The Best Kind of Betrayal

Chapter 4

The door of the clubroom looks even less welcoming than it did the last time. It tells me to run, run far far away. And never come back. Here are the things making it impossible though: My four-inch heels, which definitely aren't made for running. Or speed walking. Or any proper walking, for that matter. Also, Kaia's tight grip on my arm. She took me to an extra bathroom trip after classes and supervised me while I applied another layer of mascara and bronzer. Then, she brushed my hair, until it was all smooth and silky.

"There's no excuse," she told me after she was done, and I didn't dare to object.

Right now, I'd love to, though. My knees feel incredibly wobbly, and my hands are shaking, the same feeling I get from any kind of public speaking, and that's a bad sign.

"Confidence and strength," Kaia whispers next to me, as if she's some sort of mental trainer, "You're cool and relaxed. You don't care about the beak up, instead you're going to smile and look all pretty and show Logan exactly what he's missing out on."

I have no idea what Logan's missing out on. All the awkwardness and cringe-worthy moments dating me involved? Probably not. I on the other hand, miss Logan's warm hand around mine, his soft kisses and the fact he was so very adoring and charming around me. Hmm, why does my throat feel unbearably tight right now?

Kaia pulls along and I stumble behind her. I feel like we're on spotlight, even though for most council members probably nothing changed. Some days passed, school is back and as annoying as ever, but besides that, it's all cool and relaxed. Meanwhile I, dumped and possibly friend-zoned by my ex-boyfriend Logan Hayman, feel like my heart is beating too hard and too fast.

My eyes wander around and I spot Logan pretty quickly, looking distressed over what seems to be his math homework. Good. I hope he gets straight Fs on it.

"Hi you two," Johnny calls from his desk and stands up to shake our hands all formally, "I'm really glad you could make it!"

He seems seriously relieved, and I'm seriously surprised. Kaia brightens up like the sun.

"Of course, I was really looking forward to another club meeting," she declares enthusiastically, "It was so much fun last time!"

If I didn't know it any better, I'd thought there's a camera somewhere and we were shooting cheesy high school promotional videos. Then, Johnny lets go of our hands, clears his throat, and sits back on his desk, which implies this is actually the way he usually greets people.

The council members on the other hand seem all busy with schoolwork, or in Duncan's case another RPG. I wonder if they're even organizing any event at the moment.

"Hi ladies," Carlos greets and brushes a strand of his curly, dark hair out of his forehead. He rolls over on his chair and smiles at us, like we're best friends reuniting, "How're doing?"

It's nice, the way he's so cheerful like nothing ever happened. There is nothing that happened anyway, I tell myself, and greet back with a small wave. Kaia giggles a little and goes to fist bump Carlos. They exchange a few words, basically from how the weather is to why there's really no gold pot at the end of a rainbow.

"Everyone knows," Kaia says, "Yeah but imagine, just imagine what if," Carlos retreats with a dreamy sigh.

Duncan furrows his brows at them, before looking up and smirking at me. I furrow my brows in return.

"How's it rollin' June?" Duncan asks as he violently slashes a guy with an axe onscreen, "You look a little pale. Eye bags, too. Hard night?"

I'm surprised, since I didn't really take Duncan for the observant type. Which means I seriously look bad.