Strings Attached [Tamaki x Reader]

Chapter 2 ~ The Roses

I should've known the lady manager would lie to me.

I should've known.

     I opened the door expecting to be met with the four girls from the festival. I'd tried to rationalize the fact that they met in Music Room 3 by assuming they'd filled it with their own library and places to write, but left the original name for some sentimental reason. Maybe the academy had made them keep the music room title because of an investor or something. I spent any free moment I had that day imagining the layout of the clubroom. I even pictured myself writing next to one of the large windows in a cozy reading chair. I played through every scenario in my mind, every possible way that my introduction to the Literature Club could go. However, I failed to imagine that my only 'friend' at Ouran would lie to me. I didn't account for Renge's erratic personality, or her fascination with the Host Club. After opening the door, I was not in fact met with my potential future best friends and rows upon rows of books, I was met with a tea room. 

     The tall wooden door creaked, drawing all attention to me as I walked through the threshold and the sound echoed through the room. I was distracted and adjusting the ribbon on my collar, but when I finally looked up I realized I was certainly not in a library... or a music room for that matter... The room housed multiple tables, each with pastel table clothes and a singular rose. There was plenty of areas to sit and chat, each loveseat upholstered in luxurious fabric and covered in throw pillows of various colours. The center of the room was empty, presumably for floor space to host dances or other activities. Marble pillars framed the music room into different sections, along with intricate wainscotting on the ceiling to frame the chandeliers. Antique vases and statues were scattered throughout, with the vases holding more red roses, matching the red curtains pulled back to expose the floor-to-ceiling windows. I knew Ouran Academy was luxurious, but this was over the top. Finally, there was the finishing touch of Music Room 3; seven boys sitting around a table, looking right at me.

     I froze. I never should've trusted Renge's intel about the Literature Club. My eyes were wide as I stared at the boys. I recognized the one with black hair and glasses as Renge's friend, Kyoya, and of course the blonde prince from the festival was there too. I'd never seen the others before, and recognizing Kyoya wasn't much of a comfort for me, as he was quite cold earlier that day. The boys were all sitting around a table, some with notebooks and Kyoya with a laptop. I assumed the club wasn't open yet, or that they were miserably unsuccessful, because there were no customers and the members were all lounging. Some of them had taken off their suit jackets, loosened their ties, and even unbuttoned a couple buttons of their shirts. They were probably planning their next extravagant event, although I couldn't imagine how they would be able to top wooing students' mothers while wearing clothing from the late middle ages.

     The room fell silent as the boys focussed their attention on me. A pin could've been heard echoing on the marble floor if someone had dropped one. I myself would not have been able to drop said pin, because that would require moving, which again I was unable to do in that moment due to the embarrassment overpowering my body. I needed to get out of there, to unfreeze myself. One half of my brain wanted to grow a pair of arms and manually move my legs so that I could escape, but the other half was acting like a deer in headlights and keeping me stuck in place. Of course, there weren't actually headlights, just seven pairs of eyes staring right at me.