0 9
The Rumor Mill
It took all of two days for me to realize that Arlin Preparatory High School maybe, just maybe, isn't a regular high school.
Not with the way gossip flies around here.
I was lucky enough to escape unscathed on my first day, even though it was clear people were saying things about me. I guess that would be expected, seeing as I am the new girl, and according to Rachel, Noah and I are the only transfer students this year. We were bound to be talked about.
The shit I faced on my second day of school, however, had nothing to do with being the new girl and everything to do with Jalen fucking Uccello.
"Did you see the way London chased after Jalen till he finally talked to her on the bleachers?"
"London Prince is really pathetic. She's here for all of one day and she's already trying to get into the King's pants?"
"Technically, she's been trying for more than one day. I heard she begged Malia to let her tag along to every party this summer so she could stalk Jalen!"
"All that girl has going for her is her eyes. Everything else is too average to have someone like Jalen Uccello."
Some of the things they said were clearly more hurtful than others, but adding it all together made me nauseous for the rest of my day. I hid during lunch and practically ran away when I spotted Jalen across the field during dismissal.
I'll be damned if I associate with him anymore and have more people bashing me for no reason.
And if I'm being honest with myself, part of me is still really salty about the whole Cortney thing. Hearing what people were saying didn't really help with that, especially when one thing I heard stayed in my mind all weekend.
"I wonder if Cortney will even waste her time trying to get rid of this one. Then again, she probably will since this is Malia's cousin. We all know how good Malia is at stealing Jalen away from her. Maybe London will be too!"
What I gathered from hearing that is the fact that Jalen has gone after other girls before while dating Cortney, she's tried ending it herself, and has never succeeding in tearing Malia and Jalen apart.
Is it completely stupid that the fact that it's seeming like Jalen does have something going on with Malia bothers me so much? I mean, compared to the other stuff going around about me, it seems so dumb to stay hung up on that one thing.
But I couldn't stop my fists from clenching every time that same rumor came up last week during my first two days.
It's Monday morning now. It's a new week and, what I was hoping would be, a new attitude from all of my peers, but instead, I'm getting the same looks from people and letting a rumor that doesn't involve me at all tick me the fuck off.
I slam my locker shut, much harder than need be. A few heads turn my way from down the hall, and I should feel annoyed with myself for drawing more attention my way, but honestly, what difference does it make? Whether it's five people or fifteen, I'm still being watched and talked about.
My anger grows more as I remember why all of this shit's even happening. The realization hits me the second I see Jalen down the hall, and it takes all of my self control to not march over there and actually hit him.
I take in a deep breath and inwardly scold myself for the thought. It's almost becoming unhealthy how many times I've thought about hitting him in the short amount of time we've known each other.
But really, can I be blamed for that? The boy is just so fucking irritating.
And really fucking hot, I quickly remind myself.
Yes, cannot let myself forget the main reason why he irritates me so much: he's too good looking, and I'm more aggravated with myself than him, simply because of the thoughts that cross my own mind when I think of him.
Once again, though, I'm going to shift that blame and the reasoning for those thoughts onto Liam. Because maybe if he wasn't being the world's shittiest boyfriend at the moment, other guys wouldn't be crossing my mind.
I groan out loud, closing my eyes and shaking my head. How could I even think that? How could I try justifying my thoughts with that reasoning?
"Oo, what are you thinking about?" A teasing voice questions somewhere ahead of me.
My eyes immediately open toward his general direction, breath almost catching in my throat at the sight before me.
Jalen's hair is pushed back, it looks like water was used to do so not too long ago, meaning the dark hair will eventually fall back into place just above his forehead. His navy blue eyes look brighter than usual, and I'm assuming that's because of how much they're popping against the black leather jacket he's cladded with.
Between the jacket and the black combat boots he's paired with the school's required beige slacks, one would think the combination would look downright awful. But no, not on Jalen Uccello.
His white button up shirt is untuckedâsomething the school's manual said was against the rules, by the wayâand the first four buttons are undone. He's not even wearing a damn tie, and there's certainly no sweater vest present under his jacket.
From what I was told, we need to have at least one article of clothing that showcases the school's signature logo: an eagle with spreaded wings, taking flight with some kind of plant in its mouth. The picture looks stupid as hell, but it's another requirement everyone's supposed to follow.
Everyone but Jalen, I suppose.
A pair of teachers pass right by us. They both look our way, and I know they immediately see that Jalen's violating almost every uniform code right now. But they say nothing. They don't bat an eye, make a remark, or hell, even make a face at him. They just keep going as if they saw nothing.
"No gum chewing, Williams," one of the two teachers reprimand.
I see David from down the hall maintain eye contact with the teacher that called him out as he angles his head toward the person next to him. My jaw drops when he spits his gum out onto her open notebook.
The most shocking part? The girl says nothing to him. She barely even reacts.
The teacher shakes his head, but continues his path down the hall, ignoring the smirk present on David's face.
"Are you done ogling David?" Jalen asks in a kind of pissy tone.
Oh, he's annoyed with me? The fucking nerve.
"Did you not just see what your friend did?" I ask, still shocked at how nonchalant they both were about it.
He shrugs his shoulders, clearly not seeing the big deal, and showing me that things like this might be a regular occurrence. "I care more about you answering my first question."
I redirect my gaze away from David, who's standing down the hall glaring at my previously judging look, and bring it to Jalen, noticing that same smirk coming back to his face. "What question?"
Jalen leans against the locker next to mine, effectively blocking me from escaping seeing as a wall and water fountain are on my other side, and the halls become packed with students rushing to grab their things before the bell rings.
"What were you thinking about?" Jalen asks lowly, eyes focused so intently on my own that I start to feel flustered.
I don't know how he's doing it, but he's managed to make this moment feel so much more intimate than it should. We're standing in a crowded, noisy hallway for fuck's sake. How is one direct look from him making me feel like we're alone in a room together?
It could be a combination of that, and the fact that he is what I had been thinking about. This weird attraction that's undeniably growing is what I had been thinking about.
"How annoying you are," I finally say, hoping the answer will get him to back off. I'm not sure if I'm going crazy or not, but it feels like with every breath I take, Jalen's slowly inching closer.
When he takes a step closer and angles his head lower, allowing us to almost be eye-to-eye, I realize that he had been moving closer in the seconds it took me to respond. One look to the side of us and I can see the dozens of pairs of eyes looking our way.
My hands are soaked with sweat and my heart is beating as if I just came back from a forced run with Noah. The beating gets louder when Jalen smiles at me, not smirks, but actually sends me what looks like a genuine smile. My knees almost go weak when the dimple on the right side of his mouth appears.
"That other information wasn't necessary," he says with a shake of his head. "You, Jalen would have been fine."
I tilt my head to the side and narrow my eyes at the way he raised his voice an octave higher, in what I'm assuming was supposed to be an imitation of my voice. "First of all, I don't sound like that."
"You're right. Your voice is more masculine."
My arms cross over my chest defensively. "Sorry that I don't walk around talking with a fake Valley girl accent, Jalen. I'm sure you love that shit."
Jalen whistles, pushing slightly off the locker. "Damn, even at," he pauses to look at the expensive Rolex on his right wrist, "7:28 in the morning, you are still an angry little thing."
"I'm not angry... or little."
He stands to his full height and moves in front of me, completely towering over me and blocking my view of almost all of the hallway. Part of me becomes relieved that I can no longer see the students still watching us, clearly caring more about what we're saying than making it to homeroom in two minutes.
The nervousness that disappeared at not seeing people watching us anymore quickly comes back when I look up and see just how close Jalen's gotten. The blue in his eyes has never looked more clear, and the longer I look, the more they start to resemble the ocean. How can someone's eyes be that blue?
"Can you backup a bit? It's a little too early for me to have to smack the shit out of you for not knowing what personal space is," I say, emphasizing the words and hoping he's smart enough to take my threat seriously.
No matter how many rumors spread about me or how much shit these people talk, the truth will always be that they really don't know me. Jalen included. Hopefully he can tell from the look on my face that I have no problem throwing hands with anyone that pushes me over the edge.
His smile turns into a smirk, making my anger rise just a little bit more because that smirkâthough still a very attractive look on himâis disgusting. He looks me over once before taking a large enough step back, putting a few inches between us.
Smart boy.
"I think you just proved that I'm right," he states.
"Right about...?" I look at him like he's a moron.
His eyes narrow a little at the look I give him, but he shakes his head and smirks again. "About you being little and angry."
I want to so badly argue about being called little, seeing as I spent all of junior high being bullied because of how tall and lanky I was. I was all awkward limbs and no control over my movements. I was nicknamed Amazon by some people for being so big, and although now I can think of amazing comebacks to that nameâincluding the fact that Wonder Woman herself was oneâI couldn't think of any when I was eleven. All I could do was hold in my tears long enough for Bea to come to my rescue and scare everyone away, allowing me to cry away from everyone's prying eyes in Jessica's arms.
My chest tightens a little at the reminder of my life back in Miami, before it had gotten much better because of that tight knit group I formed with Bea and Jess. Bea was the protector, Jess was the consoler, and I was the entertainer. Making them laugh with the stupid shit I'd say daily was my fortei. Once we established those roles and owned them, we were supposed to be set for high school. Nothing was going to get in our way.
But, of course, my parents did. They ruin everything.
I sigh heavily, losing all energy I had to even continue this conversation with Jalen.
"I'm not angry. Annoyed? Yes. But definitely not angry. You wouldn't still be standing here if I was."
"Oh, I wouldn't?" He says mockingly, but there's an undertone to his words, making me think he's really questioning if he would be able to still stick around.
The bell obnoxiously rings over our heads, making me spring into action and try walking around Jalen. He puts out an arm, cutting off my path and lightly pushing me back.
"Come on," I groan, trying to leave again, but his hand curls around my waist, holding me in place. "You're gonna make me late for class, dipshit."
"It's homeroom," he scoffs. "Only freshmen worry about going."
I look toward the hall and see that most of the students are still lingering around, taking their sweet time walking by. I also see that even more people are watching, dozens of eyes zoned in on the arm Jalen still has around me.
The moment I see some girl taking out her phone, I roughly push Jalen away from me, ignoring how toned his lower stomach feels through his extremely thin dress shirt.
Jalen holds up his hands in surrender, lightly stumbling back. "Whoa, calm down, Hulk."
"I didn't even push that hard," I dismiss him, becoming annoyed again, this time with his dramatics.
"I don't know. All of a sudden I've got a pain," he says jokingly, holding a hand over where I had pushed him.
I look at him unamused and begin walking away, again.
"What is wrong with you?" Jalen asks from behind me, sounding serious for the first time in this conversation.
I turn around, annoyed with his tone. "What do you mean what is wrong with you?" I mimic him in a deeper voice. "I've made it pretty clear that I don't feel like talking to you, yet you keep trying to get me too. So, what's wrong with you? Why can't you take a damn hint?"
The teasing glint that was present the entire time is gone from Jalen's eyes when I look back into them. He stares blankly at me, and it's silent between us for a few seconds, but damn, it feels like hours. I almost feel guilty for snapping, but as I feel the other students' in the halls gaze on me, along with Jalen's now irritated one, my own anger creeps up again. Because if it wasn't for him even coming up to me today, I might have been able to made it at least ten fucking minutes in this school without so many people staring at me.
I watch as the irritation visibly leaves Jalen. He lets out a low laugh, then nods his head. "Okay, Lyndon," he says, but the way he says my name makes me feel like I'm being reprimanded, even though there's nothing at all mean in his tone. In fact, he sounds nonchalant as hell right now. "The hint's been taken."
Jalen sends me one last look, and though it appears to be just a blank look, I see there's something in his eyes. Some emotion I can't place. Is it anger? Annoyance? I wouldn't blame him if it was. Those seem to be two of the main things I feel around him.
He walks away after, leaving me standing there with my book in my hand and my overwhelming guilt in the other. Can't forget the handful of confusion mixed in there too, seeing as I don't understand why Jalen seemed so mad for the briefest second.
"Uh, what the fuck just happened?"
For a second, I think I'm the one that just spoke, seeing as that was the thought running through my head, but then I realize the voice was far too deep to have been mineâcontrary to what Jalen thinks, I don't have a masculine voice.
I turn my head to the side and see Noah standing a few feet away from me, looking at me questioningly, waiting for my answer. Daniel's standing to his side with a confused expression, before he follows Noah's gaze and sees me. He sends a warm smile my way, and I briefly return it before turning towards my brother with a scowl.
"Don't talk to me," I say dismissively.
Noah laughs off my remark, turning toward Daniel. "Isn't my sister just the sweetest?"
"She's damn adorable too," I add, shoving Noah once I make it to where he's standing.
"If you think Chewbacca is adorable, then sure, she is too," he replies quickly.
My response comes in the form of my notebook smacking against Noah's stomach, resulting in him blowing out a breath of air and then snatching the book from my hands.
"Annoying, hairy ass," he mutters at me under his breath, but stands down and hands the notebook back, probably not wanting to get into a fist fight on our third day of schoolâespecially with each other. How dumb would getting suspended over that be?
"Ugly, hating ass," I say as I take the notebook back and hold it to my chest, wanting some form of protection just in case he changes his mind and hits me.
Daniel smiles at us, but his smile seems sad. It makes me wonder what his relationship with his own twin is like, especially if he's looking at our petty arguing so fondly. It just reiterates the idea that's already in my head: him and David aren't all that close. That much was made clear when Rachel literally told me Daniel wouldn't be in their friend group if he wasn't blood-related to David.
"So... do people not attend homeroom at all, or just not on time?" I ask Daniel.
"It'd be wise to at least show your face before the next bell rings, just so you're not getting marked absent," he answers.
"Then what's the point of first period attendance?" Noah asks, annoyed, acting as if he's had to deal with this rule all his life, when really, it's been three damn days.
"Ugh, who cares, let's just go," I say while glancing at the clock on the wall, seeing the seconds quickly tick by, bringing us closer and closer to the bell for first period ringing.
Daniel ignores me, focusing on answering Noah instead. "That's just the teachers way of making sure you're actually attending your classes. Homeroom attendance determines whether or not the school will call your parents to let them know if you were absent or not, which is why I suggest you show up at least five minutes before the bell rings so they don't call."
"Wait," Noah starts, sounding excited all of a sudden. "So, the school only calls if you miss homeroom? Not if you miss any other classes?"
Daniel shakes his head, cracking a large smile at my brother's excitement, while I roll my eyes at the delay this conversation they could've had while walking is causing.
"Damn, I fucking love this school," Noah practically shouts, raising his fist in the air.
Daniel chuckles at Noah's antics, then drapes his arm over his shoulder to get him to start walking. When he notices I'm still standing thereâand that there's students staring at usâhe places his other arm over me, dragging me along.
For a second, I feel grateful for Daniel's presence. I don't like sharing him with Noah, or how close they seem to already be, but I like knowing he at least has my back. In some weird way, I feel protected when he's with me. His arm acts as some kind of barrier between me and all of the gossipers surrounding us.
That thought and feeling quickly leaves my mind when we walk past a group of girls, and I clearly hear one girl say to her friend, "She's really making her way through the group, isn't she?"
The boys don't seem to hear it, but I do. And it sticks in my head as they drop me to the door of my homeroom classroom, echoing around so loud that I barely hear the bell ringing over it.
My stomach drops further down when I realize I'm getting marked absent for the day for missing homeroomâmeaning, my parents will be getting a call about it.
Damn, I fucking hate this school.
ââââââââââ²âââââââââ
I choose to sit in the cafeteria for lunch. After purchasing a plate of lasagna with a carton of juice, I make my way to a clear table at the very back of the room.
Of course the only isolated seat is by a trash can. I feel like fucking crying at the thought of sitting by garbage all alone, like some outcast. But what other choice do I have?
I don't feel like hiding in a stairwell like I did on my second day and, as nice as it'd be to have a friend, I don't feel like finding Rachel and sitting with her again.
She's been nice to me in every class we've had, and I really can see us becoming friends, butâjust like everyone else in this schoolâshe's too caught up with all of the rumors floating around.
Her latest text to me from literally ten minutes ago makes me want to stay away from herâat least for todayâall the more.
Rachel Maxwell: hello Mrs. Uccello! haha, jk. we're eating lunch together today? missed u friday!
I grit my teeth at Jalen's surname being used to refer to me. After reading that, I'll say hard pass in my mind, kindly reject, and take my seat at my throne by the trash.
The mention of a throne makes me want to scout the cafeteria for Queen Malia. I'm sure she's sitting at a table surrounded by all her worshippers. If we were eleven years old right now, we'd be sitting together. I wouldn't have to worry about where to go or who to sit with. I'd just follow Malia wherever.
Maybe that's another reason why moving to Miami and staying there meant so much to me. I got away from being in Malia's shadow. I broke out.
Just as I finish seating myself and putting my phone away after rejecting Rachel's lunch offer, a shadow comes over me, blocking the light hanging over and making me feel even more isolated from the rest of the students in the cafeteria.
I look up, expecting to see Rachel ignored my no thanks and found me. Part of me is even nervous that it's Jalen, coming to finish our conversation from this morning.
I come in contact with dark brown eyes, resting above high cheekbones and below perfectly bushy eyebrows.
A grimace comes to my face at the sight of my irritatingly beautiful cousin. I hate to admit it to myself, but part of my disappointment of seeing her comes from secretly wanting it to have been Jalen.
Damn it, Lyndon. Get it together!
"Lyndon," she states with a smile that others might deem naturally perfect, but to me that shit looks way too rehearsed.
She gracefully seats herself in the spot across from me, crossing one leg over the other, showcasing the red bottoms of her Christian Louboutins.
Why the fuck is she wearing heels to school? Is she that pretentious? Can't go a full eight hours without showing just how rich she is?
"Malia," I reply, sending her my own smile that I'm sure doesn't come across genuine at all. It may not be as convincing as hers, but I don't need it to be. I don't give a shit who believes my smiles, clearly not like she does.
"Is there a valid reason for why you're sitting all by your lonesome?" Her hands lightly land on the table and fold over one another, once again, very regal like.
I place my elbows onto the table and my head onto them, pushing into my cheeks to support the weight. "'Cause I want too."
"No one wants to be alone."
"Woah, that sounded really deep."
Malia lets out a small laugh, the sound garnering the attention from the three freshmen boys sitting further down the table. If she notices their attention on usâwell, on herâshe pays it no mind.
"Lyndon, come on," she says while unfolding her arms and legs, motioning with her head toward the double doors on the other side of the room.
"Come on where?" I ask, not making any move to follow. She's crazy if she thinks I'm ever following her again.
"You're really going to sit here by yourself?" When I nod my head vigorously to make sure she clearly understands, she sighs and leans closer to me from over the table. "You'd honestly rather isolate yourself from everyone at Arlin, then go sit outside with your own cousin and friends?"
I refrain from laughing in her face. As if sitting with her and her friends would be any better than being alone. We haven't associated with one another in years, and her so-called friends are the reason I can't catch a break.
"They're your friends, Malia, not mine," I finally reply, deciding to not get into the whole you cut me off years ago, you bitch conversation right now. It's not the time nor place for that.
"They could be yours too if you'd stop avoiding everyone," she says matter of factly.
I freeze, wondering if Jalen's told her I've been ignoring him, or at least trying too. "Avoiding everyone?"
Malia does a one-shoulder shrug, already looking bored of this conversation... bored of me. "You don't have to sit with my friends, Lyndon. Just don't sit alone."
"What's wrong with sitting alone? Does that make me a loser in your eyes?" She cracks a smileâa smile that definitely tells me she's trying not to laugh at me right nowâso I quickly add on, "Damn, I'm surprised you could even find it in yourself to come check up on little 'ole me. I hope sitting by the trash for two minutes doesn't make you lose your status as queen."
She lets out the laugh that's clearly been itching to come out. The sound comes across just as dainty as the hand she waves in the air at me, attracting the gazes of not just the three freshmen again, but at least half of the boysâand shit, some girls tooâsitting in the tables around us.
"Did you justâ" she starts, cutting herself off very briefly to continue laughing. I cross my arms and scowl, waiting for her to finish. "Did you just call me a queen?"
I reel my head back, confused as to why she sounds so entertained and shocked by me saying that. How oblivious can she be to just how much she's viewed as royalty around here?
"Are you telling me you've never been called that before?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. "These people act like you can walk on water, Malia."
Her laughter finally dies down, but the watchful eyes stay on us. Fuck, this is making me so uncomfortable.
Malia smirks at me, and I instantly hate how both she and Jalen pull off that mischievous look so well. "Trust me, I know just how much these people praise me."
Cocky bitch is my first thought. My second is, "Then why were you so hysterical when I told you just now?"
She smiles, putting her pearly whites on display. "It's funny when you say it. Also, it lets me know why you're trying to isolate yourself."
"What?"
"I was wondering why you were sitting here all alone, and now I know it's because you've heard all these rumors. I can only imagine what's been going around about you, and clearly you're not handling it well."
A rush of emotions come over me. I start off feeling happy that she cared enough to come check on me, but that happiness and hope for our doomed relationship quickly crumbles when I realize it was so she could find out whyânot to comfort meâbut to judge and ridicule, basically calling me weak for not being able to handle being shit-talked.
Maybe I can't handle it. I shouldn't even fucking have too. I wouldn't have to if it wasn't for her and her friends.
My anger is the last emotion to come and the only one that stays, increasing the longer I stare into Malia's dark eyes.
It doesn't help that her response lets me know she chose to come here because she was curious, not because Jalen mentioned anything to her. I don't want her involved in our... whatever... but this just shows me that he doesn't care at all. Maybe I am just one of those other girls everyone's saying he loves to chase behind Cortney's back.
From what I've heard, they never stay around longer than a few weeks. Every single one of them either disappear or blend in long enough until people forget about them. All of them except Malia.
I shake my head, making my cousin now look at me confused, but I need to do it. I need to rid myself of these thoughts and ignore those parts of the rumors. Jalen's not my problem, because I'm not getting involved with him at all. I made that clear this morning when I drew the line with him.
Liam's still my boyfriend, even if we haven't talked in days. I'm not giving up on us just yet, especially for someone like Jalen.
"Lyndon, you can't take what people say seriously," Malia says in a sweet tone. "Rumors are just rumors. No one cares about them." She turns her head briefly to our side, where tables filled students are not-so-secretly watching us. "Not anyone who matters, anyway."
Her tone once again sounds condescending, because who is she to determine who does and doesn't matter?
Either way, I'm done letting the rumors get to me, because I plan on making sure no more ever go around about me.
I'm not going to associate with Malia, Jalen, orâdamn itâany of them.
"Just let me eat my food in peace. Alone," I say pleadingly to her, hoping the new tone will make her finally leave.
"Can't say I didn't try," Malia announces while standing. She casts a sympathetic look down toward me, either feeling sorry for me being too weak to survive my third day of Arlin, or because I'm about to dive into this un-appetizing looking lasagna.
Yup, I really fucking hate this school.
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A / N:
Hi! I know it's been a while since I updated, so I'm sorry about that. I'm hoping to have another chapter up before the week ends, though!
I'd love to hear some feedback. What do you think of the storyline so far? The characters?
Thank you to those that have voted on this story! I really appreciate it!