Tiffany’s POV
One of the perks of being in the student body committee was the parking spot privileges. Other students had to come early or miss a chance to park near to the school, but Tiffany always had a spot waiting for her, and right now she leisurely pulled into it, very grateful for it since she was a little late.
A disadvantage, however, of being in the same committee was that a huge percentage of the student body was bound to know who you were. Therefore, if, perhaps, a gossip blog posted an update involving you, a greatly sought-after billionaire, and an apparently romantic evening, almost everybody would know who exactly they were talking about, and be able to recognize you by sight.
Eyes visibly trailed Tiffany’s every step from the moment she alighted from her car to the second she stepped into the school’s wide double front doors, trying even less to hide the states than they were yesterday. She kept her eyes low, trying not to make eye contact with anyone, but occasionally scanning the crowd for Freya and Timothy.
A pair of hot pink shoes suddenly walked into her line of sight, firmly panting themselves in her path.
Tiffany followed the shoes, up long, straight legs, a uniform skirt cut high above the knee, an untucked shirt, and finally to the sneering face of Mary Guevara, the captain of the Shine High School cheerleading squad.
Mary’s hair was long, straight, and blonde, though she wasn’t a natural blonde. She was very pretty and very popular, and was often to be seen with a small crowd of both guys and girls alike following her around like chicks to a mother hen. Even now, three of her minions were stood behind her, their arms folded and a hip cocked in a perfect imitation of Mary’s pose. They loved to do everything she did, and religiously avoided anything she didn’t. In Tiffany’s opinion, it was revolting.
When she had first met Mary at orientation, she had liked her for all of two seconds before she realized how shallow and immature the other girl was. The then-brunette had approached Tiffany first, shot Timothy a scathing look, and then told Tiffany that “people of the same kind should stick together,” and since then, well, Tiffany tried her hardest to not dislike anyone, but Mary kept testing her resolve.
“So?” Mary asked, sickly-sweet and as fake as her lashes, “Is it true?”
People will ask you questions, Shawn had said, And you’re not going to answer any of them.
Tiffany decided to feign ignorance. “Is what true?” she asked.
Mary laughed, a high-pitched, synthetic sound that grated on the ears. Her cronies immediately began to laugh as well, and Tiffany wondered what they could possibly be finding funny.
“Oh, come on, Tiffieeee,” Mary said, playfully touching Tiffany on the arm, “We’re friends aren’t we? Friends tell each other things. So tell me, are you really seeing Shawn Gold?”
Tiffany looked around. Almost all eyes in the hallway were on them, and people were slowing down their steps, hoping to catch some of the conversation. Tiffany wondered how best to tackle the situation, but before she could make up her mind, her saviour arrived in the form of a six foot, three-inches tall dark-skinned boy named Timothy.
“What’s good?” he said, flashing everyone a bright, straight-teethed smile as he swung a friendly arm over Tiffany’s shoulders. He towered over all four girls effortlessly.
Mary’s expression immediately soured, and she huffed, turning on her heels without even returning the greeting (if you could call it that), and her three cronies went after her, all their heels clicking as they went.
Immediately the last flick of hair had disappeared around a corner, Timothy’s expression sombered. “Hey,” he said softly, “You okay?”
Tiffany smiled brightly at him. “Yeah, thanks.”
“No problem,” he said, his own smile returning. Timothy had such lovely teeth. “So… are you gonna…”
Tiffany sighed. She knew this was coming, but she had agreed not to tell anyone anything, and she knew that ‘no one’ meant her best friends included.
“Lunch,” she said instead, “I’ll tell you guys at lunch. Have you seen Freya?”
Timothy shook his head. “No, she’s probably not at school yet.”
Tiffany frowned. That didn’t seem likely. Freya was always early. But she supposed there was a first time for everything.
The bell rang, and Tiffany and Shawn headed to their first class of the day, First-period English.
Tiffany couldn’t focus throughout that class, or the one after that, or even the one after that. Not just because the way everyone kept staring at her and the way she kept catching her name in whispered conversation made her feel like a circus freak, but also because she kept debating about whether she should tell her friends or not, and the consequences of whatever she chose.
On the one hand, what she had with Shawn was a business agreement, and in those things your word had to be your word and nothing else. If she had said she wouldn’t tell, then the right thing to do was not tell. Shawn wouldn’t care that they were her best friends, and would probably see her as lacking integrity if he ever found out.
But on the other hand, Timothy and Freya were her best friends. They had always confided in her, and she in them. In the past when things had been rough, they had always been there for her, and she had tried her best to be there for each of them in turn. So why should this be any different?
She was still thinking this when the lunch bell rang, and the chemistry teacher dismissed the class. She sighed as she looked down at her blank notes, not having copied down anything at all. Right now, there were other things on her mind. It was time to face the music.
She and Timothy had parted ways after the second period, having differing schedules, and so there was no one to save her when she suddenly found herself cornered by her old choral club mates.
Tiffany had always loved to sing, and she could do it well. So it made every sense that when she entered high school, she would continue to sing, and would join a club dedicated to that very activity. She had joined Shine Highschool Choral Club in her first year, and had stayed on for five years, three of which she was the lead chorister, a much-coveted position within the club and the school at large.
Unfortunately, though, towards the end of her fifth year at school, the onset of the downfall of Dionysus Enterprises began, and she soon found that she couldn’t keep up emotionally with so many activities, and had left the club. She hadn’t told any of the club members exactly why she had quit, and she ignored every attempt they made to reach out. Before long, they had learned to ignore her as well, and that was how things had been. Until now, that is.
Lily, Clorette, Jacob and Aaliyah, three members of her former club had her currently accosted in the hallway, neutral expressions on their faces. Lily was the new lead chorister, and she was the first to speak.
“Hey, Tiffany,” she said, not bothering with a fake smile or anything and going straight to the point. “We just want to know if the rumors are true. Are you going out with Shawn Gold?”
Tiffany sighed. She was already done with and over this. “Why do you want to know?”
Lily shrugged noncommittally. “You know me, I’m just committed to the gossip. So, is it?”
“You can tell us,” Clorette said sweetly.
Tiffany folded her arms and shrugged as well. She needed to get to lunch, and she had no intentions of answering any questions like that.
“I don’t know,” Tiffany said. “Think what you will. Excuse me, I need to go eat.”
With that, she made to walk past, but before she could go far, Lily grabbed her hand and spoke.
“Tiffany, I don’t know what’s going on with you,” she said, and her voice had taken up a slightly softer tone than before. “But I want you to know that you still have friends at the choral club.”
“Always,” Aaliyah said firmly.
“Or, you know, whatever,” said Jacob, feigning nonchalance even though the concern in his eyes were real.
Tiffany nodded, touched but not willing to continue the conversation, and headed out to lunch.