Disclaimer: I own nothing. Enjoy.

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Don't Forget About Me

Chapter 8: Lies

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"Crap" I swore, pulling away sharply, but none the less reluctantly from Belle's oh so willing lips. I met her eyes momentarily, just long enough to see the hurt, humiliation and utter betrayal she felt flash across them.

I didn't know what to do. Saying something, anything, that might have been an option. If my mind hadn't of gone blank right about now. Sorry might have been an even better place to start, followed by you're the most amazing, stunning, witting, fantastic, beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes upon and I don't want to stuff this up by being a real dick head like I usually am…

But come on, I had my reputation to consider.

I couldn't be falling head over heels for a girl I'd met only hours beforehand. I didn't fall at all, let alone this hard, this fast. I was the tough, no strings, say I'll call but never get around to it guy. The bad boy of the many fantasies these girls had, but I was never part of their realities.

So instead of telling one truth to a crushed cynic, I told another, to an oddball group shoved together in the weirdest circumstances, on a random day.

"We've got like, five minutes to get to the other side of the school." I said, exhausted by the enormity of everything that had already occurred today.

"Why?" Matilda asked in her own naïve, innocent, puzzled manner.

"The Hyde monster returns" I said, pulling Belle to her feet without even thinking.

She immediately shrank back from my touch, withdrawing into herself as she avoided the worried looks Matilda and Cassie were sending her.

How those girls had become such close friends, I would never really, truly understand. But it was there, and it was happening right infront of my eyes. Matilda tugged on Belle's hand and pulled her towards the staircase with her and Cassie, leaving Henry, Lucas and I to trail quickly behind them.

"We can cut him off, I know a short cut." I said quickly as we half ran down the stairs together.

"Of course you do" Henry muttered sarcastically to himself, before back tracking and throwing me a sympathetic look. He knew that the three girls would be lost in their own world for the afternoon, so any chance any of us had of spending time with them, or say, apologising, was shot to hell. I should be grateful he was being so gracious about it, because the whole reason they were alone was because of me and my stupid actions.

We reached the hallway and everyone turned to go in the direction we'd come.

"No" I said loudly "This way is quicker"

"And why should we trust you?" Belle spat venomously at me, glaring so hard that I thought actual daggers would pierce my skin at any moment.

"Because I've spent the last five years in these hallways avoiding teacher in any way possible" I spat back at her. Like I was going to back down from this fight.

"You think you're the only one who ever wagged class? You think I don't know the secrets of this school?" Belle screamed at me, apparently unwilling to back down as well.

"You really think you're the King Shit, don't you? The worst member of the schools populous, the ultimate bad boy?" She spoke, coming closer to me. "Well guess what?" She said as she pushed against my chest "We're all going through the same kind of hell Eric Dalby, and some of us are dealing with it the same way you are. I've wagged as many classes as you have; I've dogged as many exams as you have too. I've hidden from as many teachers as you have in these very hallways. I'm exactly like you, Eric Dalby." She finished quietly, as the thumping on my chest ceased, and I looked down into her vulnerable eyes. "And maybe that's the problem."

Suddenly Cassie and Matilda had tugged her in the opposite direction, the way I had pointed out, and I was left standing alone, confused and broken.

"Tough break." Henry said from his position a few feet away from me, "You've got a whole lot of making up to do there." He continued before I stopped him abruptly.

"Who says I want to do any making up?" I said snidely, glaring at Henry once more.

He scoffed at me in reply, saying "Only every longing, pining look you've thrown at her all day when you thought no one else was looking…"

"Look guys…" Lucas interrupted "This bonding moment is great and all but well, I really don't want another Saturday detention."

"The nerds right" I stated simply, ignoring the look Lucas was giving me "We've gotta get back so Hyde doesn't give us all a month of detentions" I said, sprinting to catch up with the girls.

Like I needed another month of reminders about how weird, wonderful and screwed up today had been.

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It had all been too much. The game, that was. It had begun as a game, and then became so much more. For some, more so than others.

"Tell anyone, and I will get you" I heard her voice say, over and over. "You do not want to mess with me."

She'd looked at me, and for the first time I'd seen the truth behind the ice-queen. The small terrified girl that was too afraid to love, to feel. Too afraid to live. She had created her world around her, molded her clones like pawns in a chess game. She was queen and would stop at nothing to keep her perfect, immaculate, unfeeling world just the way it was.

And I was a threat to that world. Not just because I challenge her status and beliefs, but, I had thought for a moment there, because I saw within her icy blue eyes that I made her feel.

And as confusing as it sounds, I actually understood her reaction. However just because I understood it, it didn't make it hurt any less.

I thought, even if come Monday she completely ignores me, that today, with everything that already happened, maybe things would have turned out a little different. Maybe there might have even been room for some honesty from her. Apparently even that had been asking for too much.

Now here we all are, running once more, united once more, to face our biggest advisory one final time. We'd come together as a group, only to be torn apart by a stupid, silly game.

That's all it was I had to keep reminding myself. It was just a game and we were all playing for ourselves. It didn't matter that Matilda had clung to me when I'd kissed her, or how soft her lips felt against mine, how perfect that kiss had been. It didn't matter how well we actually fit together, we were simply playing the game. One that we'd been playing long before Truth or Dare.

We'd all been pretending all day, about ourselves, about one another, about just about everything. Because high school was about pretending, about fitting in instead of standing out. About making friends because otherwise you're alone against the world and that just about sucks the most.

We reached another standstill, and I was so angry, so frustrated, at myself and the crazy world of highschool, that I vented by kicking the locker closest too me. Only it didn't hurt the locker, it hurt me, and it also made everyone turn to look at me, which was just about the last thing I wanted.

"Lucas" Henry said "This is no time for a tantrum."

I opened my mouth, ready with an angry, witty retort, but someone else got in there before me.

"Henry, the last thing we need right now is smart ass comments like that from you." She finished exasperated.

Henry's mouth gapped open and shut, as if he was unsure of what had actually happened right before his eyes.

"Okay" Dalby said, taking charge once more "If we got this way, we should bypass Hyde. He always take the same route coming back from lunch on school days."

"What if he doesn't go that way today?" Matilda asked, obviously concerned about receiving another month of detentions.

"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it." I relied, urging everyone to just follow Dalby's lead.

Matilda shot me an odd look before Cassie grabbed her hand and pulled her quickly away down the hallways.

I wasn't exactly what that look meant, but I knew deep down it had changed everything, and I sure as hell wasn't going to spend another month of Saturday's being reminded of what could have been, I decided as I sprinted along with Dalby and Henry.

We were going to beat that son of a $&# back to the library, even if it killed us.

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Everything was so messed up, and now we were on the run, listening to Dalby of all people while trying to beat Hyde back to the library.

Of course, this was all happening while Belle and Dalby played their own game of who can pretend that they don't care about one another for the longest time, while Matilda and Lucas continued to have these glances that were so obvious to everyone except one another.

But at least that was some kind of interaction. Cassie hadn't even spared a single look for me while we were running these hallways, not one. And I was kind of devastated.

I'd never realised how therapeutic running really was until there was something really bugging me today. It has happened a couple of times, but today, today something that really mattered was lodging itself into my mind, bugging me until I'd thought it through over and over. And it wasn't just the kiss with Cassie.

That, in itself, had been a perfect moment in time. One of those slow motion things, that seem to last forever. And the second her lips left mine, I felt like I'd lost something I'd only just found. But it was more than that, bigger than that.

Today had been a one of a kind experience with both highs and lows, and, as I glanced at my clock, which read 2:27, I realised we still had over two hours left. Plenty of time to make things right again, I thought, before realising I wasn't exactly sure what was right any more.

So what if Dalby, Lucas and I had banded together to figure out what happened with the girls? That plan had backfired, and while, in the end, it had still worked in our favour, it didn't mean I'd walk up to them in the hallway and do that handshake thing guys so often did.

And the girls? Well, I was fairly sure Matilda wouldn't be running up to Cassie or Belle and hugging and kissing their cheeks as she so often did with her friends at school.

But Cassie? She was one of the most real people I knew; though I know my friendship doesn't make leaps and bounds on the reality side of things. And Belle, Dalby and Lucas? They were all very real too. They had their pride, and their faults, and their feelings. They showed their pain, hid their scars, lived every day, just like Matilda and I had done.

Did I really want to loose everything I'd fought so hard to gain today? Dalby's respect, Belle and Lucas' approving nature or Cassie's forgiveness? Did I… Crap.

Standing directly ahead, drinking from a bubbler, was Hyde. I hit Dalby silently and pointed towards him, just as everyone looked up and saw him too. We ran like the wind back in the direction we'd come, turning corner after corner, trying to escape Hyde who always managed to be there at the end of a hallway, strolling or dancing.

As we came to another end, I realised it was hopeless.

"This is crap" I exclaimed, slumping back against a locker, ready to admit defeat.

"I think we need to take this outside." Belle said finally.

"What on earth are you on about Belle?" Matilda asked confused from beside her.

"We're going around in circles" Belle started "Seeing Hyde at the end of hallways, backtracking, going back to where we started. We can go outside and race around and come up into the library from the outside entry." She finished, satisfied with her plan.

"Sounds good to me." I replied, knowing that there was no way I wanted to be stuck in Saturday detention again.

"Only one problem." Dalby said quietly from the side "We'll have to go down C blocks main hallway, and run the chance of meeting Hyde there."

Belle met his eyes venomously. "Let's do it." She said, full of confidence.

Sometimes, you just had to admire that girl and her gusto.

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This is going to be a disaster. It was like a mantra running through my head. We'd been standing there discussing everything for a couple of minutes, and in those minutes Hyde could have already reached the library and found us missing.

"We're going to need a miracle for this to work." I muttered aloud, as Dalby and Henry crept around the corner to see if the coast was clear.

"Such little faith Holden?" Matilda said from behind me, and I turned to find her smirking at me.

"Well, yes." I replied bluntly, walking closer to her.

"Why would that be?" She asked, biting her lip and looking innocently up at me through her big eyes.

God she knew how to play a guy with every thing she had didn't she?

"Because" I said, lowering my lips to her ear and whispering into it "We've got Belle and Dalby leading the rescue mission, and they can't stand the sight of one another. Or they can, but they are playing some stupid game to avoid it. Kind of like you." I added, before stepping away just as Henry and Dalby returned.

Matilda looked curiously up at me as Dalby said "Right, we've got one shot. You see Hyde, you move in between the lockers as soon as you can. Got that?"

"Yes sir." Belle mock saluted him before rolling her eyes and strolling around the corner and down the hallway.

"So much for the stealth approach" Dalby muttered under his breath before following Belle. Cassie and Henry followed suit, which left Matilda and I standing awkwardly alone.

"Maybe we should…" I motioned as Matilda said "Oh right, yeah I think we should."

She walked a little ahead of me, turning around once and smiling strangely at me before looking ahead again.

Henry and Dalby were stalking down the hallway, their eyes darting between all entries in case Hyde's shadow appeared. Belle and Cassie were wandering down the hallway, lost in their own worlds, hardly caring about Hyde, knowing the boys would be there to save the day.

And Matilda, well, she was simply walking, and in doing so, had me completely entranced by every move she made.

I was beginning to be lost in the rhythmic stepping of her footsteps when suddenly Dalby scrambled to get Belle into a corner, and Henry had grabbed Cassie's hand and pulled her into a space between the lockers.

I didn't even stop to think about the consequences, within seconds I'd pulled Matilda into a tiny space to protect us from the looming threat of Hyde.

Only, I didn't realised our bodies would be melded together because of the lack of space. Or that her body would feel so damn good against mine. That bits would be touching in all the right (or wrong) places causing these sensations to shoot up and down my body.

And what I didn't really bank on was when I looked into her eyes, I saw the kind of raw want and desire that might have been reflected in mine. But even more than that, there was a need for affection, a need for love and for emotion.

My hand reached up to cup her chin and Matilda closed her eyes, rolling her head to the side and giving in to the feelings. Pushing her up against the locker, I leant down, preparing to kiss her, and her eyes remained closed, anticipating anything that was about to happen. My lips inched closer and closer to her own, I could feel her body tighten under mine as she pulled me closer, her hot breath was on my lips then…

"Lucas" Dalby whispered "You're right to come out now."

My head fell onto her shoulder as I groaned in pure annoyance. I felt, or knew she smiled as she pushed me back off her and created whatever space there could be between our bodies.

"We'll finish this later." She said quietly, looking away.

"Will we though?" I asked, as she shrugged and walked quickly out to join the others.

Damn females, always taking control of you.

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Matilda resurfaced first, as Lucas followed after her, a slightly harassed look on his face, as if we'd interrupted something of extreme importance. Matilda bounded along to where Cassie was, her smile a lot broader than Lucas' grim look.

Apparently something was going on there, I mused as we began to walk quickly towards the end of the corridor, unsure of whether Hyde was out of our way or not.

Once we reached the end, Henry and I peaked around the corners, checking the coast was clear. When I heard Henry let out a sigh of relief, I knew that Hyde had disappeared, and we had a matter of minutes before he reached the library.

I was about to open my mouth to tell everyone this, but Belle beat me to it. Kind of.

"Why did you shove me and pull me like that?" She yelled harshly, hitting my chest in anger. "I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."

"I know that." I replied exasperated with her, "But Hyde was coming and it was instinct to pull you to the side."

"Instinct?" She scoffed at me "Yeah right, you just had to go and play the hero didn't you?"

"Play the hero?" I asked, genuinely confused "What the hell are you talking about? I was saving my own butt, not yours, not any one else's. If anyone had got caught, we'd all have been in here again, and like I actually wanted to spend another Saturday in here…"

"With us." She finished quietly, turning away from me.

"With Hyde." I corrected her, as I walked over to her and placed my hands on her shoulders, spinning her to face me.

She looked up at me through her deep brown eyes, shimmering with tears that were threatening to spill. How we had wound up like this, I would never fully understand. But then again, a lot of the things that had happened today didn't exactly have an explanation, did they?

"Why would you save us, if spending a day with us wasn't that unbearable?" She asked, pleading with her eyes. I knew when she used the word us; it was code for me. All she was asking for was the truth, and how could I say no to her?

"Because spending another day with you, I don't want it to be like there, where Hyde lays into my every move, where he puts me down all the time. Belittles me infront of everyone." I said, pulling her closer to me and wrapping my arms around her.

"I'd want it to be just you and me." I finished gently, leaning down and kissing her softly on the lips, my arms tightening around her waist.

She pulled back eventually and smiled up at me, and through those dark eyes I could see forgiveness and acceptance and something a little like love. And for the first time in my life, my heart kinda swelled at the thought of having a girl like that in my life.

"This has been most touching." Henry said from behind us, snapping us out of our blissful state.

I turned around to find he and Lucas smirking at us, while Matilda and Cassie were looking happily at us, knowing that whatever had just happened, Belle would no longer be in the angry state she'd been since we'd left the roof top. I'd just been forgiven for all my sins.

"Yeah, touching, right." Lucas added "But we've gotta go. You know, the whole 'beating Hyde back to the library to avoid detention again' plan?" He asked, as I shook my head, laughing at his anxiousness.

"So let's get on with it," Belle said, rolling her eyes and sprinting towards the exit.

Some things never change, I thought as I followed her quickly.

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Too weird for words was just about the best way to describe the day we'd had. Dalby going all softy like, and making out with Belle Taylor infront of us was just the icing on the cake. But now we were down to the serious business of beating Hyde at his own game of cat and mouse, that he didn't exactly realise we were playing.

The bright sunlight blinded me momentarily as we escaped to the outside, I breathed in the fresh air, even though I'd had an hour up on the roof, the last ten minutes had made me miss the outside even more.

We were running so fast by this stage that when Dalby stopped, we all collided with one another, and ended up on the ground.

"Shit" Dalby swore aloud, kicking the brick wall next to him.

"And the reason for the sudden outburst oh sweet one?" Lucas asked, mocking him ever so slightly.

"Hyde" He replied angrily, as Lucas' jaw dropped in fear.

"What are we doing to do?" He asked, expecting Dalby to have all the answers.

"Like I know? Do I have to be the one who plans everything here?" He replied bitterly, obviously annoyed that no matter what we did, Hyde was still going to beat us back to the library.

"No, you don't" I said as I walked over and looked around the corner, where Hyde was clearly visible. "This ones all me. As soon as Hyde goes, you guys get yourselves back to that library, you hear?" I said as I ran out into the courtyard, hollering and screaming, attracting Hyde's attention immediately.

"Hey… HEY" He yelled out as I passed by him quickly "HENRY HUNTER GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

But it was too late, I was long gone, and Hyde was left to chase me down the hallways. Now we really were playing cat and mouse.

I'd been running for about two minutes when I slowed down to check behind me. Hyde was no where in sight so I leant against one of the lockers taking a few seconds to catch my breath. When I finally looked up, I jumped back against the lockers in shock.

Hyde was standing above me, a smile that could only be described as pure evil gracing his mad face. He leant down towards me and said spitefully "Well Mr. Hunter, you thought you could out run me, but it seems I'm fitter than you presumed me to be."

And I couldn't help it. The idea of Hyde being anything but a lazy slob was too much to take. I cracked up laughing, which brought Hyde's hand down as he yanked on my collar to force me to stand up.

"Do you find something amusing Mr. Hunter?" He said, getting right into my face.

"No sir." I managed to get out before laughing once more.

"We'll see how funny you think I am next week in detention. And for five weeks after that. How does that sound?" He spat towards me.

I shrugged my shoulders as he shoved me towards the library. "Now I know you couldn't be alone in this little escapade, so why don't you give up your companions and we can discuss your detention sentence?"

"I was in it alone sir." I replied, staying a pace behind him, not matching his eyes when he turned to stare at me.

We'd reached the library door by now, and I knew I'd enter to find everyone sitting in the seats we'd been in when Hyde walked out, showing no signs of the potentially life altering events that had occurred.

"Keep your secrets then." Hyde said as he pushed open the door "But you're mine for the next six weeks Mr. Hunter. Maybe during those days you can think about how you protected them when you're all alone in detention." He snarled before slamming the door shut behind him.

I looked up and grinned at everyone else, who began laughing with me.

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AN: Thanks to Katya for proofing :) That was more like the Breakfast Club, but how could I not have a chasing down the hallway scene? Thanks to all who reviewed, I hope you liked it.