Suburbs Boy

8 - #Cheater

Chad went back to visit the orphanage and help in its development the next day. It gave him a sort of healing session and the next time he was with Trisha, he felt more relaxed and more able to tolerate anything.

When Monday came, and he walked into school to find her surrounded by boys, he didn't mind it. He trusted her, because she deserved at least that much.

He had even begun to get along with Nicole.

"I will read out your groups now. As I call out your groups, get into each of them and start your experiment. Chop, chop." The chemistry teacher, Mr. Klaus, who was young and handsome, quieted down his hormonal class by staring at them one by one with his grey eyes. "Sara, you're with Beckie, Jake, you're with Bill... Chad, you're with Nicole..."

He looked over to Nicole, who was sitting on the other side of the room and smiled and waved at her, as she was already looking at him. She groaned and shook her head before facing forward.

He stood up and walked to her desk, still pasting his smile on his face all through the way. When he got to the table, she was drawing a table on a plain sheet of A4 paper and immediately she was done, she handed the paper and marker to him.

"Handle the stopwatch. Start when I say start and stop when I say stop." She didn't glance at him once before she put on her safety goggles and started to mix solutions: "Start."

He pressed the button on the little orange pocket stopwatch.

"Hey Nicole." He leaned on the table

"What?"

"I just wanted to find out how you were."

"Fine. Stop."

He stopped the stopwatch and then recorded the time down in his table.

"45 seconds. Anything new happening in your life?"

"No. Start."

He pressed the stopwatch.

"Are you angry at me or something? Because you're suddenly being so hostile."

"I am not angry at you. I'm sorry for you."

"For me? Why?"

"Because you're completely blind and oblivious to the truth. How do you not see? Stop."

He stopped the stopwatch and recorded.

"38 seconds. Not see what?"

"Why is the time getting less, is it meant to be getting less? It's not my place to say."

"I think it's meant to be getting less because the more the acid, the faster the reaction. Tell me what I don't see."

"Start. What you don't see, is that she's a #Cheater who doesn't give a shit about you!"

This time he didn't start the stopwatch.

"Mr. Mackenzie and Miss. Ginger please go ahead and continue your conversation in the principal's office if you please."

"No sir, we're terribly sorry." Nicole began to beg.

"I'm sorry ma'am my class must be kept under control at all times. Close the door on your way out."

Nicole sighed and threw her gloves on the table with her goggles while Chad walked out, silently. As they walked to the principal's office, Nicole turned to Chad.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way." She whispered.

"I don't believe you. Why do you suddenly care so much? I thought you didn't give a shit about my relationships anyways."

"You're right. I don't." She turned away from him.

They continued their trip in silence and when they got to the office, they were kept waiting outside in the sitting area.

"You know when most people are told their girlfriend or boyfriend is cheating on them, they usually gather more information because they want to know the truth. They don't want to be in a dishonest relationship. But not you, Suburbs Boy, not you." She shook her head. "Instead you get defensive as if you think you've got no other choice. You know, I don't really like you that much – but I'm positive more than half of the girls in this school do. Stop trying to catch one fish when there are plenty more fish in the sea, running to your hook."

"The principal will see you now." The principal's secretary came out of her office.

●●●

As Suburbs Boy went into the library with an apple in his hand, he sat down heavy on a yellow beanbag chair and began to read The Great Gatsby. His early morning happiness had left him and now he sat in the confined space of the freshly – painted blue library, in between shelves and shelves of different books arranged by their author's last names and he thought of what it would be like to be an author. To create a world people can escape to whenever the real world proves too hard for them.

He took a bite out of his green apple and savored the taste before chewing. He turned the page before slapping the book closed in frustration and heading to the comic side of the library.

He was going through some Archie, drooling over some Veronica, when he heard the voices.

"Okay, just do it now. No one will notice."

"Are you crazy? I'm not going to be naughty with you in the middle of the library."

"And why not? It's the perfect place – and Suburbs Boy will definitely not find us here."

"Not here."

Chad quietly walked to the shelf and moved some of the comics aside to get a better view of what was going on and that was where he saw it.

Trisha, in her red glory, was pressed against Jordan, one of his acquaintances, and he was touching her in the wrong places – but instead of pulling away, Trisha seemed to move closer to him than was possible.

"Jordan... we could be caught – and I'm sure Chad doesn't handle things well in bad situations."

"Then let's make sure we don't get caught baby. I want to be with you."

"I want to be with you too Jordan. But there's Chad."

"Chad doesn't matter. Chad is just a silly Suburbs Boy who has had everything handed to him on a silver platter. I'm the real deal. And you know it."

"I'm not dumping Chad. But I'm not dumping you either. We'll find a way to make it work. For now, just meet me in the janitors office."

Chad didn't realize he was holding his breath until they had both dispatched and exited the library.

He also didn't realize he was holding in tears before they came streaming down his face.

He poured out all his soul into each tear before he gathered himself and realized that what he was crying about meant nothing to him as much as the children in the orphanage did. He didn't care about her. She was evil.

She was nothing but a lying, stupid...

...#Cheater.