Chapter 8: Untold Tale

I was left dumbfounded inside his car, following his every move as he walked over to my side of the car. He opened the door of the back seat and brought out the crutches that I was given at the hospital earlier. He then went in front of the passenger seat and opened it. I looked up at him and he smiled back at me, offering his hand and the crutches to me. I hesitated a little, but nothing will come out with just staying inside, I'll have to face them eventually. I took a deep breath and took his hand, he then helped me balance in my crutches.

As soon as I was standing steadily, he closed the door of the passenger seat and took our bag from the backseat then went back to me. He placed his arm across my waist as I held onto his arm for support. We then started to walk towards our parents, surprise and worry written all over their faces. I could feel my parents' stares piercing through me and Vin, I had no escape, I guess I really have to introduce Vin to them.

"Hi mommy!" I greeted her awkwardly. She looked at me from top to bottom then smiled back at me. She might be smiling but I know that she is still worried, she kept looking at my ankle.

"Hi Dad." I also greeted him cheerfully but his expression was really unreadable.

"This is..." I started but my Dad cut me off.

"Let's talk inside over dinner. I'm sure Mama Beth is already prepared dinner." my dad said then started walking towards our front gate.

"Stay for dinner young man. I'm sure you haven't had dinner yet." My mom said and started dragging Vin towards the door, while Vin is trying his best to assist me from using my crutches. My mom noticed that Vin was having a hard time supporting me so she let go of his arm and went ahead of us.

We were greeted by Mama Beth and Papa Andy's sweet smiles as we approached the door. This is the first time in my life that I brought a guy home, other than Shin. So I guess, it's a bit shocking and also exciting for them to see me with another guys. I saw Vin flash his brightest smile to them and I can't help but to shake my head to his cuteness.

"I'll wash up first before dinner." I said to no one in particular when we got into the living room. I faced Vin and smiled at him.

"Make yourself at home. I'll be right back." I said to him. Mama Beth then took this as a sign and went closer to me and replaced Vin in supporting me. We went straight to my room; Mama Beth then head out again to get some plastic bag to cover my injured ankle then helped me wash up. I changed clothes as fast as I could, knowing that Vin is undergoing interrogation downstairs.

As soon as I stepped out of my room, I could already hear my mom's laughter from downstairs. I, then, walked in a pleasantly strange surprise when I got into the living room. My mom was laughing so hard that she was holding her belly while my dad was trying his best to limit his smile and laughter as the two of them chatted with a smiling Vin.

"Let's eat." My dad then said when he saw me at the door way of the living room. He got up from his chair with both my mom and Vin following his example. Rather than following my parents to the dinner table, Vin went straight to me and took me from Mama Beth. Mama Beth let go immediately and went to the kitchen to prepare our dinner.

I never thought that Vin was such an adult pleaser. He knows how to get along with both my parents and even Mama Beth and Papa Andy that I consider as family. Sometimes I couldn't even follow their conversation and would just laugh if they laugh and react accordingly to whatever they say. I can't help but admire him more in how he handled the situation we are in.

If someone would look at us right now we look like a normal family without any problems but I know that it's far from the truth. My mind suddenly went back to the sketch book we left inside the car. I already texted Shin to meet me at the treehouse tonight. I really didn't want to bother him with this but I have to know the truth. If this keeps going, we're both in going to be in trouble, and possibly hurt.

I never told Shin about the text that I received a few weeks ago, but this time I think I have to tell him. The person doing this, whoever they are, already went through my locker. Now, it might just be my sketches and sketchbook, but it's only a matter of time before he would try to hurt us physically.

"Are you okay?" I heard Vin whisper in my ears, snapping me out of my thoughts. He might have notice the change in my expression. I just nodded in response and finished my meal. I waited for Vin to finish his which didn't take long. He helped me get up and we told my parents that Shin was waiting for us in the treehouse.

We too out time getting to the treehouse since it was still hard for me to balance by myself. I slowly went up the ladder and Shin was indeed waiting for us inside. Shin gave me a questioning look but didn't ask the question that he wanted the answer to, he waited for me to say something but words were caught in my throat. I looked back down to Vin and he immediately knew what I wanted to say and walked back to the car to get the sketchbook

"So what's the score between you and Dela Cruz?" Shin asked as soon as Vin left the two of us alone.

"He drove me home after helping me in the hospital. It just so happens that Mom and Dad saw him as he dropped me off and invited him for dinner." I replied with such speed and defensiveness that he laughed hard at me.

"Relax Mitch. I was just teasing." He said in between laughs.

"So you don't feel anything for him?" He then added after calming his laughter.

"I feel comfortable around him, safe, if you know what I mean." I looked at him and I could see in his eyes that I was only telling him half the truth about my feelings towards Vin. He raised his eyebrows at me, daring me to tell lies.

"Fine!" I said in surrender. "I like him ok. He makes my heart flutter and I can't help but stare at him whenever we're close. I may have a little crush on him, that's it. Okay?" I confessed to my best friend. He just laughed at me again with that annoying chuckle that he always uses when he is teasing me.

"So you guys weren't going to make out in the car if aunty wasn't there?" He said while giving me an all-knowing look. My face might have been a mess from the shock because he started laughing again. I could feel my face heat up with just the mention of that almost kiss.

"How? When? You were." I couldn't even complete a whole sentence and just stared at him dumbfounded at what he just said.

"You do know that his car is just lightly tinted right? I was already waiting in front by the gate when you two pulled over. I waited for you to get out, but you didn't, so I got closer to the car and saw you both leaning in but then aunt's car was already rounding the corner so I just backed off." He told me in detail and I knew by his laugh that may face is as red as a tomato again.

I started punching him but he was still laughing. I stared at him and remembered that we have more important things to talk about other than my love life.

"Shin." I called out to him catching his attention.

"About what happened ten years ago. About Miggy and Denden." I started. He looked at me with his eyebrows furrowed together, a bit annoyed that I'm still bringing this up.

"I told you. I'm not resorting back to old habits, Mitch. I thought we already settled this?" His voice was full of irritation and hurt.

"I know. I know. This isn't about what happened in school." I started biting me lip after, not knowing how to tell him about what happened. He just started at me, urging me to go on.

"That night, when you had the fight at school." I started again.

"I thought this wasn't about that." He said to me confused.

"It's what happened after we talked about it." I answered him and he just nodded. I took that as a sign so I continued.

"Someone sent me a message, right after I went back to my room that night. Here." I said as I gave him my cellphone to show him the messages that I received from the unknown number.

Horror washed over his face as he scrolls down. I'm sure what he is seeing right now are the pictures attached to the message. He had disbelief in his eyes then looked at me with disappointment after he overcame his shock.

"It's been a while after you got this, and you didn't even mention it to me? Mitch, I thought there would be no secrets between us?" He said with the exasperated expression on his face. Frustrated about what he just found out.

"I didn't want to worry you. I just thought it was a prank at first, especially, it happened the same time that the girls at campus were coming for me. So I didn't think much of it." I reasoned with him. He took a deep breath to calm himself then looked at me again.

"So, why are you opening this up right now?" he asked looking at me straight in the eyes.

"Because something happened today." I then heard Vin coming up the ladder. Shin and I both looked his way, waiting for him. Vin has my sketchbook in his hand then sat down quietly beside me. Shin looked from him to me alternately, his eyes asking us to already come clean about what happened and why are we talking about all of this with Vin. I know him well enough to understand.

"I was with Vin when it happened today. Someone even threw something at his car while I was alone in it, so I think he deserves an explanation from me." I answered his unvoiced out question.

"I want to know exactly what happened ten years ago Shin. No sugar-coat, no skips, from the very beginning." I said immediately said before he could say something.

"Wait Mitch, you mean to say that you don't know what happened before?" Vin asked me. I nodded as a response.

"Selective amnesia. I couldn't remember anything from our old school. What I know about what happened are what Shin and our parents told me." I explained to him.

"Why do you need to know Mitch? It's all already in the past. This text? Maybe you're right. It's just a prank." Shin said trying to reason with us.

"I don't think it was an ordinary prank Shin." Vin started. Shin looked at him with curiosity in his eyes.

"They've been through Mitch's locker." he continued then passed the sketchbook to Shin. Shin took it and I saw horror in his eyes again. We just waited for him to finish and say something but when he stayed quiet Vin began to speak again.

"And I think this also has something to do with Mitch's accident earlier." Shin and I looked at him shocked at what he just said. This was new news to me. He didn't even mention anything about it earlier when we were alone together.

"Someone was lingering on top of the stairs when I got there. I didn't saw their face because I panicked when I saw Mitch on the bottom of the stairs, already unconscious. Then when I went to get that from Mitch's locker, I saw someone walk away from the lockers quickly when they noticed me coming." he continued explaining to the both of us.

"You're saying that someone intentionally pushed Mitch down the stairs, then ruined her sketchbook?" Shin asked Vin in which he just replied with a nod.

"Okay fine." Shin finally said, surrendering to the fact that we both might be in danger.

"Start from the very begin." I stated like a kid waiting for her grandma to read them a bed time story but I know that this story doesn't end in happy ever after.

Shin took a deep breath then looked me in the eyes with such worry that for the first time in my life, I felt scared that I might not know who we are anymore after this story. Being my best friend, he read exactly what was running inside my mind.

"I didn't mean for everything that happened to happen." He begun. I held my breath as I stared at him, waiting for him to continue what he was saying and I knew that I wasn't the only one. He took another deep breath then begun telling us the story that he had hidden from me all these years.

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It was around lunch time and me and a bunch of other guys from my class are roaming around the grounds. I was pretty popular back them, not just because of my looks, but also because of my family's financial status. We sat down on a table in the middle of the school grounds, I asked a couple of them to buy our food from the cafeteria and they immediately obeyed, running towards the cafeteria with the money that I gave them. We were waiting for them to come back when other students started running towards our year's building. The two of them then came into view, but they didn't carry any food. They were running back full speed at our table. When they got there, they were trying to say something to me but were so out of breath that I couldn't understand what they were saying.

"Shin." he said in between his breathing. I just stared at him waiting for him to continue what he was wants to say.

"Si Michihiko." He added as he pointed at the direction where all the other students were heading at.

As soon as I heard her name, I knew something was wrong. I got up from the table and was already running towards the commotion that my best friend was supposed to be in the middle of. I was greeted with an unfamiliar sight as soon as I entered the building full of students that were all huddled together.

Michihiko was at the top of the stairs with Denise, one of our close and dearest friends. The three of us and Miggy have been close for years, but this year we were in different classes, only Mitch and Denise are together. It wasn't shocking that they were together, what shocked me was that they were pulling each other's hair out. I was so confused but I still made my way through the crowd, bulldozing a path through the wall of students circling the scene, but before I could even get through I already saw Miggy, the other guy who completes our quartet, joining the two on top of the stairs.

I was immediately relieved as soon as I saw him. He was trying to pry the two girls from each other, stopping them from hurting each other more. I walked through the crowd at much ease knowing that Miggy is already there handling the situation. I was still in the middle of the crowd when screams and shrieks filled the whole building.

I fasten my pace and when I got through, horror and fear washed over me. There lying at the bottom of the staircase, in the middle of the panicking crowd was the body of my best friend. I ran to Mitch's lying body as quickly as I could, no one even daring to stop me. I crouch down to her and tried to lift her up. Her head was oozing with so much blood that it stained both our shirts. I looked up the stairs and saw Denise and Miggy hugging each other as they both looked down on us, confusion and fear reflected in their faces.