Counting Stars | ✔

Chapter Five

Jessica

After the incident with Liam, I kept a low profile for the past four days, which was not easy, with Brittany watching my every move. But I somehow managed to avoid him for four days. I gave stupid excuses as to why I was hiding around to Steff and Jeremy. And so far, it's been working.

When I get out of Calculus, I head straight to the stairway that leads to the back of the building. I have to ditch gym class because Liam and I have it together.

I turn around when I hear Steff call after me.

"Why are you running?" She asks, trying to catch up to me.

"Heading to the gym. I wanted to get a head start." I tell her, fully aware of how stupid it sounds.

"The gym is that way?" She points to the opposite direction narrowing her eyes.

"I thought I'd take the long way." I give her a smile, and she rolls her eyes.

"Cut the bullshit. You have been acting strange for the past few days. If you think I bought any of your excuses, you clearly don't know me. Besides, you're not a very good liar. And I think I know what's going on." She says, and my eyes widen.

"Why? What did you hear? What did you see?" I ask, panicked.

She gives me a puzzled look.

"I know I give you a hard time about still being into Elliot. But if seeing him with that bitch bothers you so much that you're hiding, you can talk to me about it." She says, and I sigh with relief.

"Actually, I have a lot to tell you. Do you mind skipping Gym?" I ask.

"Not at all. I really hate it!" She says, and with her blessing, I take her to our very private spot at the back of the English building to fill her in.

"Whoa! Liam lives in the Hasting Mansion? This is new info. I thought he was still crashing at the Hamilton's." She says, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"I didn't know either. He told me he moved over the weekend." I roll my eyes.

"This is good. You know the house. You can find a way we can spy on him. Maybe he cleans the pool at night half-naked and-"

"Steff!" I scrunch my face. "Don't be a weirdo. Besides, this is about me. My reputation. I can't rest until that video is deleted. I mean, imagine it ending up in the wrong hands." I clutch my chest.

"Jeez, relax. He said he would keep it safe, didn't he?" She says, digging through her purse.

"Well, sue me for not trusting his words!" I throw my hands up in frustration. "He filmed me, for God's sake. Who does that?"

"Listen, babes. You need to stop hiding and face him. He said he wanted to think about what he wanted in return for deleting the video and am sure he has figured it out by now." She takes out her lip gloss applying it carefully on her lips. "Plus, he is gorgeous. Who cares what he asks for? Whatever it is, just do it." She wiggles her brows suggestively.

"Gosh! You are the worst bestfriend ever." I groan. "I don't know what's worse. Hiding for the rest of the year, or hearing what he can possibly want from me."

"Trust me, talk to him. What could he possibly ask for that would be so terrible? He has already seen you half-naked. It's not like it can get any worse." She says, and I glare at her.

"Thanks a lot! I don't know what I would do without you."

"You're welcome." She winks, getting up.

Well, I guess she's right in a way. I have already endured enough embarrassment to last me a lifetime. So I'm sure I can handle whatever he decides to throw at me.