Chapter 3
Ientered the classroom with a smile on my face, attempting to forget what happened the night before. I walked over to my desk, expecting them to be arguing or sitting in silence, but I only spotted Ayden.
Maybe Hero decided to sit somewhere else? I scanned the room, but he was nowhere in sight.
“Where is Hero?” I asked him, still looking around.
“How should I know that?” he shot back.
I turned to face him, this time getting a good view of his face.
He had two butterfly bandages on his face—one on the bridge of his nose and one right under his bottom lip—and a square bandage patch on his right cheek.
I glanced up, looking at his hair; it had residue of the truth serum, almost acting as gel.
I stammered, “Are… are you okay?” I sat down, taking a closer look at his face.
He angled himself away, covering his face with his hand. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” I said firmly. “Let me see.”
He exhaled, spinning back around but averting his gaze away from me. As I observed his face, I reminded him of the presentation. “We can’t present without him.”
“Why not?” he scoffed, still gazing in another direction.
“He has the truth serum, remember?” I replied softly.
“Oh, right.”
Hero needed to be here. I couldn’t afford to get a failing grade.
My brother would be so mad. He expected me to get good grades, go to college, and get a career that would make loads of money to support the both of us.
He would’ve gone to law school by now, but was stuck working full time as a cashier at a low-pay grocery store in the town over in order to take care of me.
He was putting way too much pressure on me.
Oh, did I mention he’s a total and utter gold digger? The number of rich girlfriends he has had in the past month must have been twice the number of times he shaved his face, and he shaved regularly.
“I can’t fail this,” I mumbled.
Ayden heard me. “Hey. It isn’t our fault that we don’t have the serum so I’m sure Mr. Miller would understand.”
Thinking about my brother made my blood boil and I was ready to crack open. “Maybe it is your fault. Maybe he isn’t here because you started a fight with him.”
“I started it?” he scoffed in disbelief. “He started it by splashing the truth serum on me. I punched him once. You can’t even consider it a two-sided fight. If anyone should be staying home, it’s me.”
I narrowed my eyes, then softened them. “I get that you hate him, but just… please try to get along with him.”
“And I get that you like him, but I seriously did not expect it to cloud your judgment this badly,” he retorted, shaking his head. “Why should I do anything for you?”
“We’re friends, aren’t we?” I asked, puzzled. “I just want the two of you to get along, that’s all.”
“You aren’t acting like a friend right now.” His jaw tightened. “A friend wouldn’t choose sides. Especially not the side of the person who is clearly in the wrong. The one who did this to my face.” He made a circular motion around his face with his index finger.
I inhaled sharply. “I’m not taking sides.”
Ayden was wrong. I just wanted peace. I wanted our friend group to return to normal.
* * *
Just as presentations were about to start, the doors opened and Hero entered.
“Ah, just in time for presentations, Mr. Castell,” said Mr. Miller. “A minute later may have earned you detention.”
Hero quickly approached his desk—beaker in hand—and sat down. He didn’t say a word to either of us, nor made any eye contact with anybody in the room.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
No response.
A few groups presented their science experiment before it was our turn.
When it was our turn to present, Hero leapt up from his seat, swiftly walking to the front of the classroom.
Ayden and I followed, then turned to face our classmates.
Hero decided to lead, talking about his family legacy and the truth serum.
He went on and on about it for several minutes until Mr. Miller held out a hand to signal him to stop. “Sir, don’t dilly-dally. Present or go sit down.”
Hero seethed, then moved his gaze around the classroom. “Any volunteers?”
Snickering was heard from the back before a girl raised her hand, smirking. Violet. She wore mascara and red lipstick, and had straight light-brown hair that stretched half-way down her back. Even though her actions weren’t pretty, nobody could deny the fact that her appearance was stunning.
“Come on up, then,” Hero muttered, averting his gaze. Violet was the last person either three of us wanted to volunteer.
Violet shot up from her seat and strutted to the front of the classroom, standing mere inches apart from Hero. She grinned, looking him up and down.
Disgust visibly formed over my face. It was sickening to see how she acted towards Hero—like he was just a toy to her.
“Drink it.” Hero pushed the beaker against her chest, causing her to stumble. This humbled her a bit, but she placed a superficial smile onto her face.
“Gladly,” she said, grabbing the beaker and drinking the last of it. “Ask away.”
Ayden glanced over at Hero, who firmly nodded in response. This was one of the very few things they could agree on.
“Do you regret playing with our feelings?” was the question Ayden asked.
He searched her eyes for an answer before the actual answer left her mouth. “No, it made me popular. Why would I regret that?” She smirked, turning to look at her friends. Some giggled. Some cheered.
That question didn’t prove a thing. She could’ve easily answered that without drinking the truth serum. I had to ask a question that she wouldn’t want to answer.
“What is a secret of yours you have never told anyone?”
Violet’s eyes widened, full of fear, before the words spilled out. “I hate my friends. They’re so effing fake. I am so jealous of your friendships, Pepper.” She instantly covered her mouth, afraid to look back at her friends’ reactions.
It was a good thing she didn’t. Her friends gave the dirtiest of dirty looks to her, whispering to each other and quietly laughing. I almost felt bad. Almost. She didn’t feel bad for what she did to Hero and Ayden, so why should I feel bad for her?
“The truth serum…works?” she muttered, staring at the floor. Although I couldn’t see her face, the shakiness in her voice told me she was about to cry.
Hero proudly smiled, then turned to me. “Good job on that question, Pepper.”
I gave a tight-lipped smile back, not feeling as though I should feel proud of this moment. I made someone cry.
“Thank you for volunteering, ma’am,” Mr. Miller chimed in, giving the three of us a sharp look. “You may go back to your seat now.”
But Violet knew she wouldn’t be welcome if she went back to her seat, so instead, she ran out of the classroom crying. I shot a glance at her friends again before shifting my focus back to the teacher, who was now holding the desk phone in one hand and punching in digits with the other.
“Violet Baker left the classroom,” he informed the person on the other side of the phone call. I caught myself thinking that I hoped Violet would be okay. I shook that thought away and tugged at my best friends, pulling them back to our desks.
There were a few more presentations left before lunch time, but thoughts of Violet crowded my mind. I needed to make sure she was fine.
But Pineshire Academy was strict; it had a point system.
Everyone starts out with thirty points at the beginning at each year, and if it runs out, you’d get expelled.
Leaving the classroom cost Violet seven points.
Last year, I lost three points just from arriving to school late due to a dentist appointment.
So I had no choice but to wait for the bell to ring.