The Aldean Chronicles: Hidden

I consider hiding out in my room for the match.

Then I remember I promised my friends I’ll support them and drag myself to the arena. I sit next to Axel and try to look excited. Paisley went home yesterday (her great aunt died), she’s coming back Sunday night. I’m hardly paying attention, I keep thinking about Arin. Are we more than just friends, is there something there? Of course, there isn’t, I’m with Tristan.

Axel’s yell startles me back to reality. “Woah, that’s my girl. Go, Sara.” Sara and Jason just won their first match.

I feel guilty for missing it. I missed it because I’m obsessing over Arin. Why do I always do this, make mountains out of sandhills? Why do I take things further than they need to go? I have a good thing going with Tristan, why would I try to spoil it? I focus my attention on the game and shove thoughts of Arin to the back of my mind.

It keeps wandering back to him though. If he were here right now, he’ll just roll his eyes and talk about how bored he is. Then we’ll leave and go somewhere quiet to talk. Maybe we’ll go with his friends, maybe we’ll go by ourselves.

Axel’s second cheer drags me back to the present. “That’s my other girl.” Michelle just qualified for the next round.

It’s time for the second year’s match, I excuse myself. I go to a vending machine and buy a bottle of water. I get a notification on my phone and my heart leaps a little. My shoulders slump when I see that it’s from Seb. He just wants to know if I left school with Grey.

Arin is never going to talk to me again. I was the first person he asked out and I rejected him. I’m such a terrible person. I brace myself for the rest of the tournament and go back to my seat. The second year’s match is over. Tristan and Jamie get on the arena and there’s buzz everywhere. They’re both really good, everyone expects this to be an interesting match.

I cheer loudly. Okay Cassie, think Tristan. Not Arin. Tristan. The match starts and they begin to fight. Jamie is on attack while Tristan is on defense. He’s ruthless with his fire and medics stand around, ready to jump in if help is needed.

Tristan and Jamie manage to pressure the other team into yielding. After their fight, I leave the stadium and go to my room. I can’t take this anymore, I call Arin. He doesn’t answer and it goes to voicemail. Great, now he’s avoiding me.

I stay there for some more minutes before going back to the arena. It’s time for the winner’s match. First up is Sara and Jason against Michelle and Derek.

“I have never been this tense before. I don’t even know who I want to win.” Axel is unable to take his eyes off the field.

I look away, tension and competitions don’t sit well with me. I look down at my phone and do everything I can to not pay attention. I hear a cheer and look up, I think it’s over but it’s just Derek, he’s been knocked down. He jumps right back up.

Michelle shoots an arrow at Jace. He easily misses it but his guard is temporarily down and Derek is able to send a burst of flames at him. He jumps down to avoid it and Sara uses her powers to douse the fire. Michelle sends an arrow pinning Jason to the floor and Derek uses all his might to push Sara down. She cowers away from the fire but refuses to yield.

Michelle looks out in fear for the two of them but Derek doesn’t relent. Jason is unable to remove the arrow and yields for both he and Sara. Michelle and Derek are declared the winners but Michelle doesn’t look too happy about that.

I sit through the second match and cringe when one of the fighters sustains a cut. She starts bleeding but keeps fighting. It ends well for her because her team manages to overpower the other. Doesn’t feel worth it to me. Tristan and Jamie start their fight and I cheer weakly for them.

They switch their strategy this time with Jamie on defense and Tristan on the attack. The fight isn’t long and they come out victorious. The whole arena cheers, I clap slowly. I’m happy for them, they worked so hard and deserve to win.

I leave the arena now and send another text to Tristan, I ask if we can talk. He’s left me on read for the past dozen texts. This time I at least know he hasn’t seen it.

I go back to my room and hear muffled sobs coming from the bathroom. “Sweetie,” I call out to her. “Sara, are you okay?”

I open the door and find her seated on the white tiled floor. “It’s just, I worked so hard...and it was all for nothing.”

I close the door and sit next to her. “Come here.” I wrap my arm around her and she sobs freely.

I pull out my phone and text the group that we’ll meet them later for lunch. “I just feel so stupid and embarrassed, I can’t go back out there.” I smooth her brown hair down and wait for her to stop crying. “I wish I never signed up for this stupid thing.”

My phone goes off. It’s a text from Tristan. He wants to talk, he asks if I can meet him now. I look between him and Sara. I reply that I’ll meet him as soon as I can.

“Who are you texting, is it the girls?” Sara sniffs.

“It’s Tristan. It doesn’t matter, I’ll meet him later.”

“No, go. I’m fine, I’ll be fine. I’m strong, I shouldn’t even be crying. I should be planning on how I’ll be better next time.” She says in between sobs.

“Tristan can wait. Right now, you need me. You’re my friend. Sisters before misters.”

She coughs. “What does that mean?”

“It’s an expression from back home. It means friends come before boyfriends.” I pause. “But he isn’t my boyfriend, he’s not.”

She laughs. “I’ve been so caught up in this competition, we never hang out. Tell me what’s going on in Cassie’s life.” I give her a look. “Please, I need this. I need to put my mind anywhere that’s not here.”

I sigh and say something that I’ll probably regret later. “It’s Arin.”

She nods. “I saw some articles about you guys this morning. You two looked cozy.” She teases with the tiniest hint of a smile.

“He asked me out today,” I reveal and her eyes widen. “And before you ask, yes, I turned him down.”

She pulls away from me. “Wow, I mean I could have told you that he had a thing for you weeks ago. But sure, find that out today.”

I gasp. “You knew about this. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought you knew? I thought you were intentionally flirting with him. All those calls, texts and going to his school yesterday. Besides you never once mentioned Tristan to him.”

“Well we’re not dating so what will I even call him,” I argue. “It doesn’t matter. He’s not answering my calls, I feel so guilty.”

“Why? You don’t owe him a relationship.” She goes to the sink. “Just forget about him. You don’t even like him.” I don’t reply. She eyes me suspiciously. “You don’t, do you?”

“I don’t,” She splashes water on her face. “Know.” I finish.

“Cass.” She yells. “How do you not know?”

“I mean he’s really, really good looking and I love talking to him and spending time with him. I feel like I can be my finest, truest, most authentic self around him and he’ll understand what I’m saying. We have so many similar interests. In songs, movies, books. It’s crazy.”

She wipes her face with a towel. “First of all, I’m offended that you said that. You can be your crazy self around me and I’ll support you. Secondly, what about Tristan.”

“I like him. And I’m happy that we’re finally going out. He’s nice and supportive. He does amazing things for me, like putting aside his training just to spend time with me.”

Sara doesn’t look me in the eye, she scrambles to the bathroom door and jiggles the knob. “Sara.” I place my hand on the door. “You look suspicious, what are you hiding?”

“Nothing, now move so I can drown my problems in ice cream.”

“Truth now, ice cream later,” I say. “Tell me, what do you know?”

She sighs. “Please don’t make me say this, Cass.”

“Please don’t keep this from me, Sara. I want to hear it.”

She snorts. “Little ironic from you but okay.” I splash water on her face. She wipes it and sighs. “Fine, Axel overheard Tristan’s friends talking while they were slaying Ryppers. One of them was like, thank you, Arin.”

“What does that mean?”

“Tristan only organized the date cause he felt you were slipping away.” She finally admits. “He wanted to make sure you still liked him because you were spending a lot of time talking to Arin while he was training.”

I let that sink in. Here I was thinking he just wanted to spend time with me. “I don’t know how to feel about that.”

“I mean his intentions might not have been pure but it just means that he really likes you.” Sara offers.

I swing the door open. “I need some ice cream.”

***

I spend the next hour chatting with Sara and binge eating. She assures me that she’s alright multiple times and pushes me out the door so I can talk to Tristan.

I texted him a minute ago, we agreed to meet in his car. I find it easily and open the door. My heart starts beating as soon as I see him. The car smells like his aftershave and his hair looks darker wet.

“You wanted to talk,” I say. “And congrats on your match. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks.” He rests his back on his seat.

“You wanted to talk,” I repeat.

“Yeah, the article.” He starts. “The one with you and Arin.”

“You could have said this over the phone. Oh wait, you couldn’t have. You were avoiding my calls and texts.”

He places his hands on his forehead. “The competition was in a few hours. I didn’t need any...distractions.”

“Whatever,” I mumble. “There’s nothing going on between Arin and me. You don’t need to organize another terrible date to keep me from falling in love with him.”

He closes his eyes. “You found out about that.”

“I did, here I was, thinking you just wanted to spend time together.”

“I swear I did. I just panicked, I’m sorry. I should have been straight with you.”

“You should have.” I rest my head on the headrest and face him fully. “What’s on your mind right now?”

He glances at his phone screen, it’s displaying one of the articles of me and Arin. “Is it him?”

“What are you talking about?” I refuse to take my eyes off him.

“Do you have feelings for each other?”

“He asked me out a few hours ago.”

He looks stunned. “Did you say yes?”

I sigh. “No, I would have but I’m already seeing this guy,” I say. “He’s annoying, sneaky, says the most infuriating things.”

He has a small smile on his face. “Is it me?”

“No, he’s completely different.”

“Really?” He frowns.

“Yeah, I’m currently juggling three guys.”

His smile grows wider. “Yeah, right.” I stare into his pretty blue eyes.

“I like you, a lot.” I decide to be completely honest. “Part of me kind of likes him too. Arin.”

I expect him to be pissed, instead, he reaches out and caresses my cheek with his thumb. “Yeah?”

“Sorry.”

“Do you like me more?”

“A thousand times more.”

He smiles. “I like you a lot too.” He draws me closer to him and kisses me softly.

I pull away and giggle. “That was nice.”

“Yeah, it was.” He agrees. “Why didn’t you tell him about me?”

“I didn’t know what to call you.”

He’s silent for a very long time. “Cass, will you be my girlfriend?”

“What?”

“Will you be my girlfriend?” His voice is clearer and more confident.

I nod and kiss him again. After a few minutes, I pull away and rest my head on my seat. Tristan is my boyfriend, I have a boyfriend. My first one.

“I can’t bel...” My ringtone cuts me off. “Sorry, I have to take this.” It’s Grey. “Hey, what’s up?”

His voice sounds rushed. “Were you serious about supporting me no matter what I did today?”

I frown. “What’s wrong?”

I hear his accelerated breathing over the phone. “Can you come, please? I really need to talk.”

“Of course, no problem. I’ll be right there.” I cut the call.

“Who was that?” Tristan asks.

“It’s Grey, he seemed so worried. I have to check up on him.”

He laughs softly. “You’re a good sister.”

“I am, aren’t I?” I give him one last quick kiss. “I’ll see you later.” I go straight to the boy’s dorms. It’s my first time here, I hope the floor supervisor doesn’t catch me. Guys are walking up and down the halls, the place seems lively.

I quickly find his door and knock on it. There’s no reply. “Hey,” I open the door. I take in his room. The boy’s rooms don’t look different from the girls. It’s the same white theme. “How are you feeling?”

He’s seating on the floor and has his back against his bed. “I’m fine, thanks for coming.”

I sit down beside him. “Of course. Now, are you going to tell me what’s going on, or am I going to drag it out of you?”

He shakes his head and exhales. “It went so badly.” His voice is soft. “Ashton walked up to me after the game, he was high on his victory. He wanted to fight, Mira tried to separate us but he already made up his mind.” He closes his eyes, he’s probably relieving the memory.

I touch his shoulder. “It’s alright. It doesn’t matter.”

“It kind of does, actually. I didn’t want to hurt him, he’s still my friend. But I...He hit me and I got angry” He opens his eyes and looks down at his hands. “I didn’t want another scandal and he knew that. So I just ran away, that’s when I called you.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good, you didn’t let him bait you.”

“I feel weak and stupid and embarrassed. At least Kat walked away feeling powerful after her incident.”

“It could have gone so much worse than that. At least nobody got hurt, just try to forget about it.”

“I don’t want to be here, I’m spending tonight at home.” He decides. “Do you want to come with?”

I shake my head. “No, I have to stay with Sara. She’s really sad about the game.” Also, there’s Tristan’s party.

“Look at you, caring about others. I’m proud.” He says this with a small smile.