Matthew Dunlop.

God, I was tired. What did I have to do to make Elena see the real KJ? What could I possibly do to make her stop and just listen? What in the freaking world was so special about KJ anyway. He was just another bullshit guy looking for another girl to jangle his balls or something. I'm a guy, so I would know. And I would know that he wasn't worth Elena or her time too. But she was refusing to see that. So was so hellbent on believing KJ was the one, it was mad annoying anytime I thought about it.

And to think that I thought she had gotten over the asshole. Gotten over the whole "Kj's so handsome and the sweetest guy ever" stupid thought every other girl at Belford High seemed to be carrying with them every day they came to school. Two days ago when I visited her at her house, the way she had talked about him, it was almost as if she was willing to never speak to him again, no matter what happened. But here she was, telling me he'd apologized and she'd forgiven him and now they were friends again, and she'd want me to be friends with him too because he's a fucking "nice guy". A nice guy my left foot.

It had taken all my willpower not to reach over to KJ and slap away the silky smirk on his face as Elena said those things to me. Of course, there was no way KJ and I were going to be friends. Not while we were in high school and he was being an asshole to the one girl I cherished. Hell was more likely to freeze over before that ever happened.

And it hurt me to think that Elena probably thought I was her enemy or something. Probably was growing tired of me always warning her about KJ, while I was doing what any best friend would, telling her the crystal clear truth. It hurt me to think that Elena wasn't willing to realize it. To think that the Elena I knew before KJ came to our school might be gone. Gone forever.

I sighed and ran a hand through my wet hair before raising my face to the shower of water falling from the showerhead. Either way, I was going to keep trying. I'll make sure to seize any opportunity I had to prove to her that KJ wasn't worth it, and I believed eventually she'd come to the realization too. The only thing I hoped now was that it wouldn't be too late by then, that she wouldn't have fallen so deeply for him already. If she hadn't yet anyway.

I blew out the water getting into my mouth, ran my hand through my hair once again, and turned off the shower.

Football practice had ended minutes ago, and while most guys decided to hang back on the court and chill and talk, I decided I wasn't feeling it today, plus my skin was crawling with sweat, so I decided to take that shower first before anything else. And I was glad I made that decision. It helped me think about everything that's been going on lately. Helped me clear my head.

Wiping my hair and body with my towel, I wrapped it around my waist and stepped out of the bathroom. I walked over to my locker, got out my clothes from my duffel bag, and headed back to the secluded area of the locker room where we were unsuited and suited up for either practice or a game.

I was alone in the whole locker room, so basically I was freer than ever. Taking off my towel, I slipped on my pants and pulled on the shirt I'd worn with it earlier. After that, I raked my hand through my hair, fluffed it out, and gave it a quick touch-up with my fingers. When I was done, I folded up my stuff and put them into my duffel bag before stashing the bag back into my locker.

Remembering, I had left my wristband in the bathroom, so I went back in to get it. The moment I stepped in and the door shut of its own accord, my eyes fell on it, its shiny dark beads. Picking it up, I slipped it onto my wrist and turned around to go when I heard voices.

I won't have stopped in my tracks though. After all, they were just voices. The thing was, out of the two voices, one of them was familiar. One of them belonged to KJ.

At the thought of him being in here, I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth. The bloody bastard, how about I gave him a piece of my mind huh. I didn't normally pick fights without cause, as a matter of fact, I hated fighting, but for KJ I didn't mind. Not one bit.

They were getting closer to the bathroom, and out of sheer instinct, I decided to remain put.

"Practice was wack, damn," I heard his friend say.

KJ was on the football team.

"I'm so fucking tired," KJ groaned in response, and immediately after that, the sound of a locker opening followed.

"Speaking of which, what about Elena?" His friend asked.

At the mention of her name, my heart skipped a beat. Why did he bring her up? Why were they about to gossip with my best friend's name? There were a hundred other easy girls at school, so why did it have to be Elena?

"What about her?" KJ asked back after a moment.

"Do you like her, man?" The guy asked. "Cause you been all around her and shit. You even ate lunch with her today."

"I don't know," KJ replied simply.

"You don't know?" The guy scoffed. "She's not your level, by the way, bro. You should be aiming higher. Anabel-type shit."

My fingernails dug into the flesh of my palms.

Stay put, Mathew. Don't do anything stupid, just stay put and keep listening.

"You think I don't know that?" KJ chuckled. I heard him moving around. "No, be my type at all."

"Then why the hell are you hanging around her anyway?"

"Ah, goddamn," KJ murmured. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, Josh. It's confidential."

I strained my ears further after hearing Kj's words. Confidential? What in the world was he talking about?

His friend, Josh, voiced my thoughts. "What are you talking about, bro?"

"Look, it's all just a dare, okay?" KJ said with a sigh. "When I first arrived, I went to this party Anabel threw, and during the games, I was dared to make Elena fall for me and then dump her, and the dare ends by prom. I'm supposed to lead her on and then let her go on prom day."

"Ouuu," Josh cooed. "Damn, that's wicked bro. Wicked interesting, I mean! So, what's in it for you?"

"That booty!" KJ exclaimed.

"Anabel's?"

"Uh-huh, cause damn that ass fire, man! Plus I could even get two, Elena's and Anabel's. Strategic positioning is what it's all about really. You gotta be smart, take tips from me, cause I got the brains."

"Yessir," Josh chuckled.

Their words began to recede as if they were leaving the locker room.

"You're not supposed to tell anyone though, for real man," I heard KJ say before the door to the locker room closed with a bang.

Shocked to my very core by all I had just heard, I stood rooted to the spot, all the blood drained from my face.

I was right. I'd been right all along. KJ was nothing but a two-faced bastard and now I had proof of it. Now I did have proof of it. Now Elena could see all I'd been trying to tell her for ages now.

I swallowed, my throat feeling dry. Finally able to muscles, I took a shaky step forward, grabbed the door handle, and opened the door to the bathroom, then I stepped out slowly.

I let out a breath. The locker room was empty. Picking up my bookbag and slinging it onto my shoulders, I left the room, in search of Elena, my mind still reeling from all I'd just heard. Still unable to believe it. I mean, yeah guys were scum sometimes, but Kj's shuttines were on a whole different level because for Pete's sake he just arrived at Belford High like what a month ago, and now he thinks he's the freaking king of the jungle or something, but most especially because it involved my best friend. Because it involved Elena.

I walked down the hallway, whipping my head from side to side in search of her as I went, but she wasn't anywhere in sight. I asked a couple of people too but I was told that they had no idea where she was either.

Where could she be? Not with KJ, I hope. I was taking out my phone to call her when I remembered I hadn't searched the library. If she wasn't anywhere else then she most likely was there.

I did a full 360 turn back around and went back to the other side of the school where the library was located. Climbing the steps two at a time, I got to the landing and immediately crossed the hallway over to the library. Not wanting to get in, I looked through every window in search of her. Finally, I spotted her through the last window, sitting on a chair that faced the window directly.

"Psst!" I called, whilst trying to not be too loud. "Elena!"

At the sound of my call, she jerked her head and at once our eyes met. She pushed up her glasses, staring at me.

"I need you to come outside!" I whisper-yelled. "Now! It's very urgent!"

"Why?" She gestured.

"Just please, come outside," I told her.

Sighing, she put a pen between the page she was reading and stood up. Drawing her chair out, she left her table. A minute later, she was standing before me, a hand in her back pockets.

"You here to apologize?" She raised her eyebrows. "Cause I'm pretty sure I deserve one with the way you acted during lunch today."

"I'm sorry about that, Elena," I waved my hand. "Truly I am. I should've reacted better."

A beat, then she said. "You are forgiven. Are you ready to take me home now?"

"But I have something very important to tell you," I continued, excitedly, finally glad that I Had evidence. "And believe me, when I'm done you'll see that I was right all along."

She frowned mildly. "What happened?"

"So, minutes ago I was in the locker room taking a shower because practice just ended, right?"

"Uh-huh?" She said slowly. "Wait a minute, is this about KJ?"

"Exactly!" I said. "There I was in the locker room about to leave when KJ walks into the room with some guy named Josh or something."

"Gosh Matthew," Elena sighed. "Not this again, please?"

"Just listen to me, Elena, please." I clasped my hands together. "I was right there in the locker room when KJ came in with some guy and they were talking about random stuff before Josh, the guy, asked about you."

Her frown deepened, but she remained silent.

"And KJ asks him, What about you? And he says, do you like her, and KJ replies I don't know. And the guy goes on about you not being his level and shit like that and while he's talking, KJ stops him and tells him that he knows all that but he's only hanging with you because he was dared to do it by Anabel. He said by prom he's gonna dump you, Elena. And he accepted the dare in the hopes that in the end, he'll be able to bang both you and Anabel.

"I've been right all along, Elena. KJ is only out to hurt you and all I just said is evidence."

Moments after I was done, Elena remained silent, just staring at me.

"Do you believe me now?" I asked, holding her arms.

At once, she stepped back from my touch. "So, this is the extent you're willing to go huh, making up fictional stories just so you can create a rift between KJ and me again now that we've already made up."

I blinked. "What?"

"So this is it huh?" She stared at me. "Here's what's going to happen, don't ever talk to me again until you've worked your shit. Until you've fixed whatever problem you have with KJ then stay on your fucking own!"

She whipped around then and began walking away.

Whoa. What just happened?

"Elena!" I called my mind still unbaked to grasp the fact that she thought I was lying.

She didn't stop in her tracks.

"He just wants to fuck you, Elena!" I yelled.

That did the trick. At once, she stopped and spun around.

"You know what? Fuck you, Matthew.".

With that, she disappeared into the library.

I was devastated. Elena didn't believe me, and now she hated me too. For the first time in almost a year, tears welled up in my eyes.