CARL'S POV.

Whoever invented the saying, revenge is a dish best served cold, is an absolute genius. There's no sweeter taste than that of revenge. Dad always says that one should forgive his enemies and that vengeance is the devil's work.

I couldn't disagree more.

I feel at peace after exacting my revenge on Gavin.

Today, I showed him his place. He thought that stealing my diary and blackmailing me into being his minion was going to break me. He thought I was weak and I would bawl my eyes out.

Well, he thought wrong.

I admit, it felt so good standing up to him. Watching him trapped like a little mouse with no way to attack. For a long time, Gavin has strived to make people's lives miserable. He's the biggest bully in River Bridge High.

What's worse is that he always gets away with it.

Most teachers are terrified of him. Only a few teachers can stand up to him, an example being Mr Modrich, the calculus teacher.

Gavin is a privileged piece of crap who thinks that because his parents are rich and influential, he can do whatever the hell he wants. Once, he bullied one of the students from my art and design class. Gavin destroyed his art project. Poor Niko had been working on the project for months. When Niko had tried confronting Gavin, the bloody fucker poured paint all over him.

No one was brave enough to defend the crying boy. Everyone was scared shitless, not daring to stand up to the bully. That's when my inner beast took over. Angrily, I slapped Gavin so hard across the face. Pretty sure an imprint of my palm remained on his cheek.

The slap was to put some sense in his thick head.

It's crystal that his parents didn't teach him manners when he was a kid. They let him get away with all the bad shit. It's no wonder he turned out to be a monster. There is no good left in him…no humanity whatsoever.

Then why does a small part of me…like him? Why the fuck do I have a crush on this beast? What was I thinking writing all those idiotic thoughts about him in my diary? Am I normal? I think something is seriously wrong with me. I hate the guy with every nerve of my being then why does a part of me feel attracted to him?

"Carl Mendez report to my office at once!" My mom's voice echoed in the intercoms, thus cutting off my chain of thoughts. She sounded really angry. It reminded me of the time she caught me using her makeup on my face. I recall her, yelling at me and forcing me to wash off the lipstick.

"Gavin Mileford, report to my office at once!" She announced once more. Why did she want both of us in her office? Wait, did Gavin tell her the truth about my sexuality? What if he retaliated after I'd blackmailed him? I really hope I'm wrong.

Taking calming breaths, I commenced heading towards her office. I didn't miss the scornful glares that people threw at me as I made my way to her office. Whispers floated around me, as I passed by.

Normally, I'm used to people acting indifferent towards me because I'm the principal's kid. But this was something else...

My feet hurried to my destination, in response to the rhythm of my plummeting heart. Questions raced through my head and unfortunately, no answers came to mind.

When I got to the office, I gently knocked on the wooden door.

"Come in." My mom's voice echoed on the other end.

Gavin was not in the office when I arrived. My mom was seated behind her desk, typing something on her phone.

"Have a seat." She declared, not looking up from the screen of her phone. She placed her phone on the desk after I had taken my seat.

"Do you know why you're here?" She shot the question at me. Her turquoise eyes pierced through mine.

"Umm– I don't know." I stated, cluelessly.

"Really? Haven't you watched the video that's going around the school? Everyone has seen it by now I'm sure." She revealed.

"What video? I don't know what you're talking about." I answered.

"Here. Watch it." She placed her phone In front of me. "See for yourself how much you've embarrassed not only me but your father and everyone in the church."

My heart nearly dropped to the floor at what I saw in the video. Gavin was kissing me in the video…naked. I was naked too and it looked like we were in the church bathroom. I was moaning in the video and so was Gavin. It looked and felt so real.

But none of it was.

"M–om..I don't know who did this. That's not me…none of that happened.." A stutter left my lips.

"So, who is that? Is it your doppelganger? Tell me!" She barked.

"I don't –"

"How old do you think I am? Do you think I am a 5 year old who you can lie to? After everything I did for your well being, you decided to go ahead and betray me like this? You decided to engage in disgusting acts of homosexuality! How will the church react when they find out about this? They will be disgusted by us…your father…he will have a heart attack when he sees this! You have single handedly ruined the reputation of this family!" She was yelling at the top of her voice, anger knitted in every syllable of her speech.

"Mom– I'm sorry. I swear that's not me.." I tried to defend.

"Stop lying to me Carl! I won't fall for your lies…not anymore." She banged her hand on the desk, causing a loud noise. Her eyes, which are always held with warmth, were clouded with hatred and anger.

"Yesterday at the church, you asked for permission to go to the bathroom. I should have known that this is what you were going to do. That explains why you took so long…you were with him in there, doing this despicable act!" Disgust danced in her voice.

"I can't look at you anymore. You disgust me. You're not my son. It's evident that demons have taken over your soul…made you do these things. My son would never kiss a boy. He would never let a boy touch him naked…"She spat bitterly.

Her words were like a sword, stabbing my heart over and over, causing it to bleed. Tears commenced streaming from my eyes, dampening my cheeks as mucus slithered from my nostrils. Quiet sobs tore through my chest as my body shook.

"Mom— I'm really sorry. I—" My voice was breaking.

"The only one you should be apologising to is God. You need to ask him for forgiveness for this horrible sin. "

"You're an embarrassment. How will your father and I face everyone now after everything you did? Do you know how much shame you have brought to this family, Carl?"

"Mom, that's not me in the video.." I tried to explain one last time.

"You're not only a homosexual but also a liar! How many more sins are you going to commit?" She continued passing judgement. Causing tears to continue cascading my cheeks.

"I can't even look at you without feeling sick!" She spat the words like bitter acid.

"Why?" A voice which I recognised as Gavin's spoke. I swiftly turned to look and my eyes landed on his form which was standing behind me. When did he get here? How long has he been standing there?

"Glad that you finally joined us, Gavin. " My mom declared, her anger multiplied.

"Yeah. Just in time to watch you talk trash about your own son. Mother of the fucking year!" He mockingly stated, pulled out a chair and plopped on it.

"Do not tell me how to handle my son! It's your fault that he's in this mess. My son was pure until you defiled him then filmed it. You raped my son!" She bitterly addressed him.

"I have heard all about your sexual adventures. You are rotten to the core and you decided to take advantage of my son's purity!" She added, causing Gavin to burst into laughter.

"Are you fucking high principal Lucia? Coz I think that something is seriously screwed in that head of yours." He shot back, not caring that he was addressing a superior. Typical Gavin Mileford.

"You will address me with respect, young man!" She fired.

"Or what? Gonna have me expelled? Let me remind you who runs this fucking school. With one phone call and you can kiss the sponsorship good bye. " He attacked.

"Wow. You defiled my son and now you're threatening me?"

"I did not defile anyone! Certainly not your son. That video is fake! Here, have a look of the real video!" He shoved his phone in her hand.

"What is this? Who are these?" Confusion crowded her visage.

"That's the original video. From porn hub. Someone used it to frame Carl and me. They had our faces photo shopped. I mean, that's not even how my butt looks." He explained.

"How is that possible?" She inquired in confusion.

"Technology makes everything possible these days."

"So…it means that…you and Carl didn't do..any of what was in the video?"

"No. We didn't. " He replied.

"Okay. Umm–then who is responsible for this?" Mom asked.

"Why don't you ask Natasha Yen? I hear she's good at making fake news and videos go viral." Gavin retorted then turned to look at me. A  sad smile graced his lips and for the first time, I saw something other than mischief in his eyes. I saw remorse.

"I'll get to the bottom of this. You can both leave." She dismissed.

"Wait, aren't you forgetting something?" Gavin proposed.

"What?"

"You haven't apologised to Carlito for lashing out at him. I mean, you branded him all kinds of names."

"You're right. Carl, I'm really sorry for everything that I said. I was not in my right state of mind. Forgive me son." Remorse was laced in her speech.

Was she really sorry? Or was she doing all of it because she felt obligated? What if Gavin hadn't revealed the truth on time? Would she have apologised? Does she even know the damage that her accusations have caused?

"It's okay mom. " I managed a whisper then exited the office. I needed to breathe. To cry it all out. What better place to hide and cry my eyes out than the art room.

"Hey, Carlito." Gavin called out. He was behind me.

"Not now, Gavin. I'm not in the mood for your games!" I stormed into the art room. I was closing the door when a hand halted the process. It was his hand.

"Stop following me Gavin!" I shouted while using all my might to try and close the door but he was too strong. So he effortlessly pushed the door and stepped in. "Haven't you ruined my life enough already? What more do you want? You wanted to see me broken and now you have! What more do you want from me Gavin?" Tears were bathing my cheeks as the words poured from my mouth.

"Congrats for succeeding in ruining my life! If it wasn't for you following me to the bathroom yesterday, none of this would have happened!" Angry sobs tore through my chest. Gavin just stood there, watching me.

"Why aren't you saying anything? You always have something to say! Do you know what would have happened had the truth about my sexuality been discovered? My mom would have disowned me! Did you see how disgusted of me she was just because of a fake video? " Energy was draining from me, my voice cracking and fresh tears bursting from my sore eyes.

"I was okay, hiding my sexuality. Nobody would have ever found out until you came along. You ruined everything! " I punched his hard chest and he didn't try to stop me.

"You should have never come into my life. I hate you so much. I hate the sight of you!" I continued yelling like a lunatic but Gavin didn't say anything.

"You and your perfect abs…and sexy butt..and gorgeous eyes…ruined everything. I should never have allowed myself to develop feelings for a monster like you. I am so stupid!" My whole body was trembling and my throat was constricting. Air was running out of my lungs causing a burning sensation in my chest. My vision was getting blurry and dizziness was taking over.

I was having a panic attack.

"Carlito…are you okay?" His voice resonated in the room.

"I–I–" I was losing breath. Could feel my air ways closing up. I stumbled back and before I could fall, strong arms protected me. "Panic—attack." I managed to slur.

"Okay. Listen to me. I'm gonna need you to repeat this after me….One, two, three, four, five."

"One–" I couldn't complete the numbers because of the intense burning in my chest.

"Shit! Okay, Carl I'm gonna need you to trust me. What I'm about to do is the only way out at the moment." He stated and I weakly managed to nod.

Suddenly, his lips landed on mine.