*Beauty*
When I imagined how this day was going to go, this was not it.
I'd imagined Madison driving me and the girls to school. I'd imagined being nervous before I'd finally told them that I was in love with William Johnson. I'd imagined them being shocked. Maybe even angry that I hadn't told them about my crush earlier. Then I'd imagined seeing Will from a distance. We'd sneak glances at each other, maybe even sneak away to see each other.
What I hadn't imagined was sitting opposite the principal, staring down at my hands and trying desperately not to cry.
And William Johnson, perfection incarnate, sitting less than a metre away from me and not looking at me.
I could feel my heart shattering into tiny little pieces.
I remembered his face when I'd turned from the poster, how he'd paled, how his eyes had widened.
The smartest guy in school got caught with the dumb blonde cheerleader, our relationship revealed in front of the entire student body. Then he was publicly called to the principal's office.
Will must feel so embarrassed.
If I'd been trying to imagine the worst possible thing that could happen today, this would have been it.
Principal Chang pressed her hands together, levelling a hard stare at us through her glasses. "I'm sure you both know why you were called here."
Principal Chang looked like a mixture of Layla and Narissaâher daughters. Except she was scarily serious, and super intimidating.
She sighed. "Of courseâyou haven't actually done anything wrong, but that poster has caused a significant stir in the student body. It's already disrupted the school dayâIt took us twenty minutes to get everyone into their classrooms. So, I believe it would be wise for you two to go home for the rest of the day. Your parents have already been called. The situation has been explained to them and they will be expecting you." She stood. "You are both dismissed."
I stared at her, my eyes wide. That was it?
What about the person who put it up? It had to have been Catherine. She'd been holding a camera, and the expression on her faceâ
Happy. Happy because she knew that Will would definitely dump me now.
My heart gave a lurch of pure agony.
Principal Chang stared at us expectantly, her fingers tapping an impatient rhythm on her desk. Will stood, his movements as smooth and elegant as they always were. I stumbled to my feet.
In the next moment, we were leaving the Principal's office. Will was silent. He still wouldn't look at me. I stared at the ground, a film of tears blurring my sight. The door shut behind us, leaving us in a quiet hall.
Will cleared his throat. "Ellieâ"
"I'm sorry," I choked out. Then, before he could respond, I ran.
He was going to break up with me.
And I couldn't handle it.
I wasn't ready to have my heart shattered for the second time today. What else could he want to say? I knew he hadn't wanted anyone to find out about our relationship. Now the whole school knew. And what was worse: the principal had ordered him home early.
I was in the parking lot when the tears finally spilled over.
I'd finally gotten what I'd wanted: to be William Johnson's girlfriend. And, in one moment, it had all been ruined.
"Ellie?"
I spun. Will had emerged from the school building, his eyes fixed on me, his features pained.
My heart gave another lurch. I took a step back. I'd run home if I had to.
His face crumpled. "Ellie, waitâplease."
I hesitated. Why did he look so upset?
Because he's embarrassedâobviously.
The thought made the lump in my throat grow.
I wanted to run.
Stop being a coward.
Eventually, I would have to face this.
I inhaled a sharp breath then I straightened, bracing myself.
Even if it was over, even if this was the end, our time together had been amazing. Who would have thought that Will would ask me to be his girlfriend? Our relationship had been impossible from the start. I should be grateful for the time we'd spent together.
The thought was supposed to be comforting. Instead, I had to smother a sob.
"I'm sorry," Will began.
My tears poured faster. So this was how the break up would start. Will would apologise, then he would say something about how different we were. How unsuited I was for him.
"IâI know how you must feel. I know this isn't what you wantedâ"
A half-choked sob left my throat. Will's face crumpled. He took a step forward, his hand rising, as if he wanted to touch me, then he hesitated.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. His hand fell.
The world became a blur of watered down colours. I nodded quickly. I understoodâhe was trying to break up with me. I should make it easier for him. "IâI understand. You don't have to explainâyou can go."
Will's shoulders slumped. He looked so...heartbroken. He nodded once, his eyes fixed on the ground, then turned.
A lurch of pain stabbed through my chest. Was this it?
Would this be the last time I ever spoke to him?
"C-can we still be friends?"
I blurted the words out before I could stop them.
I couldn't imagineâafter everything, all the things we'd sharedânever talking to Will again. Never seeing him smile again. Or hearing his laugh.
He turned, blinking quickly. His expression was still pained. "Yesâof course. I thoughtâ" His voice lowered, eyes dipping to the ground. "I thought you wouldn't want to."
"Of course I do," I choked out.
I love you.
Will nodded quickly, then started to leave.
It was becoming harder and harder to suppress the sobs rising up my throat.
I would give anything to just vanish right now. For time to just stop and to be able to disappear. To teleport anywhere that wasn't here. I stepped back, towards the parking lot exit. Away from here, away from Will.
Then, abruptly, he turned. He shoved a hand through his hair, his features crumpled, eyes fixed on the asphalt. "I have to tell youâI'm sorry Ellie. I know you wanted to keep it a secret, and I know how humiliated you must feel. And I'm so sorry that Catherineâ"
My brows furrowed. "What?"
Will's gaze lifted to mine, features still twisted in pain. "It was Catherine. She took the picture because she was angry at me. And it was my faultâ"
"Noâwhat you said beforeâabout keeping it a secret," I interrupted.
The shadows on his face darkened. "I knew you wanted to keep it a secret and its my fault that Catherineâ"
I was shaking my head rapidly. "Butâ" I frowned. "You wanted to keep it a secret," I said, confusion spilling into my voice.
Will's brows furrowed. "NoâI didn't. I thought..." His eyes widened. "You didn't want to keep our relationship secret?"
I shook my head. "Of course I didn't." My brows furrowed. "Why would you think that?"
"But...the trip. You wanted us to hide..." He trailed off.
My eyes widened. "No! That wasn't it! We were playing hide and seek. And if I got caught, Gemma would make me do dares. And Gemma and the others were trying to set me up on a date with a college student because I hadn't told them that we were dating, because I didn't think you wanted anyone to know. So I couldn't let them find me and..." I trailed off. "That's why we were hiding."
Will's eyes were wide. "It wasn't because you didn't want anyone to see us together?"
"Of course not!" My eyes dipped to the ground. "I wantedâwanted everyone to know. But I knew you wouldn't want anyone to know because..." My sight blurred.
I realised Will was standing in front of me now. His fingers brushed my face. His voice was a breath, "Because what?"
I released a choked laugh. "I'm not smartâ I'm just...me." The dumb blonde cheerleader. "You have to be embarrassed of me."
I'd heard it before: whispers about what people really thought of me. No one ever said it to my face, but I knew that's what everyone saw: the stupid cheerleader.
And wasn't that what I was?
I wasn't as smart as Will. I had to work extra hard for a halfway decent grade. I'd practically been bred for cheerleading. It was all I was good at.
"That's not true." Will's voice was quiet and firm.
I shook my head, tears spilling over. "You don't have to lie. It makes sense that you would be embarrassedâ"
"No." Will tipped my head up, forcing me to meet his gaze. "Ellie, I would never be embarrassed of you. You're amazing, and talented, and beautiful, and way out of my league. I'm nowhere near good enough for you."
My eyes widened. I was out of his league? What reality was he living in?
Will blinked quickly. "So, you're not breaking up with me?"
I stared at him, shocked. "I thought you were breaking up with me."
His eyes widened. "I could never do that!" Then, a grin broke out on his face. "So, you still like me?"
I'm still in love with you.
I nodded quickly. "Of course I do!" I gushed. "And you still like me?"
He nodded.
I beamed. "That'sâ that's great."
He grinned back at me.
We stood grinning at each other for a long moment, then he cleared his throat. "UmâI guess, then do you want me to drive you home?"
I hurried out a nod. "Yes, please."
Will's hand left my face. He hesitated, then threaded his fingers with mine. A bubbling feeling of happiness chorused through me as we Will led me to his car.
He held open my door. I stumbled into the seat, a huge smile on my face. He grinned back at me as he slipped into the driver's seat.
We kept flashing each other grins as he drove, each one making that bubbling feeling of happiness grow.
When we pulled up across the street from my house, I didn't want to leave.
Our eyes met. His fingers brushed my cheek. "Ellie..."
My heartbeat stuttered.
"I..." he trailed off, biting his lip. Then, slowly, he leaned towards me, spearmint breath floating against my lips.
His phone vibrated.
Will frowned, pulling back. I smothered a sigh of disappointment. His brows furrowed as he glanced down at the phone screen. I watched as his eyes darkened slightly. His gaze returned to mine. His expression became regretful.
"I'm sorryâI have to go."
I nodded quickly, disappointed.
Darn it. Darn it to heck.
Reluctantly, I turned, opening the door. Then I hesitated.
I spun back to Will, kissing him quickly on the lips before I hopped out of the car. He stared at me, eyes wide, a faint blush on his cheeks.
I grinned. "See you later, boyfriend."
Then, before he could respond, I jogged to the house and slipped inside.
I shut the door behind me, leaning against it for support. An excited laugh left my throat.
He wasn't ashamed of me.
The thought sent another grin stretching across my face.
And now Will and I were officially a couple. I could imagine itâwalking to class together, flirting in the hallsâ
"Ellie?"
A second later, mom stormed into the front room, her features fixed into a glare.
Dad trailed after her, his expression concerned. "Sweetheartâ"
Mom came to a halt in front of me, thrusting her phone in my face. On the screen was a picture of the poster.
"What the hell is this, young lady?"
*
Hello wonderfuls, I know the update was late again, I'm sorry! I'm going to try to update more regularly for the rest of the year. Thank you guys so much for sticking with this story :D Also, quick note, if your significant other is keeping you a secret, that is a major no no!
On another note, I have a couple announcements to make. I'm going to space them out in different chapters so that the author notes don't get too long. First, there are approximately 20 chapters of BATGB left. The end is nearing O_O.
Thank you guys for reading this chapter! You have no idea how much it means to me that I have all of you wonderful people to write for :)
God bless
xxx
Yemi Everst