Boys Over Flowers (Herophine fanfiction)

Chapter 50🌹

"Wait. Zendaya?! It's been a while! How have you been?"
Gavin says in excitement as soon as he recognizes her. She, on the other hand, also takes in all of our faces except mine and her smile widens.
"Oh my god!! Long time no see, boys!! I didn't recognize you by your voices because you've grown up so much! I missed you."
She exclaims excitedly but all the manners are still there, letting me know she comes from a great family as well. Man, God is sometimes too unfair.
"Umm... Jo. You're gonna catch a fly."
Shane whispers into my ear and it is now that I realize my mouth is wide open like an idiot who had a crush on the girl in front of me at first sight. Shit. Quickly I close my mouth in embarrassment, to which she just smiles as if she find it more amusing than stupid. Ok. She's not only gorgeous but also kind. Thinking so, I can't help but feel I'm more inferior to her in every aspect. Besides, the fact that she knows Hero enlarges my insecurity. I gulp nervously.

She comes closer and extends her delicate hand to me to introduce herself.
"Hello. My name is Zendaya Coleman. Pleasure to meet you. And you're...?"
It takes me a while to realize what I'm supposed to do and I instantly take her hand.
"I...I'm Josephine. I'm glad to see you, too."
With a stammer, I manage to reply. Damn. She makes me more nervous!!
"How come you're in LA now instead of London?"
Ross asks her as if her being in LA is the last thing he expected. He's plastered with his usual  porker face but I can't help but feel he has a bad feeling about it.
She elegantly shakes her hand with me before turning her attention back to the boys.
"I came back from London in order to take a part in this contest because Martha told me to. She said it would also be a great opportunity to reconnect with Hero considering our future." 
She nonchalantly answers to Ross's question, but her answer has enough power to tense all of us up in a second.
Martha? It can't be the same Martha I know as an evil queen, can it? There are millions of Martha in this world so there is no way we're talking about the same Martha, right? Right?And what does she mean by "our future"? What kind of future do they have?
My mind is running at 100 miles per hour while a confusion is written all over my face. I have no clue what she's talking about. Nevertheless, everybody seems to know what she means, looking worried. What the hell is going on?!
She registers my state and feels the need to elaborate her explanation for me.
"Oh! I'm sorry I forgot to mention earlier. I'm Hero's fiancée, by the way."
As she flashes her breathtaking shy smile, all the confidence left inside me breaks with a loud crash.

You've. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.

I don't know how long I've been frozen like that but she suddenly states once her phone vibrates in her purse,
"Oh! I need to go now. It was so nice seeing you, guys."
She sends us an air kiss and walks away just as a model. Watching her perfectly small hips sway as she walks, the same sentence keeps going round and round in my head ; she is Hero's fiancée and Hero is her fiancé. They are fucking engaged. How fucked up it is.
Had I not been in love with Hero, I must have thought they look perfect for each other given their tall and lean bodies and perfect features. But in reality, I'm deeply in love with love with him and the fact that they're supposed to get married in the future hurts me like hell.
How can I be better than her? Why would Hero choose me over that perfect doll-like beauty?
The answers are quite obvious and the back of my eyes start to sting with tears.

————

Ross

Knowing Hero's mother, I expected her to do something low to prevent Jo from winning but sending Zendaya to this contest was out of my calculation.
Although it is true that Zendaya is Hero's fiancée, their engagement is only what their parents decided years ago and it's not that they love each other romantically. We were all friends before she moved to London with her parents because they were launching a new business there at that time and Hero was not hostile towards her to our parents' surprises, which made his mom decide to ask Zendaya's parents for their engagement.
However, Jo knows nothing about our past and I can clearly see sorrow and hurt filling her eyes as she watches Zendaya walks away. My heart aches for the sight before me.