~

A video of Elliot and Aaron going down on each other had spread like wildfire around the school, along with screenshots of their private messages.

I couldn't understand why or how someone could be so selfish to spread such videos around the school.

My worry was more for Aaron than Elliot. Everyone already knew or at least had an idea about Elliot's sexuality, but not Aaron.

As Ashley and I rush towards the locker room, we see Mr. David, our geography teacher, rush into the locker room before us. We follow his steps, walking into the sweat and cologne filled locker room.

Stopping at the doorway, I peer into the room, tipping my toes to get a better view. My eyes widen when I see Gray engaged in a fight with Ken, one of his teammates, throwing non-stop punches at him, his fist leaving bruises on the guy's face.

Mr. David tries to pull Gray away from Ken, only to end up nudged where the sun doesn't shine.

Bending over and clutching his trousers, Mr. David points with one hand at Gray. " Principal's... Office... Now," he groans.

Gray ignores him, continuing his incessant punches at Ken. After a while, Zyair pulls Gray away from Ken with the help of another student, dragging Gray away from a bloody, battered Ken.

"I dare you to open your fucking mouth again," Gray growls, pushing Zyair and the other guy away from him and straightening his shirt. "Asshole."

Ken gives a bitter laugh and wipes his blood-stained lips with the back of his hand. "It's your friend who likes assholes."

"Fucking bitch, " Gray curls his lips, his fist heads towards ken's face. But Zyair is faster than him, throwing a punch across Ken's face, causing him to hit against the locker with a brutal force.

Ken's eyes roll to the back, and he loses consciousness for a second, leaning onto the locker with his slumped shoulders.

"Zyair, Gray, Ken..., " Mr. David yells, his eyes searching the locker room until they land on a curled up figure in the corner. "And Aaron. To the principal's office. Now."

The guys look at each other, and Zyair walks to tap Aaron's shoulder. My mouth is still slightly open, my wide eyes staring in shock as the guys walked past me.

Gray brushes my arm slightly as he walks by, whispering in my ear. "Sorry you had to see that."

I turn my head and watch their retreating backs. Mr. David walks past me, muttering under his breath. "Just a few more months till they leave," He sighs, patting his chest for comfort.

Ashley had turned her head to the wall when Mr. David walked by, staring at the wall like it was the great wall of China. But of course, that only made her stand out more, and Mr. David stops in front of her.

"I see you, Ashley," He calls out dryly.

Ashley whirls her body, her whiff of Victoria secret's perfume flowing in the air. "Mr. David," She grins.

Mr. David gives her a bored look and shakes his head. "If only you study your book like you study the wall, we would not have any problems," Mr. David says, imitating her high pitched voice, and Ashley's grin falls.

"Get to class," He orders in a more serious tone, straightening his tie. His eyes flick to me. "Both of you. Now."

Ashley and I pretend to walk in the direction of our classroom, but when Mr. David is out of sight, we run around the corners towards the principal's office.

We see the guys standing outside, waiting for the secretary to call them in. Just before we reach them, Mr. David walks towards them from the other end. Ashley and I turn on our heels to run away, albeit we are too slow, Mr. David's booming voice fills the hallway.

"Kelch. Hills."

I squeeze my eyes shut, biting my lips, turning my body slowly to face Mr. David.

He gestured towards us with his fingers, calling us forth. We drag our legs on the floor, heading towards Mr. David.

The guys snicker as we walked past them. I turn my head to glare at them, and Zyair raises his hands, pointing at Gray and Aaron.

We get to Mr. David, and before we say a word, he raises his hands, signaling us to keep quiet, so I tuck my lips in my mouth, swaying on my feet.

"Congratulation. Both of you just got detention served to you on a platter of gold," He grimaces, pointing at Ashley and me.

"Yay us. Does it come with gravy?" I snort under my breath, my voice louder than I intended.

My remark doesn't go unnoticed by Mr. David, who narrows his eyes at me. "But it does come with extra hours or days. Be my guest," Mr. David replies, his eyes silently daring me to speak.

"Sorry, " I mutter.

"David one. Dove zero," Aaron clicks his tongue, clearly eavesdropping on our conversation.

"Funny how they both got the D. Which makes total sense because Dove's getting your D and Mr. David got an actual D, " Zyair laughs, and I assume he must have pointed at Gray when he said your D.

We hear a hard smack, followed by an ouch from Zyair.

Mr. David groans into his hands and points at Zyair with his finger, sighing and gritting his teeth when he realizes Zyair's already at the principal's office, so there's no more punishment to give to him.

"Don't make me repeat myself," Mr. David turns to glare at Ashley and me.

We nod our head and walk away, this time heading for the torture that is calculus.

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

Two hours in detention, staring at Mr. Davids's face, and I'm losing it.

Ashley, Gray, Zyair, Aaron Elliot, and I are in detention, separated, and spread far apart in the classroom.

Although Aaron and Elliot didn't do wrong, they are in detention because they are the starring members of the video swarming around the school.

The principal refused to listen to the fact that they didn't spread the video and threw them in detention too.

Welcome to East High, where the victims are also the offenders.

I, Ashley, and Elliot seat at the front row, while Gray, Zyair, and Aaron are in the last row.

A small paper hits the back of the neck. Once, twice, thrice, each paper hit felt harder than the last.

"What?" I turn to glare at Gray, who had a boyish grin on his face.

"Hey, babe, " He replies with a small wave of his hand.

"No talking," Mr. David points an accusing finger at me, and I turn my head back to stare at the board.

Ashley raises her hand, calling attention to herself. Mr. David sighs and looks up from his crossword puzzle book, rubbing his temple. "Yes, Ashley."

"Can we sing? We've been quiet for the past two hours, " She asks, blinking her eyes, an innocent look plastered on her face.

Almost everyone groans and I hide my laughter behind my palms. Ashley is the most terrible singer I've ever encountered in my entire life, and everyone except her knew how bad her singing was.

"What? It's a Christian song that's good for your soul, " She turns her head to stare at us, pouting her lips.

"I'm a Muslim," Zyair raises his hands.

"No, you're not. You don't even know the first thing about Islam," Ashley scoffs, folding her hands offensively.

"Allah is God?" Zyair blinks, saying his words with a questioning tone.

"You don't even pray or go to the place where Muslim worship," Ashley retorts, glaring at him.

"No one here goes to the church either. Gray, do you?" He turns his head to Gray with a nod. His eyes land on me. "Dove?"

"God is everywhere and anywhere, " I raise my hands, refusing to partake in their argument.

"God does not exist, " Aaron snaps, shocking everyone in the room.

The words 'God does not exist' coming from Aaron seemed like a taboo to the rest of us, considering that his father was one of the most God-driven men.

Mr. Baker goes to church three times a week, spending close to three hours each day, and he doesn't even work at the church.

Everyone in town knew him and his boys- Aaron and his elder brother, who are in college. He's the man almost every young man looks up to in this community.

"May God forgive you for the words that-, "

"Oh, shut the fuck up!" Aaron cuts Ashley off, steam coming out of his ears.

Okay, maybe there is no steam, and I am just exaggerating, but you get my point.

"If he truly exists, he won't make me this way and make some people hate me for the way I am," Aaron rages, banging his fist on his desk.

"He makes me fall in love with a man when he knows the kind of family I'm in. He's selfish, and you all just keep using him as an excuse to escape your sorry-ass lives!" He yells, pointing his finger at every one of us, including Mr. David.

"Aww, you're in love with me?" Elliot cooes, leaning on his elbow and tilting his head to stare at Aaron.

"That's not the fucking point! " Aaron snaps, gritting his teeth.

Aaron was like a time bomb whenever he got mad. He says whatever he feels without filtering his words, inadvertently hurting some people in the process. The good thing was that he apologizes two or three days after for the things he says.

"Some people have it worse, Aaron, " Ashley rolls her eyes.

"You think I don't fucking know that! They might have it worse, but that doesn't mean I don't have it bad. You think I like how I feel. Having to hide shit every day, walking on fucking eggshells, watching every word I say?" He yells, narrowing his eyes and gesturing with his hands.

"Why are you taking your anger out on me. It's not my fault, " Ashley folds her arms, her forehead creasing into a frown.

"I'm not taking it out-, "

"Yes, you are. You and Gray, " She points at Gray, who had been silent this entire time. "Both of you hate me."

"I don't hate you, but I don't like you either, " Gray pipes, defending himself.

Note to self: this is what happens when you lock similar people in a room for more than two hours without any phone, Tv, or book.

"What did I ever do to you?" Ashley cries, throwing her hands up in the air.

"You almost ruined my chances with Kelch. You never failed to make me a jerk to her," Gray points at me, his gaze fixed on Ashley.

"Dove is my baby. I bash everyone to her because I don't want her to get hurt," Ashley yells, her veins popping in her neck. "And I was right about you. You did hurt her."

Gray goes silent, an awkward silence filling the room. "Fuck you, " he mutters.

"Oh, not again, " Zyair teases with a bitter laugh.

I cover my ear with my hair, raising my stare at the teasingly slow clock. Twenty minutes left till detention is over.

Mr. David should probably let us out before they start tearing each other apart.

"I never had sex with her, " Gray says in a low voice, his gaze fixed on Zyair.

Liar.

"You don't need to lie about it to make me feel better. I'm over it, " Zyair snaps, his voice cold and harsh.

"He's right. It was all a plan," Ashley sighs, running her hand through her hair, licking her lower lip.

"I saw you two in bed, " I laugh, trying my best to contain my anger.

I was over it, but I didn't appreciate them bringing it up and lying about it again.

"Did you see his dick in my pussy?" Ashley asks, placing her hand on her hips, tilting her head to stare at me.

A loud bang echoed through the air, making me jump from my seat. We turn our head to see a very red Mr. David, glaring at us through his square glasses.

"ENOUGH!"

Ignoring him, I turn my head to look at Gray. "What is she saying?" I ask, raising a brow.

"Kelch, I can explain."

"You guys didn't have sex, yet you made me believe you did?" I scoff, unable to believe my ears.

What did they stand to gain from it? My pain?

"Why did you do it? To hurt me? Am I a fucking joke to the both of you, " I ask, my eyes shifting from Ashley to Gray.

They both say silently, further fueling my assumptions to be true. They just wanted to hurt me.

"Kelch, sit down, or you get extra detention, " Mr. David threatens.

My eyes swell up with tears as I wait for either Ashley or Gray to say a word, but they don't.

"Do you guys have any either what it was like for me? I couldn't hate you even if I wanted to. I waited years for you to apologize, but you never did, " I point at Ashley, wiping my tears with my palm.

"But, obviously, my feelings mean nothing, right? I'm the idiot that's letting you back into her life, " I shake my head with a small laugh, my blurry gaze fixed on Gray this time.

An unfathomable expression swims in his eyes, and he opens his mouth to say something, but the door jerks open before he could.

Instinctively, we all direct our gaze to the door. Mr. Baker stands at the door, his chest rising, his face flushed, his eyes scanning the room before they land on Aaron.

"You!" he points at Aaron with his index finger. "Get your bag and get out."

"Sir, with all due respect, detention isn't-, "

"I'm withdrawing my son from this school. Henceforth, he's no longer a student at East High, " Mr. Baker straightens his back, digging his hands into his pocket.

We all stand up, staring at each other, watching as Aaron ran after his father.

"Dad, " Aaron calls, and we run after them, leaving our bags and things, watching as Mr. Baker turns to Aaron, his eyes fiery and fierce.

"You're gay? " He stabs his finger into Aaron's chest.

"Dad, I-, "

Mr. Baker raises his hands up. "I'm not listening to anything. Immediately, we get home, you pack your bag and leave for London tomorrow."

What?

"What?" Aaron says.

"You're going to complete your studies in a decent Catholic school in London. You'll live with my brother. I already booked your flight this afternoon. You leave by 7 am tomorrow," Mr. Baker says, his voice leaving no room for arguments.

"But, dad?" Aaron argues.

"My decision is final."

•••••••••••••••••••••

QOTD- What's one thing you can't go a day without doing?

>> Mine is using my phone.

Please vote and/or comment ❤️

Also, thank you guys for 100k reads. You guys are amazing. I love you all sooooo much 🥺