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Conan is in rehab.
That's the first news I get as soon as I enter the school premises. Apparently, everyone in the school knows that he did drugs and now that we had called 911, his parents were called back from their business trip from France, they were told about all of his shenanigans, and were asked to put him in a rehab to make sure he comes out clean. And becomes a human being.
The guys who were present in his house yesterday were arrested, one of them being the druglord who sold Conan the drugs every month in exchange of food and money.
News sure flies fast in high school. And now everyone's talking about how Ridge and I were the one to inform the officials about his drug problems. Some are happy to know that Conan's gone, for good but some are pretty furious because he was their friend, apparently.
But I think that the real reason might me that just like Conan, they do drugs and are scared that they will get kicked off the team and the school if someone finds out that they do drugs too.
I don't really understand why people even do drugs. Is it because it makes you forget reality, taking you to a place where everything feels like hearts and colors? Tanner's dad was a drug addict, and I had seen him in my early childhood, breaking things out of fury, hitting Tanner for standing up for himself, crashing everything in his way whenever he ran out of drugs or the money to buy them.
Tanner's mom died while giving birth to him so Tanner was left with his dad to fend for themselves. If it wasn't for my dad, then Tanner would've never been able to get out of that hellhole and live a stable, trauma free life.
"Lydia, are you alright?" Ridge's concerned voice breaks my chain of thoughts, making me look up at him.
"Yeah. I'm fine." I nod.
"Are you sure? You've been really quiet ever since last night's events." He circles his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close to him. I put my head against his neck, sighing deeply.
"I'm just relieved that Conan won't be here for another 6 months." I whisper, keeping my voice as low as possible. We are in the library currently so we cannot talk loud.
"We don't have to see him after he's out of rehab too. His parents have decided to enroll him in a military school so he's gonna be away from all of us for a while." Ridge tells me, his hands caressing my skin, somehow calming down the inner conflicts with a simple gesture.
I lean into him. "That's good to know."
"Are you sure you're fine though?" He inquires again, making me roll my eyes at him. I pull away from him and give him a dry look.
"Seriously, I'm fine." I kiss him softly. I want to talk to him about Tanner, but I refrain because that's not my information to share with anyone. Even if it's my boyfriend.
The bell rings, signalling that this class is over. I sigh in frustration when I remember that I have History now, which is on the other side of the building. I get up from my seat and pack all of my books in the bag. Ridge does the same, putting his books back.
"I have to go. I have history." A frown traces on my lips on even mentioning the dreadful subject.
Ridge laughs, then bends forward to kiss my head. "I'm sure you'll survive."
I stick my tongue out at him in a childish manner and walk out of the library, Ridge following closely, snickering quietly. We part ways when we leave, and I head for my class, which is in the opposite direction of his. The hallways are all deserted, which means that either I'm late or everyone else is just early and have already settled in their classes.
When I'm just a few classes away from my room, a soft sniffing voice pricks my ears, making me halt in my steps. The sound is of a girl crying, for sure. I turn towards the direction of the sound to see that it's coming from an empty classroom on my right, with the door ajar.
Carefully, I take small steps towards the room to find the silhouette of a girl, sitting on one of the seats, her head bent down. Since the room has less windows and all the lights are off, I switch them on causing the girl to look up.
And that's when I notice the rose tattoo on her wrist - Faye.
She looks up at me, tear streaked face, eyes swollen, mascara running down the course of her cheeks. I walk towards her in quick steps, till I'm right in front of her. "Fayel oh my god, are you alright?"
My question triggers something I guess, because she starts crying harder, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. Without thinking twice about awkwardness or anything, I wrap her in my embrace, pulling her in a much needed hug. She gladly accepts, wrapping her arms around my waist, tears not coming to a stop.
"I'm such an idiot, Lydia. I hate myself so much." She murmurs, sniffing loudly, her hands coming up to wipe off her face. She pulls away from me, taking a deep breath. Her sobs have simmered down but she's still sniffing.
"Don't say that. You can call yourself an idiot because frankly speaking who isn't?" I chuckle, "but don't hate yourself."
She chuckles softly, shaking her head. "You don't know what I have done, Lydia. That's why you're so good to me."
"Are you a murderer? Did you steal something? Or did you submit your homework on time?" I ask her in all seriousness. "Because if you're guilty of doing one of these things then let me tell you my friend, you are an idiot."
"I cheated on my boyfriend." She confesses in a low voice. "Well, my ex boyfriend from the past few months."
Her confession floors me, my jaw slack. Never in a million years did I think that something like this would be the problem. And I don't even know how to react to the shared piece of information.
"What happened?" I ask, my voice equally low.
She looks me in the eye. "It happened last year. I was in a relationship with my boyfriend, we were happy. But them my ex boyfriend came into picture. Before my boyfriend, he was my childhood best friend Lydia. We had parted on very tough terms. It was a messy breakup. But, for the sake of our old friendship, I decided to meet him after he begged me for days. I met him, we talked and then he kissed me. And I kissed him back. But I pulled away before it was too late."
"But, unfortunately, the damage had been done. My boyfriend found out and he broke up with me. And ever since I've been trying to find ways to earn his forgiveness. I love him Lydia. I love him so much and it hurts to see him so cold to me." A few tears escape her eyes.
"Every time I try to talk to him, he runs away in the opposite direction. And it hurts like hell. I don't want him to take me back, I just want his forgiveness so that I can live in peace. This burden has been killing me everyday."
I'm speechless. The amount of emotions twirling in her eyes are so much but love and guilt stand out. She really regrets her choices. "Does your ex go to this school?"
"Yeah." She nods. "In fact, you know him very well."
"What do you mean?" I ask her, confused and shocked to the core. "Who is he?"
"Neil."
I gasp in surprise, my eyes widening on accord. The quiet, keeping to himself, less interactive Neil? I think someone needs to help me stand on my feet now.
"So, you cheated on Neil, with your ex best friend?" I ask her, making sure that my tone does not come out rude or accusatory. What she did is definitely wrong on so many levels, but we cannot blame her forever.
"Yeah, I'm pathetic. Aren't I? I don't even deserve his forgiveness. But here I am, begging for a chance to fix my mistake. I tried talking to him today, by he refused to even look at me. I asked him to just listen to what I have to say but he walked away from me, Lydia. He walked away from me. But I saw the look in his eyes. The look of hate. He hates me. He hates me so much." She whispers, her voice cracking slightly, hurt and despair clear in her words.
"Faye, listen to me, okay?" I demand, making her head snap in my direction. "You cheated on Neil, and that's fucked up. That's a horrible thing to do. But, you regret it and you know that you made a mistake. And not everyone realizes that. So, if you seriously want your man back, I want you to fucking fight for him. I know Neil can be a little bit closed off sometimes but you managed to break down those walls first and I know that if you try harder, you will get him to talk."
She nods her head in realization, wiping her face with the back of her hands.
"Also, I'm not sure if he'll forgive you because it's very difficult to get over the fact that you were cheated on. I've gone through this once and I know how it feels. But I forgave the person. So, it might happen that he forgives you. It's not necessary that he might still want to be with you but forgiveness is the first step, so go and fight for him."
She takes a deep breath, nodding with determination this time. "Right, I get what you're saying. I'm sorry I acted like a pussy in front of you. I'm not usually this sensitive but I just couldn't handle anymore."
I chuckle, patting her shoulder. "We all have our days."
The bell rings, signalling that this period is over too. Wow, time sure does fly fast. And I missed my history class. Not that I'm worried about it. I would just have to beg for extra credits but as long as I can help a friend out, I think I can bear that.
"Now, what will you do?" I ask her.
"I'm going to pester him until he talks to me. And this time, I will succeed." There's that spunk in her voice, the determination which makes me smile with pride. She really wants this. She regrets her actions, and that's what's more important now.
"Great! But I have a question." I mutter. "Why didn't you try before? Why wait for so long? You said that you guys broke up almost a year ago."
"First he said that he needed time and space. And then I had to go to Paris for a family matter for six months so I couldn't do anything even if I could try." She replies, her hands toying with the hem of her top.
"Right. So, now let's head to the cafeteria, together?" I suggest.
"Yeah, hopefully this time he won't run away." She chuckles, dry and humorlessly.
"I'll tie him to his chair if he does." I remark, making her laugh. We walk out of the room, together. Heading straight for the cafeteria.
Hope everything turns out just fine.
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jlou_723 Thank you so much for your lovely comments and support on my book! It means the world to me!
Also, just because you wanted, Conan's going to a military school! Are you happy now lol? ð
Anyways, next update soon!
Till then,
Stay Safe and Stay Happy! <3