Chapter 8

"Where were you yesterday?" Zara asked the two girls while the three of them were talking on a video call.The girl had bought a cell phone less than a week ago and was finding it quite practical, since she couldn't use her usual magical means of communication, after all, that wasn't common among humans."We went out together, you said you were going to celebrate with the team and Yun doesn't like the people there very much," Eliz replied, shrugging as she got into her own bed.Zara knitted her eyebrows together, after all, she was sure that the only person who had earned Yun's dislike in the team was Lohan, however, she preferred not to retort, she didn't want to invade their privacy."It's okay," replied the brunette, shrugging and smiling." You were great yesterday, you were dancing really well!"Thank you, you and Yun gave me a lot of support, I couldn't have done it without your shouts of encouragement" the redhead was smiling, but Yun had been silent since the beginning of the call, pensive."Is there a problem, Yun?" Zara asked a little nervously.The constant fear of doing something wrong accompanied her and, because of this, whenever someone was silent or seemed irritated, she took the blame on herself and ended up getting the jitters, even if discreetly."I was told something earlier..." she began, looking apprehensive. "They said that Emmy and Lohan had a fight, because of you, Zara.""Because of me?" she asked, knitting her eyebrows together as confusion took over her expression. "But I didn't do anything…""That's not what he's been saying, apparently, he told Emilly that you were together and a lot of other things that, like that, obviously aren't true and I don't need to repeat" Yun continued, shrugging slightly, trying to disguise his apprehension.He knew that the whole story was just that, a story. But, knowing Emilly as he did, he was sure the blonde wouldn't let it go and, being quite influential and persistent, he knew he could turn more than half the school against Zara in the blink of an eye.The gossip reached her ears first thing in the morning, when one of the girls from the volleyball team sent her a message asking if Zara was really with Lohan, even though Emillya and he were dating. Yun spent a long thirty minutes trying to explain the countless reasons why that story was completely false, but Emillya's words always had a lot of power, so he sensed that his teammate still wasn't convinced."But... Nothing happened, I barely spoke to him on Friday!" began the genius, feeling her heart freeze. "I'll clarify the situation, I can apologize and say that it's just a misunderstanding, so she…""Zah... What did we say about apologizing for things that aren't your fault? " Eliz asked, gently. "Besides, Emmy wouldn't give a damn about your apologies... The two of them are constantly at loggerheads, so this subject will die down."Zahara hoped this would happen, after all, she hadn't even imagined being with Lohan."Okay, not imagining it is a bit strong," she thought, since it was more than obvious that the quarterback's light eyes had enchanted the brunette, but nothing more."There's no need to be nervous, they'll sort themselves out soon and, in the end, you haven't done anything, there's nothing to be afraid of," Yun reinforced.Like the oriental girl, Eliz was also a little worried, the Cheerlanders had said something about it, some didn't believe the gossip that was starting to spread, others were furious and convinced that Zahara was nothing like what she was showing to the others. The redhead believed that her friend had done nothing, but she knew that rumors spread like wildfire in high school, and this could put her friend in a bad light."Don't worry, forget it" Eliz put her head in front of the camera and smiled, trying to cheer up her friend. "We only told you because we don't like lies, but you haven't done anything, there's nothing to be afraid of.""She's right, don't keep it in your head," Yun said, resting his cheek on Eliz's red hair. "Now we have to go, we're going to the park. See you on Monday!"That said, they ended the call and Jinn found herself alone again with her thoughts.Despite her friends' words, Zara continued to think and worry, Emilly already hated her enough and she didn't want to be stalked by the girl, that would be a nightmare. She kept holding her cell phone, wondering if she should try to talk to the blonde or send her a message, but decided not to.Eliz was right, she had nothing to do with it.However, even if she tried to get it through her head, she still felt worried and a little annoyed with Lohan, a feeling that was unusual for Zara, who was usually annoyed with herself. The girl wondered what all the gossip was about, she tried to understand why Lohan had said those things, after all, he seemed to like her and was always very kind, it didn't make sense in her head.Even though she tried to convince herself that she hadn't done anything and that she wasn't to blame for the rumors, Zahara tried to go about her day as normal, but she spent hours wondering how Lohan had been able to spread something like that, accusing herself intimately, had she done something wrong?Her thoughts had a nasty habit of haunting her every night and that was just one more on the huge list she always went over before going to sleep. She thought so much that she had little time to really rest, and that night was no different. When she went to bed, it took Zara a while to fall asleep, but she had got used to it.

***

"I know what you're doing," Nath accused as soon as her friend answered the phone."I don't know what you're talking about " Lohan replied, his tone was hoarse and he sounded as if he had just woken up. "What time is it?""Two o'clock," he replied, snuggling into his bed and knitting his eyebrows together, annoyed at his friend's lame attempt to change the subject. "Why are you spreading all this shit?"Nathanael still couldn't come to terms with the fact that, at 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon, he was confronting Lohan over the phone.Why was he doing this?That was a question he couldn't answer, after all, Zahara's reputation didn't concern him, she wouldn't need anyone's help to destroy her, since she was a walking disaster. Nevertheless, there he was, pushing his friend to say something he knew Lohan was hiding."If you keep acting like this, I'm going to start thinking you're into the new girl, Nath," Lohan teased, stretching out on his own bed and sighing. "It has nothing to do with her, not on my part anyway."Lohan felt guilty, his eyes were closed and his right hand covered his face, twisted by something akin to remorse. However, he was still unyielding, knowing that it was Nathanael's job to make him change his mind and not do any more nonsense."Why do you allow this? You always end up doing something stupid for her," began the brunette, sitting down and sighing. "It's not love, that's for sure. But if you don't love her, why do you let her use you for her own whims like this? Lohan, come on! We've always been friends, since the beginning of high school, you know you can tell me!"Lohan silenced himself, biting his lower lip and letting his frustration seep out in a silent scream. He knew it wasn't right, he also felt bad for Zara, who had been so kind to him despite his clearly unwanted advances.She was an interesting girl and seemed to have the potential to be a great friend, but Lohan was in Emilly's hands and had no options to strike back.At least not yet."You don't understand, man..." he began, sighing heavily. "Emmy knows that…""Knows what? You murdered someone and she helped you hide the body?" Nathanael was direct, his tone sharp. "Because if that's not the case, nothing diminishes the mistake you're making, my friend, and considering that you always end up tainted by it, perhaps you should rethink your actions."Having said that, without giving him time to reply, Nath ended the call, tossing the cell phone beside her and staring at the ceiling, wondering why her friend allowed himself to be so attached to someone he didn't even love. It was no mystery to him that Lohan's relationship was nothing more than a big, beautiful façade, but he couldn't understand why he kept up the charade so well, considering that Emmy was quite unbearable in the boy's eyes.Repeating internally that it was none of his business, the boy got up, sighed and left his room, he had things to do and his best friend's teenage problems were not his urgency at the moment.