Chapter 14
Jasmine's POV
"Jazz, hi, good morning, you really need to check your messages. Something big has happened." Nadia said over the phone and I froze in front of the entrance into the school hallway, my throat closing up as panic suddenly hit me.
What was happening?
Had something else been spread about me in less than twenty four hours?
Did I need to turn back and head home?
"Jazz, are you there?" I heard her say, and even though the phone was on my ear, her words seemed so far away.
Was I having a panic attack?
"Jazz, where are you? Are you still there? Jazz!" Nadia screamed into the phone, her voice sounding panicked and I inhaled deeply and tried to look around my surroundings.
"I'm in front of the entrance" I managed to murmur and I found a tree to lean against, sitting on the ground as I counted backwards, trying to relax.
Nadia appeared in front of me a few minutes later and her eyes widened as she knelt in front of me.
"What happened? You look so pale." Reaching inside her bag, she gave me a bottle of water and I emptied it in a few gulps, exhaling slowly as my tight chest loosened.
"You said something had happened." I whispered and her eyes finally widened in understanding.
"Oh shit, my bad. Something good, Jazz. I am so sorry, I did not think you would take it to mean something bad about you. I didn't think. Forgive me?"
I nodded, relieved that it was not what I had imagined and allowed her to pull me up to my feet.
"So, what happened? Tell me." I whispered and she nodded, moving close to me and rubbing my back gently.
"I sent the link to your phone. It's a video. You, more than anyone should see it. But right now, I'm sure you're the only one in the school who has not seen it yet." She answered and I reached for my phone in my pocket and opened her chat to see that she had indeed sent me a message at about 1am in the morning with a link.
My mouth fell open as I played the one minute video of Dahlia confessing to being the person involved in the spread of the rumour about me and apologizing for any harm it has caused as she intentionally tried to spoil my name.
Unable to believe that this was happening, I watched the video again and when I was done, I looked at Nadia who nodded.
"It's real, I promise. It dropped at midnight and people have been going wild in the comment section apologizing to you and stuff. I tried to call you immediately but your phone was turned off."
I had turned off my phone because I did not want to receive any messages from guys who were hellbent on believing that I was interested in sleeping with them thanks to a baseless rumour.
"Come on, let's go to class." Nadia looped her hands through mine and as we entered the hallway, I saw people staring at me but this time I could actually read the expression on their faces and most of it was guilt.
I wanted to lie to myself that it didn't matter but Dahlia's video had gone such a long way in changing the narrative about me that she had spun overnight and the fact that only some days ago, I was horrified to even enter this hallway made me grateful that it was finally over.
Heading to my locker, I opened it as Nadia leaned against the locker beside me.
"Hardin is just the best step sibling to have, isn't he?"She said with a sing song voice.
Closing my locker, I raised my eyebrows at her in confusion.
"Did anything happen?" There had to be a reason why Nadia was suddenly praising Hardin.
Nadia's eyes widened at my statement, and I wondered if I had said something wrong again.
"He didn't tell you? Well, of course he didn't. Immediately after the video dropped yesterday, he dropped a message warning everyone to stay away from you. Turns out he was the one that ordered Dahlia to make the video so that your name would be cleared, can you imagine that?"
My mouth fell open in surprise and I shook my head. I had not seen or spoken to Hardin since the incident with Dahlia and I had just assumed that I was going to get an apology at best, but hearing this, that he had been actively involved in trying to clear my name, it made me all forms of uncomfortable.
I was beginning to wonder if I had been too harsh on him when he tried to check if I had been hurt yesterday. But as much as I wanted to believe that Hardin had a thread of goodness in him, I was worried about getting my hopes up.
"I'm certainly surprised." I answered and when I turned to walk to class, my eyes collided with Hardin's where he stood with his clique on the other end of the hallway.
His face remained stoic and even though his friends were trying to gain his attention, his eyes remained glued to mine and it felt like it was just the two of us standing in the hallway, the rest of the crowd fading away.
I wanted to know if he could see the question in my eyes.
Why?
Why had he gone to such great lengths to help me?
I knew that walking up to him like I had done the last time was a terrible idea because of how he had dragged me into the closet.
"Come on, we will be late for class." Nadia said, pulling me away from my stare off and towards our first class of the day.
But throughout the entire day, I tried to think about different reasons as to why Hardin had done that for me and none of them made any sense to me.
Did he perhaps actually like me? And if he did, how did I feel about that?
"You keep zoning out, sweetheart. Is everything alright?" I looked towards the direction of where my mum stood in the kitchen, chopping vegetables and when I looked down, the knife laid limply in my hand, the carrot I had been cutting for dinner still not finished.
My face turned red in embarrassment and I cleared my throat, shaking my head.
My mother smiled and came to stand beside me as she began chopping the carrots with me.
"You can't hide that red face from me, my love. Have you forgotten that I gave birth to you, young lady?"
"No, mum."
"Tell me. Is it about a boy? Is there someone you like?"
The first face that flashed in my mind was Hardin's and how he had stared at me in the hallway and I shook my head immediately.
Maybe I was going insane because why would that be the first person my mind thought of as an answer to that question.
Hardin Morales was cruel, ruthless, had an ego the size of Mount Everest and thought that everyone was out to get him.
But he helped you clear your name, a voice whispered in my head.
I was confused. Very confused.
"No, mum. It is not about a boy."
She nodded even though she looked like she didn't believe me and didn't push further on the issue.
The one time I wanted Hardin to actually be at the dinner table so I could gauge his motives for helping me out and he was a no show.
After dinner was over, my mum was about to send a maid to take Hardin's dinner to his room when I interjected.
"I'll do it."
My mum's eyes brightened in delight, and I was sure that she thought I was helping because my relationship with Hardin was getting better just like the lie he had sold to our parents all of the times he had joined us for dinner.
"Really?"
"Yeah, his room is beside mine so it's not a big deal anyways."
"Thank you so much, sweetheart. You're an angel." Handing me the tray of food, she kissed my cheek and I swallowed nervously as I headed upstairs, passing the door to my room before stopping in front of his bedroom door.
I was just going to ask him why he helped me out and leave, right after I dropped the dinner.
Knowing Hardin, I needed to be prepared for the worst treatment but a part of me wanted to believe that he would not throw me out or have a snarky remark to my question.
Knocking on the door, I waited, afraid that if I just walked in, I would end up intruding on something I was not supposed to see, like the first time I had caught him with Dahlia.
But several knocks later and no answer, I opened the door and peeked, surprised and relieved that he was not inside. Heading inside, I dropped the food on the table in the room and my eyes rested on his bed, remembering how his hands had held me against my will and how he had touched me in places that had made my toes curl even if it was against my will.
Turning around, I quickly legt the room and headed to my bedroom, grateful that I had not met him.
I had just closed my bedroom door behind me and turned, when a gasp left my throat to find him sitting on my bed, his eyebrows raised at my surprise.
"What the hell are you doing here, Hardin?"