Worrying good news.

I woke up with a vague feeling of unease, one that I knew was unrelated to my embarrassment of the things I’d said the day before. I felt like I had to be aware of anything Julian might try to pull, which wasn’t so strange in and of itself, really. What was I looking out of, though?

Anyway, Isabelle and I walked together to school. I had my bass with me again, so when we got to the club room I sat down to practice immediately while she sat down to scroll down her phone and check her social media.

“...Huh?” Isabelle exclaimed.

I let out an exasperated sigh and asked, “Okay, what happened now?”

“Apparently something good for once,” she said, grinning. “I’m reading some posts here and lots of people are complaining about yesterday's drama being a big nothingburger. And these are from last night, too.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it seems like nobody believes the rumors anymore. Either that or someone proved them false. Did Grace and the others do anything?”

“If they did, they didn’t tell me.”

So weird. Was everything fixed all of a sudden? Why?

We understood what had happened later that day during the second recess, after Grace and Thomas had done some more digging around.

“It was Eric,” Thomas said, leaning back on the chair beside me and balancing on its two back legs. “Apparently he told people that Abigail was just looking for clout and that she lied to him and others. Considering the parties involved and that this comes from one of the people who started the original rumor, this was easier to believe.”

“Eric?” Mila asked. “But why would he do it? Isn’t he Julian’s friend?”

“Friends? I’m not so sure about that.”

“I have no proof, but my instinct tells me he got scared,” Grace said. “Eric doesn’t have the stomach for this stuff. He was already close to pissing his pants when I talked to him. It’s possible the threat of retaliation made him back down.”

My mind went back to yesterday’s encounter with Julian. Eric was there, and he also looked scared of me. Was that…? Oh, there’s the embarrassment creeping back again.

“Hm? Did you… do something, Oliver?” Noelle asked me, tilting her head.

“Yeah, what did you do?” Sarah asked, smirking.

Of course they could tell something had happened. Sometimes this connection could backfire on me, huh?

I had to tell them. I tried to be vague about it, but they insisted I told them what happened word for word. I think they were enjoying seeing me flustered.

When I was done, Alice came up to me and hugged me from behind, kissing the top of my head. “I’m glad it didn’t escalate further than that. Still, good on you for telling him off.”

“I’m telling you, Oliver can look scary when he wants to,” Thomas told her, smirking. “I think it’s the bangs, really.”

“I would’ve liked to see it,” Isabelle said, nodding in agreement with Thomas. “I mean you being angry at someone other than me for once.”

“Ugh, I would’ve paid to see Julian’s face,” Sarah said. “It’s like Mike Tyson once said. Social media has made everyone too comfortable disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.”

Noelle giggled. “I’m sorry, but I can’t picture Oliver punching anyone.”

I nodded in fervent agreement with her. “Right!? I don’t know what got into me.”

“I could see it,” Mila said, though she had a sad smile. “I just hope you never have to.”

Grace nodded solemnly. “Yeah. You don’t need to get your hands dirty.” That I should leave that to her was left unsaid.

The news spread even more during lunch break. Some acted like that was it and moved on, while others, most of them being my classmates, came up to me and apologized for believing the rumors.

I smiled sheepishly and told them, “This could be made up, too, you know? Maybe I’m just trying to make you believe I didn’t cheat.”

They looked at me with astonished expressions until Sarah elbowed me in the ribs and Mila smacked me in the back of the head, making me bend over, mostly in laughter than in any pain.

“Don’t ruin it, you idiot!” they scolded me. It got a laugh out of the rest of the classroom.

“Man, is this how it goes every day?” Mark asked me. “They drag you around all the time?”

“Pretty much, yes,” I told him, nodding blankly.

“Man, I don’t envy you one bit.”

“Are you actually a masochist, Oliver?” one of my other classmates asked me teasingly.

The atmosphere had completely changed from yesterday. No, not just from yesterday, but even from before that. Our class had twenty people in it and now… even those I’d never talked to before were looking at me with casual friendliness. And even more importantly than that… I could talk back to them. I could hold a conversation. It was still somewhat scary, but my chest didn’t hurt from the nerves and my throat didn’t close and prevented me from speaking.

I found myself smiling.

This was it. This was… growth. When you’re working out, you can see your progress when you weigh yourself, when you see your body changing, when you can lift more than you could before. For things as vague as personal growth, it’s hard to identify your milestones, but at that moment, I saw one. It made me think that it was worth it to continue pushing myself.

However, there was an unsettling feeling in the back of my mind that prevented me from truly enjoying that moment. I turned towards the classroom door and saw Julian walking away with heavy steps.

What would he try next?

When I turned back to look at the girls, I saw them scowling towards the door as well. I wasn’t the only one on alert. It helped me feel like we’d be alright no matter what he did.

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