Via"Willy mentions that Bernard has a wife and a son in the incident I described. Happy to correct Willy, Bernard tells him that he really has two boys. In a state of desperation, Willy asks Bernard what exactly set him apart from his own son, Biff. Willy also inquires as to what was the secret that Bernard knew but Biff was unable to uncover. While he speaks, Willy tries to seem more and more in need of solutions. Then, in response to Willy's query, Bernard queries why Biff chose not to repeat his math course during the summer. At that point, Willy becomes irate," I say, stopping to scan my surroundings. "That's the last part I read," I say, turning back to the stand-in. "Everyone is staring at me."The stand-in gives me a quick glance before nodding. "You did a good job, Ms. Hawthorne. I'll see to it that a 10/10 is added to your name in the email I submit to Mr. Beaumont on your participation marks for today," she says just before the bell rings."Have a great day, class, see you
Via"Are you staying today for practice?" Steph asks me as I close my locker."I'm actually not sure I—" I cut myself off.I was unable to reveal to her that I intended to accompany Nathaniel and Lance on their trip. It was impossible for me to reveal that information to anyone other than my immediate family."I have family things going on and I may have to skip today," I say, then put on my backpack."Oh, alright, I'll fill in for you then," she states as her phone dings a few times. "Aye, I have a question." She checks her phone briefly, then looks back at me. "Is it true that you and Justin broke up?"Wow, Justin really can't keep his mouth shut about anything in this world. Can he?"Yeah, it's true," I state and look down at her phone with my eyes only for a split second, then back at her. "Why?""Oh, no reason in particular. I just didn't think you both would break up. You were such a cute couple," she says, and I feel a bit uncomfortable with this conversation."Yeah, I guess we
Via"Oh, and she and Kyle broke up this past weekend," he says out of nowhere, which makes me do a double take."Wait, what?" I ask, sending a message to Nathaniel that I'm almost at his house.Kol quickly nods. "Yeah, everyone's talking about it. Apparently, Steph was cheating on Kyle," he explains. "Steph flat-out broke up with him and said that her mystery new guy fucked her better than him, and Kyle went haywire." Kol says as he pulls into Nathaniel's house. "Then someone recorded Justin, Kyle, and Lucas at Melt and Pops. They all apparently looked like complete shit, but I haven't seen the videos.""Are you serious?" I ask as the gate to Nathaniel's house begins to slide open."Yeah." He pauses for a second. "Both the football team and cheer team have been talking about it all day. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it." He drives down Nathaniel's driveway. "Everyone's talking about the fact that two of our school's cutest couples broke up around the same time and that the thi
Via"I know it's kind of late, but I thought you'd like to see the beautiful sky with me," I say, setting Lance down on the grass for a moment as I lay out the blanket."Pretty, right?" I ask, sitting him down next to me and handing him his animal-shaped keys and his dino teething toy.He studies the toys for a second, then begins playing and biting with them.After about half an hour, I got the idea to make Lance try to walk.I softly take away his toys and place them on the grass as I help him stand up. He begins to get fussy, but I quickly take his hands and begin to hum."Come on, buddy, you should try walking. You turn two in a few months," I say, kissing his nose."He turns two in five months," a voice says behind me.I jumped, completely startled. "Oh my," I quickly pull Lance towards me and turn to the voice.Nathaniel stands there with a concerned look on his face. "I'm sorry for startling you." He looks from me to Lance. "I missed you both," he says and joins us by sitting n
ViaI slowly open the box, then look inside it. Another smaller dark blue box is inside, and I laugh. "Is this going to be an endless box type of thing?" I ask him.He chuckles. "No, firefly, open that one and that'll be it."I smile. "I was just kidding," I state as I get the dark blue box out of the red sparkly one and wait a few seconds.What can this be? It wasn't my birthday, and I have told them I disliked gifts since it made me feel awful. They questioned it for a while, but once I explained, they understood—or so I thought they did.I stare at the dark blue box in hand, then look back at the laptop screen where I see Sebastian watching me intently."Come on, firefly, open it," he says, and I nod.I open the dark blue box and freeze. "I can't accept this, Sebastian," I state, then close it back up. "I've already told you guys how I feel about expensive gifts.""Firefly—" He tries to protest, but I shake my head as I place the dark blue box back inside the red sparkly one."No,
ViaChances are my Nathaniel and Alexander didn't vote yes to a test today, but either way, I'm going to complain to them about it later on regardless."Once you are done with your test, you can do anything quietly. I don't mind. Just don't take out your phones during the test or even after. Laptops are allowed as long as you do school assignments with them." He pauses momentarily. "The three principals from our schools will be doing rounds today in two different groups, and the chance that they will walk in here is very high." Mr. Montgomery walks back to his desk. "So please be mindful. Thank you. You may all begin."The entire class mumbles complaints but all start the test.Once I flip it over, my phone vibrates in my pocket, and I sigh. I can't check it, and I'm on edge.Sebastian once again became a complete ghost after the call. After the call, he had promised me he would text me every day, but that was far from the case.He became a ghost all over again.The paper in front of
Via"Are you okay, Via?" Ethan asks as he puts his arm around me."Yeah," I say as we walk."Do you hate Ms. Adams?" Ethan asks as we sit in the cargo bed of Kol's truck."No," I say, throwing my backpack to the back."Then what the hell was that last period?" Ethan asks, looking at me concerned."That was me on the brink of exploding from a mini anxiety attack," I say, taking out my phone from my back pocket and lying down."That wasn't just your anxiety. You hate her," he says, and I sigh."If you already knew I hated her, why ask me, Ethan?" I ask, annoyed at this whole conversation but not at him."Because I wanted confirmation that others also hate that lady," Ethan says, causing me to furrow my eyebrows.I process what he said and sit up. "You hate her too?" I ask, staring at him, confused."Yes," he says, looking away. "She called me and Aiden disgusting and said we, as a gay couple, shouldn't be open with our relationship because it might make others uncomfortable," he says, m
ViaKol said he'd never butt into my problems like I once did to him. Why the fuck was he talking about a subject that didn't even involve him?I look away from Aiden and look at Kol. "Okay, and what do your bad vibes have to do with my love life?" I ask Kol, then look at Aiden. "And when did you both become so freaking buddy-buddy? It's fucking weird." I get my backpack from behind me."Via, you said we—" Kol begins, but I cut him off."I said to keep it real on everything but our own relationships, Kol. You got pissed at me when I got involved in your relationship, so leave mine alone," I state as I get off the cargo bed of the truck."Where are you going? Aren't I supposed to drop you off at—" Kol starts, but I cut him off again."I'm walking home. Goodbye, and I'll see you guys tomorrow," I state as I begin to walk away."Via, get in the truck," I hear Kol say, and in a flash, he's in front of me."No. I want to walk home," I state as I try to walk around him.He pulls me toward h