Chapter 20

“I don’t think we’re even going to rank.” Rob complained for what felt like the millionth time. Hayden shook her head, finishing the bite of her sandwich.

“I don’t care about the sales.” She groaned. She had already told him, as many times as he complained, that she didn’t care. She just wanted the excuse to spend time with him and participate in a school event. This was counting towards the physical education portion of the grade. They were being credited for the amount of time they walked, based on the amount of sales they made. The teacher had a giant map of the city printed and was calculating the distance with a ruler. It was eccentric, but Hayden wasn’t going to complain about the chance to boost that particular class. She didn’t know any other way to improve her physical education grade.

“I do.” Rob corrected. The bench jerked as someone sat down beside Hayden. She looked over to see Angela, a friend of Jessica’s. Her friend Crystal sat down beside Rob, dropping her hand on his shoulder. She put her other hand over her chest.

“Oh no, are you not getting the numbers you want?” She teased. Hayden rolled her eyes, turning away from Angela and focusing on Crystal.

“That’s not what it’s about. It’s for charity.” Hayden reminded her. Crystal ignored Hayden.

“Jessica was the best sales woman. You should have kept her as your partner.” She teased.

“It’s true. Jessica could out-sell any of us.” Angela agreed. Hayden shook her head.

“Because she bullied people into doing what she told them to.” She groaned. Crystal looked over at Hayden and her jaw dropped open.

“Excuse me?” She squeaked. Hayden shrugged.

“She’s poisonous, and you refuse to see that. We don’t need her toxicity around anymore, so show yourself out.” Hayden commanded. Crystal smirked as she looked over at Angela. She smirked too.

“We? You’re really committing to this “we’re a couple” thing, aren’t you? Good for you. Even though no one believes you.” Angela cooed. Hayden raised her eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” She looked over at Rob. He shrugged.

“Oh, nothing, it’s just, well,” Angela looked over at Rob.

“We hear you’re not into women.” Crystal teased, gently pushing Rob’s shoulder. His eyes went wide.

“Where did you hear that?” Hayden barked, shooting a death glare at Crystal. She shrugged, backing away from Rob. She stood up and started to walk away.

“People talk.” Angela answered, following behind Crystal. Hayden looked over at Rob. She could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong.

“I didn’t say anything.” Hayden assured under her breath. Rob nodded. He stood up from the table without saying a word. He left the cafeteria. Hayden wanted to follow, but she was distracted as Brent came into the cafeteria holding Elizabeth’s hand. Elizabeth didn’t even go to their school, so there was no reason she should be around. Apparently, she wanted to visit her boyfriend at lunch. Hayden had never heard them refer to each other that way. She didn’t think there had even been conversations between the two of them. They lived in totally different worlds, despite living down the street from one another. Hayden couldn’t believe her eyes. She gathered up her stuff and cautiously approached the couple. Brent was the first to acknowledge her because Liz was already talking to someone else she knew in the school. Hayden motioned towards Elizabeth.

“What’s going on?” She managed to stutter out. Elizabeth looked over.

“Hey Hay.” She greeted cheerily. Hayden faked a smile, but her confusion was written on her face.

“My brother is on the same hockey team. We got to talking at a game.” Elizabeth groaned, gently slapping Hayden’s shoulder. Hayden nodded.

“How long has this been going on?” She stumbled. Elizabeth tapped her lip.

“2 wonderful weeks.” She gloated. Hayden nodded. They had been together for two weeks and somehow, Hayden hadn’t noticed. Maybe she was too focused on Rob. She was starting to miss things that were happening around her. She needed to get him out of her head for a bit.

Hayden didn’t see Rob for the rest of the day. She assumed he went home at lunch. Anne would understand. Anne would be angry at Hayden, but she would understand Rob wanting to go home. Hayden didn’t know how Crystal and Angela found out. She hadn’t told anyone. She hadn’t even written in down in her journal because she was so afraid someone else might find it. She would never want to compromise such a guarded secret. She knew Rob needed to think it over. While he did, she was determined to figure out where the rumor had started. She figured it was Jessica, just spreading a rumor at random. She had already done it. There was nothing to stop her from doing it again. But just to make sure, Hayden went to visit Josh. He was apprehensive about letting her in. He always was because she was much younger than him. He never wanted the two of them to be alone together. He had made that clear. But the way Hayden saw it, there were circumstances that made his request invalid. This was something that had to be spoken of in private.

“Now you know everything.” Josh exhaled. Hayden nodded.

“Rob told me some of it, just not the details.” She sighed. Josh nodded.

“It’s really no one’s business, but I know you’re important to him.” He assured. Hayden sighed.

“Speaking of that…” She trailed off. Josh raised his eyebrow.

“What’s up?” He asked. He crossed his arms and kicked one of his feet up on another chair.

“Have you ever told anyone?” She asked bluntly. Josh’s eyes went wide as he shook his head.

“Are you kidding? I could go to jail.” He gasped. Hayden was quiet for a minute.

“Oh.” She mumbled. Josh kept shaking his head.

“I only said something to you because he said something to me. I’d never tell a soul.” He insisted.

“Someone is spreading the rumor that Rob is gay around school.” Hayden sighed. Josh nodded.

“I bet it’s that ex of his. She’s still pissed off about the two of you. Or now she’s pissed off that you guys got her kicked out of school.” He ranted. Hayden shook her head.

“I did not get her kicked out of school. Her behavior did.” She corrected. Josh nodded.

“Does Rob think it was you?” He asked after a minute. Hayden nodded slowly.

“I would never.” She added. Josh nodded.

“I know you wouldn’t. He should know better too. Maybe I should talk to him.” Josh lectured.

“No. It’s fine. I don’t want him to know that I ran to you.” Hayden sighed. Josh slowly nodded.

“Give him a few days. If he doesn’t pull his head outta his ass, I’ll talk to him.” He offered. Hayden nodded. She left Josh to the rest of his evening. She went home and threw herself down on her bed. She couldn’t believe that Rob didn’t trust her. She thought she had been building something with him. They had been doing good. He was letting her get closer. Now, she was worried the walls were going to go right back up. Even if he did realize she had nothing to do with the rumor, he wasn’t going to trust her.

Rob didn’t go to school the rest of the week. He was prone to skipping weeks. It was nothing new. Hayden expected he would have called her or stopped by at least once. He should have at least acknowledged her in some way. The longer she went without hearing from him, the more worried she was starting to get. She was convinced that he wasn’t going to forgive her this time.

On Saturday morning, Hayden heard a knock on the door. She practically tripped over her own feet as she rushed upstairs, ripping the door open. She was disappointed to be greeted by Brent instead of Rob. She put on her best fake smile.

“Your girlfriend lives next door.” She joked. Brent nodded.

“I want to talk to you.” He corrected. Hayden nodded and motioned for him to come inside. He did, leaving his boots at the front door as he followed her to her domain in the basement. At first, she sat down on the couch. Brent bit the side of his lip.

“Can we talk somewhere, more private?” He asked softly. Hayden raised her eyebrow.

“Um, I guess.” She mumbled, pushing off the couch. Brent threw his coat on the couch and followed Hayden into her bedroom. She immediately felt uncomfortable.

“What’s up?” She tried to ask casually. Brent took a deep breath.

“I know you’ve had sex with my brother.” He started. Hayden’s eyes went wide.

“Um, no, I mean, not exactly.” She stuttered. Brent shook his head.

“I don’t care. I’m not going to tell anyone. But, you’re the only person I know with experience.” He hinted. Hayden raised her eyebrow as she approached the bed. She sat down beside him.

“Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”

“Can I kiss you?” He confirmed. Hayden’s jaw dropped dramatically.

“You have a girlfriend. I’m dating your brother!” She gasped. Brent laughed.

“I want to kiss Liz, but, I don’t want to look like an idiot.” He hinted. Hayden sighed.

“You swear it’s nothing else?” She asked. Brent raised his eyebrow.

“What else would it be?” He questioned. Hayden shrugged.

“It’s hard to deny she looks a lot like me. It might lead a normal person to think you have a crush. I’m not saying I think that.” She started to ramble. Brent paused, then shook his head.

“I don’t see it.” He dismissed. Hayden nodded.

“Okay. But you can never tell anyone.” She agreed. Brent nodded. Hayden lightly licked her bottom lip before pressing her lips against his. She softly pushed her tongue into his mouth and wrapped it around his. He mirrored her action. After a few seconds, Hayden pulled back. Her eyes went wide as she realized Rob was standing in her doorway. She couldn’t even stumble out a word before he turned and left. Brent groaned as Hayden wiped her mouth off.

“I’ll talk to him. I’m sorry.” He assured. Hayden didn’t even know what to say. She stayed on her bed, listening as Brent grabbed his coat and chased after his brother. She couldn’t believe the luck she had. Rob was finally going to talk to her after a long week of silence, only to see her kissing his brother. It didn’t matter what Brent tried to tell him. He wouldn’t believe a word. He knew what he saw. Hayden knew it was over the minute she kissed Brent. She didn’t even know why she agreed. Part of her thought it was to compare the two, but she tried to push that out of her mind. She didn’t have a crush on Brent. She just imagined him when Rob wasn’t available, which was starting to be all the time. She wondered if maybe she had gone for the wrong brother. She didn’t think she had any feelings for Brent, but she definitely had an attraction. When she kissed him, she felt something stirring inside of her. It was exciting and different and a bit dangerous. Hayden knew there was no reasoning with Rob because he was right in his assumption. Hayden had cheated on him by kissing his brother. She knew it was wrong and she did it anyway. If Rob never wanted to speak to her, she was going to have to accept that.

Of course, a bigger part of her wanted to believe that they were stronger than that. That Rob wouldn’t jump to the worst conclusions and maybe he’d think about what he saw. Maybe he’d listen to Brent’s reasoning, even if it all felt like excuses. Maybe Hayden was thinking wishfully. The thought of losing Rob for good was killing her. She knew it was a bad idea to date. She knew it would ruin the friendship if it fell apart…