Puppets on a string

THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT US

Next day when I was going to college, I felt a little weird. I could feel that something weird was going to happen. As I reached the college, I saw Vinnie standing there as if waiting for someone. As soon as she saw me she sprinted towards me with a big grin on her face.

"B*tch, why didn't you tell me about it. We are supposed to be best friends" She said while giving me a fake angry look.

" What are you talking about Vinnie?" I said with a confused look on my face.

" Wow! You are still hiding it from me. You don't have to pretend anymore now. I know everything" She said with a stupid wide grin on her face.

" Seriously Vinnie, I have no idea what are you talking about" I said back but I kind of knew in my heart, I was just hoping that she was talking about something else.

" About you and Samuel." I know about it.

Sh*t! How did she find out? I am fine with Vinnie knowing it.

" Sorry Vinnie. I wanted to tell you but Samuel and I agreed to keep our relationship secret for a while. We wanted to spend some time with each other. We haven't known each other for that long. I hope you understand. I am really sorry" I said apologetically to her

" It's okay. I am forgiving you this time. But I won't be this lenient again" She said pulling me into hug. I hugged her back.

" But how did you find out?" I asked her curiously. Did Vicky tell everyone ? But she f*cking promised.

" Robert saw you yesterday outside college and holding hands. He said that you guys were looking really lovey dovey smiling at each other " She said teasingly nudging me a little on my shoulder.

I blushed giving her an awkward laugh.

We should have been more careful.

" Who else knows?" I asked her again. I hope it's only her

" Everyone knows Ash. Robert basically announced it to the whole college this morning. He has been telling this to everyone he met today"

That b*st*rd. If he saw us, he could have kept his mouth shut and asked us about it. But no. He had to go around telling people about our personal life.

But now we can't do anything, can we? Everyone knows and now there is no point in lying.

" So, are you guys in love?" She asked with a teasing smile on her face again. I blushed again.

" Yes Vinnie" I said with an awkward face.

" He confessed to me when he asked me to be his girlfriend. I just realized about my feelings for him yesterday. So, I confessed too" I replied

" Aww. I am so happy for you girl" She said giving me a side hug.

I started feeling nervous now. How is everyone else going to react? They are going to tease the sh*t out of me.

I sighed preparing myself for all the teasing and entered the classroom.

As I entered, everyone turned to look at me as I am a celebrity.

"Ooooohhh!" I heard everyone hooting while looking at me.

Ahh! Why is it always me who has to face embarrassment?

I tried my best to be confident as I walked further into the class ignoring everyone's teasing look. Then I saw my other friends sitting at the back of the class waiting for me to reach them. I also saw Samuel sitting in between them looking at me apologetically and with a 'help me' look in his eyes. I could sense that everyone was teasing him too.

I also saw Robert looking at me smirking from the other corner of the classroom. I gave him an angry look and turned my back towards him and facing towards my friends. I will deal with him later.

"Samuel look your girlfriend is here" Jennie said teasingly and pushed me a little towards him.

I stumbled a little but Samuel grabbed me preventing me to fall.

I was about to reply when professor entered the class making everyone quiet. Thankyou Jesus.

Samuel sat next to me and everyone else also found a seat for themselves. Everyone was giving us teasing looks but there was only one person who was looking a little confused and lost. Vincent. He must be feeling like I lied to him about my feelings. But he doesn't feel the same, so it must be fine with him. Right? But somewhere in my heart I also knew that it must have been awkward and confusing for him. I would have been confused if it happened to him. Now I was feeling guilty.

When the class finished, we noticed an empty classroom and decided to spend the break there. And then the real questions began. It was only Jennie, Vicky, Ralph, Vincent, Sophie, Samuel and I. Vinnie had her literature class.

" How long has it been going on?"

" Why did you hide it from us?"

"You guys are great actors. You didn't behave like lovers in front of us. If Robert didn't see you, we would have never guessed it"

Everyone was saying these stuff simultaneously without even waiting for our answer. I couldn't even understand who was saying what.

"Why aren't you saying anything Vicky?" Jennie asked looking at her questioningly.

Vicky looked at me and then others but didn't say anything.

"You b*tch, you knew it didn't you?" Sophie said hitting Vicky on her arm a little.

"Sorry guys, I promised them that I won't reveal their secret to anyone" Vicky sighed

"But I am supposed to be your best friend " Jennie said pouting.

"I am sorry Jen" Vicky said

"It's not her fault guys. Don't say anything to her. If you wanna say anything then talk to me" I said giving Vicky a smile. She looked back at me thankfully.

It's not her fault that everybody found out. She tried her best. I owe her.

"Fine, then you tell us why did you hide it from us?" Sophie asked

"Yes, we want to know Ash. You too Samuel. You both are equally guilty" Jennie said not letting me reply.

They again started throwing questions at me.

"Shut up guys, atleast let them answer" Ralph said whom I find the only sensible one in the group.

" Thankyou Ralph" I said giving him a thankful smile. He smiled back and asked me to continue.

Then Samuel and I narrated our whole story to them excluding the kiss part obviously. I also told them about the reasons of hiding our relationship to them.

As soon as I finished, everyone was surprisingly understanding and they all congratulated us.

" I don't think that they are dating " I heard a voice which has been silent since the morning. It was Vincent. But why would he think that we are not dating.

"I think they both are lying. I don't believe that they would be in a relationship " He continued looking at us with a blank yet confident face.

" Why would we lie Vincent? What would we get by lying?" Samuel asked looking at him with questioning looks. I also looked at him questioningly. What does he want to say?

" I don't know. Ash and I are good friends and I know her very well. I just feel like you guys are lying" He said again and looked at me with hopeful eyes. What? Why is he looking at me like this ?

" Yes we are good friends Vin. But why would I lie about dating Sam? Whatever you said just doesn't make any sense" I said back.

While we were bickering, others were looking at us with curious eyes getting back and forth.

" Yes Vin. Why would they lie ? Noone here understands what are you talking about" Ralph intervened.

" I don't know. I just feel like they are lying. If they are speaking the truth then tell them to kiss in front of us " He said suddenly making my eyes go wide as if my eyeballs would come out any second. No way I am kissing in front of others. As I said, I am very private and shy person.

"No" I said suddenly making everyone look at me.

"I am not kissing my boyfriend in front of others. I am a private person and I would like to keep our every intimacy moment private between us. I am not a big fan of PDA. And if you don't believe in our relationship then it's your problem. I don't need to prove anything to anyone" I said looking at him angrily.

I don't have any problems with other people kissing in front of me. I am a very open minded person but I don't want to do it myself. I am very romantic person but I prefer to keep our romantic moments between us.

"Okay. We trust you but I would like to see you guys kiss" Jennie squeaked excitedly as if she has never seen people kiss before. Heck everyone around us had been in a relationship. Most of them are not Virgin. I think I am the only virgin in our group.

"No Jennie. Don't behave like a kid. It's not like you haven't seen anyone kiss before. I am not kissing him in front of others " I said

"Yes, I agree with Ashley. We don't have to prove anything to anyone. We would like to keep our personal life private" Samuel said supporting me while holding my hand.

I smiled looking at him. He is perfect.

"Yes, don't force them guys" Ralph also said giving me a reassuring smile.

"No, I would like to see the kiss" Jennie said pouting. She truly is a kid.

" If you guys are so sure about your relationship and feeling then why don't you kiss. Yes we have seen people kiss before so it's nothing new to us. Just kiss and it will be fine. It is not a big deal" Vincent forced us. I could see the desperation in his eyes, trying to prove us wrong.

" Ashley is not comfortable in kissing in front of others and I am not going to do anything which will make her uncomfortable " Samuel said making me proud of my boyfriend. I am lucky to have him.

"C'mon Ash. It's not a big deal. You are the one who is behaving like a kid. Just kiss him and then we won't say anything" Jennie intervened.

What is wrong with these people? Can't they see that they are making us uncomfortable.

I guess I just have to do it and let this go now. I don't want to exaggerate this argument anymore.

"Fine" I sighed making Samuel's eyes go wide.

"Ash, Are you sure about this?" Samuel asked looking at me worriedly.

" Yes, but it would just be a peck. Nothing more than that" I said looking at others.

"Fine. Just a peck" Jennie and Vincent agrees.

I sighed and turned towards who was still looking unsure. I gave him a reassuring smile which made him relax a little. I hope he just do it quickly and make everyone leave us alone.

Samuel leaned down, held my face in his hands and quickly pecked my lips and backed away immediately.

Everyone started hooting and clapping making me blush. I looked at Samuel and he was blushing more than me. He looked so good with a red face.

I looked at Vincent and I could see the hurt in his eyes. He looked defeated. I could also sense Jealousy in his eyes. He tried to smile a little but failed. He just turned around and left the classroom.

He can't be serious right now. What the f*ck? He is the one who didn't like me back. Well I was also confused about my feelings. But still he doesn't have any right to feel jealous right now. He is the one who basically 'rejected' me. I sighed again. I just hope they don't tell everyone about our kiss.

Soon it was time for our next class and we all left. After college, Sam and I were standing in basketball court talking when we saw Robert there. I was really angry. He needs to learn how to respect someone's privacy.

"Hey Robert" I said approaching him with Samuel following behind

"Hey guys" He said smiling as if he was expecting us

"Why did you f*cking do it?" I asked him trying my best to calm myself.

"I just told everyone what I saw" He shrugged. I really wanted to punch him on his stupid face. But Samuel held my hand and squeezed a little which calmed me a little. Is he a magician or something?

"You should have talked to us about it first Robert. You can't just go around talking about our private life to others. There was a reason we hid it from others " Samuel said.

"I am sorry guys. I didn't know that you wanted to hide it" He replied not looking apologetic at all.

"It's common sense Robert. You saw us a little far away from college. We were staying away from each other in college. Obviously You must have understood it. But no. You had to open up that stupid mouth of yours. If you did it on purpose then accept it. Don't try to act all innocent in front of us. I would appreciate the honesty more" I replied back this time calmly

"I am sorry. I really didn't know that you wanted to hide it. But it's not a big deal. You both are adults and one day everyone was supposed to find out" He said again.

Well he is right too. Maybe I was overreacting. But it's us who needs to decide when to tell others.

"The decision is not yours to make Robert. It's our life, not yours" I said with a disappointed look.

"I am really sorry Ash " He said again. This time I could see the guilt in his eyes.

"It's okay. We can't do anything now. Just please ask us before if you see anything" I said back giving him a little smile.

"I promise, I will".

Soon we all left for our homes. Today was a weird day.