The gymnasium was fully packed with teachers and students swarming the massive room. It was also noisy with the music blaring in the background. People were constantly talking over each other, and the barrage of footsteps of people walking to the bleacher stands created even more noise.

Riley could see across the room that all of the cheerleaders were preparing their routine at the near back. His eyes landed on the woman that was trying to destroy everything he cared about, and Riley was going to at least try to stop Olivia's reign of terror.

Olivia was plugging her phone into the computer system that the tech students were setting up. Riley looked above her, and he could see the projector's display on the massive screen that covered half of the wall.

Riley stormed over to Olivia to get her to try and stop. But he was intercepted when someone blocked the path in between them.

"Can I help you?" Justin sarcastically smiled.

"Move." Riley demanded, he didn't have any time to waste and his urgency proved this.

"Olivia!" Justin giggled, "Someone wants to see you!"

Olivia looked away from her phone and looked towards Justin. When she saw Riley, she smiled like a Cheshire Cat. "How great to see you Riley! You're just in time to see the show we prepared!"

Riley looked between both all confused, he never realised that they even knew each other. "We? What do you have to do with this Justin?"

"I overheard Olivia planning her little scheme, and I wanted to help!" Justin walked to Olivia's side and crossed his arms over his chest - matching Olivia's stance. "I jumped at the chance because you messed with me too many times."

"We made out twice!" Riley screamed, completely baffled at Justin's delusional thinking. "You're doing all of this because I wouldn't have sex with you?!"

"You had this coming." Justin said whilst lightly shrugging his shoulders.

Justin then turned to Olivia and asked if it was all ready. With a small nod, Riley then grew wary about what they were doing, and what they had set up with the projector.

"Just a little presentation," Olivia laughed. "And there's a fun little video too."

Justin spoke up with a creepy smile, and a suggestive tone in his voice. "I watched the video that Olivia is planning to show everyone. And I've got to say, you looked pretty steamy with Jessie in the locker room earlier."

Riley's mouth was agape as he learnt how Olivia was planning to expose him in front of the whole school in a couple of minutes. He was panicking because it felt like the universe was seemingly against him today.

Jessie practically broke up with him before they could truly get anywhere, the two people in front of him were set on ruining his life, and Riley didn't know what he could do about any of it.

But even though it seemed like they weren't together anymore, Riley was determined to protect Jessie until the end.

"Don't you fucking dare!" Riley cursed under his breath, as his anger was visibly boiling over, "Stop this pathetic vendetta right now!"

The sound of their unified cackle sent shivers down Riley's spine. Olivia ignored Riley and turned towards Principal Shepard, telling her that they were all set up and ready to start.

Principal Shepard knew that Riley wasn't involved in either the pep rally or the upcoming presentation, and so she sent Riley away. "Take your seat, Riley."

"You can't let her show that presentation!" Riley shouted, as he then felt himself get pushed away.

Principal Shepard sneered as she was shocked that Riley would want to stop this presentation. "I've seen Olivia's lovely slideshow, that praises every single player on the team. Why on Earth would I stop her?"

Before Riley could tell Principal Shepard that it was all a vindictive scheme, he felt the coach push him towards the seating area.

"The principal wants you to sit down Riley, and I strongly advise that you listen." Coach Talestone instructed.

Riley wasn't allowed out of his seat since Principal Shepard already called him disruptive, and so the coach's eyes were watching him - to make sure he couldn't interfere.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Jessie was on his way to the gymnasium with Cameron so that they could find Riley. Jessie ignored the annoyed looks when he pushed his way past the busy crowd, because he was occupied with fixing the problem that he caused.

A couple of minutes later and Jessie found Riley next to the coach. He signalled Cameron that he found Riley, and so they made his way to join them.

"Riley!" Jessie called out over the loud crowd.

Riley looked over at where his name was being called. He attempted to get out of his seat but the coach pushed him back down. "Not another muscle."

"What's going on?" Jessie asked.

Coach Talestone gestured towards Riley and explained how troublesome he was just. Even though they doubted that Riley would be scheming to do anything malicious, the coach was just following his orders.

Cameron awkwardly laughed as he tried to avert the coach's attention. "I know this is an inconvenient time right now, but I kind of dented your car when I was kicking the ball on my way here."

Coach Talestone instantly flared up with rage. His car was his proud possession, and he previously threatened all of the players who would dare to prank his car.

Coach Talestone quickly fled the scene to check on his car, and Cameron thought it would be safe to try and hide from him. With Cameron looking to blend in with the crowd, he sat down with Chantelle so that Jessie and Riley could be left alone.

"Riley, I-"

"Save it!" Riley yelled upset, "I don't want to hear how much you hate me right now. I don't want to listen to you insult me when I've been nothing but truthful about my feelings for you. And now isn't the right time for you to mess with me too."

Jessie swallowed the emotions in his voice that was clearly visible on the both of them. He knew he deserved Riley's angry reaction, and he couldn't blame him either. "I'm sor-"

Riley dragged Jessie near the door so that they had some sort of privacy. People were still making their way towards the gymnasium, so Riley had to whisper everything to Jessie. "Olivia has a video of us making out earlier. She's going to show everyone, and then it's game over for the both of us."

The speakers were alive as the microphone was switched on. Testing the quality of it, Olivia got the tech students to adjust it so that she could be heard loudly and clearly. "Take your seats everyone! We're about to start the show."

Even though Jessie was ready to open himself up to Riley, doing it in front of the entire school wasn't how he wanted it to go down.

Jessie turned back to Riley scared, and asked. "What do we do?"

Everyone's attention turned towards the makeshift podium that was set up when Olivia coughed into the microphone. Olivia stood proudly as she spoke to her fellow students and teachers. "Thanks everyone to coming here so quickly!"

Olivia's voice was peppy as she stood tall in front of everyone. All of the students and teachers were silent as they listened to the head cheerleader speak. "We have our big game with Halesford tomorrow, so it makes me happy to see everyone come here today and cheer for our Knights!"

A crowd of cheers roared the life into the room. A chorus of clapping and feet stomping could be heard, as Olivia continued to raise morale.

"Maybe there's a chance she won't go through with her plan?" Riley optimistically wondered.

Olivia's voice spoke up again as she started the presentation. "Today's pep rally will start a little different. I thought it would be a great idea to learn about all of the players that will be bringing the victory home!"

Met with another chorus of supportive cheers, Olivia turned to the next slide where Riley's name was in clear display.

"I think the bitch is going through with it..."

Olivia's smile was so big and fake, as she introduce the vice captain to the school. "Riley Williams is a striker for our amazing team. People love him because he seems so cool, so friendly, and so... fucking... hot!"

"At least she's right on that..." Jessie whispered, which caused Riley to snicker accidentally.

Lots of people were giggling in the crowd, and Olivia faked innocence when she apologised for her swearing. She regained her composure as she coughed to the side. "But under the things that everyone seems to love about him, Riley Williams is a fake, cocky, slutty, son of a bitch - with a dirty lover that he's been shamefully hiding away..."

The atmosphere in the room changed as everyone began to whisper at Olivia's switch in personality. Even the teachers were confused at how the golden girl was suddenly so vicious.

"Ladies and gentleman, grab your phones. Because I'm going to show something that will blow your mind about our dear Riley Williams."

Jessie felt like his heart was bursting out of his chest, his arms began to tingle, and his mouth felt drier than a vacuum sealed prune.

Riley didn't think about anything as his body took over. Riley acted quick as he smashed through the glass of the fire alarm, setting it off instantly.

The sirens were even louder than the microphone as the ringing was persistently booming. Everyone was confused at why it was set off, and it only took a few seconds before the sprinklers went off.

Lots of wailing and screaming could be heard from the crowd as everyone began to cover their heads. The presentation was shut off as the projector began to spark with smoke.

"My phone!" Olivia wailed. It was soaking in the water from the sprinkler, and it began to smoke up with the old projector that was still attached to it.

Riley ran towards the podium and took the microphone away from Olivia before she could react. Riley tested the microphone, and he was slightly thankful that he could use it to make Olivia seem even more crazy. Riley then decided to double down on Olivia's psycho behaviour before his mind could stop him.

"Sorry about Olivia's tangent everyone. She's just pissed off at me because I declined her marriage offer - after we had sex in the principal's office a couple of days ago."

Olivia began to freak out as she rushed for the microphone. "He's lying! That's not-"

Riley pretended to laugh as he forcefully shoved Olivia away from the microphone. "Man... I can't believe that you wanted to share our sex tape in front of everyone. I know I looked great in it, but I didn't think you would want to show how you ugly cried over my abs."

Principal Shepard ran towards the microphone and snatched it off Riley. With a disturbed look at the pair, she announced. "Everyone, please head towards the fire exits and meet at the assembly point for everyone's safety. Thank you very much!"

Everyone began to evacuate the gymnasium as they listened to Principal Shepard. With the sirens and sprinklers still going off, all of the students and teachers ran towards the fire exit.

Riley ignored the look of hatred in Olivia's eyes as he ran towards the fire exits with everyone else. Riley saw Jessie glued by the door at the opposite side of the room, and so Riley went back towards Jessie.

Riley instantly took his jacket off, so that he could drape it over Jessie and keep him warm from the cold. With the boy snuggled up in his coat, Riley pushed Jessie towards the the exit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Principal Shepard declared, to the soaked population, that it was a false alarm and there was no danger. She quickly dismissed everyone and told them all to go home, so that they could dry themselves before they get sick.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing our Knights bring home the victory tomorrow!" Principal Shepard supportively shouted.

The cheers were less enthusiastic this time because of the disheveled state everybody was in. Lots of things were damaged in the process of Riley's actions, but because nobody saw it, there was no blame placed on him.

The crowd soon began to disperse as they all began to leave the school. Riley was still near the back with Jessie when Olivia stormed up to them.

"You owe me a new phone!" Olivia screeched.

"Why?" Jessie comically looked between Riley and Olivia confused. "Principal Shepard said that they don't know who set off the fire alarm, so I don't see why Riley has to pay for your damages. I didn't hear wrong, right Riley?"

Riley hummed as he pretended to think. Cocking his head to the side, "I heard that too. Kind of sucks about your phone though Olivia, I truly hope it isn't as damaged as your reputation right now."

Olivia waved her phone in front of them both, and continued to vent her anger at the pair. "I can't get it to work! All of my stuff is in here!"

"I'm good with technology!" Jessie suddenly knocked Olivia's hand so that she dropped her phone. Once it cracked onto the concrete, Jessie forcefully stomped on it until there were more smashed pieces between them three. "Oops?"

Riley deliberately laughed in her face as he swung his arm around Jessie, just to further point out that she had nothing left.

Olivia was angrily shaking her head continuously as she mocked the pair of smug lovers. "Just because I don't have anymore proof of you two, doesn't mean it isn't true."

Riley hissed as he sarcastically felt ashamed that he had to break more bad news to Olivia. "Right now everyone thinks you're just my crazy ex lover. So I'm not too sure anybody will believe you right now."

Olivia had already received several shameful looks from her peers and teachers. She was called into the Principal Shepard's office with Riley after the game tomorrow, and she could feel the disappointment from their brief exchange during the fire alarm panic.

"I'm not going to stop..." Olivia whispered menacingly.

Riley then stepped closer towards Olivia with a angry look in his own eyes. Leaning towards her ear, Riley whispered. "Neither. Will. I."

Riley was mentally prepared to accept any punishment that was going to be thrown at him after the stint he just pulled off. He felt justified in his actions, as he was never going to stop protecting the people he cared about.

"Aaaah!" Olivia screamed in anger.

Olivia quickly slapped Riley's face with all her might, and she then swore that she was going to tell everyone again tomorrow.

Having clearly lost the battle, Olivia cursed at them both before leaving them alone. "You disgusting creeps are going to get what's coming to you eventually."

Jessie didn't bother to watch Olivia leave as his attention immediately returned to Riley. Jessie knew that Riley sacrificed a lot today, and he secretly knew that Riley would do it all over again.

Riley was silent as he had an unreadable expression on his face. Jessie was nervous because Riley seemed angry and upset at him earlier. Jessie was speechless because he didn't know Riley's headspace at the moment, and he still hasn't had the chance to undo everything he said to Riley today.

It took a while for either of them to speak, but Riley accepted that they needed space. "I'll see you later then, I guess."

Jessie caught up with Riley, who already made several large paces away from him, and stopped him from moving an inch further.

Jessie lunged at Riley and tried to hug the life out of him. Jessie wrapped his arms around Riley's waist tightly, while Riley didn't even budge.

Even if Riley wouldn't accept his apology, Jessie couldn't let Riley leave without letting him know how much he appreciates him. "Thank you. Thank you for everything you did today. Thank you for helping me again, and again, and again Riley. I'm so sorry for everything."

Jessie thought that he should pull away from Riley since he wasn't speaking or doing anything. Jessie was crushed when he thought Riley felt nothing for him, and Jessie feared the worst.

Jessie had just pulled his head away to distance himself from a motionless Riley, until he felt Riley force his head back onto his shoulder.

Riley finally returned the hug and held Jessie close, embedding his own head into Jessie's shoulder. "We're not done yet," Riley gently whispered, "We still have a lot to talk about."

Jessie knew this, as he ended up kissing the space on Riley's neck that was buried underneath his own head. He was so relieved that they still had a chance together, and Jessie swore to himself that he wasn't going to mess it up again.

They stayed glued to each other, despite still being soaked from the sprinklers. None of them moved, because they didn't want to let go yet, and neither of them were ready either.

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