Next To You

There Are Always Reasons

"Can you believe this?"

The three seniors that had made it a daily routine to terrorize Tristan were watching him from across the cafeteria. He was sitting with Eoin and some other members of the basketball team. They didn't like it one bit.

"How did he get upperclassmen on his side anyway?"

"You know who it was? That girl from the library."

"Guys, she's not here anymore, so what's really stopping us?"

They approached their table, one of them flicked Tristan in the head. One of them tried to push his face into his lunch tray.

Eoin stood up angrily, "what are you doing? Leave him alone!"

"What are you going to do about it?" One of them got in Eoin's face and stared him down.

It looked like he was getting ready to fight, and Tristan didn't want to see him get in trouble, at least not on his account, Heather wouldn't like it. He pulled Eoin away.

"I'm not worth getting yourself in trouble for, please don't fight with those guys," Tristan nudged him away.

"Well I'm not going to let them get away with that crap," Eoin protested.

Tierney had slipped away and found vice principal Chapman patrolling the halls. They walked in right before Tristan pulled Eoin away from the seniors.

"Heather Shannon warned me about this, but I couldn't do anything unless I saw proof of it myself. You three! In my office this instant!" Chapman shouted to them.

They walked out in a single file line with their heads down. Eoin looked relieved and rubbed his face thoughtfully.

"You were really going to fight those guys, weren't you?" Tristan couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, I couldn't just stand by and do nothing, I suppose that's something I picked up from Heather. Besides, you're one of her best friends, I'm always going to look out for you. Hey Tierney, thanks for finding Chapman," he said as he turned to his friend.

"No problem. I'm not sure I could've done it if Connor and Devon hadn't distracted the others though," Tierney smiled sheepishly.

Connor and Devon nodded, "hey Gallagher, how long have those guys been bothering you?"

"Since my first day here, and every day since then. Aren't you all jocks?" Tristan asked hesitantly.

"We play sports, so I guess that makes us jocks. Why?" Connor replied.

"Nothing, just... Thanks for your help," Tristan smiled timidly, then the bell rang to end lunch.

As Tristan showed up for tutoring after school, he was still thinking about what happened at lunch. The type of guys that had always bullied him before were now the ones helping him, he was stunned by the sudden twist, but he was confident he would no longer be the victim.

Sarah was waiting for him in the library, there was something different about her, but he played it off, "hey nerd, let's do this thing."

She smiled and shook her head, "you're late, Gallagher."

"I know, I'm sorry, but only a little bit, I'm on the verge of getting a band together," he had a hint of excitement in his usual brooding demeanor.

Sarah was glad to see he was finally making friends. They sat down at a table, then she pulled some textbooks and notes out. Tristan examined her appearance when she wasn't looking at him. She had her hair in a messy pony tail, which she usually did, then he saw she wasn't wearing glasses.

"You wearing contacts today?" He asked suddenly.

She nodded, "yeah, I don't like wearing them, but I accidentally broke my glasses, I have to wear these until I can replace them." She glanced up at him and caught him staring at her, "what are you staring at?"

"You actually have a really attractive face, but it's hard to get a good look at it with all that hair. Have you ever thought about cutting it short?" He asked bluntly.

She blushed, "n-no... We should focus on your studying right now."

He smirked and playfully poked her forehead, then turned to his schoolwork. Sarah peeked at him from behind her textbook, trying to hide the deep blush on her face. There was a strange feeling that had passed between them, but she couldn't place it.

Heather sat down for lunch in the dining hall. It was an immaculate room with vaulted ceilings and skylights, with long mahogany tables that ran the length of it. She saw Willamina sitting on an end, all by herself. She felt like it was a good chance to try getting to know her better.

"Hello Willamina, mind if I sit here?" Heather sat down just as she was starting to tell her to go away. "Nice day, isn't it?"

Willamina said nothing, just sat quietly and ate her salad. She didn't understand why Heather was being so friendly with her. She wasn't about to be sucked in though.

Heather contemplated ways she could possibly get Willamina to open up to her. She was definitely a tough one to c***k.

"So, what do you do for fun around here?" Heather persisted cheerfully.

Willamina rolled her eyes, "why don't you bother someone else? Go ask Ms. Voss or someone."

She gathered her lunch things and left. Heather saw the way boys looked at her. It made sense for them to be attracted to her, but why was she so cold to everyone? It was a mystery she was determined to solve.

After classes that day, she received a call from her grandmother. She wanted to schedule a video conference between them. Her grandparents wanted to talk to her about something important.

She turned on her laptop and logged on, dreading what they had to say. Her grandparents showed up on her screen, and whatever it was, it was important, if they couldn't wait until they were face to face with her.

Heather folded her arms, preparing herself, "what is it now?"

"Don't you take that tone with us young lady, Ferguson, you're up," Fiona gestured.

Ferguson cleared his throat, "it seems you've been thriving in your new environment, Heather. I have something I'd like you to do. We're opening another corporate office, about five minutes from your school. Since you'll be running everything before too long, I'd like you, and Gregory, to get used to working together, by running the new office."

Heather felt rage, "um, I'm sorry, what was that? I think I'm losing my connection..."

She quickly closed the program and slammed her laptop shut. She rested her head on her desk and groaned, of course her grandparents were going to pull that on her. Heather didn't understand how they couldn't see what a horrible person Gregory was.

A few minutes later, her phone rang. Her grandmother was calling her. She couldn't ignore and lie about her phone being dead, because it was already ringing.

"Yes?" She answered.

"I'm not going to play this childish game with you, Heather. Starting tomorrow afternoon, you and Gregory are going to be running that office. Or do I need to come and tell you in person?" Fiona warned.

Heather really didn't want to be lectured again, "fine, but don't expect anything to come out of it."

She ended the conversation, feeling even more frustrated than before. Studying was impossible to accomplish when her mind was full of negativity. She decided to check her email and was surprised to have emails from even more people at North Ridge. She guessed Mya had something to do with it, but it still made her day.

She realized that she hadn't been just another person in the background. More people cared about her than she originally thought. It was a good feeling to know she had actually contributed to people's lives and that she was missed.

After two weeks, she found herself in the music hall. For some odd reason, she remembered the song she and Tristan used to sing together as children. She started fiddling with the piano keys until she got the notes right. Before she realized it, she had made a whole new song out of it.

Willamina startled her as she approached her, "did you write that?"

Heather caught her breath, then smiled, "some of it, but an old friend of mine wrote the original version of it, we were kids at the time, and his songwriting has gotten a lot better since then. I only wish I could've been around to see him grow more as a musician."

"He sounds like a passionate person," Willamina was obviously forcing herself to talk to Heather.

"He is, sometimes too passionate for his own good, he's a bit of a hothead," Heather laughed.

"Sorry if I interrupted you," Willamina fiddled with the fringe of the piano cover.

"It's okay. What brings you here at this time?"

"I actually came in here to play some music, and then I heard you playing and singing," Willamina cautiously stepped closer in her direction.

"Oh, I'm finished if you need it now," Heather glanced down at her watch and sighed, "I have to get going anyway."

Willamina gave her a questioning look, "I'm not going to kick you out, you can stay if you want to, or whatever. I don't care what you do."

Heather smirked, "I used to be just like that, seriously. I get it. You act like you don't care about anything, but deep down, you're just like everyone else; human. They call you Ice Queen, did you know that? You work so hard to keep people away from you, but one day, someone will come along and change all that, whether you like it or not. The walls you've built, they'll climb them, tear them down a hundred times over, just to be close to you."

Willamina stared her down, "no one would do that for me. I don't need people, they serve me no purpose."

Heather scoffed and shook her head, "been there, done that. I may not know your reasons for shutting people out, but I know there are reasons. I just hope you come to terms with them before you find out you wasted your life avoiding others."

"Who in hell do you think you are? What right do you have to lecture me like that? You don't know me. You don't know that I am avoiding people. Listen herr you little twit; my reasons are, I have better things to do than worry about what people think of me. I was brought into this world by people who have always put their vanity and comfort before anything else, made an empire out of it. The world is shallow and cruel, if you don't look out for yourself, you fall flat on your face, and the world relishes in your failures and setbacks. You can't trust anyone. I don't care what pathetic, sappy little town you came from, but I live in the real world, and it's an ugly place."

Heather was stunned, for a moment, but as she mulled over Willamina's words, she let out a sigh, "you know what's pathetic? Your narrow-minded, cynical perspective. There's a lot more to the world than what you've described. I'm not telling you what you said is wrong, because I have experienced this cruelty and shallowness, but I've also experienced the sweeter, purer side of it, which makes up for all the hurt and disappointment."

Heather decided it was time to leave. She hoped Willamina would think about it and come to her senses. As she walked out of the music hall, she found Serenity waiting outside the door for her.

She smirked as she walked her to the limo, "that was some intense psychology, Ms. Heather, but it seems like it was just what she needed to hear."

"Ms. Logan, is eavesdropping the only real reason why you're even here?" Heather asked irritably.

Serenity just smiled and opened the door for her. Gregory came strolling out shortly after and got in the car with her. He had the same smug look he always had.

"Having another rough day, Ms. O'Reilly?" He teased. "Anything I can do to relieve your stress?"

Heather rolled her eyes and avoided looking at him, "just leave me alone."

He chuckled, "I've always admired your sass. What I don't understand is why you keep resisting me."

"Because you're disgusting and I don't like you," she stated plainly.

He grinned and draped his arms along the back of the seat, "you're mistaken, I just know what women like. You deny it now, but I'll have you yet, Heather O'Reilly, mark my words."

She cringed and sat as far away as she could from him. She wished her grandparents could see how he acted towards her. Even if they did though, she wasn't sure they would even pay much mind to it. Especially how he had been at the masked ball. They hadn't done a thing about it. Eoin was the only one who could see what was going on and helped her.

At the thought of Eoin, she felt lonely for him. She missed his smile and his kind words. All the things he had done for her that she had unintentionally taken for granted, it made everything that much harder.

She pulled out her phone and typed another email to him, hoping he would answer quickly and make her feel better. Her email was read, but no reply came.

Eoin lied awake in his bed that night, frustrated with himself. He had seen her email, but was unable to write her back. He looked down at his arm and glared at it. He had played an overly aggressive game of basketball with his friends and ended up injuring his hand and forearm by falling awkwardly on it. He couldn't write or type an answer to her, and his number was still blocked from her phone.

He wanted to call her from his house phone, but his mother had been using it for work. He groaned and buried his face into his pillow, he had to talk to her.

He got up and walked down the hall to Tara's room, knocking on her door repeatedly, "Tara, are you awake?"

He heard her muttering and shuffling across her bedroom floor. She opened the door and groggily scowled at him, "what do you want?"

"Could I please use your phone? I need to call Heather," he pleaded.

"It's dead, I'm charging it," Tara answered, annoyed, "that's seriously why you woke me up?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. But since you're up, would you do me a solid and email her for me?" He got on his knees and grabbed her hand, "please?"

Tara pulled her hand away and groaned, "fine, but this better not take too long."

"I promise it won't. I just know she needs cheering up, that's all I want to do," he glared down at his arm again as he tried to get off the floor and failed. He smiled sheepishly, "could you also help me up?"

"You're so ridiculous," Tara shook her head and struggled to help him to his feet.

It was an awkward feat, with Eoin being as tall as he was and weighing a lot more than her, but she managed to help him up and back into his bedroom. He dictated the message while she typed it.

Before she sent it, she turned to him, "why don't you just tell her what happened to you?"

"Because the point is to make her feel better, not give her something else to worry about. Just send it Tara, please and thank you," Eoin pressed.

"Alright, alright. Sheesh," she sent the email, then got up to leave, "do you need anything else? Because I'd love to actually get some sleep before I have to get up for school."

"No, but thank you so much, I owe you one."

She looked over at him, his hand and arm bandaged up, resting in a sling, it was pitiful, "whatever, just don't mention it."

He agreed, then went back to bed. Tara closed his door and returned her room, smiling to herself. She missed Heather as well. She would've prevented Eoin from getting hurt somehow. She felt bad for him, but at the same time, she knew it was only because he was being an i***t, like usual. Though she had to give him credit for the things he did to be with Heather, that much had changed in him ever since the two had met. After everything, he still had the same stupid smile and the same ridiculously positive attitude.

It was summer break now. Tristan had gotten a job at the small vintage music store in town. He had gotten his license and was saving up for a motorcycle. He had discovered that most of the guys in North Ridge, that were his age, all had licenses and some type of vehicle of their own. Even the ones who had started a band with him. One of them had just fixed up a van and claimed it was their ticket to fame, so they could play gigs, though they hadn't found anyone who was willing to give them a chance yet.

Eoin came in to see him, still wearing a cast on his arm, but seemed to be able to do more for himself by then. They had been hanging out a lot since Heather had left, and somehow, it had become a strange friendship. Both of them loved Heather, but they respected each other.

Eoin had come in regards to their search for the one who revealed Heather's secret, "still nothing I'm afraid."

Mya had just walked in, "I think I've hit a dead end on this one guys, but I'll keep trying anyway."

They heard the sound of something being dropped from across the store. They all looked over and saw Kevin picking up a bin of cassette tapes. Eoin walked over to him.

"I just saw you at the diner, when did you get here?" He found it odd, "are you following me?"

Kevin kept his eyes on the tapes he was picking up, "n-no, of course not, don't be silly."

Eoin knelt down and helped him pick up the tapes with his good hand. Their hands bumped each other and Kevin turned a deep shade of crimson as he hopped back and grabbed his hand like it had been burned.

"Okay! I am following you! Please don't hurt me..." He trailed off as he covered his face.

Eoin held in a laugh and glanced over at Mya, then back at Kevin, "why on earth would I do something like that? I am curious though, about your reason for following me."

Kevin peeked through his fingers, then let his hands drop with a sigh, "I can't lie to that face... It was me."

Eoin looked puzzled at first, then frowned when he realized what he meant, "you told Heather's secret? Why?"

He stood up and quickly pulled Kevin to his feet, Kevin gasped at the sudden physical contact, "well, you see, I've had my suspicions for a while about who she was, then I found out by accident. I never had the intention to expose her... Until that guy called me."

Eoin's face turned serious, "what guy?"

"I don't know who he is, I've never even seen him. Somehow he got my number, called me, wanted me to do things for him. I'm not comfortable saying what he bribed me with..." Kevin started to explain.

"What things did he want you to do?" Mya asked in alarm.

"Get Heather's school record, sabotage her relationship with you. He seemed to know exactly how you two would react to different things, the conflict with Lea, those pictures of Heather and Tristan, I was behind those too. I'm really sorry, I had no idea what was going to happen," Kevin cried, completely ashamed once he realized the full effect of what he had done. "He made another deal with me to keep an eye on Eoin as well."

They were all too shocked to say anything. No one expected it to be someone who worked so closely with Heather for so long. Mya became angry when it fully registered with her.

"You deceitful little weasel! I have to spend my senior year without my best friend because of what you did!" She stormed up to him and stabbed her finger into his chest, "you are going to arrange a meeting with this guy, and we are going to end this, once and for all."

Kevin nodded nervously. Eoin and Tristan had no idea how scary an angry Mya could be before. Now they hoped they'd never be the reason for her wrath. They were glad though to finally get some answers.

As Eoin and Mya walked down the street together, he came to a stop and hung his head, "we're thinking of the same person, aren't we?"

Mya stopped and turned to face him, "yeah. We need to figure out what we're going to do next if indeed it's actually him."

Eoin rubbed his casted arm, wanting nothing more than to punch the guy in the face, but he knew he had to be smart about it if he was going to make any real difference.

"We should tell her grandparents," he finally said. "Even if they don't do anything about it, at least we tried."

Mya nodded, "agreed. I'll see you later then."

They parted ways, anxious about what they might find out. Kevin tried calling the number, but it had been disconnected. Whoever it was, knew how to cover his tracks, but they weren't going to give up that easily. They only knew of one person who was capable of manipulating people so deviously, and still manage to appear uninvolved and charming to everyone else.