Cherry On Top

8.2

The moment my feet leave my house, I whip out my phone and call Jon. It is an instinctual move, but I realize after a few rings that it's a bad idea—he is most likely getting the same talking to from his parents.

Before I get to drop the call, he picks up.

"Hello?"

I let out a breath of relief. "Jon, you okay? How is it going with—"

"Lobang ah?"

"Lobang?" I frown. Jon is pretending to be talking to Logan; something must be up on his end as well.

"Uh, sorry ah, Lobang, I don't have time to study now lah," he continues hesitantly. "RJ? Uh, sorry, I... We broke up lah, and we... I'm not speaking to her right now..."

I blink rapidly at my phone. What the hell? From the robotic tone of his voice, it sounds as though Jon's parents are in the same room as him. Is he saying all this for his parents? If so, what happened on his end? Did he spill the beans?

"Okay lah," I say with a sigh. "I won't call you anymore, at least for now. Take care ah."

"I'm- I'm sorry..." Jon mutters, regret filling his voice.

I sigh again. "It's okay lah, don't worry about it. I'm sorry I couldn't hold up the pact."

Through the phone, I can hear Jon's voice crack. "It's not your fault lah."

Raising my head, I look at the tall walls surrounding Jon's house. It seems that I subconsciously walked to his place. Somewhere beyond the walls is his room, where he may be right now. A sour lump grows in my throat. We promised to be there for each other, we promised to be the fort against the intrusions of our parents. But it's all crumbling down now. Somebody just had to fuck this all up and tell my mother.

I try to think about who it could be, but I cannot think of anybody else who knows about my secret. Other than Chloe... But it couldn't be her. I'm sure of it.

I close my eyes and whisper, "I know, but I'm sorry anyway."

Jon clears his throat. "Thanks. You're a good friend, Lobang. I trust you. Really."

Interesting, another clue. Jon trusts Logan, and I trust his judgment. Whoever leaked the information to my mother must not be him. It makes sense. Logan is as loyal as he is wild, and he has been friends with Jon for years. The two other girls in our friend group are more unpredictable—Huimin's parents manage the mall that Jon's parents own, while Audrey gossips too much.

"Okay, I'll go find Logan," I say. "You think he has a place for me to crash by the way? I, uh, left home. Don't feel like going back."

"Oh." I can hear Jon's weak attempt to mask his shock. "Y- Yeah, your- your basement is flooded? That's too bad, I hope it gets fixed soon."

Ah, Logan has a basement with an extra room. "Okay, I'll head over there. Thanks, Jon. Take care."

"Take care," Jon says softly.

Hanging up, I slip my phone into a pocket and pull up my bag onto one shoulder. As long as Logan doesn't scream his head off seeing me, I should be good.

After a long wait for the bus and a longer bus ride later, I reach Logan's house, which is all the way at the other end of the country. As I circle the house, I see an entrance to what seems to be a basement room near the back gate. I take out my phone.

RJ: Eh, Lobang, come out

RJ: I'm at the back of your house

Once my message is sent, I am bombarded with a few all-caps, Logan-style exclamations. I ignore all his questions and repeat my order.