A/N : Welcome back! Last chapter for the day. Happy reading! xoxo

PLAYLIST : Paper Houses - Niall Horan

     Shayna stood there staring at me for about five minutes. I waited for her to say something. This wasn't what I had planned. I was supposed to talk to Derek first.

     "I don't believe it," she finally said.

     "Yeah, me neither."

     "Why did you do that?" she gasped.

     "I didn't mean to do it."

     "What happened exactly?"

     I had no option but to tell her everything. Repeating what I did made me realize how stupid I was. Damn, how could I be that stupid. When I finished telling her everything, Shayna looked at me like I was retarded.

     "Why didn't you read what was written in her diary before posting it for the whole world to read?"

     "I messed up. I wasn't thinking. I read some stuff, it was bullshit Suzy wrote about people. That stuff made her look like a snob, so I wanted to post that. But I messed up and took pictures of another entry altogether," I whined. I knew I was acting like a baby.

     "That's like the worst excuse I've ever heard. Do you even realize what your little revenge plan led to?"

     "Not really," I said sheepishly. "To tell you the truth, I still didn't read all the things that Suzy wrote and everybody read. I just read a page and took off all the pics."

     "Well, hear this. You almost had Derek put in foster care."

     "I . . . What?!" I gasped.

     "Yes. You should've read all that Suzy wrote about Derek's dad. Made him look like an animal. Someone dumb read Suzy's journal. Could be a parent or a teacher, yep they check the school's page. They informed the social services guys because apparently, a kid cannot live with a dad that kind. They came to Derek's house."

     My eyes widened with every word I heard. "How do you know that?"

     "I was with him last night at his house when those guys knocked at the front door," Shayna went on. "That's when we came to know about the pics."

     "What happened?!"

     "I don't know. I wanted to leave, it was too dramatic for me. Derek too asked me to go back home. So I left. They just wanted to talk to Derek. His dad wasn't home."

    Good god! I was beginning to panic. "What did they do? I mean . . . you must have some idea . . . I'm so-"

     "Don't worry. It's okay now. I talked to Derek today and he said it's all sorted out. He explained to the whatever authorities that it was all a misunderstanding and rumors flying. And I think his dad came home and talked to them too. I mean, his dad's rich. He must've pulled some strings or maybe none of the shit was true."

     I couldn't believe I messed up so bad. No doubt Derek had been so angry. I was too shocked to respond.

     "Are you going to tell Derek it was you?" Shayna asked.

     And have all that anger directed at me? I was tempted to say no, but I had to tell him the truth, however difficult it would be. "Yes."

     "I don't know, Vivian," Shayna said. "It'd be better if we just forget about it. He's going to be angry at you like he was at Suzy. He likes you."

     "What?"

     "I mean the way he talks about you, he considers you a good friend. If he comes to know that you were responsible . . ."

     "But I still have to tell him the truth. I can't be a good friend if I'm lying to his face."

     She nodded. "It's your call."

     "Do me a favor. Don't tell anything about this to Derek. I'll tell him myself."

     "Of course," she smiled. "I won't utter a word."

     We went back to the party and didn't talk about it again. Suzy was hanging out with her friends and behaved like nothing happened. Shayna was with Derek the whole time. I didn't get a chance to talk to him. I thought I'd give him some time to cool down before I tell him the truth. And I didn't want to do it at the party.

     My head was buzzing. I wouldn't feel okay till I talked to Derek. I couldn't focus on anything. I left the party early, with an excuse of a headache. Well, my head really was spinning. The only thing that could solve it was the truth and before that, a good night's sleep.

~~~

     Later that night, I got a call from Derek. I don't know why, but I had a feeling that he would call. And he did.

     "Hey," I said.

     "Did I wake you up again?"

     "No. I was awake."

     "Good," he said.

     "Derek?"

     He spoke quickly. "I just wanted to apologize for how I acted tonight. I was having a bad day. And I wanted to tell you that I apologized to Suzy too."

      I closed my eyes. "You don't have to apologize to me. And I understand that you were having a bad day."

     "Thanks, I guess."

     Speak up now, Vivian, my brain screamed at me. He's going to understand. I played with a loose thread on my pillow, then got up from my bed and started walking across the length of my room. Walking seemed to calm me down. "Derek, are you angry at whoever did it?"

     "I was. But now, I don't want to think about it. Or talk about it."

     What do I do now? Respect his choice and hide the truth? Or still go ahead and tell him everything?

     "Okay." Damn it! Why can't I just tell him?

     "Hey, you wanna hear something good?" Derek asked.

     I was all for changing the topic. "Yes?"

     "I got accepted in CalArts."

     "Wow! That's great, Derek. Why didn't you say this at the party?"

     "I didn't know it yet. I checked my mail only after I got home."

     "That's awesome!" I said, genuinely happy for him.

     "Do you know who else is going there?"

     "Um . . . no."

     "It's your boyfriend."

     My boyfriend?  I didn't have a boyfriend. "Are you taking about Cabe?"

     "How many boyfriends do you have?" he said playfully. "Speaking of whom, I didn't see him tonight with you."

     "Yeah. He couldn't come."

     Truth was, Cabe wasn't even my boyfriend. We were just hooking up that one time because of obvious reasons. We barely talked a couple of times after that. Maybe I should call and congratulate him.

     "Oh. By the way, Tiffany told me it's Shayna's birthday next week," Derek said.

     "Gosh! I almost forgot!"

     "Okay, please don't do that girly 'freaking out that my friend's birthday is coming up' thing. It's a week later, not yesterday."

     I wrinkled my nose. "You're rude."

     "It's the truth. Tiffany also told me that I'm supposed to get Shayna the best present. Basically, she warned me that I better not mess it up."

     "Oh."

     "So, I'm not good with birthday gifts. You're the only one I can ask help from."

     "What do I do?" I asked.

     "I don't know what girls like," he groaned. "Help me pick out a present."

     "Aren't you supposed to know what girls like considering you're a charmer?"

     He seemed to give a thought to it. "Well, girls like me. I told Tiffany that's the best birthday present for Shayna. She stopped texting me. I'm guessing she didn't agree."

     I laughed. Derek said, "I'm serious here, Vivian. Please come shopping with me. Or it's going to be a trip to hell."

     "I can do that. What do I get in return?"

     "You get me," he said eagerly.

     "Ew. I don't want you."

     "Think it through before rejecting. It's your loss."

     "I think I can live with that."

     "We'll see."

     I rolled my eyes. "You know what, I'm rolling my eyes right now. Bye, Derek. I gotta sleep."

     "Bye, Vivian. Good night."

A/N : Thanks for reading! Vote & comment, please! <3 Until next time, which is gonna be real soon. xoxo

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