Power of Love

Chapter 7- The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth

Kim's POV

One boy
One steady boy
One boy to be with
Forever and ever
One boy
That's the way it should be
That's the way it should be
That's the way it should be

~One Boy Bye Bye Birdie

This morning before my literature exam I cornered Hugo by his locker and told him about how Deborah Sue had caught him kissing Harvey Johnson. He looked uncomfortable about the whole thing so there must be something going on between them. I want to get to the bottom of this right away because I want to be able to trust Hugo. I mean we haven't even been going steady very long and already he might be cheating on me. It's even worse that he might be cheating on me with Harvey instead of another girl. ICK! Harvey Johnson is the geekiest guy in our whole school. If Hugo does have feelings for him I would want to know what the appeal would be. I might be worrying about it too much but it would be horrible if Hugo is lying to me.

The minute I got to the lunch room I asked Deborah Sue to go talk to Harvey about the alleged kiss. No one ever sits with him at lunch so he's an easy target. After she finished eating she made a beeline for Harvey's table and went to talk to him. Hugo looked kind of worried but I gave him a look that said "Don't get involved." Harvey looked incredibly nervous throughout the whole conversation which made me more suspicious. Deborah Sue came back to the table clearly annoyed.

"What did you find out?"

"I asked him if he was queer. He said he didn't want to comment."

"What difference would it make if he was queer?"

"That would tell me if the kiss between him and Hugo was experimental or if it really meant something."

Deborah Sue and I looked at Hugo.

"Would you stop staring at me? The kiss meant nothing." He said, clearly agitated.

"We're not going to let this go till we find out about the truth." My best friend Ursula said.

At that point Hugo got up and left the cafeteria to go find Harvey who had apparently left the room in the 5-10 minutes since Deborah Sue had stopped talking to him.

"Should I follow him?" Deborah Sue asked.

"No. Just leave him alone. I think alone time is what he needs. He seems pretty confused." I said.

I knew Deborah Sue wanted all the dirt on Harvey and Hugo. I did too. I wanted to see if this little charade would get in the way of our relationship. I had to be patient. Hugo had to tell me something eventually.

Harvey is in my math class. I kept shooting him dirty looks the whole period and he came over to me when the bell rang.

"What's up Kim?"

I looked down at my notebook pretending I didn't notice him. I had gotten pretty good at ignoring him over the years… and pushing him into trash cans.

"Why do you keep shooting me dirty looks?"

I sighed in looked up at him meeting his beady little eyes. He looked afraid. Good, I wanted to instill as much fear in him as possible.

"Deborah Sue caught you kissing Hugo yesterday."

"Yeah, and that bothers you?"

Fire burned in my cheeks.

"In case you haven't noticed Harvey, Hugo pinned me. That means he's my man and my man alone."

"Deborah Sue asked me if I was queer, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well I didn't want to tell her because I didn't want to make a huge scene in the cafeteria but my answer to her question is yes."

"You just didn't want her to tell the whole school, right?"

"Right."

"Do you like Hugo?"

I immediately wished I could take back that question.

Harvey looked uncomfortable.

"Yes, I do. In fact I may love him just as much as you do."

"Does he have feelings for you too?"

"I think he does but I'm not totally sure."

His smile confirmed that Hugo had told him he did.

"You dirty little scum. I used to hate you for no reason but now I have every reason to hate you!"

I wanted to pound Harvey into the ground for telling me that him and Hugo had feelings for each other. If he wasn't already cheating on me with him he'd most likely cheat on me with him eventually.

"Do you wish you had never asked me?" Harvey asked clearly enjoying the pleasure he was getting out of this conversation.

"Yes, you little twerp, I'm sorry I asked you. REALLY SORRY!" I said and stormed out of the room before he could say anything more.

Instead of heading directly to my next class which was home ec I headed to the bathroom where I locked myself into a stall and burst into tears.

I wanted to wring Hugo's neck for lying to me about him and Harvey…and give him his pin back while I was at it. I certainly don't deserve to be with someone who can't tell me the whole truth and nothing but the truth. No one likes a liar and a cheater. Hugo is definitely a liar and the longer I stay with him the more I think he'll turn into a cheater.

I heard the bathroom door open

"Kim, are you okay?" It was Ursula.

I opened the stall door and she saw that my mascara was smudged from crying.

"Clearly I'm not" I said.

Did you talk to Hugo about the whole situation with him and Harvey?"

"No, even worse. I talked to Harvey."

"What did he say?"

"The little freak said that he loves Hugo just as much as I do and Hugo could possibly love him just as much as he loves me."

"Was he serious?"

"He seemed it."

Ursula opened her arms and pulled me into her embrace. "Oh, Kimmy, I'm so sorry and you and Hugo haven't even been together very long."

"Should I give him his pin back?"

"I think you should talk with Harvey and Hugo together before doing anything too rash."

But how I can be sure that Hugo won't cheat on me with Harvey?"

Ursula was quiet.

"I guess you can't be too sure that he won't cheat… still I think you should at least talk to Hugo about it. Get his side of the story."

"Thanks Ursula."

"No problem"

I left the bathroom and headed to my next class feeling a little bit better but not by too much.

At the end of the day Hugo was waiting for me by my locker. He looked serious.

"Kim, we need to talk."

"I know."

We went to the cafeteria which had been clear of students eating lunch for a couple of hours.

"So I take it Harvey told you about the kiss?

I couldn't look at him in the eyes ,let alone answer him so I started down at the ground, nodding.

"Are you okay?"

I gained my composure and looked at him. The fire from a few hours before was burning in my eyes again.

"How can you expect me to be okay? Are you and Harvey trying to mess with my head or something?"

Hugo shook his head.

"Kim, please try to understand. I love you and want to be with you. I care about you so much. When Harvey kissed me I felt something I had never felt before in my life. It was weird but strangely comforting."

I did not understand him completely.

"He said he's queer. Are you queer too?"

"I can't define this. I love you and I think all girls are attractive. I also like Harvey…a lot. I think he's adorable and kind and caring. He's everything that you are but only comprised in a male body."

"Do you love Harvey? He said he loves you."

"I'm not sure if I can call it love but we definitely have some sort of connection."

I couldn't stand to hear anymore of this. I got up to leave.

"Kim please don't go."

"Do you really love me Hugo?

"Yes, I do."

"Then tell Harvey to leave you alone and that you can't see him in any kind of romantic fashion. I won't have you cheating on me with the geekiest guy in our school."

Harvey was deeply contemplating his decision.

"What if it's hard to choose?"

"It's me or him Hugo. Make your choice."

"Kim, please understand."

"WELL, I DON"T UNDERSTAND HUGO! Why are you doing this to me? Cheating is the worse thing you could possibly do."

"I'm technically not cheating. Harvey and I haven't gone out on a date or anything like that. I'm not really sure we ever will. We just kissed that's all."

"And the kiss truly means nothing to you?"

Hugo looked pained. I could easily tell the kiss with Harvey had meant something to him. Once again he had lied through his teeth.

"Yes, it meant nothing. I swear."

"Well take a few days to think it over and then get back to me."

With that I stormed out of the cafeteria and headed for home leaving Hugo alone looking lost. He looked just as lost as I felt.

Disclaimer: I don't own rights to any characters of lyrics from Bye Bye Birdie