Chapter 33: 31 ☆ Committee

Bella,

I don't want to do this, but it's the easiest way. It's the only way I'll forget what you did and forgive you for lying to me and hurting me. I know I'm not exactly the most transparent or outspoken person, but, honestly, we've known each other since kindergarten and I expected you to give me reasons to trust you enough to tell you my secret.

We only ever shared secrets about our silly crushes on older guys. The one thing I told you as my best friend, you went ahead and told Stephanie, making her use it against me at the sleepover. You let go of me, Bella, and that's when it hurt the most.

The next day, Bella walked into Wyland High, then to her locker, immediately she got out of the car. She didn't bother talking to Cody, since he was still giving her the cold shoulder.

After putting in her combination and opening the locker, she saw an ice cream tub on top of her books. It was placed on a black bandana folded in four, probably put there to protect her books.

She wondered how Beau knew her combination, thinking he was crazy in the good way, as she gently peeled off the slightly soggy note taped to the lid of the tub.

I'm sorry :(

P.S. The bandana's yours too.

She let out a laugh, shaking her head at him even though he wasn't there to see her. She wasn't mad at him, but she appreciated the gesture. It showed that he thought about his actions.

In homeroom, an announcement was made, telling all students to be in the auditorium for a brief assembly immediately the bell rang. After listening to the extremely precise announcement, she pulled a notebook and pen from her backpack and worked on something to slip into Beau's locker on her way to the auditorium.

This time, she wanted it to be better—more open, more I'm-not-holding-anything-back—so she just thought about him, then tried to imagine what would make him happy.

Dear Handsome (I translated your name. Yes, my French isn't that bad), I forgive you. Thanks for the ice cream and bandana. Maybe I'll wear it to your next gig (when I come up with a more efficient way of sneaking out, of course. Just joking!). Now confess. You hit him, didn't you?

Everyone was murmuring in the auditorium, obviously excited about what the principal had to say, and maybe the fact that they weren't in class, too.

Bella spotted Viola sitting beside Jake a few seats towards the podium, her head on his shoulder.

She let out a sigh, then walked to a row of empty seats, ignoring the snickering girls behind her. When she got through this, she'd give them candy apples, or cotton candy, or bottles of honey, or, even better, big bowls of sugar, then say, "I got through this."

She sat there for a while, staring at her fingers and waiting for the auditorium to fill up. A piece of paper landed in her lap as she got drawn into her thoughts, making her jump.

Beau was already making himself comfortable in the seat next to her when she looked up.

He smiled at her.

"You scared me," she said, unfolding the paper. "By the way, you're not supposed to be present when I'm reading your note; you're not supposed to see my reaction."

"Says who? We didn't make any rules."

"Says me, and that's rule number everything."

He laughed. "Okay, fine. I'll go. Can I give you a ride after school?"

She briefly remembered the last time she was in his car, and a strange feeling filled her stomach. Neither of them had mentioned their almost-kiss. "Um, sure."

"Cool. I'll see you later, then."

She nodded, and Beau did the craziest thing: he leaned in and touched his lips to her cheek—in public. Her eyes widened in shock, and he pulled back just a little.

"Can you look at me?" he said softly.

"Beau, what are you doing?" Her eyes moved around the room, spotting a few eyes on them.

"Just look at me. Please?"

She turned to him, then froze at how close their faces were. His eyes searched her face for a while, then he smiled and said, "See you later."

"Seriously?"

He pulled away from her, laughing slightly. "I'm a sucker for your eyes, Bella. I just had to see them."

She tried to hold in her smile, but it broke through the mask she was trying to put on.

"Glad to make you happy." He gave her one last smile, then gently pulled on her cheek, before leaving, and she felt bad for sending him away.

As her eyes moved in his direction, she saw someone in her peripheral vision, and turned before she could process the familiar figure.

Travon's eyes were pleading as they stared at her from the back of the room, and she got angry all over again. She clenched her jaw and turned back to the podium, her slightly good mood ruined.

"He's adorable."

She looked up and saw Amora smiling at her. She glanced in the direction Beau left, then took the seat he was just in a few seconds ago.

"What are you doing?" Bella asked, and Amora playfully rolled her eyes.

"Don't act so surprised. I want people to see that I'm on your side now."

"But I thought you said—"

"They would've found out eventually, Bella. This is a much more honorable way to reveal it."

Bella stared at her, not believing what her eyes were seeing.

Principal Cara went up to the podium, then tapped on the mic to check if it was on. After clearing her throat, she began, "Good morning the entire staff and student body of Wyland High School. I know this assembly came as a sort of surprise to some of you, so I'm going to keep it as short as possible. Last night, Michelle Tara Henshaw, the founder and CEO of the Teen Stars Program contacted us, and I'm glad to announce to you that our school will be in a few scenes of Teen Stars' new reality show, Getting Stardust."

Principal Cara sounded excited, and the students' applause and shouts of joy clearly indicated that they were, too.

"Cool, huh? What's that?" Amora asked, looking at the piece of paper Bella was holding.

Bella looked down at it, and a small smile tugged her lips upward. "It's mine," she said as if it wasn't obvious.

Amora nodded like she understood, then cupped her lips and let out a loud, "Woo!"

* * *

Beau's car stopped in front of the Quincys, and Bella started gathering her things. She had taken out a few of her books, trying to do some homework because she had the chance.

She honestly didn't want to think about going into that house right now—there was nothing to look up to there—and Beau wasn't complaining. In fact, he loved how comfortable she had made herself.

He watched her with a smile. "No rush. Take your time," he said when she picked up a book by her feet rather harshly.

"I messed up your car. No need to be nice about it."

He killed the engine, then placed an elbow on the steering wheel and rested his cheek in his palm. "I mean it, though. I'm not in a hurry."

She smiled. "Thanks for the ride," she said, zipping up her backpack after putting her books in it.

"You know, I'm beginning to find you thanking me all the time offensive."

She lifted her eyebrows at him, and he nodded.

"I think we've gone past the thank you stage a long time ago, Bella. It's cool."

"Okay. Even though I didn't know there was a thank you stage." His car engine was off, which meant he wanted to talk to her, so she decided to ask, "So, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"It's that obvious, huh?"

"I think I know you that well."

He got a soft look in his eyes for a moment. "I'm curious."

"Okay."

"Promise you'll be honest with me?"

She got a bit nervous, but said, "I promise."

"What's really going on, Belle? I know it's beyond what Travon did."

There's someone... there are people, actually, after me, and I think Travon's working with them. So yeah, it does have to do with Travon. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Bella."

She looked away, then said, "Nothing's going on with me. I'm fine."

The car was silent for a few seconds, then he repeated, "You're fine," in a soft voice.

"I am."

She wanted to take back her lie and tell him everything immediately, but didn't know what was stopping her.

Beau didn't push the issue further, though Bella sensed he didn't believe her. He nodded, then turned the key in the ignition.

Bella took it as her cue to get out, and grabbed the door handle. "I'll... see you tomorrow?"

"Sure."

She felt bad, and a voice in her head screamed, You lied to him?

Beau didn't drive away immediately and, as she walked to her front door, something told her she could correct this; she could run back to the car and tell him everything. But she found herself walking into her house.

Fleur was sitting on her sofa, her off-the-shoulder top showcasing her tanned shoulders. Her legs were elegantly crossed at the ankles as she texted, and Bella was beyond shocked to see her in her house.

"Fleur," she called as she turned to shut the door.

Fleur immediately looked in her direction, and a beautiful smile went up her equally beautiful face. "Oh, hey, Bella. Sorry, I didn't notice when you came in."

"No problem. Um, I don't mean to be rude, but what are you doing here?"

"I'm here with my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" What was Fleur's boyfriend doing at her place?

"Yeah. You should know him—Ashton Milworth."

Bella froze, Fleur's words hitting her directly in the stomach. "Oh, wow! When did you two get together?"

"Recently." She pushed stray strands of her hair—which was the same shade as Beau's—away from her face, graciously.

Her and Beau looked so alike that Bella had to stop herself from staring.

"Okay. I should go finish my homework." She pointed to the ceiling, then walked towards the stairs.

She was almost on the first step when Fleur said her name, and she turned to see her body turned towards her, one of her arms draped over the back of the sofa.

"Why are you home late?"

"I, um, had to stay back to talk to a teacher." She didn't know why she asked, but she replied anyway.

Fleur nodded. "So you walked home?"

Weird question. "No... your brother dropped me off."

Her face fell, and Bella realized she didn't ask Beau how things were between him and his sister. "That's cool," Fleur finally said. "By the way, I love your shoes."

Bella forced up a smile. "Thanks." Then she jogged up the stairs.

As she walked past Cody's room, she heard Ashton's voice from inside. He and Cody seemed to be arguing over something and, at first, their words bumped into each other, but their voices eventually got clearer.

"Seriously, man, you need to stop hitting that dude. You could've gotten suspended today."

"That's too far," Cody replied, sounding angry.

"He could barely stand on his own after," Ashton expanded, and Bella's stomach dropped to her feet.

Travon.

"He deserves it. No one messes with Bella."

"But I don't hear her complaining about it."

"It's 'cause she's naïve. What could she possibly say?"

"Everyone agrees with that, but honor our bromance and stop hitting Justice."

"Never say that word in my direction, Milworth. Come on, get out of here. Fleur's waiting for you."

Ashton chuckled. "Ah, Fleur." He sounded satisfied with himself. "The only reason I'm with her is to piss Algernon off, just so you know. We have scores to settle."

Bella couldn't hear any more of it. She walked to her room and shut the door behind her.

She threw her backpack to the bed, then tugged at her hair, trying to fend off the sudden ache in her head.

Then she lay on her bed, her mind wandering from topic to topic. She lay there for a really long time and only stood when her mom knocked on her door to give her something.

"This just came for you. It's from Viola," her mom said, handing her a doodle covered envelope.

"Thanks." She gave her mom, who was staring at her too intensely, a smile, then gently closed the door.

She didn't wait to sit before she opened the envelope and pulled out the note. Sitting by her window, she began reading.

Viola was surprisingly very honest in the note and, as Bella read, she began to see her own faults. Adele was right—Viola didn't trust her, even though they'd been friends for ten years.

After the fight I had with your brother, she read, you let go of me. And I'm sorry I'm sounding so emotional or dramatic, but throughout the entire summer, all you cared about was Stephanie and what was happening on her side of the world. You were so occupied with her that you didn't notice I was hurting.

You didn't notice I stopped talking about my dad. His cancer was hidden from me for a long time. My mom told me about it at the beginning of the summer and I wanted to tell you, but every time I called, you'd start talking about Stephanie and I'd lose courage.

I'm sorry I wasn't good enough for you, Bella. And I'm sorry I didn't step back when I should've. Thanks for being my friend. Despite everything, you were an important part of my life.

Viola.

The worst part about this entire thing, as Bella realized after she was done reading the note, was that she had probably lost Viola forever.