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     "So, I heard someone had a little fight," Shayna sneered at me the next day in school.

     "I don't want to talk to you," I said and started to leave.

     "Why? It's not like you have a lot of people who want to talk to you."

     "Yeah, don't worry about it. Tiffany will, as soon as she finds out the truth. And Derek, well the little fight," I made airquotes, "is over now."

     She looked surprised. "Really?"

     "Yeah. Sorry for the disappointment, but Derek and I are good. Now if you'll excuse me, there's somewhere I need to be." All juniors and seniors were asked to gather in the gym for some announcements and I was hoping I'd get a chance to talk to Derek before that.

     "Wait." Shayna walked with me. "Don't you wonder why Derek forgave you so quickly for putting his life out for the world to see?"

     "If you're trying to start another fight, it's not gonna work."

     She gave a small laugh. "You're just hung up on him. You think he genuinely likes you? Let me break it down for ya, you're just a toy. He'll get bored soon enough."

     I tried to control my anger. "You said what you had to, right? Now leave me alone." We were outside the gym now and I stopped.

     Shayna stopped too and faced me. "I'm not done. You think talking to you every night made him like you? You think you have something special? Let me tell you something. He was with me, sleeping with me when you talked to him every night. I heard all about it. Do you think that was enough to fall for someone? You're so naive."

     I was taken aback. Composing myself, I said, "I know you're lying. If it was the truth, you'd tell me earlier."

     "I was thinking the diary fiasco would be enough for him to hate you. And that's what I wanted - him to hate you. If I said this earlier, he'd come running to you for forgiveness and you'd be naive enough to believe him."

     "Not working, Shayna. I don't believe you."

     "Let me prove it. Remember when you first called him, and he said he'd call you back in five minutes. Remember? Then he said something stupid like he fell asleep on the couch and came back to his room. Well the truth is, he was with me and went out of the room to talk to you so I wouldn't wake up. But I did and I heard every word of what he said."

     My heart beat wildly in my chest. That was exactly what had happened.

     "Remember him talking to you about finding true love? Those were my words I said to him earlier. He was just repeating them to you. There was nothing original about it. And you are so naive to think those were for you exclusively."

     "Enough, Shayna. That's three times you called me naive. You're not saying that a fourth time." It was a weak comeback. Because I had nothing to say to what I just learned. She knew everything. She wasn't lying. She had to be with him if she knew all of this. Was everything Derek said a lie?

     "It's what you are. Plain, simple, naive Vivian."

     "Why are you telling this to me now?"

     "Because if I can't have him, you can't too." With that, Shayna headed inside and I was left alone with conflicting thoughts in my mind.

     I refused to believe it, even when it all made sense. It wasn't a wise decision to trust Shayna. But how could she know everything if she was lying? I had to talk to Derek. I saw him making his way towards me. I put on a smile when he saw me.

     "Hey," I said.

     "Can we talk now?" he asked.

     "Sure. There's a lot to talk about."

~~~

     We were sat together in the bleachers. Derek told me that he wanted to put everything that had happened behind us. "Vivian, I don't know why you did it. I believe you didn't mean to do it. Whatever it was, it was in the past. And the truth about my family wasn't going to stay a secret from everyone forever. So it's done." He took my hands in his. "And I really mean it when I say that I want to put all of it behind us. That's where it should stay, in the past. Because you mean much more to me than that."

     I nodded. "I'm sorry. I should've told you the truth. I was trying to get back at Suzy. I didn't even read what was written in her diary."

     "It's okay. It doesn't matter anymore."

     "But I did make a mistake. I mean," I said looking him in his eyes, "I wouldn't like it if you lied to me about anything."

     Derek met my eyes with confusion. "Um, okay."

     "So did you?"

     "Did I what?"

     "Lie to me about something?"

     He scrunched his face. "I don't know what you mean by that."

     "Shayna said something to me today."

     He gave a small laugh and shook his head. "Really? You're going to take her word for it? I'm sorry I believed her and reacted. Don't make the same mistake, Vivian."

     "But she didn't lie though, did she? She told you the truth."

     Derek sighed. "Do you want to tell me what she said?"

     I spoke quickly. It felt like ripping a band-aid off. "You told me you broke up with Shayna long back. You told my there was nothing between the two of you. But she was with you when you talked about soulmates, about true love. Those were her words."

     "I didn't lie," he said carefully.

     "You were with her!"

     "You knew that already, Vivian. She's just twisting facts. Don't believe her."

     "So that's the truth?"

     "What? That we slept together? Yes, it's the truth. You knew that."

     "That's not what I'm talking about."

     "Then what is it? What are you talking about?" he asked with an intensity that made me falter.

     "Forget it," I said exasperated.

     "Look, Vivian. If you don't tell me what's bothering you, I can't clarify it. Please talk to me."

     I took a deep breath. "Hey, Vivian." We turned around to see a guy calling me. "Something's going on. You should come."

     Derek was as confused as me, but we followed him anyway. "We'll talk about it later, okay?" he said.

     "Okay," I nodded.

     On the other side of the gym, I saw Brent waving us over. "There you are, Vivian. I've been searching for you for so long." A small crowd was gathered around him.

     I looked at him confused. "Why?"

     "I'm sorry I didn't come to meet you yesterday. If I'd known it was you, I definitely would've come."

     "Come where?"

     He began searching his pockets and pulled out his phone. Smiling at me, he started to play some recording on it. It sounded like a conversation. It sound like . . . ME!

     Who are you?  ........  Your prayers have been answered. I'm the answer to all your wet dreams  .........  What? Seriously, who is this?  .........  It's your lucky day, Brent. You've been blessed by the call of a sex goddess.

     Shit!

     It was me! He recorded our phone call from months ago when Tiffany and I pranked him. My face felt hot as the recording kept playing. Everyone standing around us heard everything I said to Brent that day.

     As the conversation ended, Brent said, "Good job with that sexy accent. You tried to hide your identity but I figured it out eventually. Why didn't you tell me it was you?"

     "Please," I mouthed to him.

     Everyone around were giving me funny glances. He ignored my plea and smirked. "Oh, I get it. You wanted to surprise me. I am surprised. We should do everything you said on the phone."

     "I didn't-"

     "You're so savage, Vivian. Your mind works better than the devil's. Your imagination runs wild. There's more. But I don't think I should play it in public."

     What was he doing? This was long back, months ago. Why did he have the recording and why did he pretend this happened now?

     "That's not me," I said aloud for everyone to hear.

     "Come on, Vivian. Everyone here can tell it was you. Now don't be shy."

     This was getting out of hand. I looked at Tiffany for help. She was in the back of the crowd. "I'm sorry," I made out her lip movements. Great. She wasn't going to help me. Derek, I thought. I looked at Derek standing next to me.

     He was looking at me in disbelief. His look told me everything. It was like he didn't know who I was anymore.

     My eyes started stinging. No one would believe my side of the story. My voice broke. "It was . . . It was a prank."

     "You begged me to come meet you. That's no prank. And this is not the only call I got from you."

     "Stop lying!" I cried out. If I didn't say anything, everyone would think it was the truth. But I couldn't get myself to explain anything.

     The looks the crowd gave overwhelmed me. Tiffany wouldn't support me. I didn't have anyone else to support me, to stand up for me. I didn't have anyone by my side.

A/N : Thanks for reading :) I know everything seems to go shit way for Vivian, but i promise the next chapter is gonna get better. Until next time, xoxo

# Would you rather be a kid your whole life or an adult your whole life?