's drama club", she said, her grin widening. "Congrats babygirl".

I shook my head in strong disagreement. "Not me, never", I said loudly. Clubs, dramas, chaos, dramas, I wanted none of it. All I wanted was some peace and quiet.

First was the weird encounter with Liam this morning, and now this?

I didn't know what the heck was going on, and I didn't care. All I knew, one hundred percent, was that i wasn't a part of any of that.

Coach had been hard on us today. As captain, I bore the brunt of it. Our last game against the Taylor High had been though, and even though we won, it wasn't by much. They had been good but we were better.

Coach was not impressed, he made that clear with the extra practice and mandatory school hours.

I didn't have time for this.

Practice was already hell. Extra school hours? That was torture.

Things at home weren't great either. Mom had a fight again with Aunt Lexy, and I was once again pulled in as the middle man , Dad was on one of those long business trips.

Fantastic.

Still musing about the recent hell I was about to face, I didn't see her until it was too late. Someone bumped into me, hard. I instinctively reached out, holding the person upright, only to regret it. My body ached from practice, and the impact sent a sharp pain shooting up my arm.

It was at the top of my tongue to lash out at the person, until I saw who it was.

Ivy.

I knew her. More than I should. Zane never shut up about how pretty she was, and Claire? She was always comparing herself to her constantly.

I pulled Ivy up.

She blinked at me with wide, cute eyes, filled with fear.

I'd seen that look before. People always assumed I was cold, unapproachable, hell, some people even thought I was the devils spawn.

I've never had issues with what people thought about me, or their reactions towards me. Never bothered me. But something about the way she avoided my eyes, keeping those clear honey brown eyes from my view, unsettled me.

Before I realized what i was doing, my hands were tucking the loose hairs which she hid under behind her ears. She froze. So did I.

What the hell was I doing?

Before I could apologize for inappropriately touching her, her friend popped out of nowhere and pulled her away.

My eyes briefly accessed her, Maddie? Zoe?... nothing was forthcoming. I could only remember her as ivy's friend. My eyes was instantly drawn back to Ivy.

If you asked me, I wouldn't have a reason for still standing there. The girls whispered between themselves, then I sighted Zane.

I made a move to leave, and Ivy tripped, again.

I caught her, again.

"You're really a walking disaster, aren't you? I murmured, amazed.

She skittered away from me and hid behind her friend, which I found funny and cute.

She blushed. And my God, what a sight that was.

I barely had time to process that before Claire made her way over.

Hell no.

Claire was a childhood friend, who has the attitude of an insecure child with a serious need for attention. I tolerated her to some extent since I had known her for years.

My eyes went back to Ivy, and our eyes locked. She turned pink again, she was always blushing I noticed, this I think was out of embarrassment at being caught.

Claire noticed, and latched onto my arm.

"Liam", she whined. "I heard you're going to Mr Sanchester's class today. Can you please skip? I need to talk to you".

Not happening.

My eyes unconsciously returned to Ivy who shyly waved bye.

My stomach, my mood instantly changed.

I think I nodded. I can't remember.

Claire tugged at my arm again, I quickly pulled my arms off.

"I can't skip. Coach's order", I said , my voice flat. "If you need to talk, do that after the class".

I stared at Ivy's figure now walking away from me. Turn around, turn around. I silently willed.

And miraculously, she did.

"Fuck".

She looked so cute, so red. But then her eyes widened again, not in their usual cute way. This time she seemed shocked.

Her friend pulled her, then, they both hurried away.

What was that?

Confused, I shook my head. Then I walked away.

With Claire trailing behind, I hastened my steps.

She was a Phd manipulator, you give her a chance, she takes a milestone. Not today.

Immediately I got to Zane, I smacked him hard at the back of his head.

"Dude, where were you?"

"What the hell man, he hissed, rubbing the back of his head. "I was going to ask you the same". Besides, what were you doing with Ivy?

I shrugged. "She bumped into me".

Zane looked at me, hoping for more. Not happening.

When he realized I wasn't going to say anything more, he groaned and punched me on my arm.

"Dude, why are you like this?

Before I could answer, he muttered. "And why is Claire stomping over here?"

Nope.

I was gone before she could open her mouth. No more drama today.