The Deception

Chapter 4

*Josh's POV*

Walking down the hall, I made my way back towards the classroom. The sounds of students talking slowly got louder as I made my way towards the door. As I began making my way across the room towards my seat, I noticed Jake suddenly jump to his feet and drag Nicole out of the room. Tilting my head curiously, I let my book bag slide off of my shoulder onto the floor next to my desk.

'What is he up to?' I thought.

Just as I was about to follow after them, a ton of papers flew in front of me, followed by the hard thump of a book hitting the floor.

"Damn, I'm so clumsy," Colt said exasperated.

As he bent down in front of me picking up some of the papers, I bent down and picked up his book.

"Thanks, Josh," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Are you ready for this test? I'm so nervous."

"Yeah, a little. There was quite a lot of information to remember."

"Right? I just hope that our History midterm won't be nearly as intensive as this Biology test. I'm not that great with remembering random facts."

"If you'd just let me teach you my mnemonics, you might remember a few!"

As I looked over towards the source of the voice, Allison walked up with a smile on her face.

"Haha, yeah. You'll definitely have to let me study with you sometime," Colt said.

"If you need help too Josh, Don't be afraid to ask! We could have a study group tonight." Allison said.

Looking towards Colt, I could see a slight twinge of disappointment.

"Ah, thank you for the offer but I think I'm fine. But, don't let me stop you guys from having a study group," I said with a slight smile.

Allison slightly blushed as she looked back towards Colt, "If that sounds good to you, let me know a time."

She quickly made her way back to her seat, not giving Colt a chance to respond.

He mouthed a quick thank you as I silently nodded back. He quickly returned to his seat as I shook my head.

At that moment, I saw Jake return with Nicole. Jake seemed a bit shaken, but he quickly changed his expression the moment he noticed I was staring. Right then, the warning bell rang, breaking the tension. I made my way back to my desk and pulled out my pencil pouch.

Not long after, Selena came into the room. I watched as she made her way to her seat. Nothing seemed out of ordinary, but she did seem a bit quiet. Usually, she talks with Nicole during the beginning of class, but she seemed to be preoccupied. Facing towards the front, I waited silently for the final bell to ring.

*Jake's POV*

Once I was sure Josh was looking away, I pulled out my phone and sent a text message to Colt.

"Hey, did Josh leave the room after me and Nicole did?"

After a few moments, I felt the phone vibrate.

"Don't worry, I threw my book on the ground to distract him and keep him from leaving"

I chuckled lightly as he followed up the sentence with a thumbs up emoji. With my finger hovering over my phone, I glanced over towards Josh. Then, without hesitation, I deleted the two messages from my phone and put it back into my bookbag.