c h a p t e r t w e l v e

I didn't want to go to school. I didn't want to see Edmund or his friends but I had to go down, I needed to meet up with Icarus and I definitely wanted to see my friends. I went to the cafeteria first as soon as I got to school because I knew my friends would be there. As I walked pass the hallway, I felt eyes following me and whispers all around, I felt weird but immediately forgot about it when I reached the cafeteria. I saw Judith and Addison sitting there eating waffles so I joined them. They asked how was I doing and I began to tell them about asking Icarus for the favor. I told them not to tell the other first as I didn't want them to know about it yet to which they agreed to.

" Judith you said when Icarus was a freshman, the first few month before summer break he was like us, sociable right? Was he friends with Edmund then?" I asked her. If there's one thing that I felt weird about was when Icarus said that the hurt Edmund will feel is enough as payment. It's almost as if he too has a personal vendetta with Edmund.

" I don't think so. From what I can remember, Edmund was always the popular playboy of the school and as much as Icarus was like the rest of the boys in his year and popular as well among them, I never seen them hanging out."

" Although he and Edmund did tryout for the basketball team which Edmund beat him to it." Addison added. Maybe that's why I thought to myself. They started to ask me questions like what was his house like inside and how intimidating it was being alone with him. As much as I was feeling afraid at the time, I also had a sense of security almost as if I knew he'd protect me from anything. Soon the rest of our friends joined us and we shut up about the topic. After awhile it was time to head to class, Judith and I went for Arts while the rest had their respective subjects. As soon as we entered the class, my eyes dropped on a boy in the same seat he has always been reading a book whilst listening to music with his wireless headphones. I glanced over a few times before Judith nudge me and wiggled her eyebrows to which I rolled my eyes. When Mr Phillips came in, the class kept quiet and Icarus put away his stuff. He began to teach us the theory side of Arts and this is when I start to lose interest while Judith was listening religiously. I felt a paper make its way underneath my elbow and I saw a note which I assume is from Icarus.

Class 4A, lunch break

I looked to him and nodded which he caught in the corner of his eye before turning back to face the window. Soon enough it was the next class which was History. Mr Peters decided to talk about Industrial Revolution today. I love History as it was one of the few subject I could score high on because it was essentially a story book that was very very long. After he was done, he gave us a couple quizzes to which I got most of it right. He congratulated me and gave me a small bar of Snicker's. He's probably my favorite teacher right now. Usually I'd eat the Snicker's as soon as I got it but I didn't feel like eating it so I gave it to Judith. When it was lunch break, me and Judith head to our locker to keep our stuff. I told her I was going to meet Icarus so I won't be at the cafeteria today. She grinned at me and I rolled my eyes again in annoyance to which she laughed.

CLASS 4A

I took a deep breath before entering the room. There he sat with a bowl of salad. I went to sit in front of him but I was still a little intimidated even though I've seen him many times. He looked up to me as I sat down and took out his phone, placing it in front of me.

" That's why you were getting stares when you arrive and trust me rumours spread like wildfire here in Ryegates."

On his phone was a screenshot of an Instagram story. It had a picture of me with a caption " loves to go around hugging and touching guys who isn't her boyfriend. What a way to make yourself famous in a new school huh"

I had so many questions in my head. Who could have done this? Why? Why didn't my friends tell me about it? How did Icarus get it? I massaged my temples in frustration. I tried to keep my cool but it was so hard.

" Her name is Candice L'Rae . She went through the trouble of making a new account to smear your name which I gotta say is really something. Recognize her?" He said as he showed me a picture of a girl, snapping me back to reality. My eyes widen. That was the girl sitting next to Edmund during the party.

"H-how did you know it was her and how did you get that screenshot? As far as I checked you don't have any social media." I asked whilst feeling nervous. He continued eating his bowl of salad as if he was having a hard time answering the question.

" I have my ways." He said, fiddling his phone. I had so many more questions to ask him not just about the plan but also about himself. I still hadn't forgotten about the dinner he had with me and my dad.

" Soooo what's the plan then?"

"Don't worry about it, I got it all mapped out in my head."

"Shouldn't I know at least" I answered back to which he looked at his watch and back at me.

" No time. Give me your phone number, I'll text you about it." He said, handing me his phone. I was confused we still had 10 minutes before break was over but I did as he asked. He got up with his stuff and headed out of the classroom while I sheepishly followed him. We didn't have class together afterwards so I couldn't follow him but I didn't want to go the cafeteria because there'll be stares from everyone. So I waited by my locker and told my friends where I was. Soon enough, Addison and Judith came by to see if I was alright. I tried to not panic as I told them what Candice had done. Their eyes widen in disbelief as they heard what Candice did. I was surprised they didn't hear about it considering how almost the entire school seemingly know about. After lunch break, school felt dreadful and long especially after what happened. I just wanted to get home and be by myself. As I was getting into the car with my brother, I noticed Edmund in the corner of my eye with a large group. They kept looking in my direction and whispering furiously. I felt uncomfortable at the way they were looking at me. Lennon noticed how I was and wanted to go over to give them a piece of his mind. Quickly I stopped him, telling him to calm down. My brother was typically a calm guy but when someone pisses him off, he'll do anything to get back at the person and the fact that most of the guys in the group were looking over, grinning at him. He was still determined to go over when a loud car rev caught both us and the group's attention. We looked around to see where it came from. A white NSX started to slowly move from where it was parking, almost as if the car was stalking it's prey and it's prey was us. As soon as I saw what car it was, I knew who it was but one thing I didn't know was whether he did it to provoke Edmund and his bunch of friends or to stop them from making fun of me and Lennon. Maybe it's a bit of both I thought to myself as I started my car and we drove back home. Oddly enough I didn't see Icarus or his car when we passed his house.Mom and Dad weren't home today so I made lunch for me and Lennon. Seeing as how we were alone, we were able to talk freely about the thing in school. Len had heard of the rumours and wanted to know who was behind them. Knowing he wouldn't punch a girl, I told him who it was. He fought the urge to slam his fists on the table and asked if I needed any help. I told him I was dealing with it together with my friends. He was unconvinced by my answer at first but eventually gave in. He knew he couldn't make a mess early in the year and also because he was new to the school. I gave him a hug and told him not to worry before taking the plates to wash. I went to see Skai who ran up to me and started licking my face. Did I mention I was ticklish? I started to giggle and soon he was distracted by a bird that landed on the outside ledge of the window. He kept wanting to jump to get a better look at it up close but he was too short. After a few minutes of playing, he was tired so I laid him on his bed before filling up his kibble food and water. I went upstairs to get clean, usually I'd go for a jog first but I wasn't feeling like it today. I went to check my phone after. There were messages from my friends and a few from my mom. I scrolled further down to see a message from an unknown number. Curious, I opened it to see what was it.