Chapter Nine

"And he's so hot-" Tyler was trying, and failing, to block out Lilly's voice from behind him. They were in English, and he was struggling enough to concentrate on the version of 'Dracula' that they were reading in class without overhearing the blonde's feelings on him. Aaron, who was sat next to him, had made no attempt to make conversation, and behind him, Rhea was struggling to change the topic of the coverstation. Struggling, and like him, failing. Maybe saying that he was her boyfriend was a bad idea? He didn't even know what had possessed him to do it, he clearly hadn't thought it through, which was odd, because normally he thought things through too much.

He guessed that he'd realised that he was being nice and friendly again, and had to turn it around quickly. Saying he was her boyfriend had been the easiest sort of sabotage. Plus, it was the sort of move that might keep the cheerleaders off his back, and he couldn't deny that he wasn't really going to mind people thinking that he was the sort of the guy that could get a girl like Rhea. The sort of girl that was unknowingly pretty, and that everyone seemed to like, even if she didn't realise it.

And her face had been pretty funny.

Still, it seemed that his first introduction had been enough to get him onto Aaron's bad side, and for the life of him, Tyler couldn't figure out why. He'd turned on the charm, and Lilly seemed to have accepted him (maybe accepted him a little too quickly for his liking), and he couldn't recall saying or doing anything that could be seen as offensive. So why did Aaron seemingly hate him so much. He couldn't be jealous could he? Even Tyler could see that he really had the hots for Lily, but maybe he liked Rhea like that, too, and had dubbed her as un-atainable? That was the only reason that made sense to Tyler.

"Look, man. I'm sorry if I've offended you in some rounabout way, but I'm sure that Rhea wants us to be friends." He said softly, playing the model boyfriend as best as he knew how. Aaron stiffened next to him, and opened his mouth to say something- stopping himself to avoid getting caught by Miss Heartthrow- before starting again.

"So you're her little secret? The reason that she's constantly blowing us off? Nice, dude." He snapped- keeping his voice low and glancing back to make sure that Rhea hadn't heard him. Clearly, he wasn't happy.

"No! I'm sure that why ever she couldn't go out with you had nothing to do with me at all. She's had a lot of stuff going on at home, too-" Tyler didn't catch his mistake in time.

"Stuff that she could confide in you, and not me and Lilly? We've been friends with her long before you showed up, so why the hell couldn't she tell us?" He didn't even bother to keep his voice down this time, and Tyler could practically sense Rhea's shock behind him; she started to say something, but was cut off by the school bell- Aaron said nothing more, just grabbed his book and stormed off, leaving the rest of us sat in shock.

'Nice one, Tyler.' He cursed at himself mentally. 'You've been here half a day, and you've already managed to screw up Rhea's school life.'

Aaron avoided Rhea for the rest of the day, and she couldn't find him anywhere. She searched all of her break and lunchtime, and finally cornered him after school- having told Tyler to meet her at his car. He'd gone with complaint, and she could tell that he was feeling guilty about this whole thing. Rhea knew better than to blame it all on him. She'd decided to lie to her best friends, after all, it was only right that she paid for it.

Still, it pained her to see his face turn stony when she pulled him into an empty classroom after maths, where Lilly was already waiting, looking anxious.

"What do you want, Rhea?" Aaron sighed, running a hand through his long hair. She perched herself on the edge of a table, and braced herself.

"I'm sorry, Aaron." She said softly, and she glanced up at him. That was when he lost it.

"You sorry?! For what, Rhea? For lying to us for the last three months? Or for not telling us anything?" He shouted, Rhea flinched, but made no move to retaliate. She waited for him to finish before speaking; as quietly and as in control as ever.

"No. I'm sorry for lying to you for four years, and for not telling you anything."

"Four years!? You've been with him for four years?" Rhea had to bite back a laugh at the disbelieving look on Lilly's face.

"No. Tyler has nothing to do with this. This is about what's been going on at home." She said, and proceeded to tell them everything that had happened over the last four years. From her mothers' suicide, to James collapsing, and right up to being in care, and meeting Tyler.

She was relieved to see that the more she explained, the less angry that Aaron looked, and the more he deflated. It took her twenty minutes to explain, and she hoped that Tyler was still waiting for her in the car.

"So you didn't tell anyone? Not for four years?" Lilly asked, and jumped off the table to envelope her in a hug when she shook her head. "You silly goose, Rhea! We could have helped you! And we wouldn't even have told anyone if you didn't want us too!"

Rhea was inwardly relieved that they weren't angry, and found herself smiling broadly.

"I know that now, Lilly. I know that now."