The ride back to the base was quiet- besides Jordan still eating his food. At least we were able to use up the tickets Lynn gave us and get some food before the festival ended.
Lynn, I thought.
Barely the first thing she did was try to play cupid. I wanted to laugh at that. And I was surprised at how easily she read the guys. I was truly happy she cared, but she shouldn't have done something like that. But still...
I don't know how to handle these conflicted emotions for them.
Suddenly the car was put to an abrupt stop.
I don't know about these emotions either.
Confusion. Panic. Fear.
"What happened?" I asked. "Is everyone alright?"
"Yeah, sorry," Bennett muttered. "I was looking at my phone and I wasn't paying attention."
"Texting while driving, you were supposed to be the responsible one, Bent," Declan told him. "You could've hurt us."
"Who cares about us! You could've hurt the food," Jordan wailed.
"Shut up," Bennett growled at them, before glancing back at his phone again.
I was hesitant. "Is everything alright, Bennett?"
The stoplight became green and the car started moving once more.
"No, I mean yes," he was quiet, struggling with his words. "Everything is fine. I'm sorry for doing that, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you guys." He put his phone in his pocket. "Maybe them, but not you."
I looked down at my lap, feeling a bit warm. "Oh, ok."
"If you don't want your food, you're free to give it to me," Jordan said as we walked into the base.
"No wonder you wanted it protected," Declan muttered. "You only wanted it for yourself."
"Oh no, you've seen through me," Jordan said deadpanned.
"It was still nice of Lynn to give them to us," I told them, not wanting them to argue again.
Jordan nodded. "I like her."
"You do?" I asked.
"Probably because she gave us free stuff," Declan said.
"Oh c'mon, do you think I'm that superficial?"
Bennett coughed. "Kinda."
"I mean as a person," Jordan defended. "You guys are so mean. You should learn from her."
"Wasn't she kinda mean in the beginning," Declan huffed. "Acting like... I don't know. She was messing with us, all of us."
"She was probably playing Cupid," Jordan said. "With us."
Declan turned to see Jordan right in front of his face with his usual big grin. But it was gone when Declan shoved his face away making him flip over the couch.
"Jordan!" I exclaimed as I raced to him. "Are you okay?"
He looked longingly up to me, his green eyes seeming to sparkle even more brightly than before. Jordan's hand reached up to me, grasping my hair gently.
He whispered, "Naomi, I need to tell you..."
"What is it?"
"Declan is secretly in love with me."
"Step away Naomi," Declan said, standing above me. "I'm going to kill him. And I don't want you to see this.
"He's all yours."
"Naomi," Bennett called out to me. "I want to ask you."
"Uh, yeah?"
"Do you know why Lynn acted like that to us?"
He knows all, sees all.
"No. I didn't really understand it myself."
Bennett came up to me. "You were talking to her when we weren't there. What about?"
I looked away, feeling hot. "You know, girl stuff."
"Wouldn't love be considered girl stuff?" He questioned.
"Then what are you trying to imply?"
"That she really was trying to play Cupid," he said. "I mean, that was quite obvious. What I'm wondering is why you're trying to cover for her. It doesn't seem she was covering it, so why are you?"
I was backing up now. "I don't know. It was embarrassing."
But I backed up and bumped into Jordan. He put his arm around me, having it hang off my shoulders.
"What is to be embarrassed about?" He mused, a smile clearly heard in his voice.
I pushed his arm off of me. "You guys are just teasing me. Leave me alone."
Declan stood in front of me. "We need to stop ignoring this. You need to stop ignoring it."
"I'm not ignoring-" They need to stop it.
"Do you hate us?" Declan said softly, but it was as if he was asking about him personally.
"Of course not."
"Then have you never thought of us in a different way?" Declan asked, hesitating before adding, "in a romantic way."
"H-Have you?" I shot back.
Their silence answered it.
"Don't lie to me..."
"Can you stop selling yourself short for once," Jordan snapped before going quiet.
Bennett stared at me then looked away. "Guys, let's just back away from her a second. I don't want her to feel like we're ganging up on her. Especially when we're talking about this."
Embarrassed as they were now conscious of this, they did so.
"Do you think guys can be friends with girls?" Declan asked me.
"I mean, if you look at us..."
"You can see that there isn't just mere friendship anymore," Jordan muttered.
I'm in a middle of an otome game. Where's the restart button? Where's the end play? No wait, the end play is when I actually choose someone.
"You can't make me choose between you three," I whispered. "You guys mean everything to me. I'm not going to make some hormones ruin that."
"So you're okay if we start dating other girls?" Jordan questioned, his voice raising. "You won't feel as jealous as you were in the festival?"
Declan put his arm in front of Jordan. "Please don't."
"I know it isn't right to discuss something like this so bluntly," Bennett said quietly. "None of us wants this to change. But we shouldn't ignore this either."
Declan said, "As much as we want to believe that there isn't anything between us besides friendship. Neither of us can't help it."
"Did you become friends with me knowing it might come to this?" I asked softly.
"Of course not," Declan defended. "We, well, I mean I can at least speak for myself. I became more conscious of it."
"I'm a guy," Jordan said bitterly. "Sorry, that was a bad answer but..."
"We all did sooner or later," Bennett said. "Have you?"
Now my silence answered it.
"What Lynn did was necessary," Bennett said. "We really just need to acknowledge the situation we brought ourselves in the moment we all became friends."
"You can't make me choose."
Jordan sighed. "We aren't. Who knows, maybe we'll prove that we aren't boyfriend-" He stopped at the word and tried to cover it with a forced smile. "That material from being our stupid selves."
"We just want you to know that you can start seeing us more than friends," Declan said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Because we want you to."
"It's going to be harder to ignore this," I said. "Now every time I look at you guys..."
"Good," Jordan said with a smirk, suddenly walking up to me. He pushed Declan out the way and stood in front of me. He was cornering me, I didn't know where to look except to stare right at him.
"Now you can be aware that you're a girl and that I'm a guy," he said. "You'll be conscious of every move I make, every word I say. When two people like each other, things can happen."
Declan suddenly pulled Jordan away from me.
I didn't realize I was holding my breath.
"Can but won't," Declan snapped. "You won't do anything to hurt Naomi."
"I'd never do that," Jordan said. "But I don't know about you..."
Bennett was between the both of them. He held Declan and Jordan's raised arms with their hands shaped into fists.
"This is what I was talking about!" I exclaimed. "We barely started talking about this and already you're looking for a fight. You can't make me get between your friendships. You need to stop thinking of me like this. "
I was walking out the door when Bennett grabbed my arm.
"And what about you?" Bennett asked.
"I did from the beginning."
-
"It doesn't make sense that in the beginning of this chapter it's already throwing all of this new vocabulary at us," Dominic complained.
"Naomi?"
"Did you hear me?"
I was startled and looked back at him. "Yeah, sorry. I forgot you were here."
He looked hurt. "That's something every guy likes to hear."
I was staring at the same sentence in the textbook over and over again. I can't function at all because of yesterday.
"Dominic, I have a question."
"I'll answer if you call me Domi," he sang.
"I'll call you something meaner if you'll be like that," I threatened.
He laughed. "I'm sorry. Please don't be like that."
I paused. "Domi..." He looked at me but by then I was looking away in embarrassment. "Did you ever like me?"
"I don't think it's Valentine's Day yet," he mused.
"Dominic seriously."
"What answer are you looking for?" He asked me. "Do you want me to say yes or no?"
"I don't know," I said. "And you didn't even answer me."
"That's the point." He looked past me. "Why are you asking me something like that? Is it because of them?"
I turned my head to see the guys staring at the two of us. I quickly looked away.
"I thought you said they weren't anything to you," he said before letting out a sigh. "You didn't have to become a pathological liar to spare my feelings. I can handle the truth."
"Our president doesn't seem to." I tried doing the classwork but it was a useless way to distract me.
"But I quite enjoy the situation right now," Dominic said, smiling. "Their glares are funny. Especially when I'm smiling back at them." He waved cheerfully back at them.
He then turned back to me. "Do I need to hurt them?"
"No," I said. I looked at him, repeating with more emphasis, "No, you will not. And it's not like you can take them all at once."
"I can pick them out one by one. First with the tall one."
"Why Bennett first?"
"Then maybe the shorter one."
"I don't think Jordan's that short. But then again, anyone taller than me is what I consider tall."
"The last one might be kinda tough..."
"Declan would kill you."
"It's worth a shot."
Yeah, he would kill you in one shot.
I laughed, knowing he was joking. Hoping he was joking.
"So are you guys in a fight?"
"I don't really know," I confessed.
I really hoped not.
"It's just really awkward between us now."
"Did you all finally realize that you are members of the opposite sex?"
"Did you just assume my gender?"
"I assumed you were part of the prettier gender," he said. "Although saying that wouldn't really help my case either. Now don't deflect my questions with more questions."
Hypocrite.
"By the way, I saw you were having trouble with the classwork. The first question is C."
"I know how to do the problem," I snapped.
He raised his arms in defense. "I'm just trying to be nice. The second question is A."
"Stop it," I warned him.
I wrote the answers down in shame. I glanced up at him and was about to say something when he cut me off.
"And stop being so conceited," Dominic mocked. "No, I will not fight for your hand, m'lady. Obviously, because I would win."
I snorted at that.
"Think of me as your gay best friend," he offered. "Tell me your thoughts, your feelings. I'll give you insight."
"That just sounds like a therapist."
"I like how the first thing sounds better. And I'm not getting paid unless you're offering."
"You'd make me pay a lot by the hour."
"I'm reasonable," he defended. "What about you?"
"Am I reasonable?"
"On how you're reacting with this," he explained. "I know, that's unfair but-"
"No, you're right," I said. "But I really don't know how to react to that."
"You may have been overwhelmed by that confession, well, confessions," Dominic said. "But I don't think you can really call it that when you already knew."
"I didn't want to know because what will it get me?" I asked in exasperation. "They presented me their feelings, but I can't do anything with them. I can't simply just pick one of them. It's... cruel and heartless."
Even if this I'm in an otome game, that doesn't mean I should play it.
"It won't be given how much you care about them," Dominic told me. "The reason they're giving you this choice is that because they trust you with it."
"Well, I don't trust myself. Much less deserve it."
"Well besides their feelings," he said. "Because who knows, maybe they're as conflicted and confused as you are. But what about your feelings? You should consider them as well."
"No, they don't matter."
"Well, that's quite inconsiderate of you to yourself."
"Why does everything happen to me?" I asked in exasperation.
"Well everything and anything can happen to everyone," Dominic said. "You may be beating me to crying out: 'why does everything happen to me?' as well."
"I don't follow."
"Of course lots of things will seem like it's only happening to you," he explained. "You're the protagonist of your own story so that has to happen."
"But," he added. "You may be the side character of other people's stories. Things may be happening to you, but things are also happening to other people as well."
"Are things happening in your story right now?"
"Yes," he said, smiling at me. "Something very amusing right in front of me. So stop worrying why things are happening, but instead, worry about what will you do about them."
I let out a huge sigh. "And to think this all started because of Lynn," I muttered. "She's so going to buy me boba after this."
Dominic looked confused. "Who's Lynn?"
"My gay best friend."
Now he looked shocked and hurt. "How dare you. I offered you my services."
"I think you should reword that last part," I said.
"I await for my payment since I see you'd rather have me as a therapist."
"Dominic, thank you for listening to me on this. I really needed another person's insight in this mess."
"It's not like I wanted to given I sit right next to you," he said, but the way he was fighting back a smile said it all. "But I'm happy to help you."
"But why do it then?" I asked.
"Because," he said, his eyes looking past me once more. "I want to see how this will end."
"Naomi."
I tensed. Not at the sound of my name but at the voice who said it.
"What is it Declan?" I asked, not looking at him. I was still facing forward, looking at Dominic who was happily watching the whole ordeal.
"We want to talk to you."
I couldn't face them already.
"Right now?"
"No, it doesn't have to be now."
Dominic looked behind me, smiling at Declan who must've been glaring at him.
"After class," he said. "It's kinda important."
My eyes wandered to the clock hanging on the wall. It was off by a couple of minutes but it told me class would end soon.
"If it's important, I can hear it now," I said, getting up from my seat.
"Aw, you're taking her away from me already?" Dominic complained. "I thought Jordan made a schedule or something."
"Well how about you bend over and I'll give you the schedule," Jordan threatened. "Better yet, parking lot, afterschool."
"Nah I'm good," Dominic waved off. "I got this thing called a life. Thanks for the invite though."
Jordan stood up from his seat, but Bennett made him sit back down.
I shot Dominic a glare for saying something so unnecessary and all he gave me in return was a small shrug saying he couldn't help himself.
I walked to the end of the class where the three of them were huddled together.
"You didn't have to sit with him if you didn't want to sit with us," Jordan muttered.
"I'm sorry," I said, touching his shoulder. We both froze at the contact and I quickly put my hand in my pocket.
"What was it you want to tell me?" I asked.
"Are you free afterschool?" Bennett asked me.
"Does Jordan want to trade places with Declan and do that parking lot afterschool gig?"
"That was at the spur of the moment," Jordan said. "Now I understand you so much more Declan."
Declan muttered something incoherent under his breath, probably about Jordan.
"Yeah I am," I said. "Why? Is something wrong?"
Bennett thought about it. "You can say that."
"I need to go to the airport afterschool," he began.
"Are you going somewhere?" I asked him. "Some spontaneous exotic vacation in the middle of the school year."
"No, not this time," Bennett said. "As I was saying. I need to go to the airport to pick someone up. And you need to come with me."
"Alone?"
"No, Jordan and Declan are coming too... When they found out about it."
"But why are you asking me specifically then?"
He sighed. "Because that person wants to meet you."
The part on the "Why does everything happen to me?" was a last minute addition. I saw a comment asking why everything happens to Naomi. And yeah, I might be just as annoyed as you, my lovely readers are, on how everything is happening to her. But if you think about it, if there wasn't anything happening, why else would you be reading it? Maybe we're all playing an otome game, pretending we're Naomi. But besides that excuse, I also thought that it's because she's the main character and it's her story. When people wonder why the main character always lives, well it's because of that, they are the main character that will live to tell the tale, that was chosen to be followed in the story.
You should keep what I said there in mind. It might be a recurring motif in the story. Which characters are main or side characters? But that's just me saying weird things. There's a lot more to come in this book. I'm just too slow to write it.
In other news, I just recently went to Anime Expo. I watched this anime called "Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto". It's about this student who does stupid and weird things but does it so stylishly and perfectly that people are so obsessed with him. I got some serious Bennett vibes from it. He doesn't look or act anything like Bennett. But I was still reminded by Bennett because he's so cool and girls all over him. So if you want, be sure to check out the anime. If you don't know how, you can download this app called VRV. No, I'm not promoting them, and sadly not getting paid. I just use the app for anime and I was happy to have found the anime in the app.
Going back to the story. What do you think? They're finally acknowledging something more than mere friendship is there. Even right now I'm questioning why I did that. I wanted to go through the whole book with them never acknowledging it. Maybe I'm teasing you guys. Because believe me, it was hard to write this chapter because I had no idea how to exactly write about it. How to make them confess but not really confess, how to make them create this tension and chemistry without making a mess. But I hope you guys enjoyed the attempt and who knows, there might be more or this will be the last time you'll ever see that.
Be prepared for the next chapter. If you haven't already or don't know, there is a prequel to this story. It's the guys' POV of when they first met Naomi in chapter one of the first book. It's in the book called "Three of a Kind". Be sure to read it, focusing on Bennett's morning scene. Have fun!
Until then,
Rubix