SOLITUDE

Chapter Two

Just about the same time I step out of my door, Scarl does so too with her John Cena of a boyfriend. He doesn't school at Bridgerton. He looks more like a college student- Not a freshman, maybe a third year student. Not wanting to interrupt their little game if 'Squeeze my wrist while I cry softly and keep loving you,' I rush downstairs like I never saw them.

This may sound wrong on so many different levels, but I prefer hitching the bus than having Scarlett's boyfriend give me those petty awkward rides while I sit back, hoping the urge to engage in small talk doesn't kick in and Scarl sits there like a lone puppet at the back, the tall shiny blue windows of Scarlett's reflecting like crystal on her eyeball as she watched the city intently like she has never seen it before.

Typical Scarl. Demure. Gullible. Helpless.

The hallways at Bridgerton are very much the shittiest places to be. The thought of having to take in air someone just breathed out or contaminated with a petrifying sneeze is absolutely disturbing. I slam my locker door and turn to see expectant faces of Liam and Zayn, staring alarmingly innocently at me.

"What?" I whisper through gritted teeth, already tired of the bullshit they're about to pull my ears off for.

"There's a gossip going around school that Hazel Burgundy is - "

"Pregnant?" I ask before Zayn can finish.

"Yeah, how do you know that?" he asks in total confusion. He inhales immediately with widened and smacks my shoulder. I wince in pain. "You follow the gossip page too?" he asks with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Yeah, you wish. Gossip page my ass. It's not really a secret if it's what every single person in the hallway is yammering about," I reply and the peer closely at me.

One thing about Bridgerton is, there is hardly ever any extremely juicy gossip so when there is, everyone just devours unsparingly and woe to you if you ever happen to be the prey. Woe to Hazel Burgundy.

Hazel. Light-skinned tall blonde with a body too developed for her age. Hazel is a model and one of the very few Bridgerton cheerleaders who are actually nice. Sometimes, I feel the only reason Hazel is ever so nice is because she really doesn't have much of a choice.

Imagine being f****d by almost half the boys in my year, plus a few bodified Bridgerton juniors. Bodified is one of thode crazy terns you'd find ib the long list of Bridgerton vocabulary. It simply means bodily certified.

Basically, it's a term used for final year students who are obviously more developed, so you just categorize and award the certification to whomever deemed fit. I got my certification two months ago - It's not an achievement you could add to a portfolio of something. Just a little grading to boost your ego.

She walks just pass us - Liam, Zayn and I, and I can tell how humiliated she feels. The eyeballs welling up with tears, how blurry the place gets, the shame that chokes you up in your throat and you just cannot wait to get out, and seeing the boys you went cowgirl mode for, leading the bits and banter of the gossip hungry crowd.

I get a text from Hazel. Not surprised, actually. After texting me about the pregnancy earlier this morning, I knew she'd be craving the advice of a wisdom bombarded intellect like me.

"Kai, what do I do?" she cries out in distress and breaks into tears, clutching my sided tightly as she hugs my torso. I exhale at her overexagerrated drama and roll my eyes.

"How the hell does the entire school know already?" I ask.

"He yelled it in the cafeteria," she whispers in soft sobs and cleans the tears with the back of her palm.

"Who?"

"Braylon," she replies slowly, as if saying it loud may unavoidably cause more drama.

"Why in the name of seven seas would you tell that jerk, of all people?" I ask in unspeakable disappointment. Braylon is every normal person's worst nightmare.

"Because I think he's the father,"

"You think?" I cry out,almost pulling the hair off my brows in sympathy for her.

She heaves an exasperated sigh and leans against me once more, crying even harder this time around. I'm no soothsayer, but given her level of emotional resistance, Hazel cannot stand this one. This is way more than a colour riot in some fashion show in which Hazel leaves school for a week to mourn her loss of decency.

I'm expecting a murder, or a suicide.

Sigh.