Blinded by Limerence

48 | They're Endgame

Addison

"Hey, Coco," grinned Chase as he walked up to me across the darkly lit parking lot.

I turned to look at the blonde as he crossed the pavement and joined me at my side. Soon, without realizing it, a wan smile started to spread across my face, my ash-brown hair flowing in the cool night breeze.

"Gong Cha," I taunted playfully, sticking my tongue out. I gave him a quick hug and giggled. I pointed to the building, where disco lights and music were blaring, behind the parking lot. "Ready to head in?"

He shook his head. "Tell me—whose idea was this again?"

"Mine," I beamed proudly. "C'mon, it'll be fun. Don't tell me I have to convince you, too."

"Morgan needed convincing?" chuckled Chase.

"Yeah, this is her worse nightmare."

"Trevor told me what happened between them," he replied nonchalantly. He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "Poor Trev. He's in too deep."

"I've seen the way he looks at her," I said with an eager nod. "You're right."

"Is Archer still goo-goo over Morgan?"

I laughed at the way Chase phrased his question. "Shouldn't you know? You are his best friend, after all."

The two of us were now walking towards the establishment, and the closer we got, the clearer the booming music from inside got. They were playing some 80's song on the speakers.

Chase shrugged. "He's surprisingly tight-lipped when it comes to Morgan," he laughed, earning a shake of the head from me.

"Well—what about you? Anybody new?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows teasingly. "Any guy, I mean to say?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Nah," he answered. "I'm steering clear of the dating scene as of the moment."

I gasped. "So there is someone."

At that, Chase abruptly flashed me a wide smile. "I don't know much about him yet—we haven't exactly had a lot of interactions—but I hear he's in the same physics class as Morgan."

"Is that so?" I grinned stupidly. "Aw, Gong Cha, you're totally smitten!"

"That I am," he smiled back.

We stopped in front of the main entrance. The voices of numerous guests singing karaoke inside were now heard as we stood outside the building.

We headed inside then, and the crack of pool balls sounded as patrons laughed and joked around with each other, all sounding to be having the time of their lives. A string of Christmas lights hovered over the front counter. I smiled at the girl manning the front desk and told her the party we're with, and she led us to the back into a room with disco lights inside.

The room wasn't small nor was it big—in the center was a rectangular glass table, and on it were microphones, a song book, the TV remote, and a menu, in case anybody got hungry. There were three long black couches placed around the table and of course the karaoke screen up front.

Already inside our room were Morgan, Archer, and Trevor, all sitting in their own corners—five feet apart, at least—awkwardly trying not to meet each other's eyes. No eye contact? No problem.

"Hey, party peeps," I beamed, entering the room as Chase closed the door behind us. "What's with the silence?"

Upon seeing us, Morgan quickly got up from her corner seat, ran over, and flung herself onto me in a hug. "Thank God," she muttered under her breath before letting go.