Chapter 158

Tessa’s POV

I thought Ruby would have been waiting for me at our lockers, but she wasn’t.

It’s not like her to leave without me when we had plans. I shook my head and put my things in my locker. I sighed as I felt the ghost of Joseph’s touch still fresh on my skin. My cheeks grew warm as I remembered what unfolded only moments ago inside of his classroom.

I had just finished cleaning myself up in the bathroom.

This could have ended badly for both of us.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to brush the thought out of my mind. I grabbed my phone and frowned when I saw Ruby’s name appear.

“We need to talk. It’s an emergency. Meet me at the game!” She texted.

My frown deepened. Something must have been seriously wrong for her to go to the game by herself. My stomach clenched as I shoved my phone into my pocket and slammed my locker door shut. I didn’t waste any time getting to the football field.

It didn’t take long to get there; the field was behind the circle campus in its own section. It was a huge football stadium with security at the front entrance, frisking everybody like this was some kind of famous and well-known stadium and not a college stadium.

I was amazed by how many people were lined up and waiting for entrance. Outsiders had to pay the entry fee and wait in the long line; those who attended the school had a separate entrance and didn’t have to pay any fee. We only needed to present our student IDs.

There was a news crew as well that was setting up their equipment and already starting to broadcast live.

I was getting a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I wasn’t sure what it was about. But I had a feeling it had to do with whatever Ruby wanted to talk about. As I neared the student Entry, I heard a familiar voice from nearby, making me pause.

“Oh, my god. You actually showed up?”

I turned to see Liz standing in front of me with narrowed eyes. She wore her cheerleading outfit; hers seemed to be a lot smaller than the other cheerleading outfits. Her top was basically a bra, and her skirt hardly covered her thighs. Even Amanda had more of a uniform than her; although Amanda had a bunch of jewelry and accessories on hers like she was in middle school.

Liz was the captain of the team and Amanda was her second in command. However, they both basically ran the team together.

“Looks like it,” I replied. “Why are you out here? Shouldn’t you be with the other cheerleaders?”

“Just scouting the audience,” she shrugged. “Trying to keep out the trash, ya know?”

I rolled my eyes.

“Well, good luck with that,” I muttered, turning away.

“As the nastiest trash I’ve ever seen, you should leave,” Liz called after me.

I didn’t stop or turn back around. I just kept walking.

The security officer at the student entry stopped me before I could enter.

“I need to search you” he muttered, sounding uninterested.

“Okay,” I said in return.

He frisked me and then asked for my student ID, which I presented to him. Then, he stepped aside and allowed me entrance.

I ran into the stadium, which was essentially a giant outdoor field. The stadium bleachers were packed with students. I don’t even know where to start looking for Ruby. I shoved my way through the crowd of people, trying to find a glimpse of Ruby.

“Tessa!”

I finally heard my name being called in the distance. Ruby was running from the gym entrance and she looked panicked.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“There’s a huge problem,” she said, gasping for breath. “Amanda is up to something really shitty.”

“Slow down, what is it?” I asked, trying to steady her.

“I tried to steal her phone from her gym locker, but she must have it,” Ruby said frantically. “I don’t know what to do…”

“Ruby, stop,” I said, placing my hands on her shoulders. “What is going on? What’s wrong?”

She finally looked at me and I saw how terrified she truly was; it tore my heart.

“Tell me what happened in Joseph’s classroom,” she finally said in a low voice. “What kind of photo does Amanda have of you?”

I knew right away that my face was paling because Ruby’s face fell.

“Oh, God, Tessa… what did you do?” She asked in a hushed whisper.

“We were talking...” I told her, slowly and unsure of myself. I felt panic rising like bile in my throat.

“And?” She urged.

“And we kissed again…” I told her, not wanting to tell the truth out loud.

She narrowed her eyes at me; Ruby could always see through me.

“Is that all?” She asked, urging me to say more.

I sighed and shook my head, suddenly feeling incredibly dizzy and shameful.

“You had sex with him…”

It wasn’t a question, but I nodded anyway. She stepped away from me and ran her fingers through her hair as she began to pace back and forth.

“Okay…” she said slowly. “Okay, we can fix this. We have to get her phone. I already know it’s not in her locker.”

“How do you know she has a photo?” I asked, watching her as she continued to pace nervously.“I heard her talking to Liz a little while ago about how they both saw you in his classroom. They took a photo, and they are planning on exposing it to the news.”

I had to sit down. Thankfully, there was an empty chair nearby that I threw my body into. I just saw Liz; during that conversation, she had known about Joseph and me?

Oh, God.

I buried my face in my hands. I knew I was borderline panic attack.

“Are you sure?” I found myself asking, my tone barely audible.

“Of course, I’m sure,” she growled, narrowing her eyes at me. “I know what I heard, Tessa.”

I opened my mouth to say something in response, but Brian quickly interrupted us.

“Tessa!” He yelled, jogging over to us. I stood quickly, not wanting Brian to see me panicked and have him ask me questions. “I’m glad you came. I saved you and Ruby seats closer to the front.”

“Get lost, Brian. We can find our own seats,” Ruby hissed, surprising me.

I knew she couldn’t stand Brian and she really didn’t want to be here, but she’s never had outbursts like that before.

“Ruby,” I said, grabbing her arm. “Let’s just sit down. There doesn’t seem to be much seating left anyways.”

I mainly just needed to sit again before my legs stopped working.

Brian nodded.

“It’s filling up fast and I’d like you to have a good view of the game,” Brian said brightly. Then he glanced at Ruby. “I know you don’t like me, but I’d like to try and be friends. Or at least get a long for Tessa’s sake.”

“Fat chance,” she muttered, grabbing my arm. “Tessa, we need to talk—”

“I have to go do some more warmups. But sit in your seats… they are in row 2. The only two empty seats available.”

He turned to jog away so I called to him, “Good luck out there, Brian.”

He turned back and gave me a cocky smile.

“It’s not about luck,” he said, winking at me. “It’s all about talent. Which I got plenty of.”

Then, he turned toward the field and jogged away.

Ruby was still growling in a low tone. It was clear from her face that he disgusted her in more ways than I could ever comprehend.

I grabbed Ruby’s arm and together we went toward the front of the bleachers and into the second row. Just as Brian had stated, there were a couple of empty seats.

“We have to find her phone,” Ruby whispered as we sat down.

“And we will,” I said in return. “But we have to figure out where she’s keeping it, first.”

Ruby gazed down into the field where we saw the football players meeting and the cheerleaders beginning their first cheer of the night. Amanda stood tall and proud beside Liz who gave the cameras a kiss and a wave.

I rolled my eyes.

The news crew were eating it up though, which made things worse.

The cheerleaders had the entire crowd riled up. Everybody was cheering along with them and screaming at the top of their lungs. My entire brain was rattling by the end of the cheer. Despite hating Amanda, Liz, and the rest of the cheerleaders. I couldn’t help but be impressed by their moves.

They were really good at what they did.

They were flexible and danced in perfect rhythm. At one point Liz did a triple flip and landed on top of the pyramid. Amanda was the second highest on the pyramid and winked at the camera before jumping down.

I found myself fascinated, and almost wishing I could be as flexible and move as limbal as them. But I wasn’t a cheerleader; I wasn’t even a dancer. I was a writer. I could write about this kind of thing, but I don’t think it would fit properly in a fantasy story.

But I could fit something in.

I made a mental note to play around with different scenarios.

“There!” Ruby said, bringing my attention back to her. I almost forgot we had an important mission.

I glanced at her, frowning.

“What?” I asked, looking back at the field with a questionable gaze.

“On the bench near the cheerleaders,” she said pointing. “Their bags and stuff are there. I recognize that bag. It’s Amanda’s.”

I followed her finger and sure enough, I saw a bench with a bunch of bags and belongings scattered across it. Right in the center, I recognized the jean-style backpack with colorful pins all over it. Again, like she was in middle school.

It was Amanda’s bag.

Which meant… I began in my head but then finished out loud. “We might have just found Amanda’s phone.”