The Girl Unnoticed

42. May I?

[A/N: Deepest apologies for the long wait, loves. Make sure to read the previous chap(s) to refresh your memory of where the story last ended at!]

Chapter Forty Two: May I?

This was not going to end well.

And usually, my hunch was always right. But I really wanted it to be wrong this time.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself. A voice entered my ears.

"Why in the world is Jackson McLean sitting with us again?"

Tiffany's voice was brought to a whisper beside me and you could hear the slight panic rising in every word.

She held a suspicious look at me, raising an eyebrow in emphasis. When I gave her a long look, she added quickly, "I mean–not that I'm complaining about sitting at the same table with the hottest bad boy in school but...why?! What is going on, Lei?"

Quickly, I pulled Tiff by the arm so that we were facing to the back and I could whisper to her quietly without facing the boys. I sighed, knowing how ridiculous I was about to sound when I tell her.

"Look, there's this stupid plan he came up with," I started explaining, "He calls it 'Operation: Get My Girl' or whatever. He will do anything to reach his goal. Apparently sitting with us at lunch is unexpectedly part of his so-ridiculous-plan."

Tiffany's eyes widened in anticipation as she listened and her lips curl into an 'ooh', knowing where this was going. I sighed again and continued, "Also, we have a deal. If I let him continue his plan, he wouldn't bother any of us any further if he failed and..."

I took a breath in and let it out slowly. "And...he wouldn't call Austin 'a pussy guy' anymore."

Immediately, Tiff pursed her lips to prevent herself from breaking into laughter. But she sucked at doing so. She ended up laughing as I felt my cheeks heat up.

"What's so funny?" Dylan asked, looking at us weirdly.

I whispered to Tiff in a stern voice, "Don't tell anyone this, get it?"

She coughed several times to come off as a casual ending to her sudden outburst. But she just sounded like she was casually choking. God, sometimes I don't even know how to deal with her.

Before we faced back towards the guys, she whispered to me slyly, "I'm pretty sure the devil himself will do it."

As we turned back towards the boys at our table, Dylan was looking at us questioningly and Leo was munching on his sandwich quietly, feeling the awkward tension in the air. Austin, on the other hand, was staring at me with a look, waiting for an explanation while Jackson sat beside me on the left side, unwrapping his burger nonchalantly with a dashing smile on his face.