Chapter 28
“Peps, are you alright?” Ayden asked as we all stepped back onto the cruise ship, concerned after being informed by his other friends.
“Yeah,” I said dismissively, striding past, “I just have to get some bandages.”
Hero insisted on going with me but I refused, not wanting him to get angrier if I did have another scrape on my body.
I rushed to my room, avoiding eye contact with others along the way.
I unlocked the door and went straight into the bathroom.
I locked the bathroom door and lifted up my baggy jeans to see if there were any scrapes.
There were.
The blood from the scrape on my knee had traveled down my shin, almost making contact with my socks. I quickly took off my sneakers and socks before that could happen. Blood had already come into contact with my jeans.
I had to wash the blood off my skin—and the jeans.
I hopped into the shower after taking the remainder of my clothes off and turned the handle.
Water sprayed out of the shower head, instantly hitting the scrape on my knees.
It stung—almost too much for me to handle.
I used soap to disinfect it, crying from the pain.
Turning the jeans inside-out, I washed the area that had blood on it.
Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around me.
Shoot, I didn’t bring extra clothes into the bathroom.
I put my undergarments and top back on, and kept the towel on my lower-half.
Hoping that neither of the boys would return to see me in a towel, I slowly opened the bathroom door and rushed to my suitcase, taking out my overalls.
I sighed in relief as I got back to the bathroom.
I put bandages around the palm of my hands, then a huge Band-Aid on both knees. After putting on the overalls, I squeezed the water out of the baggy jeans, although it was still soaking wet. I had to hang it somewhere to dry, but there were not many places for me to hide it from Hero.
The balcony.
There was a curtain on the balcony door, so they wouldn’t see the pair of jeans unless they open the curtains or go onto the balcony.
But they had no need to open the curtains; there was plenty of sunlight coming from the other windows.
I slid the door open, stepping onto the balcony.
Hanging the jeans over the railing, I used one of my hair ties to tie it so that the wind wouldn’t blow it away.
“Hero will notice the change in pants,” I realized, muttering to myself. I had to stay in the room and wait for the pants to dry.
I slid the balcony door open and looked around for things to do while I waited. Flopping on my bed, I wondered, did Ayden keep a diary? Maybe that could help me understand why he’s acting different.
Turning to my side, I reached to open the top drawer on the vanity. Nothing. I opened the bottom drawer. Nothing. I rolled out of bed and opened the top drawer on his side. Just hair stuff, for all of us. Finally, I opened his bottom drawer.
Bingo. There was a black diary stashed at the back of the drawer. Reaching my hand out, I grabbed the diary. Before I could open it, someone knocked on the door. It startled me and I placed the diary back, closing the drawer.
“Who is it?” I called out.
“Imani.”
What was she doing here?
“Is Ayden here?” she asked as I opened the door.
I shook my head. “No, it’s only me. Why?”
She barged into the room. “Close the door, hurry.”
“You can’t just—”
“Shut the door!” she yelled.
“Okay, what is this all about?” I asked, closing the door. “You’re freaking me out.”
“You want to know Ayden’s secret, don’t you?” she asked, twirling her long, coiled hair. “Well, I know it.”
“Why?” I demanded.
“That’s your question?”
“Yes!” I said, annoyed. “You and him aren’t even close! So why do you—”
“Did you know Xavier and I are cousins?” she interrupted.
“No?” I stammered, trying to find any relevance in what she was telling me.
“But we’re like siblings—our bond,” she continued. “He tells me things.”
“And why did Ayden tell him?”
“Because they’re so close now apparently,” she said. “Those stupid bullies wrapped us up in this stupid mess, pulling him away from me. Now Ayden is doing the same.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Aren’t you friends with them?”
“It’s an act.” She crossed her arms. “I didn’t want them to pit my own cousin against me.”
“Uhm, okay,” I said. “I still don’t understand why you’re here.”
“Haven’t you noticed Ayden spending so much time with him lately?”
“I haven’t, actually,” I said. “But I noticed he started hanging out with the bullies after I broke up with him.”
“It’s some kind of act for him too,” she said casually. “If you pay attention, you’ll see he’s always next to Zay. It’s only Zay that he likes.”
“An act?” I asked. “Why is he putting on an act?”
She sighed. “I don’t know that yet. But in the process, he got close with my cousin.”
“If you don’t know that, then what do you know?” I pressed.
“That Ayden’s gay.”
What?
I laughed. “What are you talking about?”
“Look,” she said sternly, “Zay didn’t tell me everything, but whatever he knows, it made him one-hundred percent sure that Ayden’s gay.”
My smile dropped. I couldn’t wrap my head around what I was hearing. It was impossible.
“But…but Violet and…and me,” I stuttered. “How can you explain that?”
“I can’t.” She shrugged. “But I trust Zay.”
“Then I need to speak with him.”
“What makes you think he’ll tell you?” she hissed.
“It’s worth a shot,” I said, “and I’ll even tell you afterwards. Where is he?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Probably kissing Ayden.”
“Wait.” I paused. “Ayden likes Xavier?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
As I was about to open the door to go find Xavier, I asked, “Why are you even telling me this?”
“Because you need to get on better terms with Ayden and take him away from Zay.”
I turned around. “Oh my God, you’re being too overprotective over him. Don’t you want him to be happy?”
She huffed, storming past me to open the door herself.
“ZAY!” she shrieked as she stepped outside.
I followed her out to catch a glimpse of Ayden and Xavier kissing each other in the hallway. The two of them stepped back from each other after seeing me.
“It’s not what you—” Ayden tried to explain, rubbing the back of his head.
“I already told her,” Imani scowled, rolling her eyes.
“You what?” Xavier said, stepping towards her. “You outed him?”
“Oh, c’mon, it’s just Pepper.” She narrowed her eyes. “His best friend.”
“See, this is why I don’t tell you everything.” He scoffed, storming off. Imani ran after him, apologizing. Their dynamic was… strange, to say the least. I felt bad for Xavier.
Ayden slowly approached me. “What did Imani tell you?”
“Just that you’re gay,” I muttered. “She wanted me to take you away from Xavier. Of course, I wouldn’t do that. I’m happy for you… just confused, I guess.”
He gulped. “You shouldn’t have known this much. I shouldn’t have even told him, it just… he just—”
“I know.” I pulled him into a hug. “I just wish you’d trust me too.”
He tightly held onto me, desperately needing that hug. “Once it’s over, I swear I’ll explain everything.”
“When will it be over?” I asked. I didn’t know what ‘it’ was, but I trusted Ayden. If Ayden was hiding something from me, he must’ve had a good reason.
He eased out of the hug. “I don’t know. A week— maybe a month?”
I nodded. “I’ll wait.”
“You can’t tell Hero,” he stammered, his voice trembling. “Swear you won’t.”
“Yeah,” I said in a whisper, “I swear. It’s not my place to share.”
“Thank you, Peps.” He sighed. “I hope Zay can get Imani under control before she goes and tells everyone.”
“I hope so too.”
“I’m going to try and find him, see you at dinner?” he said, walking backwards.
“See you there.”