Pretty Boy In Love

|22| Two Lies and No Truths

I was dreading going to school.

I'm sure you can imagine why.

First of all, I have to face Noah after leaving him on read thanks to his incredibly rude assumptions about me. 

Secondly, probably the bigger issue, that instagram post with Cullen and I kissing. High school kids are always looking for every bit of drama they can scavenge, so without a doubt, this will likely be the talk of the week. Just great.

Walking through the front doors, I immediately see Cass, who looks at me with those beautiful wide eyes of hers. 

"Hey, are you okay?" She touches my arm gently and I can't help but nod. 

Does anyone else automatically nod when people ask you if your'e fine, even when you clearly aren't fine?

Cass picks up on this and gives me an are you seriously trying to hide your feelings?  look. 

I shoot back a I really don't want to talk about this look. Maybe if I deny it enough, it will undo itself. Wishful thinking. 

"Hey Merrill." A younger boy approaches me. I see a group of his friends lingering in the background, snickering. This won't be good. "If I buy you a camera, will you kiss me too?"

I see Cass start walking up towards the little guy and I'm afraid she's going to punch him in the face, so I reach my arm out to stop her. No way am I going to let my best friend take a fall for a mess that involves me. 

"Would you mind your own business?" I try to push past him, but he steps in front of me.

"Hey, no need to be like that, sweetheart. Maybe I need to up the stakes a bit? What about I buy you any of that stupid photography shit that you want? You know, camera, tripod, lenses, I don't care, the whole package! Then, will you take my whole package, if you know what I mean?" This douche has the audacity to wink at me. 

Before I can respond with anything, I see a hand come out from behind the boy and grab him by the shoulder. The hand spins him around and the owner of said hand has his other fist raised.

"Noah, no!" I yell. Now everybody's staring if they weren't already. 

Noah's tense fist relaxes a bit and his eyes make contact with mine. If I thought he was angry with me at the wedding, I have never seen anything like this. His pupils are so contracted that all I can see is iris. He must literally be seeing red.

"This kid has no right treating you like that!"

I shake my head at him, still encouraging him not to do anything. "I can fight my own battles, thank you very much, Noah."

Something changes in his demeanour and he lets go of the kid, who turns back to me, now with his eyes opened wide, after Noah must've scare the living daylights out of him.

He deserved that much.

"Listen here." I take a step closer to him. "I don't want you ever speaking to me or another girl like that again, do you here me?"

He nods and his eyes dart everywhere, trying to find an out. He tries to step back, but Noah blocks him. I give him a grateful smile over the boy's shoulder. 

I continue. "No girl deserves to be spoken as if we are objects seeking male attention. You and your friends are absolutely disgusting."

I back away from him and project loudly, "And for everyone who didn't have the balls to say to me what you're all thinking, I am equally disgusted with you all. No, I did not kiss Jacob to get ahead in a competition. In fact, he kissed me. This double standard of girls being the sluts and boys being the macho males who get all the chicks needs to stop. If I am a slut for kissing Jacob, then he should not be praised."