Now, I stare at my phone, charging on the other side of my room so I’m not tempted to use it. This isn’t the first time there’s been a rumour that I slept with someone, but this is the worst possible time. Not when everything with Henry is happening. Not when the rumour involves Eve. Not when the rumour has spread so much in less than twenty-four hours.
Shit. School is going to be hell tomorrow.
23
Eve: Clingy
I remember when my classmates somewhat liked me. That lasted about two weeks because when I arrive on Monday, everyone stares at me. I don’t know what gives people the balls to stare blatantly at someone, but that’s what my classmates do, even when I return their stares.
While Mum was driving me to school, I checked my phone and saw I had received a message from Noah.
Noah: Everyone thinks we had sex.
Noah: No one probably cares.
Noah: But I wanted to warn u.
I didn’t get time to wonder why that was a rumour in the first place, and in homeroom, I grip my desk to stop myself from reacting to the whispers around me. As soon as the bell rings for first period, I walk as fast as I can on the way to my Maths classroom, seeing Ruby by the Year 11 lockers. She’s too far away for me to say anything, and even if I could talk to her, I don’t know what I’d say.
She meets my eyes for a moment before turning away, mouth twisting. Shit, she hates me. I bet this new rumour has intensified her hatred.
Oh god, what does Oliver think? I shake my head. There’s no time to worry about that now, not when I need to get to class.
When I arrive at the front of the Maths classroom, Richard walks up to me. “You fucked Noah five minutes after making out with Oliver. Slut.”
It’s as if he’s punched me in the gut. I’m not close with Richard, but having anyone talk to you like that hurts. And Richard’s Oliver’s friend. Do they have the same opinion?
I force the hurt on my face to disappear. “Fuck off, dick,” I snarl. To my satisfaction, Richard’s face goes slack with surprise before he stalks off.
“Eve.”
I whirl around and see Noah. He still has dark circles under his eyes. “Hi.”
“You’ve made a pun.” He tries a smile. “Richard. Dick. Doesn’t matter.” He waves off his words. “Ignore him, he’s an asshole. Shit, this is bad, isn’t it?”
I attempt to sound optimistic. “We can make a plan.”
“Right.” He turns around, and I can see Henry arriving from the corner of the Maths building. Henry and Noah have different homerooms but wait for each other when walking to class. It’s weird to see them separate.
“Are you alright?” I murmur.
He turns and nods. “You?”
I shrug. “I suppose.”
After Mr Patterson arrives and opens the door, talking about our upcoming Maths test, Noah and I sit at our usual seats at the front of the classroom. We might fuel the rumours, but I don’t care. I want to discuss this sooner rather than later. Besides, I’m used to sitting with Noah in Maths. I don’t want to go back to sitting alone.
When Mr Patterson gives us time to complete practice questions, I turn to Noah. He’s opened his exercise book and holds a pen to pretend he’s working.
“Why do people think we slept together?” I ask.
“Declan told me he found out from Sana, and I bet Sana found out from Tiana, which sounds right.”
Tiana is the gossip queen of our year level, churning out secrets and scandals from the start of high school. I’ve always listened to what she’s said — not always believing them, but finding them entertaining. Now I’m the one in the spotlight.
“So she made it up out of thin air?” I ask.
“Maybe she legit thought we had sex,” Noah says, tapping his pen against the table. “Since you slept over at mine and all. But more likely she wanted to cause trouble.”
