Queen of Hearts

Chapter 3: what the flying fuck? | Evan

I had absolutely no idea what my role was in all of this as I watched my friends Hudson and Hannah run back and forth, screaming curse words and giving each other particularly vulgar gestures, while Jasmine stood wisely off to the side and out of their range, barking out orders nonstop like an overbearing harpy.

I was the only one who was sane enough at the present moment to listen to Jas. I'd spent the whole day pretty much being her marionette, in figurative terms, obviously.

As of now, the burgundy haired girl was one sentence away from completely losing it. Her usually pink cheeks were now reddened, and her ersatz smile did nothing to help. "Can you both stop acting like children and listen?" Jas demanded, her usual perky attitude diminished as she glowered at Hannah and Hudson as the black haired girl chased the dark haired boy with spiky blue tips at the ends around the room, the latter shaking a menu in her fist.

If there weren't so many tables in the room, acting as obstacles, Hannah would have caught up to Hudson easily. The former was extremely sporty and outgoing compared to her twin, Penny.

Let me explain: the four of us were in a restaurant. To be specific, it was a restaurant owned by Hudson's family, which was why he and Hannah were sprinting around the place like hooligans and not getting reprimanded by the staff.

None of the usual waitresses were at the restaurant today, anyway. Jas had this ingenious idea (note the sarcasm) that we celebrate #pendant's (Penny and Brendan, that was their ship name made exclusively by Jas) one year anniversary by setting up their date ourselves. Why did she come up with that idea? Because she was Jas, and Jas was pretty much obsessed with anything related to love.

Through Hudson, we'd booked the restaurant for the day (don't ask me why the hell Hudson's parents agreed to begin with) and under Jas' orders, Hannah and Hudson had spent the morning sticking up some real cringe photos of the two all over the walls.

In many of the photos, if not all, Brendan was frowning while Penny beamed so much the skin around her eyes crinkled. Despite their contrasting expressions in the photographs, they were clearly happy in each other's company.

I couldn't help but feel slightly bitter. My thoughts wandered to a certain dyed auburn haired girl, living in Japan. How was she going? She was probably being showered with everything she could ever want, considering the enormity of her family's wealth.

I knew Kameron would refuse many of the things offered to her. She was rich, but she wasn't vain, and she certainly wasn't spoiled. She was probably one of the maturest people I knew.

Jas waved a hand in front of my face to get my attention, and I blinked. "Um, Evan? Hello? Don't you need to check on the food?"

Yes, I had been assigned as the cook. It was mainly because Hudson wasn't even capable of cooking two minute noodles by himself, and because Hannah had wanted the job of decorating the room in a way that the couple would like. Penny was Hannah's twin, after all. She would know her twin best. Brendan's friend Hans, who was also included in our tiny group of misfits, was on holiday overseas in Switzerland, and was unable to offer his assistance.

So while the others were out in the front decorating, I had been cooking. Jas had kindly helped me at times, since she was the only other person who could legitimately cook without wreaking some sort of havoc in the kitchen, but she'd also had to go out to check on Hudson and Hannah.

The last time she'd gone out to monitor their progress, she'd started screeching, and that was when I ditched my apron and joined her outside to see the restaurant transformed into a typical Hannah/Hudson warzone.

Personally, I thought their arguments were extremely superfluous. But it wasn't as if I could do anything about it. If I tried to get in their way, their rage would turn on me. In this case, I was happy being the bystander.