CHAPTER 120: THROW A FIST

**OLIVER WEST**

"We have to find him, we wouldn’t have lost him if you hadn’t held me back earlier!" I scowled at Kieran as we walked down another empty hallway.

"You were about to jump into a fight that’s not even yours, take a look at you, you’d get beaten up so bad," Kieran snorted and my fists vibrated with rage.

DID HE JUST INSULT ME?!!!

I COULD THROW SOME FISTS IF I WANTED!

"I’m not as weak as you think. Do you want me to show you an instance?!" I glared at him, only for him to shake his head. I could see that he was hiding a laugh.

"Sure you’re not, did I say that? You don’t need to prove it to me like you did your experience the other day" He chuckles.

He did not just mention that! My face burned with flames as I decided to shift from that topic.

"Heath is your friend, you should show more concern! If it were my friend in trouble, I wouldn’t hesitate like you did!"

Once again Kieran snorted, " I think Claude would hate me if I denied him his chance to shine,"

My chest felt tight with worry recalling how Claude had dragged Heath away from the chaos. From Heath’s bleak expression, I doubted he had welcomed Claude’s interference.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that Heath was somewhere, probably falling apart. Which was why I needed to look for him.

The whole school knew that he was gay now, and someone had even made a rude comment about how all the popular boys turned out to be gay.

Amanda had openly said that it was my fault, that I’d been the one who changed them, as though being homosexual was a habit one could just wear like a cloth.

The image of Hailey’s hateful face kept flashing in my mind, along with all those cruel words she’d screamed at Heath.

No, I couldn’t worry about all these now.

That photo of Heath and Claude... who could have taken it? And why release it now?

My stomach dropped as a horrible thought crept into my head.

Claude.

Even though Kieran seemed to trust him, I didn’t trust that Psycho friend of his. Claude was actually scarier than Vince.

I remembered how he’d cornered Heath the other day in the nurse’s room, his threats, and the way his eyes had gone cold when Heath rejected him.

He’d even threatened to tell Matt about their drunken night!

Don’t tell me he did this to his friend?

Well, formerly best friend?

Was he some kind of psycho who can’t handle rejection?

The more I thought about it, the more terrified I became. Claude had always seemed so charming and normal on the surface, if I hadn’t been in the clinic that day, I wouldn’t have believed how psychotic he could be.

If Claude really did release that photo just to hurt Heath... then he’s actually worse than Kieran ever was. At least when Kieran was being possessive, it came from a place of caring, not pure malice.

Poor Heath.

First, it was Hailey, then Matt, and now Claude, what did he do in his past life to deserve these people?

We turned the corner near the music room when I spotted two familiar figures ahead.

Matt and Niall were standing by the lockers, their heads close together like they were sharing some private joke.

My heart started pounding. I grabbed Kieran’s arm and pressed him against the wall, flattening myself beside him.

"What are you—" Kieran started to ask.

I made a frantic shushing motion with my finger, leaning closer to hear what Matt was saying. The position put me practically nose-to-nose with Kieran, our bodies pressed together against the cold brick wall.

Kieran’s eyes got that familiar dangerous glint, and his hands moved to my waist. I widened my eyes at him in warning, mouthing ’don’t you dare’ as clearly as I could.

He grinned and started to lean in anyway. I had to grab his shirt to keep him still, which only made him look more amused. This was not the time for his flirting!!!

"...such a fool," Matt’s voice drifted over to us. "He actually wanted to break up with me, did he think he could get away with it?"

My blood ran cold. I strained to hear more, trying to ignore how Kieran’s thumb was now tracing circles on my hip.

"I had to teach him a little lesson," Matt continued, and I could hear the smugness in his voice. "Now he thinks that bastard friend of his sent those pictures. He’ll come crawling back to me soon enough."

Wait. What?

Matt had sent the photo. Not Claude. Matt had deliberately destroyed Heath’s privacy just to manipulate him back into their toxic relationship.

"You’re so evil," Niall said, but he was laughing. "Poor guy probably has no idea you were recording him at that party."

"I’d always suspected that they were more than friends, he was cheating on me, I just got some good shots, I didn’t think it would be useful until now. Actually, I don’t mind who he fucks, but if he breaks up with me, who’s going to be my money bank?" Matt’s voice was filled with cruel satisfaction.

I felt sick to my stomach. This was so much worse than I’d imagined. Matt hadn’t just cheated, he was ruining Heath’s happiness just for money.

My hands were shaking with rage as I pulled out my phone and started recording. Heath needed to hear this, his little boyfriend was no angel but was in fact an evil creature.

"The best part," Matt continued, "is that he still thinks I love him. Like I’d ever actually care about some closeted freak. I just shed a few tears some minutes ago, and he was already guilty, but that bastard had stepped in..."

That was it. I couldn’t listen to another second of this garbage.

I shoved my phone at Kieran and stepped out from behind the wall. Before Matt could react, my fist connected with his smug face.