6 Truths or Lies

VIXX

The teacher for the second period hadn't showed up yet and the class was in full chatter. Two girls, one blond and the other a brunette and three guys sat around her, absorbed in the story they were relating.

"Avoid her if you can. It's best if you stay away from Stey and her friends, especially Kyle. Try never to be with the two of them."

"Why?" Vixx asked leaning forward.

"It was in the papers. Front page; a nineteen year old boy arrested for..." the boy dragged off.

"For what?"

-

Once the first lesson had ended, Vixx stood uncertainly by the entrance of the classroom wondering where to go next. She had mechanics and she was hoping to ask her sir for directions.

"Hey, new girl" someone called out to her and as Vixx turned to respond, a tall girl walked up to her, smiling. She had brown hair that had been dyed orange around the edges. "Come on, I'll help you get to your classes," she said and extended her hand, "I'm Livia."

Vixx shook her hand, "As in, Olivia?" She asked.

"No, just Livia. Not Olivia. Ditch the O," she explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Vixx said hastily and introduced herself.

"I have M2 now. Do you have the same?"

"Yes," Livia nodded, "The first two periods are always the same every week."

"What about Stey?" Vixx wondered because she hadn't shown up for Math. Vixx blamed herself although she didn't know what she had done wrong. She had angered Stey and the latter had stormed away leaving her alone. Vixx had to ask one of the teachers from a classroom for directions and had arrived seven minutes late to class.

"How do you know Stey?" Livia demanded as they entered the class.

The tables, painted dark, woody brown had books hastily scattered on it and the students were in their own gangs sitting in different corners of the room, talking away.

Vixx followed Livia who led her to the front tables. "Hey everyone, this is Vixx. She's new here."

A few of the students raised their heads to look at her and some of them smiled, sending a greeting her way but not many of them seemed to care.

"Hey Livie," a blond girl gestured to them from the back. "That's Amanda and that's Josh," Livia said pointing to each of the four of her friends. "Dylan and Micheal."

"Thanks," Vixx whispered as they sat among them.

"Hello Vixx," Dylan waved, "Sudden move?"

"How did you know?" She asked.

"Well, we are in the middle of the first semester. You probably had to move to this town in a hurry or you would have joined 3 months ago," he reasoned with logic.

Vixx nodded. That was true, her mother had decided to shifted to Australia after her father's passing. They had no home in France and the bills were getting too high. Her mother was originally Australian, so her family was here. They moved into her grandmother's house and she had to leave her own school half way through.

She wasn't happy about it but she had no choice in the matter. After he father died she was left feeling empty and afraid.

"Vixx, you haven't answered my question yet. So, how do you know Stey?"

-

That was how the conversation about Stey had led to the point where they were.

Stey, apparently was only pretty on the outside. She was a devil inside that craved attention and needed it at all times. She had gotten involved with the police numerous times for all sorts of reasons; she had drunk as a minor, driven her boyfriend's car and she had been reported missingmore than once. She was insane and a freak, they said.

It wasn't entirely her fault though. At first she had been good and soft spoken. It was after she had met Christopher that there had been vivid changes. Her personality had turned from kind to rude and her style of clothing had become wild and she was quick to get furious for minor issues. She would yell across corridors at a person and even slap them sometimes.

Vixx wasn't sure how much of it was exaggerated and how much of it was the truth but she knew one thing for certain: Stey had changed after meeting her boyfriend Christopher.

"For what was he arrested?"

"Well Christopher wasn't as crazy as Stey. He was quiet and mysterious. We were all surprised when we found out they were dating. At first we wondered what Christopher saw in Stey to continue dating her-" Amanda began but Dylan cut her off.

"That's not the point. Every girl was jealous of Stey because they were head over heels in love with Christopher. So were these two," he accused, getting dirty looks from Livia and Amanda.

"They would try to take revenge on Stey but she swatted them away like flies and with Christopher around they hardly could do anything. He was transferred last year, and like you, he came midway during the semester. Kyle had already known him and that was surprising. Christopher was an orphan and stayed in a dorm so how would Kyle know him. No one knew how he lived but everyone knew he wore branded clothes and drove a good car.

Shocking isn't it? You wonder where he could afford such nice clothes and a vehicle."

"Maybe he had a guardian?" Vixx suggested.

"If he did have a guardian who was rich enough to give him branded items I'm sure he was very much loved by him/her. Ask yourself this, if a guardian loved you so much, wouldn't they take you under their wing and let you live in their house?" Dylan looked at her as if challenging her.

Vixx gave herself a few minutes to think. "What is he chose to live alone?"

"He wouldn't. We've seen his apartment. It's in a dirty area and the apartment itself is in bad condition. No one would choose to live there and with that we can conclude that he has no guardian."

"Stey is rich. He could have gotten the money from her or maybe she bought him those as gifts," Vixx thought aloud. She had noticed it about Stey when they were by the lockers. She had the latest shoe, the latest Apple phone and her clothes were labelled by a high end brand.

She was beyond rich.

"You're smart. I like that," Dylan pointed out, "Sure we can say that it was Stey who gave him all the money, but Christopher was already wearing branded clothes from his first day here. Besides, would Stey really buy her boyfriend a porche? No, he had everything even before dating Stey?"

"Everything except parents," Livia added. The five people around Vixx laughed, cruelly, making her heart twist in pain. They didn't care at all.

She had no father either and it wasn't easy without him. Even if they had their own struggles in their life, they wouldnt like it to be narrated like an exciting story so they had no right to take it out on someone who had no parents. They had no right to laugh about it.

Vixx felt the floor shake beneath her and it made her stomach queasy. She pulled out her bottle and swallowed a few sips of water.

Dylan waited for her to finish and continued.

"The only question now is- WHERE did Christopher get the money from?"

"Was he arrested for theft then?" Vixx was extremely curious to know, but Dylan was enjoying narrating the tale. He was slow, making the moment seem exciting but Vixx was worried. She didn't know Christopher but she had spoken to Stey and unlike what everyone said, Stey, albeit rough around the edges, had been nice to her in her own strange way.

The door to the class opened, interrupting Dylan as he was about to go on. Vixx turned around quickly to face the front of the classroom and saw their teacher who came inside, apologizing for being late. She told them to get back to their seats quickly and open their books to chapter 4.

"Wait. What was-" she quickly turned to Dylan but he had already moved to another chair with his books.

She was too anxious to know but she didn't want it to disrupt her lesson. Someone tapped her shoulder and she felt them lean forward from behind and whisper into her ear.

"Here."

A folded piece of paper fell on her lap. She opened it quickly and read its scribbled contents.

THEFT. He was arrested for theft and attempted murder.