"Nice snapchat story, by the way." Ashleigh casually says.

I sit down in the food court of Riverbrook Mall after two hours of shopping. When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was check if I had any messages from Will. I didn't. I considered texting him but then decided against it. It's probably best to wait anyway. The only texts I had were from Ashleigh. She surprised me by wanting to hang out today. What surprises me even more is that I'm having a great time.

I planned to call Chase when I got home last night but decided against it since it was way too late. I was going to do it this morning but decided to do it later today.

I know, I know. I'm procrastinating. I can't help it! Chase is so god damn sweet! Hurting him is the last thing I want to do.

"What snapchat story?" I sip on my Very Berry smoothie. Ashleigh was right, it does taste like heaven! I'm really starting to like this chick.

"The one of Will. Starla and Darla kept gushing about how adorable you two look together!" Ashleigh smiles.

So that's what Will did with my phone! I can't believe I didn't think of that. I guess I was a little preoccupied.

Will.

I feel butterflies in my stomach whenever I hear his name. I have to end things with Chase. I just have to.

"Uh oh, I know that look." Ashleigh points out.

"What look?" I look oblivious.

"Guilt." She states.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I lie.

"Kat, you don't have to feel guilty. Chase is an asshole. Will is super nice. Don't fall for Chase's lies. He's full of crap," Ashleigh explains.

"How can you say that? He's your brother!" I'd never say anything like that about Wyatt.

"Yeah, much to my dismay. Chase isn't like your brother. He's the worst. You don't know him like I do, Kathryn. He's awful," she looks upset.

"But why? What did he do?" I question.

"More like, what didn't he do. He plays people. Just for the fun of it. Him and your 'goody-to-shoes' cousin." She makes airquotes when she says goody-to-shoes.

"Oh come on, Ash," I roll my eyes.

"Oh and I just thought I should let you know about something," Ashleigh says awkwardly.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I wanted to tell you at the party but I didn't wanna ruin it for you," she continues.

"Tell me what?" I ask again.

"There have been some rumors going  around school. People are saying that you gave Chase a rusty trombone," she says.

"What the hell is a rusty trombone?" I demand to know.

"Um, you should probably google it." She says sheepishly. I do that and the results make me want to bleach my eyes.

"What. The. Fuck."

"Yup."

"That most certainly did not happen." I state.

"I believe you. Chase spread rumors about me too." She admits. 

"Wait, you think Chase spread the rumor? Why would he do that?" I question.

"Because that's the kinda guy he is." Ashleigh looks sympathetic. 

"No. I don't believe it. I'm sorry, Ash. This is just too much. I'll see you in school tomorrow." I get up and rush home.

What the hell? I don't even know what to think. I don't think I can deal with talking to him right now.

"Hey, you okay?" Wyatt asks when he sees me running to my room. 

"I'm fine. I just wanna be alone for a while." I respond and he nods.

I run into my room and shut the door. I rummage into my closet and pull out a cigarette packet that I keep hidden. Smoking is a horrid habit that I never want to get into. But one sometimes when I'm really upset really does make me feel better. I try to control myself and smoke only once in a way.

I put my hand into my back pocket only to see that it's empty. Great. I probably left it in the park. I remove a spare lighter from my drawer, light the cigarette and throw myself onto my bed.

"How did my life get so complicated?" I ask myself and exhale.
I connect my phone to a speaker and blast Simple Plan's Welcome To My Life like the emo teenager I am.

I pause the music after a while and call Jules. She's the only one who can really help.

"Kathryn! I was beginning to think that you were avoiding me," says Jules.

"I would never ignore you! I've just been busy," I explain. 

"Oooh does that have anything to do with the two hotties?" She questions. 

"Maybe," I fill her in on everything. 

"Ay dios mio!" She gasps.

"I know, right? I don't know what to do," I sigh.

"You have to talk to Chase. Whether he made up the rumor or not, you need to end things with him. You're clearly into Will," She suggests.

"I know," I admit.

"What if he did spread the rumor though? What are you gonna do?" She asks the question that I've been avoiding the most in my mind.

"It just seems so unlike him. The Chase I know is kind. He wouldn't hurt a fly." I explain.

"But if Ashleigh is right, he's not who you think he is." She says.

"I'll confront him about it tomorrow. I'll just straight up ask him. No beating around the bush." I promise.

"Or you could call him now." Jules suggests and I say no.

"How's Lars?" I ask, changing the subject.

"He's as great as ever! We try to Skype everyday." She gushes.

"That's awesome, Jules."

"Yeah, he's probably gonna call anytime now." She states.

"I won't keep you any longer. Have fun!" I try to sound cheerful.

"I will! See ya, Chica. Talk to Chase!" She hangs up. I start to feel better already. Jules can cheer me up when no one else can. I start the music again and go to bed early.

*
*
*
I enter my school to see people pointing at me and snickering. A random guy winks while walking past me.

"Ugh," I grunt.

"What's wrong?" Macey looks clueless.

"Can't you see everyone staring and gossiping about me?" I ask. Did she really not notice? Macey always knows about what's going on with everyone. She and her friends live for gossip. Why didn't she warn me? Is Ashleigh right?

"Get over yourself, Kathryn." She rolls her eyes.

"Wow, what's your damage?" I question. She says she's late for class and leaves quickly. The whole day goes by the same way. I try to ignore all the people that are staring and talking about me. Eventually, I decide that I've had enough.

"Where's Chase?" I ask Ashton when I see him in the hallway.

"In the locker room. Why? Wanna go for round two in school?" He chuckles and his curly hair bounces around.

"Hey Ashton?"

"Yeah?"

"The 90s called. They want their hair back." I flip my hair and walk to the locker room.

"Fuck you, slut!" I hear him yell from behind me. I flip him off without turning around.

I storm into the boys locker room and walk past a bunch of stunned faces.
Most of the guys are in just towels and if this was any other time, my inner boy-crazy self would have gone insane. Not this time, though. I am way too pissed off to even look.

"Hey! You can't be in here!" Someone cries and someone else whistles.

"There you are," I say to Chase. He's leaned up against a locker.

"Babe, what are you doing in here?" He questions. All the guys look amused. Babe? He's never called me that before and I don't like the way it rolls off his tongue.

"Can we talk?" I ask.

"Sure, what's up?" He asks, not moving at all.

"What the hell is going on?" I fold my arms and he looks confused "About the rumor going around."

"Rumor? Come on, baby. You don't have to deny it." He smirks. He looks unlike he ever has before. I see a whole new side of him that I never knew existed. Ashleigh was right all along, wasn't she?

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I growl. All eyes are on us. "This is ridiculous."

"Woah tiger, save the anger for the bedroom." He winks and the guys around him laugh. My fists curl up and before I know it, I punch him in the face. Unfortunately, I don't think I get him too hard since he only laughs.

"Ashleigh was right. You are absolute scum," I say with my teeth clenched. 
"And so are all of you!" I look at everyone surrounding us.

I storm off and see Macey outside.

"Kat, I can't believe you didn't tell me! I thought we were closer than that." She looks disappointed.

"I didn't tell you because it never happened. Chase is lying." I state.

"So you're just going to lie and deny it? You don't have to be ashamed, Kat." She places her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm not lying, Macey. Are you really going to believe Chase over me?" I demand.

"Why would Chase lie?" She answers my question with a question.

"Why would I lie?" I snap and she shrugs. I text Ashleigh and ask her for a ride. The last thing I want is to spend more time with someone who believes that slimy douchebag over me.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Ash. How could I have been so naive?"

"It's cool. I know how deceitful Chase can be. I've seen it firsthand." She shrugs.

"You believe me, don't you?" I ask her. 

"Duh, of course I do! I'm sorry he's putting you through this." She sighs.

"Why is he doing this?" I ask.

"Who knows? Does he even need a reason? He's a literal piece of poo." She rolls her eyes.

"Oh my God, what's Will gonna think?" I start to panic.

"Don't worry, Will would never fall for Chase's bullshit!" She reassures.

"Oh, come on!" She looks at me. "Bad girls don't cry over silly boys!" She giggles and I join in.

"Thanks for everything, Ashleigh." I smile at her.

"Hey, that's what friends are for. Call me if you need anything, okay? And don't worry. This will blow over in no time." She says. 

I thank her again and get out of the car.

"Hey, there's someone waiting for you in your room." Wyatt says when he sees me. Ugh, it has to be Macey. She better apologize.

I'm surprised to see that it isn't Macey. It's Will! I hope Ashleigh was right and that Will doesn't believe the rumors.

"How you doin'?" He asks.

"Honestly? Not so good. I'm guessing you heard the rumors."

"I did." He walks up to me.
He leans in closer and I take a step back. I really want him to kiss me but given the circumstances with Chase I don't think it's a good idea. I mean, like, come on. I just found out what kind of a douche that asshole really is and it's going to take some time for me to figure things out. This is the first time I actually see some real emotions in Will's eyes anger and... hurt?

How could he possibly be angry and hurt by just one swift movement made by me? In my defense, Will makes it really hard for me to think clearly and he clouds my judgement. I'm not sure about my feelings, or literally anything, when I'm around him. The fact that he's incredibly sexy just makes it even more hard for me to move away from him. Why did my brother have to let him into my bedroom?

All this while I've been having an inner turmoil and Will takes it upon himself to come as close as possible. He pulls me in by the small of my back and leans in a second time to kiss me and this time I don't stop him. "I have... missed... you... " He whispers in between breaths whilst kissing my neck. My mind tells me to kiss him slowly and gently and savour each moment with him. But my body tells me to grab a fistful of his hair and rip his shirt off of him. So I do just that.

"I'm guessing that this means you don't believe the rumors?" I manage to say.

"Of course not, you goof." He chuckles.

He starts moving down and trails kisses on my jaw making me moan very loudly. He takes this as a sign to remove my top but gets interrupted by a voice.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

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A/N

Thanks for reading!

Thanks lise_05 for the Will scene😏

Quite a twist, isn't it? Did you expect it?

Please vote and comment! Xx