Something To Believe In

Part 64: Jenna's Point of View

Jui had barely left the room and I’d barely had time to even register what exactly had just happened when both my phone and Mason's vibrated loudly, indicating that we’d just been sent a new text message.

I frantically whipped my phone out of my pocket, unlocking it and staring at the screen fearfully, my hands trembling as I did so.

There, on the front of the phone, were words I had been hoping against hope not to see:

New video message from: Jui Talloway
No. No. No no no no no no no no no NO.

This couldn’t be happening.

The little encounter that had just occurred had been bad enough, and it had scared the living shiet out of me.

But this - receiving a video text from Jui - this was, if possible, even worse.

With my heart pounding even faster than it had mere seconds previously, I flicked open the message, waiting as the video loaded.

Next to me, I saw Mason do the same thing, staring down at his phone with a worried frown on his face as the video message he’d been sent (no doubt the same one) loaded.

After a few moments that seemed to drag by as if held down by weights, the video had finally finished loading.

Then, without a moment’s hesitation, it began to play.

There, in the center of the screen, the video shaking slightly due to the fact that it was recorded from a handheld device, was a visual of Mason and I kissing passionately.

The video began when I had been sitting on top of one of the desks, and proceeded to show everything from Mason picking me up off of the desk, setting me on the ground and pulling me close to him, both of us kissing each other’s necks, Mason's hand dropping from around my waist down to my donkey...

It showed the two of us practically swallowing each other’s tongues, the occasional smile creeping onto each of our faces.

Then, suddenly, the video cut off, leaving nothing but a frozen screen shot of the two of us. Mason still had his hand on my butt, his other hand grasping my waist. Both of my hands were clasped around his neck, and our lips were firmly glued together.

I felt tears well up in my eyes and my hand flew to my forehead, my jaw dropping open.

I could barely move as I noticed the message that had been sent along with the video:

Mason Parker and Jenna Bennett?! sneaking around?! totally just caught these two making out in the music department. talk about scandalous. guess they didn’t realize they weren’t alone.. 

I could feel my heart practically stop and my entire brain seemed to freeze.

How was this possible? How could anyone even think to stoop to the level that Jui had just stooped to?

She was a gossip girl. I knew that much and I’d always known that much. But I had no idea she’d even consider doing what she’d just done.
Someone please wake me up from this nightmare.

Please.

I turned to face Mason then, blinking once and feeling a single hot tear drip from my eyes, landing with a splash on my wrist.

He was staring at his phone in shock, his lips parted and his gaze unblinking.

Evidently, he’d just watched the video Jui had captured, too.

"Mason..." I began, speaking for the first time in what felt like centuries. My voice was quiet and wavering, shaking the merest bit as I stared at him in fear.

I felt as if I was about to have a panic attack.

I waited with bated breath for him to make some sort of response. I don’t even know why I’d spoken, but I felt as if we needed to talk.

We needed to.

We needed to try and figure out some way to deal with this situation we’d just unexpectedly been plunged into.

This mess that we’d just unexpectedly found ourselves in was bound to happen.

I waited and waited for what felt like years of painful silence, but Mason didn’t respond.

He didn’t even look at me.

He made no attempt to even acknowledge my presence or the fact that I’d just spoken to him.

Rather, he just stood there for a good chunk of time and stared in shock at the screen of his phone.

"Mason." I tried again, speaking louder and with a more firm tone.

He looked up at me then, his lips parted and a strange expression on his face.

He stared at me in shock for a long time, as if he, too, were questioning what the dell was even going on.

Then, suddenly, after ages and ages of long, tense silence, he averted his gaze from mine, staring down at the ground.

He shook his head the merest bit before suddenly, without a word, he turned and began to head for the door.

I felt my eyes widen and my eyebrows furrow in disbelief.

What the dell was he doing?

I immediately went after him, walking quickly through the classroom, weaving my way through the mismatched desks.

“Mason!" I called loudly, quickening my pace as I followed him down the deserted hallway. “Mason. What are you doing?”

He whipped around to face me then. “What the duck do you think I’m doing?” He yelled loudly, his voice thundering through the hallway.

I stopped short in the middle of the hall and just stood there for a moment, staring at him in slight disbelief.

I couldn’t believe he’d just yelled at me like that, and quite frankly, I couldn’t even think of a response to it.

“I’m trying to figure out how the duck we’re going to fix this!” Mason shouted, making me wince. “In case you didn’t notice, that girl-” He jabbed a finger over his shoulder towards a random stairwell behind him. “-sent that video to every person in this school that she knows! We are so ducked!”

I merely stood there and stared at him.There was a pause during which he stared back.

Then, finally, he exhaled, running a hand through his hair and breaking his gaze from mine. “Look,” He stated in a low voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. I’m just...freaking out over here.”

“And you think I’m not?” I asked calmly, staring at him with the merest incredulity.

He sighed, staring across the hallway at me blankly.

“I know this is bad.” I stated. “And...” I shook my head. “I don’t know what to do, either. But...I mean...there has to be some way to-”

“There’s no way to fix this.” He interrupted me calmly, shaking his head. “It’s obvious that the people in that video are us, and it’s obvious where we are.” He held his hands up. “It’s done.” He stated. “It’s done, Jenna. Everyone in the school is gonna find out about us. There’s nothing we can do. We’re ducked.”

I sighed, staring at him sadly. I then took a few steps forwards in the hallway, walking up to him. Calmly, I reached out and grabbed ahold of one of his hands, running my thumb gently along the side of it. I noticed him tense up the merest bit, but he quickly relaxed, staring down at me. “Look,” I said resignedly. “We’ll figure something out.”

He took a step closer to me and leaned over me, staring down at me with a solemn expression on his face. “I don’t know, Heaven." He murmured.

“Maybe...” I began tentatively, looking down at our hands and feeling a bracing sort of emotion come over me. “Maybe everyone won’t react as badly as we think they will.”

He gave a hollow sort of chuckle, grinning at me in a disbelieving sort of humor. “Doubt it. But...I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

I nodded, feeling just as negative as he undoubtedly was.

It was a long shot, that was for sure - the possibility of our school actually accepting this.

But it was worth a try.

And so, the two of us set off down the hallway together in silence, each of us lost in our own swirl of worries and nervous thoughts about the shiet that was inevitably about to go down.

 

Part 65: Jenna's Point of View

All around me, I could see herds of people frozen in the hallway, all staring at me in shock, phones in their hands. If I had felt sick before, it was nothing compared to how I felt now. There was no way this could be real. This had to be a nightmare from dell. This couldn’t be real. It just couldn’t. Unfortunately for me, I was soon proven wrong once more.

For at the moment, I heard the unmistakably ditchy voice of Aubree Woods ring out from down the hallway.

“What do you think you’re doing, making out with someone Jenna Bennett?!" She shrieked.

I turned slowly, shutting my locker door without even really noticing what I was doing, and stared off down the hallway.

Marching down it was Aubree looking extremely furious as she ranted to Mason, who was walking with her. Behind them were Christina, Elise, Riley, Kelsey, Rob, Becca, Leah, Chase, and Aiden. All Mason's friends. They all hated me because I was a "nerd." And because Carter was my brother.

Aiden and Becca looked confused more than anything, while Christina, Elise, Rob, Leah, Kelsey, Riley, and Chas looked angry. All of them were glaring at Mason as Aubree continued to ditch at him.

“I mean, of all people, her?!” Aubree exclaimed.

“Yeah, what the duck is up with that?” Chase grumbled irritably. “I thought you hated her just as much as we did."

“I do.” Mason replied.

Practically everyone in the group made noises of disbelief - snorting, scoffing, groaning. Mason merely looked irritated.

“You’re an idiot.” Aubree said point-blank, staring at Mason. There was a pause.

“I cannot believe you would do this to me. Do you know how humiliating this is?” Aubree cried, her voice cracking.

Mason crossed his arms irritably and set his jaw. “We are not going through this again, Aubree! You cheat on me just as much as I cheat on you!”

“Yeah, but it’s never with people like her!” Aubree shrieked. “At least the people I cheat on you with aren’t desperate, ugly wannabes!” Ouch. Thanks, Aubree. “I mean, this would be like me going behind your back with Owen Waterman!" She continued. "We don't associate with them!"

Double ouch.

Mason winced at that, evidently not liking the idea or sound of such a thing.

“It’s disgusting.” Aubree spat, crossing her arms across her chest and positively glaring at Mason. Mason didn’t say anything. He merely stood there and stared at her.

“The fact that you were able to get away with going behind all of our backs is pretty sick, and I gotta give you props on that, bro,” Chase said, clapping Mason on the back. “But with Bennett?” He wrinkled his nose up with disgust. “What the duck, man? Why couldn’t you have picked any other girl but her? That’s just...urgh.”

Mason instantly looked annoyed at that. “Seriously.” Aubree snapped. “We hate her. What the dell were you thinking?”

“Just shut up, Aubree!” Mason muttered, running a hand through his hair wearily. Clearly, he wasn’t in the mood to talk about it. But he, unlike me, was at least handling things much better. In fact, I was pretty amazed at how calmly he was acting.

Even his friends weren’t going quite as ballistic as I’d expected them to.

“No!” Aubree snapped, glaring at Mason. “No, I’m not gonna shut up! Not when I just found out you made out with Jenna Bennett in one of the music rooms a few minutes ago! And now everyone in the entire school saw it and is going to think I’m pathetic!”

“And that’s my fault?” Mason snapped.

“Yes! It is!” Aubree cried in response.

“Aubree, everyone knows you get around just as much as I do.” Mason stated exasperatedly.

“Not with losers like Bennett, though! You complain about her all the time, what the dell gave you the desire to kiss her?” Aubree shrieked.

Mason just shrugged, staring at Aubree with annoyance.

There was a prolonged period of silence during which the two of them just stood then and glared at one another.

And then, suddenly, Aubree seemed to come to a revelation and she gasped. “It’s because of her tutoring you, isn’t it?” She said accusingly.

Mason merely stared at her.

“You got assigned with that stuck-up little know-it-all! She pulled a move on you during one of your study sessions, didn’t she? She’s been trying to start something with you ever since she started tutoring you!"

Mason just shook his head, giving her an exasperated look.

“That’s totally what happened!” Aubree shrieked. “I knew there was something odd about her, and I knew that something weird was happening at those meetings! The message Jui sent with that video was right - you two have been meeting in secret, haven’t you?” Mason let out an irritated exhale, running a hand through his hair.

“That’s ducked up, man. What the duck was going through your head, why would you want to kiss her? She’s such a stuck-up ditch.” Chase stated.

“I kissed her. You all saw it. But it’s done now, okay? Just get over it.” Mason said. Wait, what? Done?