Page 79 of A Vicious Rumor

She huffed and looked down. Her eyes fixated for a second too long on the bracelets around my wrist. Her expression softened before she shook her head and went back to her new bratty attitude.

"I want you to think about why I'm being like this, Tyson," she said. "I want you to think about what happened over the last few days and then ask yourself that question again. I think you might discover that you already have the answer."

"That's why I want to fucking talk to you," I said, totally exasperated.

"Yeah, well, you don't deserve my time." She tried to get up again, but I didn't let go of her wrist. I held her firmly down in her seat.

"Is there some reason the two of you haven't cleaned up your lab station yet?" the teacher asked us. I loosened my grip on Lily's wrist and she glared at me.

"We were just talking about our results," I lied.

The teacher scoffed. "Likely story. Look, I've got to head to a staff meeting. Can I trust you two to clean up your station and lock the door on your way to lunch?"

I nodded my head. "That'll be fine," I said immediately, not giving Lily the chance to say anything to the contrary.

The teacher looked satisfied with my answer. He made his way to the front of the room, and followed the last of the students out of the classroom. The door shut behind him and finally, we were alone.

Lily got up out of her seat in a huff and grabbed one of the beakers that we hadn't put away yet. She brought it over to the sink and started washing it out. I walked over to her and leaned against the counter. "If I talk, will you at least listen?" I asked her.

She scowled at me. "Maybe."

She grabbed a towel to start drying the beaker, and I sighed. "The hell is your deal?" I asked, letting my frustrations get the better of me. "This isn't like you at all! It's like I lost you somehow between the summer and now."

She turned on me, and I could see the hurt and anger in her eyes. "You DID lose me! But that was your choice! We did something together that I thought was special for the both of us! It was for me! And then you just dumped me. No explanation. Just in the meanest way possible!"

She made her way into the back store room as I sat there stunned. I'd never considered it from her perspective before. I mean, I knew what I'd done would hurt her, but I always thought it was for the best because of what I was involved in. But, she didn't understand that.

I walked into the store room and stood at the threshold. "I did it to protect you."

She put the beaker on the shelf and turned to face me. "Protect me from what, Tyson?"

I walked into the little space. She backed away from me, but I kept walking until I was on her. Her back pressed against the counter and I put one hand on either side of her. "From myself. From the world. I'd never be able to forgive myself if you got hurt because of me."

She scoffed, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "You're far too late for that. Because all you've done since this summer is hurt me."

I hung my head, because I couldn't stand to watch her cry. "Not like that, Lily." I took a deep breath. "I met some bad people this summer, and I did some bad things for money to help my dad's business. That morning after, when my dad came home? I thought it was them. I thought about what they might do to you if they knew you were with me." I looked back up and I hoped she could see how sincere I was. "That's why I pushed you away."

"You should have just told me! It wasn't fair of you to take that decision away from me!"

I nodded. "I know, but I knew you'd make the wrong decision. I knew you'd decide to stay with me. I couldn't let you do that. That's why I couldn't tell you."

"Then why are you telling me now?" Her voice was soft and lacked the bite it had grown over the past month.

"Because I saw that you were hurting, and I hated it. Because I wanted you to know that it wasn't your fault that all of this happened. Because I hated the way you looked at me with sadness in your eyes. And because I physically couldn't stop myself from telling you how I feel." I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. I felt like such an absolute bitch for crying like this, but at the same time, I knew that Lily was the one person in this world that wouldn't judge me for it.

"How do you feel, Tyson?" she asked me.

I swallowed hard. I knew the answer, but I couldn't bring myself to say it.

"Tell me how you feel," she said, her voice gaining an edge.

I wrapped my fingers around the back of her neck and looked into her clear blue eyes. I knew what she wanted of me. I knew she wanted me to admit that I loved her. I wanted to say it, too, more than I'd wanted to say anything else in the world.

I just didn't know how to say something like that out loud. So many people that I'd loved had walked out on me. I wasn't sure it was even fair to tell her, because I wasn't even sure I knew what it all meant.

I moved forward instead, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips.

Except, her response shocked me. She pulled back immediately and slapped me across the face. I stood there, stunned, my cheek stinging. She looked at me defiantly.

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