Beyond Our Lies

t h i r t y n i n e

Seeing Jackie as I stepped into the diner was a ray of sunshine on a rainy afternoon. Despite the extremely exhausting day not even halfway over, her positive presence brought a smile out of me and I gave her a quick hug. After the motherly greeting I desperately needed from her, I returned my sight to the tables around us. Noticing Raven had already gotten here along with all the boys, I rushed to meet up with them. Everyone was seated in their usual spots except for Raven, her having brought a stool over to sit on but she didn't seem to mind it one bit as she teased the boys about something.

Before I could even get situated into the booth, every pair of eyes were on me and me only. "Hey guys," I dragged out the latter word, attempting to buy additional time.

Though, my plan didn't fool anyone. "Just spill, girl," Raven spoke in her usual silvery voice. Knowing the guys would have already informed her on what happened earlier, her excitement was no surprise to me. When I told the confident girl about everything that had occurred previously these past few months, she promised she would join me in beating their asses at any given time.

"They'reblackmailingmeanditssomentallydrainingihateithere." The words we're flying out of my mouth a mile a minute while I wouldn't make direct eye contact with any of them.

"Care to say that slower?" My deadpanned stare made its way to Xander and he just chuckled in response, not finding me scary. He slid a heavenly dessert drink towards me and I smiled in appreciation before taking a quick sip and pushing it aside. I leaned against Xander's arm and glanced at all my friends.

Xander moved his arm and placed it around me, letting his heartbeat comfort me. I said my statement again, this time slowly. "The girls are blackmailing me. It's fucking mentally draining and it hasn't even been a day."

His muscles stiffened from beneath me and his grasp tightened as our table mates stopped all movements and anger entered their expressions. "What are you talking about, June?" Xander's chest rumbled and I tilted my head downwards, feeling like a child getting caught for breaking their mother's vase.

"They told me to fail all of my midterms because it wouldn't make me the top of the class anymore. If I didn't comply and instead passed the finals, when we come back in January they would not only tell the secret of me being, you know, but also some secrets about my family. Secrets about the only person in my family I care about."

The boy beside me pushed my head up with a touch as light as a feather, giving me the ability to look at him. He could already tell by my teary eyes that it had something to do with Jace. "Something I don't even know?" My tears bloomed at an even faster speed as I nodded my head. A soft sigh escaped his lips and he hugged me, kissing my forehead along with it.

After a moment, I sat back up but still stayed in Xander's arms. All our friends were dead silent while deep in thought with bit lips and balled fists. "What did you choose?" Elijah questioned and I grimaced.

"I- I took my midterms like normal."

While most of them were understanding, Xander was the complete opposite. Once those words left my mouth, his demeanor changed from comforting to hostility. He let go of me as if I was a piece of trash and raised his voice slightly. "Wait, what?!  You've said it multiple times you don't care about your reputation here and what people think. What was it- just a bunch of bullshit? Have you lied about anything else?"

Mood swings, irritability

"Xander, calm d-."

"Hey asshole, you need to bring that anger down about five notches. I get you're mad but you do not have the ability to speak to her like that. This situation is literally unimaginable for any of us to understand so how about you let her explain her reasoning before you attack her." Raven's words seemed to physically cut Xander as he flinched  while she was responding to him. I felt her left hand intertwine with my right and give it a squeeze. Giving a thankful smile, I turned back to Xander.