Thou Shall Not Touch Him(But I Did)

Episode 2

“Noah! Where were you?” Ava asked, frowning.

I hadn’t replied to Ava’s text message that night, I knew she would be pissed off but I had planned to apologize when I saw her in person but she wouldn’t give me a chance as she kept on blabbering on and on.

“I know this must have been because of that new boy, Ethan. Ever since he transferred into Northbridge High—you changed. You cancelled our activities together….” Ava wasn’t done when I cut in.

“Please, can you calm down a bit.” I pleaded, I held her from pacing in the school hallway as she was creating a scene. I felt a little bit nervous as eyes lingered on us.

“Noah, don’t tell me to calm down. Are you losing your mind right now? I saw everything, I watched you change. The way you skipped physics class just to attend music class all because of Ethan. I also knew that you joined the swimming club because of Ethan too. Are you guys dating? Ever since Ethan came you stopped giving me your attention. We’ve been friends for over 5 years but what do I get?” Ava said, anger seething through her veins.

I understood her anger, her reasons were valid. Five years ago, when my dad died from a car crash—an event I hated to be reminded of—Ava and I became best of friends. She was my next door neighbor who always came to visit and keep me company whenever my mother was being abusive.

“I am sorry, I had somewhere else to be.” I apologized.

“Noah, tell me exactly where you were during the weekends or I’ll walk away!” Ava said, I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was dead serious.

I couldn’t tell her that I had ditched her just to be with Ethan. She hated him, she hated him because of how he made me treat her. Ava wasn’t aware I was gay, it was a part of me i could never say to anyone neither was she aware that I was into Ethan.

“Ava, can we just forget about…”

She lifted her hands up, shutting me up as she walked away. I wanted to call her but I decided to let her be, she’ll be fine. Ava and I had always fought like this in the past and she would always come around, I’ll just give her some alone time.

Immediately Ava left, the hallway fell into a deep silence as if Ava and I were the only souls talking earlier. I could feel people staring at me from behind, maybe it was because of the argument with Ava. I tried to brush off the feeling that something wasn’t right.

I nervously opened my locker and quickly grabbed a few books, stuffing them into my bag. As I turned to close it, my hands fumbled—my books slipped from my grasp, tumbling to the floor in a messy scatter. My music script lay among them, exposed and vulnerable to any curious eyes.

As I bent down to pick it up, a hand gently landed over mine. I looked up to find Ethan, his warm, welcoming smile washing over me with a wave of relief.

“You’re still clumsy,” he said, handing my books over to me.

I nervously rubbed my neck as I tried to maintain eye contact with him. “What class are you having?”

“Math. What about you?” He asked, still wearing the confident smile that would be able to break anyone’s heart.

“I have math too.” I said.

“Do you want me to walk you to class?” Ethan asked.

Just as I was about to respond, sound of notifications chorused throughout the hallway with students bringing out their phones from their pockets, bags or wherever they were at the moment.

Ethan and I were hesitant about looking at the notifications, I had a really bad feeling about this. The last time something like this happened, our biology teacher got her nudes plastered on the school platform by some anonymous set of students who people believed were unfairly treated by her.

The atmosphere suddenly felt indifferent, I could feel the stares piercing through me from behind, as if that was not enough, murmurs filled the hallway as they couldn’t get their eyes off Ethan and I. I pulled out my phone from my pocket, a bit hesitant. I opened our school platform and saw something that was to change me and Ethan’s life forever.

Our s*x tape.

It was there, on the internet. Ethan and I were in a compromising position. My hands were shaking with exasperation. I could feel my heart beating faster than usual, a cold sweat broke out of my forehead. I tried to swallow my saliva but it felt like stone. I was able to notice that the position of the video was from outside the window. Did someone trail me to Ethan’s?

Amidst my crash out, I received a notification. It was from a post on insta, someone had tagged Ethan and I to a screenshot image from the video. I couldn’t identify the user but he had posted it on his page with a demeaning caption.

“Noah stop being a loser and tell Ethan the truth. You definitely did this to trap him but it won’t work. He is still going to leave you, hehehe”

I looked up at Ethan, hoping to see the warmth I was used to in his eyes, but this time… there was something else. Something I couldn’t quite place. His gaze was tangled—fear, hate, maybe even disgust—all of it swirling together in a way that made my chest tighten.

My heart broke into a million pieces, Ethan slowly stepped back away from me.

“Ethan,” I muttered, stretching my hands for him to assure me that he was with me but instead he took a step backwards.

I could feel the stares—indifferent,cold—and I was utterly alone. “Did you do this? Was it really you?”

“Ethan, you know I’ll never jeopardize what we have.” I said, moving closer to him.

“Stay back.” Ethan said, taking a step back. “I have never brought anyone to my place before. You were the first person I have ever invited over. My parents weren’t around that night, did you plan this?”

“Ethan, you know I wouldn’t do this. Not in this lifetime or the next.” I said, I didn’t notice when a drop of tears rolled down my cheek.

“Don’t ever speak to me again.” Ethan said as he walked away. I wanted to scream, grab him, do anything that would stop him from walking away but I felt numb.

I held out my phone texting Ava. I needed to know who did this and I needed her help. I kept on receiving i********: notifications as netizens flooded my profile leaving hateful comments. I had to lock my profile.

I squatted close to my lockers as I held my knee close to my chest with my hands. I was sobbing heavily, ragged breath escaping my lips. I felt so helpless, when I finally thought things were going as planned they all came crashing.

I tried contacting the school administrator to take down the video from the school platform but all I received was automated messages. My hands were shaky as I continuously refresh my i********: feed helplessly watching the number of post re-shares increasing.

“Ethan Sawyer and Noah Murphy, report to the principal's office now!”

A loud voice from the public announcement speaker echoed through the hallway.

Just before the announcement I had received a message from an unknown number.

“The person who did this is closer than you think”

My life flashed before my eyes. This wasn’t good.