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❝Don't believe in anything you hear. If you believe in something, you are automatically precluded from believing its opposite.❞

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  ♚ It would be really appreciated if you just clicked on that small star on the bottom. It doesn't take much to do on your behalf, but every one of them lights up my day. Xx, MD ♚

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*NOT EDITED*

Chapter Seven

I REST MY HEAD on my hand and aimlessly doodle on the corner of my notebook. The teachers words go through one ear and fly through the other, Trigonometry was never my subject.

The past few days have been very uneventful; mom and dad come back, I go to school, and nothing happens. Strangely, I haven't seen April at all.

"Psst," Jeromy tugs at my hair behind me in his seat, "There's a pool party tomorrow, you coming?"

I groan. "I don't want to."

"You don't have to." He says it so simply as if it's that easy.

I don't look at him as I raise an eyebrow. "You know I can't."

He doesn't argue because he knows I'm right.

The rest of the period passes by in a painfully, slow manner until the long awaited bell rings and I hasten to pack my books.

"Someone's in a hurry," Jeromy says with a chuckle, catching up with me as I hurry out of class.

"Ditch with me after lunch," I tell him.

He rolls his eyes. "Do I have a choice?"

"No." I smile.

We separate ways and I walk to my locker, dumping my books carelessly. I push through the crowd and walk into the lunch hall, standing in line.

"I can't believe it," I hear a girl gush to her friend behind me. I turn to see two juniors; a redhead and a pretty dark skinned girl I recognize as Tina from the cheerleading team. The team mostly consists of seniors, but Tina is the only junior due to her talent.

"Is she asking for a death wish?" Tina replies with wide, brown eyes.

"I heard she's the same girl that fought with Phoebe at her party."

I've been trying to ignore their animated gossip, but my ears perk up when I hear the familiar terms.

I turn to the girls. "What are you talking about?"

Their eyes widen in surprise when I give them my attention. I'm one of the most unsocial people in The Royals. It's very rare when I find a person who I can stand . . . who doesn't live on gossip ad kissing up to our circle.

"Someone caught Sawyer Campbell kissing a girl. I think her name is April?" Tina turns to her friend for confirmation to which she nods. "And we all know that Sawyer and Piper have been a thing for a while now."

I'm pretty sure I heard that wrong. "Are you sure it's April?"

Tina's friend nods surely, but I'm not convinced.

Sawyer is the football team's linebacker and one of Jeromy's close friends, which makes sense since Jer is the team's captain and quarterback. I know Piper, but we're not close enough to be labeled as friends . . . we're more like acquaintances.

Before I can ask any more questions, we hear the high-pitched screech that's produced by a microphone. Our principal stands at the front of the lunch hall, tapping the microphone repeatedly.

"Good morning. We're having a short but needed assembly in the gymnasium. I'm asking of all of you to gather there. Thank you." She smiles a tight-lipped smile before handing the microphone to a teacher. She, then, walks quickly out of the hall on her high heels.

I groan and look at the line in front of me. I still didn't eat anything and it looks like I'm not going to. I sigh and walk to the front of the line, rolling my eyes when I earn a couple of protests and angry yells.

"I'm sorry, honey, but there's a line and you should get to the back of it," the girl says with a fake, sickly sweet voice. She isn't looking at me but at her horrible and cheap manicured nails.

"I think the fuck not," I reply in the same tone, earning a shocked gasp. She finally looks up to me and I smirk when I see her horrified expression. Her reply is comical stutters.

"Move," I say, my expression dropping to a threatening one.

I happily take her place and order two slices of pizza from the nice lunch lady. I take them from her, giving her my money and a smile of gratefulness in return.

I walk away with a smirk, seeing the annoyed line of people as I take a bite of the hot, cheesy pizza.

There is a crowd by the door as everyone rushes to leave the hall. Assemblies in our school are very rare and when there is one, it is always in the morning. Hence the excited chatter and hurry to leave the hall.

Coincidently, Hunter ends up being pushed next to me as we walk out.

"Any idea what's this all about?" he asks.

I don't say anything but just shrug; the pizza owns all my attention. He rolls his eyes with a small smile in return.

Once we are past the narrow area by the doors, the crowd disperses slightly and I'm allowed to breathe freely again.

We enter the gymnasium to the sound of the principal's voice through the microphone, echoing against the vast walls of the gymnasium.

"As you all know, football season is coming up," — at that, the hall erupts in hoots, excited yells, and claps — "Well, our lovely cheerleading team decided to make a video as a sort of preparation and cheer to the football players."

Everyone starts looking at whichever cheerleader is around them. Weirdly, though, I notice that most of the girls from cheer were confused and shrugging.

Before anything else can happen, the lights are off and the projector lights up against the Smart Interactive Board.

It's starts as a white screen and then I see the back of the school on the board. It circles the parking lot before landing on two people hidden between trees. The camera zooms in and I realize that the two people are kissing.

This is definitely not a preparation video to cheer the football team.

And these two people aren't a couple.

They're Sawyer and April.

Different murmurs and gasps rise from the crowd, one of them coming out of me.

"Isn't that your friend?" Hunter asks.

I nod, not believing my eyes.

The principal finally gets ahold of the situation and is yelling at the school IT men to shut it down. One of the girls from the crowd rushes up to the stage and is talking to the principal in whispers. She nods curtly and brings the microphone to her ear as the lights turn back on.

"This was obviously a mistake, one of the girls accidentally gave us the wrong video."

This is obviously not a mistake.

My head turns to the source of the yelling to my left. Sawyer and Piper are in a heated argument, and when I look closer, I realize that Piper's cheeks are streaked with tears.

I need to find April. Everything is turning into a mess

My mind is screaming at me, telling me that maybe this was all a misunderstanding. But the video can't lie.

Is this why I haven't seen her for a few days?

I scold myself for doubting April. That can't be the reason, she'd never do that.

I push through the thick mass of people, muttering sorry's and excuse me's, my eyes struggling to find her. The whole school is probably here, but the one person I need to find isn't.

Finally, I spot the familiar brunette. She has an alarmed expression and her face is fear-stricken.

"April!" I call out to her. Her head turns in different directions, trying to identify who called her.

I finally manage to walk up to her and place my hand on her shoulder. She tenses but visibly slackens when she sees that it's me. Her eyes glint with relief.

"Come on," I say and grab her hand, leading her away from the everyone and out of the gymnasium. I'm relieved when we're finally out of the frenzied crowd.

I don't stop until we reach the closest bathroom, both of us don't say anything; the only sound in the hallway is the steps of our shoes on the floor. Finally, I shut the door and sigh, resting my back on it.

"I swear it wasn't me," she says, her voice high-pitched.

I open my eyes. A part of me is relieved and I'm not sure whether it is the stupid one or not. As far as I know, they haven't invented video photoshop yet

"He-he forced himself on me. I swear." She shakes her head vigorously.

I bite my lips, feeling pity towards her. Life has been ruthlessly beating her down and no matter how hard I try, every time we're finished with something, something new pops up.

"I believe you, April," I say quietly, stepping away from the door.

"The whole school isn't going to." She's hysterical, but I can see her trying as hard as she can to keep the mask up.

I want to tell her it's okay to cry, but suddenly, the door is pulled open from behind me, taking us both by surprise. I see April's eyes widen in fear and I turn around to see why.

Piper stands outside with a group of other girls. When I crane my neck outside, I realize that most of the school stands outside, as well. I stand in front of April protectively.

"You! You're the bitch that stole my boyfriend from me." Piper points her finger behind me at April. The mascara-stained tears down her face are still fresh.

I sigh and step forward. "Now, before we start making any wrong assumptions, let's calm ourselves first."

Her head snaps to me like she just realized I was standing there. "What are you talking about? Please stay out of this."

"You seem like a nice person, Piper," I say, "don't make me change my mind. Let me explain first."

She closes her eyes and sighed deeply. "I don't need an explanation. You can't tell me that the video did some special effects to make it look like it wasn't her."

"I'm not going to lie, it was her," I say, earning a satisfied look from Piper, "but your boyfriend was the one who pushed himself on her."

"Hey! That's not true, stop lying. She's just trying to protect her friend. She's the one who pushed herself on me."

I look to find Sawyer, standing with crossed arms behind Piper. Everyone starts murmuring in agreement.

I scoff with a roll of my eyes. "Sure, go there, Campbell. Everyone knows that you were one of the school's biggest players until you started dating Piper. What would make us think that you wouldn't go back? Once a player, always a player."

No one says anything. I step aside to reveal April.

"I mean, look at April. I'm pretty sure that the first time you even noticed she existed was when she fought with Phoebe. She's a small girl who wouldn't even dare to start drama. Why would she want to grab the attention of all of you gossip seeking creatures?"

It's working. Everyone is slowly but surely starting to believe my words. Piper's eyes turn to assess April, eyeing her up and down as she squirms under the gaze of everyone. April's fashion taste isn't impeccable and she doesn't dress to impress, it's helping to prove my words.

Before anyone can say anything else, a group of teachers following the principal walk to us.

"Okay, that's enough wasting time for today. Everyone go back to your classes, lunch is over."

The crowd slowly disperses until it's just April and I standing in the doorway of the bathroom. I finally sigh in relief.

"Thank you," she says after a long while of silence between us.

I turn around to see a lone tear escaping from her eyes. "You have to be more careful."

She starts sobbing. The mask she put up for so long is finally breaking apart. A person can just take so much on their back before they fall on their knees. "I don't know what to do anymore. It's like the whole universe is against me."

"It's not, things will get brighter," I say, trying but failing to assure her.

She takes a deep breath and wipes her face, building the mask back on. "I have to go, I have Biology now."

She side steps me and walks away before I can say anything else. I run a hand through my hair.

There are so many things to be taken care of right now. So many people I have to talk to.

And the first one is Tina.