Pinhole
Copyright© 2022 by Fanlon
Chapter 25
I thought Laura was going to be mad at me because of the rumor, but to my surprise, she was furious at whoever started the rumor. Needless to say, she was really mad at the sluts. Who else would show off their pictures I had taken? It was obvious for her at least. For me, thinking about it, it couldn’t have been Jo, Dana, or Katie. Jo’s was strictly for her boyfriend, and Dana wouldn’t have shown hers to anyone who could have got either of us in trouble. Katie showed hers off, but that was to her parents. That was different and still really strange. It is just as weird now as it was then when I found out her parents had, for reasons I still don’t understand completely, approved of me taking her pictures.
That only left the varsity cheerleaders, the sluts. I am not one to usually judge a book by its cover, but this seemed like a no brainer. Laura readily agreed with me, which only made me that much more confident. Dana, however, wasn’t so sure. She had been there when I took the pictures.
“I don’t think it’s the first one you took of them in the hot tub,” Dana told Laura and me, keeping her voice low so only Laura and I could hear her. “If it’s because of the other picture...”
There was no way someone saw the other picture. First off, whoever saw it would have to know who was in it. From the actual image, there was no way of knowing who was in the scene. Even if someone saw them, they wouldn’t be able to start a rumor about who was in it, or who took it ... me!
“You two should hurry up and get to your first class,” Dana told me and Laura. We were both still dealing with the shock of possible rumors going through the school about me. “Mrs. Peterson isn’t going to be happy if you’re late, Josh. As soon as I figure out what’s going on, I will come and find you.”
Laura looked up at me with a sad look in her eyes. It would have been telling if I had been paying attention, but my mind was a long way away from what looks my girlfriend was or wasn’t giving to me. Laura said her goodbyes, giving me a quick kiss, but nothing more than a peck and told me she would meet me for lunch, and I just nodded. While I watched Laura blend into the hubbub of students heading towards their classes or lockers, it started to hit me what was going on and what that could and potentially would mean for me.
I kept my head down and raced to Mrs. Peterson’s classroom. Every time I passed someone or a group of people in the hall, it felt like I could feel their eyes on me, burning a hole into me. It made me move all that much faster. I made it to Mrs. Peterson’s social studies class a whole lot earlier than usual and that caught Mrs. Peterson completely off guard.
I was the only one in the classroom, besides her. My face must have given away my worry because she was on me the moment I sat down at my desk.
“Josh, what’s going on?” Mrs. Peterson asked, her voice kind and concerned.
I tried to steel my nerves, but I just couldn’t manage it. I was one wrong word or thought from a full-on panic attack. My mind was racing, and I was trying to process everything Dana had told me minutes earlier. It was a lot of information to take in such a short time. Of course, my thoughts went right to the worst-case scenarios for myself.
“Nothing, I umm...” Think of something, hurry! “I didn’t get much sleep last night. I might be coming down with something.”
“Are you sure that’s what’s going on?” I nodded my response and rubbed at my throat, hoping that it would be enough to pacify her.
It must have been because she didn’t question me again. She did look at me thoughtfully for a while, but when I didn’t say any more, she went back to what she was doing. When the rest of the class started showing up, I thought I could feel every pair of eyes on me. Surprisingly, when I looked around there was only one girl looking at me. When our eyes met, she didn’t make a face or anything like that. She just looked at me and then turned back to the front of the class where Mrs. Peterson was about to start today’s lessons.
The rest of the morning, I was solely focused on everyone and everything around me, not so much what was being taught in my classes. Not that I didn’t pay attention to my teachers, I did, sort of, but if they didn’t look at me strangely when I showed up, they were almost forgotten. It wasn’t until lunch when the proverbial shit hit the fan.
I was almost to Mr. Watts’ classroom, well, halfway when it happened. One second, I was walking with the flow of students heading for lunch; the next, I was standing in the middle of an abandoned highway, a lone island in an unfathomably large ocean. Walking towards me, were the three sluts. That wasn’t unusual in itself. What was, however, was the air around them. The crowds always parted for them, but they did it this time for a different reason than usual. All three of them walked, more like stomping in such a way that screamed any wrong move and someone was about to get the full wrath of their ire.
I thought they would be all proud smiles and grandeur, like they usually portrayed. These three girls were part of the upper crust, or so they liked to claim. Now, however, they looked like they were on the march to war and I, the lonely island in the ocean that was the high school’s hallway, was their destination. I was caught up in the storm, awed by its incredible power.
I watched those three horribly gorgeous faces as they stalked towards me. In that instant, I knew it wasn’t them. I was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that it wasn’t those three who had started the rumor. They had the same looks on their faces that Laura had this morning: a look that screamed they were going to kill whoever was a part of the rumor and by the look of it, they were starting with me.
I was just about to start pleading my innocence when Jennifer stopped it with a look. Her eyes blazed with fury, but underneath, there was a pain and shame that I had never seen before. Not from her or anyone else for that matter.
“We can talk,” Jennifer said quietly, her teeth clenched biting off each word, “in the photography classroom, privately. Let’s go!”
That was it, all that needed to be said, and I was suddenly swept up and carried away in the tide that was the sluts.
When we walked into Mr. Watts’ classroom, I was surprised to see Dana, Laura, and Adam already there. When Jennifer, Claire, and Stephanie noticed Dana and Laura the tension in the room doubled and then doubled again.
“Get out!” Jennifer demanded. “We need to talk to this asshole, alone!”
“What did you just call him?” Laura snapped right back, taking a step towards the three girls still standing behind me. “You better shut your big mouth before I make you. This is all your fault!”
I quickly scanned everyone’s faces. All five girls looked like they were ready to tear each other’s hair out. Adam, however, was smirking as he leaned back in his desk.
“Are you saying you think this is our fault!” Stephanie asked, her face the deepest shade of red I have ever seen on someone.
“What the hell are you doing in here again!” Claire yelled at Adam. That caught everyone’s attention and all eyes in the room focused on Adam. “Get the hell out of here, dork!”
Adam didn’t move right away. He looked like he was willing to challenge his right to be there, going so far as to adjust his position, leaning back, and putting his feet up, legs crossed on top of the desk in front of him. It wasn’t until all five girls started to move towards him that Adam scurried up and got to his feet, leaving the room hastily. It was strange to see the two sides suddenly work together to force Adam out of the room when only moments before they were ready to kill each other.
There was a calm as the two sides realized what they had just done and turned again to face their opponents. The hoity, holier than thou attitude from the sluts was ever present, but it was countered fully by the sheer ferocity radiating off Dana and Laura. Meanwhile, I was caught right in the middle of it all. I was a bug trapped between a raised hard-soled boot and the cement sidewalk. It was only a matter of time before I was crushed. It would only take a word, and the shoe would drop. Laura, my beautiful girlfriend, was the one to speak it ... and a couple more just to be sure.
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