Chapter Eight Rumors

"I don't wanna do it." Cassidy whined. "Why do we have to do it?"

It was around ten o'clock and I finally got Cassidy to come with me after thirty minutes of trying to convince her to come. I didn't want to do it either, especially after the week we had.

To start it off, Jayce and I had another public argument about him not getting through his big head the concept of leaving me alone. It shouldn't have been such a big argument but with us everything was huge. I really didn't even know what happened. One second I was telling him to leave me alone and the next second I was shouting at him to find other girl to conquer. Which I probably shouldn't have said that because now Arianna hated me.

It wasn't like it wasn't true because it was. Jayce was using her for his own personal needs. But I shouldn't have humiliated her in front of an audience. I tried to apologize to her but she didn't want to talk to me. Jayce, on the other hand, said some hurtful things to me that he tried to take back but I wasn't talking to him. Not only did he hurt me in public, but he turned into an ice cold, jerk.

Yeah there was some days, back in high school and years before, when we had our fights but they were little ones.  They were the ones where one person could come around in an hour or two not the ones where it could take days to get over.

After Jayce yelled at me, I felt broken. Even through he tried apologizing, I couldn't forgive him that easily. I didn't even want to talk to him let only be in the same room as him but I didn't have a choice. We had one class in common, Theatre.

Other than that, I haven't seen him. Our different majors, didn't clashed together and I was thankful for that. Even after classes, I didn't see him much because he had football practice and I had cheer.

Then if that wasn't bad enough, rumors were being spread like a wildfire. I didn't know how it started but I knew there was no stopping it. It was either not say anything, and the rumors were true or say something and it would be considered defensive and true. There was no in between with these people.

Oh the best part was the rumor was Jayce and I had a friends with benefit thing going on but I was also sleeping with Chance. It was like I was the main whore on campus. Levi was pissed and so was Cassidy but even they couldn't find out who started the rumors.

I was the good girl with a freaky, wild side. Or as they put it, a good girl who hasn't got caught yet. I was grateful my mom hasn't found out. I pity the fool who has to deal with her raging wrath.

And to end the week, Nolan and Cassidy weren't talking. Cassidy was waiting for Nolan to apologize for flirting with a girl named, Amber, but Nolan said he wasn't going to because he wasn't flirting and Cassidy needed to calm down. They had an argument and Nolan didn't make it any better because he told her he didn't care.

It took every ounce of my body not to march over to him and punch some sense into him. It was day later and neither one of them were caving in yet.

"We're required to." I told her. "You know, maintain a good shape and all that."

"I have a good shape." She motioned to her body. "A sexy one."

She wasn't lying. She did have a good shape on her. She had curves all in the right places, a flat stomach and toned legs and arms. She really didn't need to work out but I didn't want to come alone.

I might be a cheerleader but I wasn't going to lie when I ate, I gained every calorie. I envy those girls with fast metabolism. Girls like Cassidy.

"Let's just get it over with."

She groaned but stepped on the treadmill. We started off slow and build our pace up.

"If I'm gonna be running for half an hour, Imma need you to play some music or something." Cassidy said.

We were the only ones in the gym so it was okay to blare our music. We were supposed to be working out but as soon as the first song started playing, Cassidy started twerking and I smacked her butt.

Next thing I know, we were dancing and I was posting everything on Snapchat.

Cassidy smiled."Get it girl!"

I laughed as I danced. We were like that for minutes until we had a group of guys walk in.

"Don't mind us." One guy said.

"Yeah we're just enjoying the show." Another guy added.

I looked at Cassidy. "Well I'm not dating anyone"

"And Nolan is still being an asshole." She said. "So...we be poppin" She sang the last few words as she put her hands on her knees and made her butt bounced.

I grinned as she played Poppin by Chris Brown. I felt their eyes on me as Cass and I danced but at that moment I didn't care. I knew it might not have been my greatest idea considering all the rumors going on but I was having fun.

I glanced over my shoulder and smiled at the guys. "Come on."

They didn't need to be told twice. They pushed off the wall quicker than I could blink. We had our own little party and it was awesome.

"Nolan is gonna furious when he finds out."

Cassidy shrugged. "Oh well. If he can flirt with other girls, I can dance with other guys."

I didn't say anything after that because I didn't want to ruin her moment. We both needed this after the hell we've been through. I could deal with Levi later but now I was making memories.

***

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Cassidy muttered.

I barely opened my eyes to see her glancing at her ringing phone. I closed them and snuggled deeper into my pillow.

After leaving the gym, even though the guys protested, we headed to our dorm. We showered before calling it a night. It was a little past midnight and I needed my sleep.

"Is it Nolan?" I mumbled in a sleepy voice.

"Yeah it's the little bastard."

"Aren't you gonna answer your phone?"

She snorted. "I'll answers mine when you answers yours."

"Not gonna happen."

Before I took a shower, Levi blew my phone up with text messages and missed calls. I already know what he was going to tell me and I was too tired to handle him.

"Well there's your answer."

"Not the same thing. He's not your brother. He's your boyfriend."

"I don't care. He's only calling because what he saw on your Snapchat. If it wasn't for that he wouldn't be calling me."

I sighed. "You do whatever you want, I'm going back to sleep."

"I'm right behind you."

Not even a minute past by before we were both out and I was pretty sure we were snoring.

My dream wasn't very pleasant but it wasn't the worst I had. I couldn't recall what exactly I was dreaming about but I knew it couldn't have been bad. Because I remember my nightmares and if it was a really good dream I would remember them as well. So I was assuming, it was neither good or bad.

And I didn't care as long as I got my sleep, I was good.

I didn't have class until later on in the day but I still got out my bed and got ready. I brushed my teeth and once I got back, Cassidy was on her phone, yelling.

"You don't care, remember? Oh well! And? And?" She rolled her eyes. "Go right ahead! Cause if you do it, we're done."

She hung up and placed her head in her hands.

"I hate him! I hate him so much!"

I sat down on her bed. "What happened?"

"Nolan. He swears he can control my life. I'm already mad at him and now he pissed me off. Like, ugh!" She looked at me. "I can't do it anymore."

I frowned. "What are you saying? Do you need to take a break with him or what?"

"I'm saying I think we need to move on. We've been together since eighth grade and I need something different. We both do."

Cassidy and Nolan had been together for almost five years now. Back in high school, they were the couple everyone wanted to be. Yeah I knew, every relationship had their ups and downs but with them they always figured out a way to make it work. In our group, they were the two who argued the least. They were so close....just like Jayce and I.

I didn't want her to be in the position I was in.

"Don't make any rash decision right now, okay? Think about it first before you go through with it."

She nodded. "I am."

"Get ready." I told her, standing up. "We're in need of a girl's day."

She gave me a small smile. "I remember when we used to always have these every Saturday."

"Yeah."

Back then, those were the days. Everything was drama free, stress free. We made laughable, wonderful, amazing memories. And some reason, I really thought college would be the same way.

Then everything went downhill that shattering, unpredictable, confusing day.

***

The saying shop til drop really lived up to its meaning.

Cassidy and I hit up every store in the mall until our feet began to hurt. We collasped on the first bench we could find and we rested.

"I think we're good for the next two months or so." Cassidy said, looking at all the bags we had.

"Agree. Where are we gonna put it all?"

"We'll make room. Speaking of room..." She eyed the pretzel stand in front of us. "I think I have an empty spot for one more thing."

I shook my head. "You don't need it."

"Yes I do!"

"You already ate all the food here!"

I was surprised they didn't kick her out yet. She really took "all you can eat" to heart. I wasn't lying when I said, everytime they saw Cassidy coming, they have that "Oh my gosh, it's this girl again" look on their face.

She rolled her eyes. "It's was just a corndog."

"Let's try this again."

"Okay. It was corndog, a slice of pizza and maybe a small order of fries."

"One more time." I said.

She sighed heavily. "Fine. I had a corndog, one pizza, large fries, a burger, possibly a chocolate milkshake and a sample of that new strawberry cheesecake."

I nodded my head in satisfaction. "Mmhm so no pretzel."

She rolled her eyes again. "Okay fine but if I die of starvation, you're the reason why."

"Please I think you ate enough food to last til Monday."

She looked at me in horror. "That's three day from now."

"Exactly." I looked at my phone and I was pleased Levi stopped texting and calling me. "We have to go. I have class in fifteen minutes."

"Alright. I have work an half an hour."

Cassidy and I worked as a waitresses at Cheddar's. She had more works days than me because I talked to our manager, Wes, and asked him if he could give me less days than her because she needed the money more than I did.

We stood up and grabbed our bags. We walked to her car and she dropped me off at my class.

And just as my day was getting better, I had to run into him. He saw me before I could duck and hide.

"Cole?"

There was no turning back now. I looked at him.

"I don't want to talk right now." I told him.

Everytime we "talk" it turned into an argument and I really didn't want to go to round two either.

"You don't have to talk. I'll talk but listen to me." I crossed my arms. "Please." He added.

Maybe he finally realized what a cold hearted jerk he was and pour his heart out to me. It was a big maybe but I was still holding on to it.

I motioned for him to continue. "What do you have to say?"

"I'm pretty sure you heard about the rumors already and I know how you get when they're about you."

I rose an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

The corner of his lips tugs up in his sexy half smile. "I know alot about you Cole. Don't ever forget that. But yeah I do. You tend to block everyone and everything out. I can see in your eyes when you're overthinking. But I'm telling you right now, don't let it get to you." He shrugged. "They're just rumors. And at the end day as long as you know the truth, nothing else matters."

"Yeah but that's not going to stop them from thinking I'm some type of whore."

"Who cares what they think. What they think of you doesn't matter."

"Not everyone can be like you Jayce." I said. "To me, it does matter. You don't understand, for a guy, you can sleep with as many girls as you want and nothing will be said about it. Yeah you might be called a player or whatever but no one will think twice about it. But since I'm a girl, it's wrong and I get label, a slut, whore, or hoe. So don't tell me it doesn't matter because it does."

I walked passed him and inside the classroom before anyone who was standing in a 100 meter radius think we were about to have another argument.

Mrs. Doccor began class and I tried to listen to her talk about Ancient Greek but it was proven to be hard. Two girls sitting behind me whisper low enough so Mrs. Doccor wouldn't hear them but loud enough so I could.

Just ignore them. I thought.

But I couldn't. I let their cruel words sink deep into me until I felt horrible about myself. I wanted nothing more then to run out the room and fall onto my bed and cried.

I sank my teeth into my lower lip to stop myself from crying. I could feel a pair of eyes staring in my direction but I refused to look back.

A hour and a half later, I was bolting out the door and speed walking to my dorm. Cassidy was still working and wouldn't be back until much later so I had enough time to cry if I needed to.

I glanced behind me and I saw Jayce talking to the girls who were talking about me during class.

Jayce jerked his thumb in my direction and the two bimbos glanced my way and snickered. I looked away and continued to walk.

As soon as I shut my dorm door, I removed all the bags off my bed and sat down on it. I thought high school was the place drama was born from and college was a place to be free. You didn't have to worry about anything but finals.

As much as I promised myself, I would never step back into that hellhole called high school, I rather be there than here. College was not as I expected it to be and it barely started.

Not even my whole high school years, could compare to two weeks in college. In short an amount of time, I lost my best friend, I became the college whore, I had a group of girls who wanted me dead, and Cassidy and Nolan were on the verge of breaking up.

What the actually hell happened? Where did we take a sudden turn for left? It was like mine and Jayce's problems were a domino effect. Once we fell off, drifted away, so did everyone else. Including, Hailey and Levi.

I didn't know what happened between them. Levi was like me when it came to our personal life. He didn't want anyone in his business. I could see it between Hailey and Levi that something was wrong but they were trying to hide it from everyone.

There was no use trying to pry it from either. He wouldn't tell me no matter how much or how hard I plead and begged him. He wouldn't budge.

My back pocket vibrated and I pulled my phone out.

Are you okay?-J

I surprised myself when I responded back.

Yeah.-C

You sure?-J

Instead of answering him, I asked another question.

Why were talking to those girls?-C

Don't worry about that. It's nothing.-J

I rolled my eyes. Sure it wasn't. If it involved Jayce there was a lot to worry about.

Lair.-C

It really was nothing.-J

Again, he was hiding something. The first was his secret with Chance now it was this. We never kept secrets from each other. We always told one another everything. Things changed. For better or worse, I couldn't tell yet.

As soon as I thought about responding back, the door swung open. I glanced up and immediately my brows scrunched together. I dropped my phone beside me and stood up.

"What happened?" I asked, concerned.

Cassidy was on the verge of crying. Her eyes were filled with tears that threat to spill over any given second. Her lips trembled as she tried to hold back her tears.
As soon as she blinked, tears run down her cheeks and I quickly hugged her.

"Cass, what happened?"

She didn't answer right away. She kept sniffling and crying. Then she mumbled the words I thought I would never hear from her.

"Nolan cheated on me."