Day Twelve

Rain pattered against my windshield as I drove up the twisting road to the Hollingsworth mansion. With each curve and turn, pine and evergreen trees swished past my vision, shrouding my drive in various shades of green.
I'd put on some soft music to calm my nerves, but even the melodious beats of Lord Huron couldn't untangle the clump of nerves in my stomach.

It was going to be okay. I had to promise myself it would be.

Pulling up the long driveway, there was a white Mercedes parked next to Hunter's black Audi, and I swallowed hard.

Gwyn. I hadn't expected her to be there. Then again, I hadn't told Hunter I was coming in the first place.

On the bright side, it was much easier to tell the both of them than individually, so I cut the engine and convinced myself to get out of the car.

My flannel was dotted with rain as I waited under the terrace, mindlessly scrolling through my phone to distract myself from the ever-building anxiety in my chest. My feed continued to remind me of the video, popping up in every Instagram story and rowdy Snapchat. Finally, I slipped it into my pocket, annoyed with my peers' insistent ridicule of my friends.

After knocking multiple times, it seemed best to turn around and go home, but just as I turned to leave, the massive wooden door creaked open.

Only one brown eye and a couple of chocolate curls peeked through the crack. "Oh, thank God." Hunter sighed, pulling it open to reveal his shirtless torso. "We thought you were like, a murderer, or something."

I laughed, trying to ignore the fact that he was wearing nothing but a white towel around his waist. "Aw, I didn't mean to scare you."

He turned over his shoulder and called into the foyer, "It's just Zoe. She's not gonna kill us." he laughed, turning back to me. "I hope."

I shook my head, smiling as my other half-naked friend poked her head through the opening.

"Zoe, hi!" Gwyn's voice chimed, and I peeked over to where she was tying a red robe around herself. "Just give me one sec, kay?"

"Yeah, of course." I sent Hunter an apologetic look, trying my best not to look as awkward as I felt. He flashed me a pearly white smile, acknowledging the weirdness of the situation with raised eyebrows.

"So, what brings you here?" He kept his smile, running a hand through his mess of curls, which were fluffier and bouncier than usual. "Did I leave something at your house?"

"Um, not exactly. I wanted to talk to you guys, but if it's not a good time, I totally understand--"

"Oh, no worries. We were, um, done anyway, so--" He closed his eyes, laughing. "Yeah, come in."

Wincing from the awkwardness, I followed my friends through the open foyer and into the spacious living room adorned with renaissance paintings and large, plush white sofas. One of the maids was dusting the glass coffee table, and politely greeted me as I made myself comfortable on the loveseat, waiting for the two of them to change.

God, I walked in on Gwyn and Hunter. I didn't know who to be more embarrassed for--myself--or them. Maybe myself, because Gwyn really had no shame, at least, not most of the time. The video was an exception.

They came clambering down the spiral staircase, Hunter in a wrinkled tee and Gwyn in his WBHS basketball shorts. Normally, the beauty queen wouldn't be caught dead in anything so casual or boyish, but the mile wide smile on her bare lips was far removed from any nagging thoughts about fashion. With her natural makeup and un-straightened hair pulled back into a ponytail, Gwyn was almost unrecognizable.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, they looked cute together. Hunter whispered in Gwyn's ear and she scoffed at him, slapping his chest and racing down the stairs, Hunter hot on her heels.

She hopped off the last stair and giggled up at him. "I win."

He rolled his eyes and they made their way over, Gwyn prancing over to give me a hug. The two of them situated themselves on the sofa opposite me, just far enough apart to maintain distance but close enough for Hunter to wrap his arm on the wooden frame behind Gwyn.

"So, I have a confession to make." I said, going on to explain how Damon approached me after class, that I'd followed Gwyn to the courtyard, and why I'd given the footage to Damon in the first place, with Mark's spot in the play at stake. They sat quietly and heard me out, Hunter's eyebrows furrowed and Gwyn's lips puckered in thought.

"I never thought Damon would broadcast it during the assembly. That wasn't part of the deal." I sighed, shaking my head. "I'm so sorry, guys."

For once, Hunter and Gwyn were quiet. Hunter's russet eyes flickered up from the ground to meet mine, and he gave me a small smile.

"It's not your fault." he said, scratching the back of his head. "You had to make an impossible decision, and you were just trying to do the right thing."

"I never meant to hurt either of you." I said, looking over at Gwyn. Her mossy green eyes were brimmed with tears, but she was trying to hold them back. Kissing her teeth, she wiped her thumb underneath her eyelid.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled, meeting my eyes. "I'm really hurt by this whole thing. People have been so mean on our socials. It's been really h-hard." A tear streamed down her cheek and she wiped it with her shoulder. "But he's right, girlie, it's not your fault."

Hunter reached over and rubbed her shoulders, sending me a sympathetic look. "The past couple days have been tough."

"I'm sorry." I said, "I can't even imagine."

Seeing Gwyn cry stirred up some mixed emotions. On one hand, I sympathized with her. If it were me, I would have crumbled under the weight of nasty comments, posts, and retweets from our disapproving classmates. On the other hand, it brought some relief knowing that my part in this wasn't what was upsetting her.

"Guys, you have every right to be mad at me." I said, and they shook their heads, Gwyn wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "I understand, really."

"It's more on us than on you." Hunter gave a dry laugh. "We were the ones that messed up."

"But, like, I should have never given him the video--"

"Zoe," Hunter smiled, folding his hands behind his head. "We're not mad at you. Right, G.R.H.?" He looked over at Gwyn, who blew her nose in a tissue and shook her head.

"Right." She gave me a smile, then shot an annoyed look at Hunter. "And stop calling me that." She threw her tissue at him, and it bounced off his chest onto the marbled floor.

I wanted to ask about her and Mark--see if they'd officially broken up yet--but she'd just finished crying, and I didn't want to open up the water works again if I didn't have to. I was just glad they'd received the news well and weren't absolutely fuming with rage like I'd feared. Maybe they'd even want to help me confront Damon tomorrow.

"I want to make things right. You guys deserve justice," I said, looking down at my hands. "And so does Mark."

Maybe name-dropping him wasn't the best idea, because both of them fell silent. Gwyn's lips twisted in guilt, and Hunter took a deep breath, hands dragging down his face.

"Just like you didn't want to hurt us, we didn't want to hurt him." he explained, "We just thought it would be better not to tell him until we knew what this--" he motioned between he and Gwyn. "What this was."

Gwyn gave him a close lipped smile and nodded. "We just needed a little bit of time to figure it out."

"Just out of curiosity, how long have you two been," I paused. "Um, hanging out?"

Hunter furrowed his brows. "Maybe, like, a couple weeks?"

So, in other words, the beginning of the chemistry test. This damn thing had brought together the most unexpected pairs, and ripped apart the closest of friends in a matter of a few days.

"We were going to tell him." Gwyn said, folding her spindly fingers together. "Eventually."

"Yeah," Hunter sighed, ruffling his hair. "Both of us feel horrible that he had to find out like this."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," I chuckled, "He's not upset with you guys, he's upset with me. We had a huge blow up after the assembly and we haven't spoken since. He didn't even come to school today."

"Aw, girlie." Gwyn pouted, "Don't worry, he'll come around. You two are besties."

"Yeah, he just needs to cool off." Hunter agreed, sending me a sympathetic smile.

"I know," I said, wincing as moments of the fight flooded back. "But it made me feel like the worst friend in the world. I just wish I could do it all over again and fix everything."

"Well, it sounded like you have a plan." Hunter pointed out, sitting up straight. "Let's hear about this quest for justice."

I smiled and told them about my collaboration with Zak and his friends, how we planned to corner Damon after school tomorrow and make him pay for sabotaging all of our lives. It was our chance to make things right.

"So, what do you think?" I looked between them. Hunter and Gwyn exchanged smiles and nodded, looking back at me.

"We're in."