WILL

Will was late for play practice. Again.

He burst into the theatre, just in time to see Emma step onto the stage with Kevin as her partner, as a replacement for Will. Will felt bad for Kevin sometimes, because Kevin had been punished to be Mrs.Hughes assistant for the entire year (this was because he had filled the ketchup bottles in the cafeteria with Tabasco sauce.)

He ran up the steps and onto the stage, just before the music started.

"I'll take it from here", he said to Kevin. Kevin looked relieved, but he noticed discomfort on Emma's face. His vision must be a bit blurry from all the running. Why would Emma be uncomfortable dancing with him. They danced very well together.

He held out his hand, and to his surprise, Emma hesitated for a moment before she placed her hand in his. He felt that usual kind of heat shoot up in his veins, but he couldn't help notice that there was a certain stiffness with which Emma was holding his hand. He looked into her eyes and saw that they were not as bright as usual. In fact, a certain darkness had crept into her eyes, making them look gray, instead of blue.

Will couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Emma was moving very stiffly. Not in the beautiful, graceful manner in which she usually danced.  She kept colliding into him, which showed she was having a hard time focusing. He smiled at her, but she, instead of smiling, frowned deeply at him.

"Emma, look cheerful!", shouted Mrs.Hughes from the front.

He noticed Emma trying to give him a strained smile. What was wrong with her? Was she having a bad day?

He finally mustered up the courage to ask,"Emma, is something wrong?"

She shook her head, but he was now convinced that something was definitely wrong. He made up his mind to have a proper conversation with her, after their dance was over.

When the song did end and he hoisted Emma upright, she quickly walked to the door of the theatre, where he saw Matt standing there, waiting for Emma.

"Hey, man", said Will, grinning, but Matt too regarded him with a cold, dark look.

Frowning deeply, Matt replied,"Hey, Will."

What was happening to everyone? Why were they acting so strange? First Emma, now Matt. What had he done? He didn't understand.

"Guys, have I done something wrong?", he asked, confused.

Matt rolled his eyes, giving him a frustrated look,"Oh, nothing, Will. Except, you lied to me", said Matt, taking Emma's hand, and both of them disappeared down the hall.

Lied to me.

Those words stung Will like a thousand needles piercing his skin. In all of his life, Will had never lied to his best friend. 

He remembered how he had first met Matt. He had been sitting at the front porch of their giant house, he was seven. His mother had died a year ago in that terrible car crash, and his father had gone to France for a photo shoot. He was stuck all alone in the house, except their butler Patrick.

Matt had been wearing overalls covered in dirt, when he had come over to Will, and had spent time with him. Matt had said that he had a lot of brothers and sisters, so Will needed him more. From that time over, Matt spent night and day, playing with Will. Since then Will had said nothing but the truth to Matt. 

So how could Matt say Will lied to him? Anger surged through him. Why was everybody acting like he had committed some kind of crime, when he hadn't? And, over that, they wouldn't even explain what he did do wrong and give him a chance to improve?

 He kicked one of the lockers in frustration, then winced in pain. He had forgotten they were made of metal.

"Whoa, what's with the anger, dude", said a voice behind him, making him jump.

He whirled around, just to be hit on the head by the neck of a guitar. He placed a hand on his forehead and leaned against the lockers.

"Oh, damn, I'm so sorry, man", said Kyle, holding his guitar behind his back, looking embarrassed.

"No, it's okay. I guess I got my punishment for lying to Matt, even though I don't know what I lied about", said Will, feeling for a bump on his forehead.

"You know you can tell me anything you want right?", Kyle said, running a hand through his messy brown hair.

"Dude you sound like a girl",said Will.

"Well, many people say that. But I'm serious",said Kyle, looking at him sternly, "Do you suspect anything, which they might have misunderstood?"

Will racked his brain hard. There was only that incident in the music room which no one else knew about. He remembered the soft click of the door being shut. He stiffened. What if somebody had seen them? He hesitated then explained everything to Kyle.