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"So… what were they about?" I asked, Brandon's brows furrowed, genuinely confused.
"The stares at school," I clarified.
We were already back home, curled up on the couch watching a movie.
"Stares?" Brandon repeated, eyes still glued to the TV.
"Yeah, stop playing dumb." He was clearly pretending he didn't know what I meant.
"Probably the Barbie situation," he said, shifting uncomfortably on the couch, eyes still fixed on the screen.
"Brandon!" I snapped, glaring at him.
"What!" He finally turned to look at me, only to quickly look away. "I don't know what you want me to say." His eyes went right back to the TV.
"The truth," I said, still staring at him. The more he acted like this, the more uneasy I felt. I wasn't someone who cared much about gossip, but something about this felt… wrong.
"I'm telling the truth," he muttered, biting his nails. "The Barbie situation is the only thing that would cause the stares." He was trying so hard to act normal, but his nervousness was obvious.
"Fine," I said. "I'll still find out the truth even if you don't tell me." I reached for my phone on the coffee table. "I'll just text someone from class. I'm sure they'll happily spill the rumors."
"Don't!" he yelped, snatching the phone from my hands. "I'll tell you."
"So… what are you waiting for?" I raised a brow. He was taking forever.
"It's… it's… because of the video," he finally said, eyes glued to the floor.
"Video?" I frowned. "What video?"
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." He was fidgeting with his hands, avoiding my eyes. My stomach tightened. What kind of video could make him this scared?
"Just tell me what's in the video," I said, my voice louder than I intended.
"It's you and Sam," he said, stealing a quick glance at me.
Me and Sam? We hadn't done anything in public. What video?
I gave him a look, silently pushing him to continue. My palms were already sweaty.
"It was taken on orientation day," he said.
I blinked. Nothing special happened between Sam and me that day. No way someone had recorded us kissing at my place. So what was this?
"It's really no big deal. People are just exaggerating," he added, which somehow only made my palms sweat more.
"Exaggerating what, Brandon?" I wiped my hands on my clothes. "Jesus."
"It was taken… when you were getting hair out of her face." He finally looked at me.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Thank God. He'd almost given me a heart attack over something so harmless. Why would that even matter?
"Do you have the video?" I asked, curiosity taking over.
"Yeah. I saved it before it got taken down," he said, pulling his phone from his pocket.
"Taken down?" I echoed. Who had the power—or the desperation—to erase a harmless video?
"Yep. Even the versions people saved disappeared from their phones or stopped playing." He shrugged. "No idea how. But mine stayed."
Weird. And suspicious.
"Here," he said, handing me the phone.
The video played exactly how I remembered that moment. My heartbeat sped up when I saw her lips—those soft, pink, full lips. God, I wished I could kiss them again.
Brandon snapped his fingers, snapping me out of the trance. I hadn't realized how close Sam and I were in that clip—our noses nearly touching, my hand on her cheek. It honestly looked like we were about to kiss.
"So…" I said, giving him back the phone.
"People started spreading rumors after it got out," he said. "Everybody was saying you two were dating… some even claimed they'd seen you making out."
My mind drifted to Sam. Was this why she'd pulled away and not the kiss? Was she hurt because of this? Had she been dealing with it alone?
I suddenly felt sick.
"I didn't want to stress you out, or give you another reason to skip school," Brandon said softly. "I'm sorry." He pouted, giving me that ridiculous puppy face.
"It's okay. I don't really care about the rumors," I said. "How has Sam been taking it?"
"She's been acting okay… but I don't think she's actually okay." His expression darkened. "I tried to get her to talk about it, but she kept saying she was fine."
He paused.
"She even asked me not to tell you if you hadn't already found out."
That stung a little.
"I'm gonna call her," I said, getting up. I went to my bedroom for privacy, scrolled through my contacts, and dialed her number.
Just as the call was about to end, I heard her voice.
"Hello."
God, I hadn't realized how much I missed that voice. My eyes closed on instinct as I took in a deep breath.
"How are you?" I asked, my voice breaking.
"I'm good. How are you?" She sounded fine. Too fine. Either she really was okay… or she'd gotten very good at pretending.
"I'm good too," I said quietly. "Can you come over?"
Silence.
"Umm…"
"If you're not comfortable coming here, we can meet somewhere else," I added, assuming it was because of what happened the last time she was hesitating over.
"It's not that I don't want to come over. I just… don't think I can make it," she said, her voice suddenly small.
"Okay?" I said, more question than statement. Something felt off. Way off.
"I'll let you know when I can. I have to go now," she said before hanging up.
My chest tightened. I lowered the phone slowly, staring at the screen.
She wasn't working anymore. She wasn't busy.
So what was going on?