“I'm going to ask you for the last time Betty,” Lucas Turner drawled, his hands in his pocket as he stared out to the pool, through the window. “Did you or did you not upload that tape?”“Betty, please say the truth,” Her mom, Margaret, pleaded squeezing her hands, “You know how angry your father can be.”Betty fidgeted, contemplating whether or not to tell the truth.“I did not upload that video!” She muttered, her eyes staring down at her sweaty palms.Lucas turned, “You know we have a lot at stake here to lose if I take the Williams to court, right? We have everything to lose if it turns out that you did upload that video, so for the last time… did you upload that video at your school online forum?”“Yes! Yes! I did!” Betty yelled, “What did I do so wrong? She deserved it! She kissed my boyfriend…”“All this because of a boy?!” Lucas demanded angrily, taking steps forward and he looked like he was going to hit her but Margaret blocked him.“Honey, let it go.”“Jesus Christ! Betty,
The memories.The horrific memories.They came flooding back.The numerous stumping of the feet on his body as though he was trash, the punches, the mockeries, the bullyings… they came back.Luke sat horrified as he stared up at Ajax, his breath slow and raggedy.“Yo, man! How have you been?” Ajax asked, a contemptuous smile dangling on the side of his lips as he advanced closer to Luke, “It's been… what? Two years? It's been a long time, bro. After what happened back in high school, you just vanished off the face of the earth. So you were in Miami all along.”Sam noticed Luke's discomfort.“Luke, do you know him?”Ajax turned his head to Sam, then looked him from up to down, “Whoa. I guess you still a fag. You even got yourself a new boyfriend. What happened to the other one?”Sam sprang to his feet and came closer to Ajax, “Call him that one more time…” He snarled, “... and I won't guarantee your safety.”“Sam, don't!” Luke sprang to his feet.“Whoa, what's going on here?” The boys
Liam, angry at himself and drowning in regret from withdrawing his hand from Luke, walked into the arena where his teammates were practicing.“Well, well,” Felix sneered contemptuously, “Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence!”The players stopped in their tracks and turned their attention to Liam.“Hi guys,” Liam waved a little.“Liam, you are here.” Coach Maddox stated.“Yeah,” Liam replied, licking his lips.He turned his gaze to Aiden who looked away.“Do you have anything to say to your teammates?” Coach Maddox raised a brow.“I just wanted to say um… I just wanted to apologize for how I've been behaving lately,” He said apologetically, “It was wrong of me.”Aiden folded his arms and rolled his eyes.“I cost us the match we had last week and then I skipped practice,” Liam continued, “I have no excuse for that, I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I promise.”Silence reigned.“Well? We cool guys?”The teammates hesitated for a while.“Yeah, we cool bro. Come on.” They
Principal Ashford’s office was heavy and thick with tension.On the right side of the long table was the Williams… Terry, Layla and Kelly and on the right side were the Turners… Lucas, his wife Margaret and Betty.Principal Ashford sat in the middle.Betty's face was now a mask of horror, red with numerous fingerprints and bruises, a blanket over her. She was shuddering and sobbing silently from the pain.Lucas Turner was stomping his feet angrily, his deadly eyes drifting from Kelly who returned his gaze to her father.“Welcome, parents.” Principal Ashford began, “Thank you all for coming. I must apologize for calling you all out like this in your busy schedules, but this is a serious matter that had to be dealt with with immediate effects.”Silence.Principal Ashford continued, “As you all know, Gem High School has always had zero tolerance for violence, any form of bullying and illicit acts.”“I don't care all about that, Ashford,” Lucas interrupted curtly, “I just need an explanat
Liam didn't take his eyes off Luke.He couldn't.Luke's smile was enthralling.It has been over two years since he's seen him smile like that.The two stared into each other's eyes, their heart pounding against their ribs. The atmosphere was changing and the tension began to get hot.A noise in the library startled the both of them, jolting them out of their fantasy.Liam cleared his throat, “Umm… hi,” He said awkwardly.Luke was embarrassed for staring for too long.He sat down beside Liam, placed some textbooks in the middle of the table and opened his laptop.He placed his hand on the table and instructed Liam to open his laptop where he was going to teach him from.Liam obeyed.They were stiff with each other and none of them had the courage to turn and stare into each other's eyes.“Alright, today, we'll be dealing with…”Are you sure you can focus? The voice inside of Luke's head teased. I mean, you just finally admitted to yourself that you still have feelings for him. Now is t
“Do I make myself clear?” Dean Foster asked and Liam quickly nodded.“Yes, ma'am.”“Good, you may take your leave,” She said dismissively, turning the pages of the book on the desk.Liam forced himself to get to his feet.He walked out of the office and shut the door, then released a breath he never knew he was holding.The Dean only just gave me a warning because Coach Maddox reported me, not Aiden. He thought in relief, walking down the hallway. At least Aiden didn't eat me out.His thoughts were broken by Brittany's text.“Hey, Babe. Is it just me or are you deliberately ignoring my texts? Why don't we meet up later at my dorm? My roommate is away, so we have the room to ourselves. What do you think?”Liam shook his head and returned his phone to his pocket then headed to his early morning class.Meanwhile, Sam stood by the doorway and waited for Luke to finish up.“I'm late for my shift, you know that, right?”“Oh, chill dude.” Luke retorted, quickly putting on his shoes, “What's
“Morning Mom,” Kelly greeted cheerfully, sitting down on the stool by the counter.Layla was preparing breakfast as usual, “You're dressed already?”“Hmm hm,” She hummed a response. “Where's Dad?” She asked, glancing around the house as she stuffed her face with some bread.Layla sighed, “He's left.”“Left? So early?”“You know, he hasn't been himself since Lucas Turner refused to invest in his company. I'm kind of worried for him,” Layla's voice was filled with concern, “I pray to God let it not be depression.”Kelly said nothing.There was nothing she could say. She felt it was all her fault that Lucas Turner didn't get to invest in her dad's company.All because of boy drama!Now, she has gotten on the wrong side of Betty. As unpredictable as Betty is, who knows what she'll do next?Kelly stood up.“Don't tell me you're leaving already.”“It's kind of getting late, you know? I have to go.”“What? So you're telling me that neither you nor your father will eat the food I prepared?” L
“You still won't talk to me?” Trudy asked solemnly, “I'm sorry, okay? Girl, I've been apologizing since last night, why can't you just let it go and forgive me?”Stacey said nothing but rather kept on putting on her makeup.“Okay, what do I do to make you forgive me, huh?”Stacey still ignored her, as though she wasn't even there. She applied lip gloss on and then pouted in the mirror then smacked her lips.Trudy frowned, now frustrated.She walked up to her and snatched the lip gloss away earning a deathly stare from her.“I'm talking to you!”“Give it back!” Stacey gritted.“Not after you accept my apology!”Stacey ignored her once more and began to curl her hair with the curling iron.“Don't you think you're overreacting right?” Trudy asked and Stacey shot a deadly glare.“What?”“I mean… I didn't tell you because I had my reasons. I'm not obligated to tell you every one of my secrets.”Stacey slammed the curling iron on the table and then glared at her, “Really? I can't believe yo
“Yes, you're right,” Luke finally admitted, taking a step closer to Liam, his honey breath now on Liam's face, “I still have feelings for you.”“What?”“My feelings for you never went away, how could I possibly end my feelings for you, Liam? My feelings were kicked by the curb by anger, resentment and depression… but they never went away.”Luke's intent gaze on Liam made Liam's heartbeat quicken.“They resurfaced the moment I saw you in that basketball tournament,” Luke went on, his hand slowly moving to Liam's face, then he caressed it, “But rather I kept denying them because I was scared of another heartbreak. I can't deny them any longer, my feelings for you are undying, Liam. I don't see myself having this deep feelings for anyone else except for you.”Liam gulped.He still couldn't believe it.“What now?” He asked, his voice now husky.“Now…” Luke's eyes shifted from his eyes to his lips, “I want you to kiss me.”Liam didn't need another go-ahead order.He leaned in and then crus