CHAPTER 24: Teamwork Works
Our Friday and Saturday meeting actually pushed through. For the record, Rodrick didn't make me iced tea that Friday. Instead, he offered me expired orange juice—which I didn't drink, of course.
I continued making the presentation. On the other hand, Rodrick continued reading, while doing other stuff. Pretty sure that's why he was having a hard time finishing the book, which was, not to mention, already abridged. With less than a month to finish the entire project, I decided to help him finish it so that he can work on the presentation with me already.
The following week, we met everyday at the library after eating our lunch, and then at his house after school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I mostly helped him focus and avoid distractions. I wouldn't have done this before, but given the circumstances, I let him skip some chapters and summarized it for him. However, I made sure he read the important ones. Annoying jokes and side comments weren't avoided, though. As much as I wanted to punch his face sometimes, I had to keep up with him. Besides, I've already gotten used to his stubbornness and our frequent bickering. The good thing was that he was actually cooperating.
One thing I noticed was that after the party, he'd been a bit more committed to the project compared to how he was before. Oh, and speaking of the party, I still haven't asked Anne why she gave me the "iced tea". I never saw her at the lunch table ever since. Whenever I got there, my other friends would say that she just left. Odd, I know. Anyway, I didn't bother looking for her. The English project became my priority since it was the heaviest requirement so far.
Lately though, I couldn't help but notice the stares I've been getting from random people, especially when I'm with Rodrick. Some of them would look and then snicker; most would glance and then whisper stuff to each other. I didn't know why, but I had a hunch that it was because of me getting drunk at the party. Ugh. Regrets. I did my best to ignore them, reminding myself to focus on the project in order to finish it as soon as possible. In fact, I was so oblivious to the amount of time I've been spending with Rodrick. It hadn't occured to me until Matt brought it up that Friday when I got up from my seat after seeing Rodrick about to approach our table. We were meeting up to go to the library again.
"Have fun, you lovebirds," he said.
"What?"
"You and Rodrick. Lovebirds." He gestured to me and Rodrick (who was almost near) with his fork.
I immediately shook my head, while laughing it off. "Oh no, no, no. We're meeting for our project—just for our project."
"If you say so." Matt glanced at Mae and they both laughed quietly like they thought of the same inside joke.
I looked at Claire, whose facial expression was the one she wore whenever she teased me about Rodrick. Ethan was clueless. Olivia shrugged and kept reading her book, but I saw her hiding a smile. "That's ridiculous, you guys. What makes you think that we're…" I trailed off as I noticed that Rodrick was only about two feet away from our table. He would have heard everything I was about to say had I continued.
As he walked up to me he said, "Heyy Prescott."
"Look, you even have nicknames for each other. Aww." Matt joked.
"Huh? Nicknames?" Rodrick asked, confused and looking back and forth from Matt to me to everyone at the table.
"Nothing. Let's go." I responded, narrowing my eyes at my annoying friends. I tapped Rodrick's shoulder so he'd turn around already and stop trying to figure out what was happening.
We weren't far from the table yet when he leaned and whispered, "What were they talking about?"
"Ssshh! Nothing! Move away from me!" I swatted him away, worrying that people would see and think we're getting too close.
He followed what I said. "Woah, okay. Someone's a bit touchy today."
I sighed.
Anyway, Rodrick finally finished reading the book that night when we were at his house. I had to get startled to find out.
"AGH YES!" He threw the book on the floor, jumped off his bed, and raised his arms up in victory.
"Finally. After a million years, right?" I sat up while picking up my stuff from the bed.
"Ha ha, very funny."
I got up and started packing my things in my bag. "So tomorrow—"
"Woah, woah, woah. Tomorrow?"
"Come on, can we take a weekend break? I have band practice too."
"Okay, fine. But next week, can you please help me with the presentation already? We have to finalize everything."
"Yes ma'am." He yawned.
"Well, I better get going."
He went with me to the front door. Before he closed it, I reminded him, "Next week. Same schedule?"
"Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Yeah. Got it. Night." Then he shut the door.
Typical rude Rodrick.
The week after, I was so relieved that Rodrick and I didn't have to meet at the library again. I had more time to eat my lunch and catch up with my friends. Plus, I didn't have to deal with them, especially Matt, teasing me about Rodrick. I honestly didn't know what his problem was, but he's getting annoying. I secretly wished he'd always eat at his original lunch table with all his athlete friends. But alas, he was with us at least twice a week with Mae. Anyway, that Monday lunch, everyone was there—even Claire's boyfriend, who was finally back after being absent for three days last week due to fever—everyone except Anne.
"Have you seen Anne lately?" I asked Claire.
"Yeah. During class this morning."
"She's not eating here again?"
"Oh. She told me she has a lunch date today. Why are you asking, anyway?"
"Nothing. It's just that, I haven't gotten the chance to talk to her since the party."
"Why? Did anything happen between you two?"
I haven't told anyone about Anne giving me the drink that made me go nuts. And I thought that it wasn't the right time, even though I knew I could trust Claire. "No, nothing. Just wanted to ask how she is. Long time no chat with her, haha."
Anyway, about our English project, I was glad that Rodrick and I stuck to our MWF afternoon schedule. One, because I didn't have to deal with him every single day, knowing how irritating he is. And two, we were just given a History paper to be submitted by the end of the week. I could use my extra time to work on that.
On Monday afternoon, we worked at my house. My parents weren't home yet so we just stayed in the living room. I was expecting more cooperation from Rodrick since he had already finished reading. But whenever I asked his opinion about something for our presentation, he just went "Uh-huh" and "Yeah". It was like I never learned. He even turned on the TV without permission and kept browsing channels.
"I thought you'd help me finalize this," I said.
"I am helping you."
"No, you're not. You're just watching TV, making me do all the work."
"I answered all your questions already."
"You kept saying the same thing. Thought you promised to actually help."
This time, he didn't reply. I let out a sigh as I placed the laptop on the table in front of us. "I'm taking a break," I said, then I headed to the kitchen to get myself a drink. While I poured some orange juice for myself, I heard Rodrick yell out, "Hey, can you get me soda?"
Of course, I didn't.
I walked back to the living room, and noticed that Rodrick had stopped switching channels. He was watching a movie—one I didn't expect him to be even a bit interested in.
I sat down on the couch and settled my drink on the table beside my laptop. "Oh, Tangled's on!"
"Yeah."
"So you finally decided on what to watch, huh? And it's this amazing Disney princess movie."
He probably noticed the hint of sarcasm when I said that. "Uh, psh. No. I'm still looking." He extended his arm and was about to switch the channel again.
"No, don't switch!" I immediately stopped him when I realized what scene is coming up next. "This is my favorite part."
"What—the one where they're going to light up those lanterns and let them float in the sky while singing?"
I looked at him. I almost laughed seeing his face when he realized what he just said. Obviously, he had already watched this before. Of course he denied it when I asked.
When Rapunzel started singing, I directed my attention back to the TV. For some reason, this part always got me. It was the peak, the moment Rapunzel had been waiting for her whole life. Not to mention the way Flynn Rider, or Eugene, looked at her. The entire scene was not just romantic. It was magical. I don't know how many times I've seen this film, but it was enough to memorize the lyrics to almost all the songs, especially this one—I See The Light. I tried my best to not sing along especially since someone else was with me.
I casually leaned back on the couch. For a moment there was silence between me and Rodrick. Only the singing voices could be heard. However, when Rapunzel was just about to sing the chorus, I heard some humming, in a low volume—and if it wasn't me, who else could be doing it?
With a smile spreading across my face, I kept enjoying the rest of the scene while listening to Rodrick hum to the song. After a while, the humming stopped. I glanced at Rodrick, and he was already mouthing the lyrics. Deep inside, I was laughing so hard because, one, I never expected Rodrick to have seen the film, much less memorize the songs; and two, I admit... it was kinda cute.
He probably noticed that I was staring at him with a big grin on my face because he stopped. "What the hell are you smiling at?"
I shook my head. "Oh nothing... I just have a question, though. How many times have you seen this movie?"
"Huh? Not once. I don't watch movies like this, duh."
"Liar."
"I told you—"
"You memorize the lyrics, Rodrick."
"Okay, fine. Maybe twice... or more." He took the laptop from the table and started typing stuff, probably for the project. I couldn't help but chuckle. "Hey, don't judge me!"
"I'm not judging you. It's just... you have to stop being all tough and bad boy-ish. Sometimes having a soft side isn't that bad. And hey, at least we've found something in common. I love Tangled."
"First of all, I have an image to maintain, okay? And second of all, just because I've watched it, doesn't mean I love it, okay?" he replied in a defensive tone.
"Whatever you say."
Rodrick didn't make another sound even when the song had already finished.
I continued to watch, while Rodrick worked on the presentation—or at least I thought he was, because he was typing on my laptop. Consider me guilty for taking a long break, whatever. I haven't watched this film in months and I needed that break after Rodrick made me do 90% of the work. Though I've seen it countless times, I was so engrossed in the film that I didn't bother checking on what Rodrick was doing. In the back of my mind, I thought that he was possibly adding random stuff on our powerpoint. However, I ended up pushing those thoughts away.
Moments later, though, in my peripheral vision, I realized Rodrick was watching me, probably with the slightest smile on his face. I immediately looked at him to confirm if he was really staring at me like... like whatever that was. And yeah he was.
As soon as my eyes met his, he broke the stare and shifted uncomfortably. He cleared his throat and then noticed my drink on the table. "Oh you got me a drink!" After that, he leaned forward and reached for it.
"Hands off. That's mine," I said, slapping his hand, and then taking the glass of orange juice to drink from it. I went back to watching, trying to shrug off what just happened, because that absolutely didn't mean anything, right?
As I watched, I also tried to divide my attention between the movie and the project. That didn't work well in terms of productivity.
The next day was draining. And that continued 'til after school, because of the load of homework that we had to do. Remember how I had originally planned to work on my History paper? Well, that plan was ruined because our other teachers just had to give us Math and Science homework due the following day, Wednesday, and a one-page English paper due on Thursday. Just great.
Anyway, I was so tired that I took a nap as soon as I got home. I don't know how long I slept but it sure was recharging.
When I opened my eyes again, I was met by a big face staring at me. Fresh from dreamland and thinking there was some kind of nightmare ghost man about to eat my face, I screamed and almost hit my head on the wall.
It took a few seconds for me to realize that nothing was going to eat me. "OH MY GOSH, you freakin' scared me, Rodrick!" I leaned on the wall as I tried to steady my breathing. He was sitting on the computer chair, trying to hide laughter. Before he could respond, I added, "What the hell were you doing so close to my face?!"
His expression immediately changed as he scrambled for words, trying to explain. "There was, uh.. some dirt on your nose and hair, so..."
"And why are you in my room? How did you even get in here? I locked the front door."
"Your mom's there." He pointed towards the bedroom door with his thumb.
"Huh? What time is it?" I got up and headed to the door, opening it a bit to hear if somebody was indeed downstairs. True enough. I closed it again.
"Almost 6. She told me she got home early. And that you're in your room. So I went up here."
I turned back to look at Rodrick. "So what are you doing here? It's Tuesday. We have no meeting today."
"I came here to ask help for the Math homework."
"What?" I wasn't sure if I heard it correctly. After he repeated what he said, I realized it didn't make sense. Rodrick asking help for homework? Rodrick doing homework? "Someone pinch me. I think I'm having another bad dream." Rodrick reached out and pinched me on the shoulder. "Ow!" Okay, that pretty much confirmed that I was awake.
"You said pinch. Now can you help me with my homework?"
"No way—"
"Come on. Have you done yours?"
"Not yet."
"Then we can do it together! Teamwork, right?" He winked and smiled like an idiot as he tried to convince me.
"Pretty sure you're just gonna copy my answers, so no." I opened the door for him.
"I really need help. I don't get the—"
"Out."
"Fine." He heaved a sigh, and then walked slowly towards the door. "If I fail Math—"
"Then that would be your fault for not paying attention in class."
"Okay, whatever. I came here because I thought that maybe you can help me understand what was taught class." He had reached the space in front of me but didn't leave yet because he still had stuff to say, purposely spitting them so that I'd give in to his request. "Sucks if I fail. You know could have done something to help me pass, but whatever right?" He shrugged and stepped out of my room.
"Wait." I stopped him before he went downstairs. He turned around and waited for me to speak. I sighed. "Okay, I'll help you."
"Yes!"
"But on two conditions: don't copy any of my answers; and promise not to tell anyone about this 'teamwork' of ours. Got it?"
"Got it." He walked back inside my room with a victorious smile.
"I hate you, you know that?" I said while closing the door. Rodrick had a way with talking people into doing things; and I hated that I was about to do another thing in his favor. Well maybe this could be how I pay him for letting me know what happened when I got drunk.
"Yeah. I know."
And so Rodrick and I did our homework together that afternoon, seated beside each other on my desk (luckily I had an extra chair in the room). Turns out, he wasn't too bad with numbers. He solved the problems correctly almost right after I explained how they should be done. If he listened more in class and didn't always slack off, I bet he'd get better grades.
I had just finished mine while Rodrick was answering the last problem. I looked at him, some questions forming in my mind. I wondered why he was suddenly asking for help when school was one of his least priorities.
"What?" he said when he realized that I was looking at him and may be deep in thought.
"Nothing. Thought you didn't care about school, that's all. Then suddenly you're asking for help."
"My parents are gonna kill me if I don't pass," he said as he scribbled his final answer for the last problem. I don't know if he meant it. But I thought, yeah, just because one is acting all tough with an I-do-whatever-I-want-attitude, doesn't mean that he'd purposely want to fail in school. "There. Done!"
I took a look at it. "Yeah, I think that's right. You're not so bad at Math after all."
He shrugged. "Well, what can I say?"
I got up. "Oh, let me see… maybe: 'I should listen more often in class so I don't have to cross the street to April's house!' Right?" I sat on my bed after saying so.
He smirked. "Whatever." He took his papers and then tucked them safely within the Math book. After that he just sat there, and looked as if he was trying to remember something.
"Uh, we're done with Math. You may leave now."
"Don't we have another homework for tomorrow?"
"Yeah, Science. And I still have to do it so—"
"Right, Science! Well what are you waiting for? Let's do it now."
Was he seriously asking me to do another homework with him? "Who are you and what have you done with Rodrick Heffley?" I joked. "And what do you need help for in Science? All the answers are in the book!"
"I kinda left my book at school." He scratched his head.
I rolled my eyes, though I couldn't help but smile. "Ha, there's the Rodrick Heffley I know," I said. He shook his head, smirking again. "Not that I'm saying this is okay, but… you know what I mean." I took out my Science book, and handed it to him.
"One more thing," I said as I went back to my seat, "Can you at least be this hardworking whenever we do our English project?"
He didn't respond to that.
The following days were fast, as if time was also tired of everything and just wanted to skip all of it.
Wednesday afternoon was not productive for us. When I arrived at Rodrick's house, they were having band practice. Rodrick scheduled a band practice on a meeting day! I had to stop myself from yelling at Rodrick. Besides, he said he'd end the practice early. Oh, and he made me sit through their entire jam session. It was quite annoying because their music was just so loud and irritating. Halfway through, I found the nerve to get up and wait in their living room. So with that, we started late on the project, and ended after an hour or so because we still had homework to finish. That night I also started my History paper right after I was through with our English homework.
On Thursday he dragged me to the bleachers after Phys Ed, and explained what happened the day before. He said that the practice was supposed to be on Thursday and Saturday, but they had to move the Thursday one a day earlier because one of his bandmates couldn't be there. I told him it was fine, as long as we can get much work done by the end of the week. That afternoon, I had to finish my History paper, as well as another Math homework. Luckily, Rodrick didn't show up in front of my face again. I was able to finish early then.
On Friday, I went to Rodrick's house to continue our project. It was Greg who answered the door.
"Hey Greg. I'm here to meet Rodrick again," I told him.
"Yeah, I know." He opened the door wider so I could enter. I did. "He's in his room," he said after closing the door.
"Thanks."
He then walked past me and started going upstairs, to his room probably. I followed behind him, heading to Rodrick's room. Before he went into his room, he turned to me and said, "You two have been spending a lot of time together, you know?"
Another one of those observations which imply that something might be going on between us. I was getting quite tired of it, to be honest. "It's for our project," I replied.
"Right," he said in a skeptic tone as went back into his room.
When I reached the top of the stairs, I heard music. And I'm not talking about the noise that Löded Diper makes. It was someone playing a familiar song on the guitar.
I leaned my ear against the door to listen. There was music from the guitar and a voice. It seemed like Rodrick was practicing a song or something. He repeated the pattern a few times: strumming the guitar, singing a few words, and then stopping abruptly, frustrated that he couldn't get the singing right—because let's face it, he doesn't have the best singing voice. But without a doubt, he played the guitar really well. It was good to hear some real music coming from his room. I stayed there for a few more minutes 'til I realized that listening to Rodrick play a song wasn't what I came here for.
I knocked. There was no answer. I tried again, even calling his name out. Still no answer. Since the door wasn't locked, I just decided to go inside anyway.
Startled, Rodrick immediately stopped playing. He frantically set the guitar aside and got up from his bed. "Don't you know how to knock?!"
"I did knock—twice. I was even yelling your name."
He started to calm down as he walked back to his bed. "I didn't hear it." He sat on it, relaxing as he leaned against the wall.
"Yeah, you were too busy playing a song." I walked towards his bed so I can put my things there. "What's that for anyway?"
"None of your business." He took his guitar and started strumming very lightly. "Look, can we just get this over with?"
Sitting on the floor, I replied, "Okay, okay. I was just curious." I took my laptop and turned it on. "Why do you have to be so grumpy?" I mumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing." I opened the presentation and showed it to him. "I'm almost done with the PowerPoint. Just about a couple more slides."
He just responded with an "Uh-huh".
I sighed. "If you have no plans of actually helping me, I might as well go home."
"I am helping you."
"You haven't even looked at the presentation yet." I said. He didn't respond again. Do you know how hard it is communicating with this person? I got up with my laptop still on, took my things and started heading for the door. "Happy failing, Rodrick."
"Hey, wait, wait. Prescott, come on." He left his guitar back on his bed and rushed to block his bedroom door before I got there. "Wait a sec, okay? I'm gonna look at it." He took the laptop from me and walked back to his bed while going through the slides.
I turned around and watched him. "So what do you think?"
"My honest opinion?"
"Yeah, of course."
"This," he said, moving his right hand in circles over the the laptop, "is boring."
When he said that, I thought he was just being his lazy self again. "Rodrick, I'm asking for your serious, honest opinion—"
"No, I am being serious. People will be bored with this." He laid the laptop on the bed and then turned to me, pointing at the laptop. "I'd fall asleep while you present that."
"Okay, first of all, you always sleep." I walked past him and threw my bag on his bed. "Second of all, you had one entire week—no, actually more than a week—to tell me that you weren't okay with this!"
"It's not that I'm not okay with it. I'm just telling you what kind of response we'll get from everyone—"
"Why tell me just now when we're almost done with the entire thing?"
"Well you asked for my honest opinion, and here it is!"
"Now all my effort is wasted! Thanks a lot." I sank on his bed.
He shook his head. Both of us were getting stressed out already. "Did you even ask me what kind of presentation I'd prefer before you started with this?" I didn't reply immediately because I'd lose in that part of the argument. "You didn't. You just went along with your idea. So don't blame me."
"Would you have answered otherwise? Would you have contributed something sensible and substantial? No, I'd probably just get another "yeah, whatever" from you. And besides, you were too busy preparing for your stupid party when I started working on the presentation." I threw all those words back at him, reminding him that it wasn't entirely my fault.
His facial expression changed when I mentioned the party—from exasperation to probably some level of realization. "Right. Stupid," he mumbled and then sat down on the floor across me.
There was silence for a while, both of us just looking down at the floor. The change of atmosphere was enough to calm both of us down. "You know what? Arguing won't bring us anywhere," I said.
"Yeah."
"I admit. You have a point. There's nothing new with this kind of presentation."
"That's what I've been saying."
"Well, do you have any better ideas?"
He shrugged. "Still thinking."
After a while, he suddenly jumped up from the floor as if he had a lightbulb moment. "Why don't we make a video?" he said excitedly.
"Huh?"
"A video," he repeated slowly, and then proceeded to explain his entire idea. He talked about how both of us could use contents from the presentation I made to reenact and discuss what happened in the book. It's going to be something like an educational short film, I guess?
"I don't know. That's so embarrassing," I said.
"Look, I'm trying to contribute something here, and it seems like you won't let me... Do you wanna wow the class or not?"
His idea was interesting, different, and pretty good, actually; but I was iffy because I didn't want the entire class to see me act and do whatever. I honestly had no idea how I'd be able to pull it off. But if Rodrick thought it could keep him awake if it was shown in class, then it might just work with everyone else. And this was one of the rare moments wherein Rodrick was pitching something that made sense. I guess it's better not to let that moment pass.
"Okay, we have 2 weeks to do your idea. Just promise you won't let me do all the work," I replied.
"Duh, it's my idea. Of course, I won't."
"So what do we need?" I started pacing across the room, counting on my fingers the things we would probably need. "Props, costumes. Oh, we still have to edit the video. Oh my, I hope we don't end up cramming—"
Rodrick probably noticed that I was already half-panicking because we sort of had to start from scratch and finish everything within two weeks. He stopped me from walking around, his hands on both of my shoulders. "Calm down. We got this, okay? Improvise."
He let go and I heaved a sigh. "Right. Improvise."
Rodrick and I planned everything that we had to do so that we could finish filming in one week—and that plan included having to meet everyday. That same afternoon, 'til evening, we finished writing the script which was based on the content of our PowerPoint. Well, at least not all my effort was put to waste.
The following morning, Saturday, Rodrick and I met up and went to the mall to buy the materials we needed. We finished early and even ate lunch together before going back home. Unfortunately, we couldn't prepare the costumes and materials that same day because Rodrick had band practice. So we started the Monday after that, and then finished on Wednesday. I have to admit, those afternoons of making the costumes and props with him were fun. He made lots of impressions, still kept annoying me with stupid jokes, and we still argued about petty things at times, but I was glad to see that there was more effort on his part. He was really enthusiastic about his idea.
That Tuesday, I skipped lunch with the girls to do my homework in the library, since I had little time after class due to our preparations for the presentation. I also tried memorizing what I had to say in our video.
Out of the blue, Rodrick appeared beside me. "Hey," he whispered.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Got you a sandwich." He put it on the table and pushed it towards me. Somehow he was able to sneak it into the library.
I tried to push it back to him. "What are you doing? Food's not allowed here!" I said quietly.
"Yeah, I know. But they won't find out so it's okay… Don't squish the sandwich! You should eat."
I stopped trying to give it back to him. "How do you know I haven't had lunch yet?"
"You weren't at your table the entire time, duh. Now eat, unless you wanna die of hunger."
I couldn't help but smile while removing half of the wrapper, and then taking a bite, trying to keep it as hidden as I could. Rodrick also grinned, almost laughing while I tried to be an inconspicuous student who's eating in a place we weren't allowed to eat.
Wednesday lunch was similar, except that Rodrick and I were sitting on one of the bleachers at the open field. We just ate and kept re-reading our script. It was a bit windy so when one of our papers flew by, we had to chase it down the bleachers. Good thing Rodrick had long arms.
Thursday came by and I knew we were ready to shoot that afternoon. That time I had lunch at our table. Nothing changed after not eating with them for two days. Everyone was there except for Anne. After Matt and Ethan left earlier to catch up on some requirements, Claire asked me how our English project was going.
I answered, "Pretty well. Just some more things to do. How about you guys?"
"We're almost done too," Claire said.
"Looks like things between you and Rodrick have been smooth these past weeks, huh?" Mae said, directing the statement to me, obviously.
"Well, yeah. I mean, we still argue and hate each other and all. But he's been cooperating more, which is good, compared to how he was before the party," I told her.
"You guys have been spending lots of time together," Olivia said.
"Yeah. You sure nothing's developing between you two?" Claire added.
"What? No. It's all for the project, guys. Trust me. How many times do I have to tell you?" My reply probably came out sounding more irritated than I intended it to be.
"Just an observation." Olivia shrugged.
"That almost-kiss must have meant something," Mae muttered. I almost didn't hear it.
"What?"
"The almost-kiss," she repeated.
"Almost-kiss? What almost-kiss?" I had no idea what she was talking about. Claire and Olivia also seemed confused.
Mae scanned our faces in disbelief. "You don't know this, April?" I shook my head. Mae continued, "I thought you asked Rodrick to tell you the whole story at the party?"
"I did."
"Did he tell you about the truth or dare?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did… Wait, what's your version?" I asked.
Mae told me what happened, or what she could remember at least. Every detail seemed to match until that part where Rodrick was dared to kiss me and I passed out on his shoulder. I was in shock, and so was Claire. Olivia tried to hide her laughter after hearing that I passed out when we almost kissed. I didn't remember hearing these tiny but important details from him. "Are you serious? He told me he had to eat a tablespoon of hot sauce."
"Yeah, yeah I am. You can even ask Matt about it. He was the one who gave that dare."
"Oh my gosh." I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that that happened, and that Rodrick has kept that from me for almost three weeks already! That incident was probably why people stared at me whenever I met up with Rodrick, why Matt babbled about Rodrick and I being lovebirds, which I thought was a sarcastic joke.
I was angry at him for lying about what happened, but for some reason I didn't 'explode'. I sort of trust him already, after the amount of time we've been spending together for the past few weeks. But finding out about this was disappointing. It was like that trust was partly broken again. Knowing better than to be overly dramatic about this, I still met up with him that afternoon and the following days, forcing myself to act like everything was normal and okay. I didn't mention a single thing about the party and the dare. Ask me why, and I'd say that it would have hindered our productivity; but honestly, I was really just testing the waters and convincing myself that maybe he was planning to tell me about it anyway.
Well, that hadn't happened yet.
But the big question I've been pondering on is: Why did he have to keep it a secret from me?