Page 17 of Withered

They both turn to look at me. That’s when I see her face, blood-red eyes, and makeup all ruined.

“What happened to you?” I ask her worriedly and turn to Tyler, “What are you doing here?”

I point my finger at him and ask, “Did he do something?”

“What!” They shout at the same time.Maybe not.

“No, he did not. He is just helping me,” she tells me and softly smiles at Tyler.

“It is because of them,” Tyler adds, pointing his thumb at something behind him. I look in that direction and seethem. I should have guessed Olivia and Aaron.

The bell rings again. “Get to your class and try not to think about it. I’ll see you at lunch.”

I manage to get to the class right before Mrs. Dorris enters and starts circulating some sheets. “This is a practice test, so I know who opened their books yesterday.”

Everybody starts groaning. Not me, though. We start solving the paper, and Jake arrives five minutes later.

“Didn’t I tell you to be on time?” Mrs. Dorris asks Jake, making him halt in the middle of the class. The jerk dares to smile.

When he doesn’t speak, she shakes her head and hands him the sheet, saying, “Take this and start solving.”

I narrow my eyes at Jake as he goes past me.Pretty people sure have privileges.

Jake gets up from his seat ten minutes before the class finishes, submits his work, and leaves. We submit our papers and leave for lunch just as the bell rings.

I make a quick stop at my locker to put my things in there. I was about to enter the cafeteria when something on the far right caught my eye. I move a little, and my eyes widen at what I’m seeing. I blink a couple of times and even pinch myself, but it is still there.

“What the hell!” I shout.

Myvoiceseemstohave startled Kristy, who was hugging Tyler a few seconds ago. Her face looks pale; the usual warmth and confidence are missing; it’s more like they’re gone.

“Rose, it’s not what it looks like. I swear.” Kristy starts explaining.

Tyler moves his hand through his hair and scratches the back of his neck, glancing between the both of us. He clears his throat. “I’ll leave you both to talk.”

Kristy nods her head and smiles weakly at him before he walks out. She was about to say something when I raise my hand and stop her. She frowns at first, then folds her lips as if stopping herself from crying again.

“Kristy, let’s go in first. You can tell me whatever it is while we eat.” I speak. The first two lectures with Jake have drained me—not that he did anything, but I need food before I process something else.

She shakes her head slightly and sighs, “I don’t want to go in there. Let’s sit outside today.”

“Bleachers or the bench under the tree?” I know she doesn’t want to face anyone right now, and I’m not going to force her.

“Bench under the tree.” She says this, giving me a sad smile as we walk to the bench that holds some crazy memories of us. It is located behind the library.

Tyler and Jake are leaning against the far end of the wall. They aren’t far away and could be easily recognized. Jake is on the phone, his left leg propped up against the wall, and the way he is standing, he could put a model to shame.He isn’t even trying.The white shirt and black jeans were topped with a black leather jacket.I have a huge thing for leather jackets.

Jake has not noticed us yet, but Tyler, who was busy typing on his phone, is now looking at us more like Kristy. He was keeping his cool before, but now his face is displaying an unknown emotion.

I sit on the bench and notice Kristy’s gaze is focused on him.

“Kristy, are you coming or not?” I ask her loud enough so she can hear me.

“Yeah,” She flops down beside me and goes on to tell me how Olivia and Aaron were in the same class as her. How Olivia pulled a stunt in the class. As for Tyler, he was only helping her.

She may or may not have moved on from her split, but I’ve never seen her this sad. Olivia must have done something bad.

I’ve got English with Tyler, and this is my chance to talk to him. I sit at the very back so that Professor Caleb won’t see me talking. The class starts, but Tyler is nowhere to be seen. I was about to give up hope when suddenly Tyler strolls in. Professor Caleb didn’t seem to mind, and he was left with a warning.

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