A Surreptitious Relationship

:A Surreptitious Relationship: Chapter Thirty

Aaron didn't show up to school Thursday. Or Friday. Lexi told everyone he was sick, but I figured there was a different reason for not showing up. Probably afraid of the ass-kicking Chris was planning on giving him. The rumors were still swirling around and quite a couple times I caught a few girls giving me death glares. Each time I had to resist rolling my eyes at them. That kind of jealousy was clichéd. The guys, on the other hand, had taken a sudden interest in me, much to Chris's chagrin. It was funny how some things worked out like that. It wasn't that bad, but it was getting annoying fast and Chris was being grumpy. The guys would come up to me and tell me how awesome I was for secretly dating the teacher, or how badass and hot it was, and a few of them were even brazen enough to ask me out because of it. Unfortunately for them, I had to tell them that the rumor wasn't true and that I was his cousin. That made their shoulders sag. 

When school ended on Friday, I made a beeline for my car. It had been a long day full of ugly accusations that were a pain to clear up. If one more person asked me about Jeremy, I was going to shoot myself. It would only take about a minute to leave the building and another minute to make it to the vehicle. Then it would be the weekend and hopefully the rumors would disperse. 

On the brighter side, for the beginning of March the air was pleasantly warm. Not the exact temperature I liked, but close enough. I tugged at the collar of my hoodie, debating on whether or not I should take it off as I approached the doors leading to the outside. Underneath it was a long sleeve shirt, so I wouldn't get too cold... 

"Holly!" 

At the sound of my name I paused, cringing at the prospect of being harassed by strangers again. When I turned, I felt relief wash through me as I realized it was James. He trotted up to me, a grin slowly spreading across his face and causing dimples to appear. "Hi James," I greeted reluctantly, shuffling my feet. 

"How are you?" he asked, coming to a stop a few feet away from me, shoving his hands into his jean pockets. 

"Pretty good, about to head home because I have a, um, doctor's appointment," I hinted, glancing over my shoulder at the door. "Have a good day." 

James continued to smile at me, not noticing my farewell. "Hold on. I heard that you're dating Mr. Ross? Is that true?" 

Here we go again. 

"No," I said in a weary tone. "We're cousins. It was just a set up to get me in trouble." 

"Get you in trouble?" James responded skeptically. "I can't see why anyone would want to do that. Seriously, I can't think of anyone who hates you." 

I shrugged. "S'pose we all can't be liked, right?" 

He still looked doubtful. "I guess... I heard a few guys have asked you out." 

"Yep," I replied, realizing I wasn't going to be leaving any time soon. Once James started talking, he could keep going forever and I was too polite to tell him to shut up. 

"Did you say yes to anyone?" 

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. "No way. I'm not interested in kids younger than me." 

The corners of James' lips quirked up. "You prefer older men?" 

"James." 

"Sorry," he apologized, letting out a laugh. "Nothing exciting ever happens in this school, so it's hard to let it go so easily, you know?" 

Yeah, I knew that. Obviously, since people still believed the rumors even though Ms. Clemm made an announcement stating that they weren't true. A stray piece of my hair fell into my face and I brushed it away, glancing down the hallway as I did so. My old environmental science teacher was studying me, a smile on his lips. An involuntary shudder went through me. Enough was enough!