Monday came rolling in quicker than Alonah would have liked. After all, as the day progresses on, the day she finally gets to meet the rest of the rowdy gang is also getting nearer. She would have preferred it if the days wouldn’t go by just as fast but alas, there’s just nothing she can do about that.
Ever since her encounter with Xavier and Lauren through Skype over the weekend, she has become a fidgety mess. Lu usually would just let her best friend be when she acts all nervous because she knows that she would just get over it in no time, but somehow, it was different right now. Alonah was appalled that Lu finally resorted to telling her to get her s**t together because Lu never tells her that.
Honestly, it just goes to show how nervous she is about the whole thing.
It also didn’t help much in her situation when she suddenly got a message request from Lauren—which she still hasn’t opened. She was curious, of course, but her mind was getting the best of her so she ended up postponing opening the message for now.
It was only then that Alonah realized how stupid she was because not reading Lauren’s message would only make her overthink things more than she already did.
Taking that into consideration, she noted mentally that she had to open Lauren’s message when she arrived home.
It also didn’t surprise her much when Ian finally caught on into what’s happening to her. She kind of expected it already since she’s pretty sure Lu would tell him one way or another. Ever since he found out, him and Lu made a joint effort to try and comfort their friend about how everything is going to be and that she should just calm down.
Hearing that, she wanted that more than anything right now. But how could she possibly do that when everything is just so stressful for the past few weeks or so?
Not to mention that Lu and Reese have been fighting a lot lately and they barely talk to each other now. Alonah admits that she didn't notice it before; she seriously didn't. She only noticed when Hayes told her about it. Guilt instantly overrode her emotions because she’s been so caught up with her own, she didn’t know that her own best friend is having troubles too. She just managed to make up with one of her friends she had a fight with, and now another one’s fallen in line.
It's surprising to say the least, because those two are very close and she rarely ever sees them fight at all. They would usually always sit next to each other and talk like it’s them against the world—that’s the normal scenario. But right, they’re both acting very distant with each other, and they couldn't even look each other in the eye without the tension hanging in the air like a monkey.
She tried asking Lu what they were fighting about, but she's just so vague about it; said that she shouldn't worry too much about her and Reese since apparently, this kind of situation happens more often than any of the group knows. Alonah was honestly taken aback when she knew that since that’s the first she’s heard of it.
Aside from those, Lu also told her that her argument with Reese would just pass soon so it's not something that you should exert your effort to worry on.
Alonah really worries about that girl and how she deals with things. It tends to get out of hand sometimes.
"Are you excited to meet Xavier and the others?" Hayes asked as she took a bite of her apple.
"Well, sort of. I mean, I'm practically shitting bricks right now." Alonah replied, her previously forgotten sullen mood now returning.
Naturally, her friends laughed at her negativity. She was actually already expecting that but she didn’t really expect that their reactions would be immediate.
"Why are you so nervous? I'm pretty sure her friends will be just like her. Just imagine that it's just Lu you're talking to." Dominic suggested and she actually started to consider his suggestion, when a certain someone thought that it would be the great time to make things personal.
"They're just like her, all right. Just like her who's manipulative and a controlling psycho." Reese mumbled darkly under his breath, which was loud enough to make Lu look up from her meal and glare coldly at him.
"Oh, so you want to make it personal, huh? Then fine!" Lu spat, making Reese scowl at her.
"You don't even know how to make it personal! Your words are nothing to me. It doesn't affect me." He replied, making all of their remaining friends all to turn quiet and just merely exchange looks with each other.
"Oh, really? All the words people say to you are nothing? It's no wonder your past girlfriends left you. You're nothing but a cold and self-centered asshole!" Lu replied harshly, making Alonah wonder if she really means what she just said. She probably doesn’t, but that was still pretty cruel—despite how much of a frank person she is.
All of them are looking at her now, the tension still not leaving the air surrounding them. Alonah honestly thought she’s suffocating and she has no doubt that her friends (minus Lu and Reese) are feeling the same thing as her.
Reese became quiet after that, and that's how they knew that a damage had just been done. Lu didn't even look guilty at all; she’s just seething in her place, if you're wondering.
Alonah honestly didn’t know how to deal with this situation or how she should act. As she exchanged a look with Hayes, she could see worry glistening in her eyes and Alonah couldn’t help but share her friend’s sentiment. They have seen the two friends fight before, but it was never this ‘such-a-slap-in-the-face’ moment. At that, Alonah really couldn’t help but wonder what the hell they were arguing about for it to become this bad.
"Why are you so speechless, huh? My words finally meant something to you? It finally slapped you hard on the face, you tosser?" Lu asked, making Reese look at her with eyes as dark as the night sky.
Alonah really thought it wasn’t the right time, but she couldn’t help but crack a smile when Lu said a slang that Reese still probably doesn’t understand despite hearing it for so long. However, she quickly got rid of her smile once she saw the weird looks Hayes is sending her. After all, she didn’t want her friend to have the wrong idea and think that she’s enjoying Reese’s current agony.
"Yes! You happy now, b***h?" Reese asked, muttering dark things under his breath right after.
Lu only rolled her eyes at him. However, Alonah could see that her best friend was having trouble keeping a straight face. If she really does know her friend like she thought, then she could already tell that Lu was burning to punch Reese on the face. If Alonah was being honest with herself, that was how she expected Lu to react. Instead, said girl just started to stand up as she said, "Whatever."
All of their eyes trained on the girl sporting a grim look on her face as she arranged all of her things inside her bag. Almost immediately, the remaining friends turned to Reese, who had a look of pure and unadulterated rage radiating off of him. That was all they were able to do: transfer their gazes from the other to the next and back again, having no absolute clue what they should do.
By this time, the tables surrounding them were already looking at them with curiosity burning in their eyes. Alonah could feel the intensity of those stares that she shuddered a little in her place, thinking to herself quietly how scary people are when they’re trying to gather information they could share to their friends.
Still, the center duo paid no mind to it nor to their surroundings.
Lu was about to walk away like what she does every time, but what Reese said next made her stop in her place and made Alonah and the rest turn even more quiet than before. She didn’t even know it was possible to be quieter than they are now before this incident.
So they are capable of silence after all.
It just takes two friends to have an argument in front of them like it was the most normal thing to do--which for both Lu and Reese, it really is.
"I never thought I'd ever hear it from you. My best friend." Reese said quietly. "But, at least you're the first one who told me that. Better first than last, right? Because being the last might hurt even more than you expect."
With those words said, he stood up in his place and walked away from the group, executing Lu’s prior planned action instead. The group’s eyes trailed once more towards the upset raven-haired guy before they returned back to Lu, silently waiting to see what she’s going to do this time, now that her signature move was stolen from her.
Once Reese was already halfway through the cafeteria, Lu groaned in her place and mumbled, "I don't know how you always do it, but you make me feel such a horrible person every time we fight, even if it's always your fault."
With those words said, she grabbed her bag and ran after Reese, who was already pushing the cafeteria door open.
"Oi Reese! Wait up!" They heard Lu say as the cafeteria door closed behind her.
The tables surrounding them still had their attention on the group’s table, trying to decipher what the hell it was they just witnessed. Honestly, it was scary at first, but now it’s just getting annoying. Do they really not have anything better to do than to find something they can gossip about?
Almost as if Dominic heard her thoughts, he turned to look at the tables surrounding them with a menacing glare showing in his eyes as he said, “What the hell are you looking at?”
All of them immediately looked away from us at lightning speed, probably not wanting to have a first-hand experience of Dominic’s horrible temper (as they have most probably known from the rumors circulating around the campus). They weren’t exactly wrong in assuming that because Dominic really has a horrible temper, but only when he’s terribly pissed off. Other than that, he’s basically harmless.
A smug expression overtook Dominic’s face and was about to gloat to his amused friends about how he handled that situation perfectly, when they heard a guy holler, “Are they breaking up?”
The remaining friends turned towards the person who asked that, confusion swirling in all of their faces. “What?” Kobe replied.
The guy calmly took a bite off his sandwich before replying, “Lu and Reese.”
Ashton scoffed. “Are you all seriously still on that? For the umpteenth time, they are not a couple. Do you think guys would have the balls to confess their feelings for Lu if they knew that Reese was her boyfriend?”
“Well, you aren’t wrong.” The guy took a sip from his drink. “They just really seem like a couple to everyone else.”
“You’re not the only ones who think that.” Alonah heard Kobe mumble under his breath, making the former laugh at his comment and the latter to give her a wink.
“They’re not so stop with that already.” Hayes replied.
The guy shrugged. “I was just asking. But thank you for your wonderful answers.”
“What is this? A television show?” Ashton muttered.
The friends shared a laugh at his remark, paying the guy who questioned them no mind. He already ignored them anyway so no problem there.
With all these constant rumors and unwanted attention, Alonah sometimes hates the fact how her friends are so popular among all the students--both in a good and bad way. She’s pretty sure some people had something to say about her too but she honestly didn’t care. They could talk all they want, she wouldn’t even bat an eyelash; it was just the attention she hated.
How the others could bear with it so perfectly, she has no idea.
“With that guy out of the way,” Alonah started. “What do you guys think Reese and Lu argued about?”
“I’m not exactly sure but yesterday, I was over at Reese’s and I heard him say something like he’s done and tired of all the nuisance and he sounded really upset.” Dominic replied.
“Did you know who he was talking to?” Hayes looked at him curiously.
“No, I had no idea who it was and I didn’t really pay it any mind. But when I knew that he and Lu were fighting, I just got to thinking that maybe it was her he was speaking to.”
“If it was really her, then what could she have said to make Reese say that?” Alonah wondered aloud.
Suddenly, all of them heard a chuckle beside Alonah. Looking at the guy in question, Ashton grinned up at them and said, "Every time they fight, I have this weird feeling that what they're fighting about is something so trivial, or it's either they're just acting their fight."
The rest of the group could only look at him weirdly, each of them trying to figure out why and how the hell Ashton came up with that idea. What benefit would Reese and Lu even get from faking their fight? Nothing, that’s for sure.
"Are you on drugs right now, Ash?" Kobe asked after a long bout of silence.
They chuckled as they saw Ashton glare at their mischievous friend, who looks ready to take on Ashton’s retaliations any time. “Why would I be on drugs, you stupid i***t?”
“Because you seem like you are. I mean, did you even hear how ridiculous your statement was?”
“It wasn’t!” Ashton turned to face the others, determination shining in his eyes. “It wasn’t, right?”
Hayes put her arm around the pouting guy and said, “It was definitely ridiculous. Why would they even fake their fight?”
“I don’t know. To have fun?” Ashton suggested, the frown on his lips deepening.
Alonah wanted nothing but to pinch Ashton’s cheeks at the moment because of how adorable and stupid he looked like right now. She just wasn’t sure which weighed out more but she’s pretty sure the scale tipped towards ‘stupid’ a little bit more.
Dominic sighed in his place as he regarded Ashton with vague pity. “You have a weird way of having fun.”
“Not to mention, you come up with the most ridiculous ideas.” Alonah added.
“Are you all even my friends?” Ashton questioned, rolling his eyes when all he got from them was an ear splitting grin. “Well, whatever. At this point, we can never figure out what happened between those two if we don’t ask. Though, I’m sure they’ll shoot us down the instant we do.”
“For once, you actually said something useful.” Kobe commented. “I’m so proud of you, Ash. You’ve grown.”
Ashton looked at him weirdly, deciding to ignore his friends prior comment. “Why do you sound so much like my parents? It’s creepy.”
“Because I’m your father, Ashton.”
The group burst out laughing as they watched Kobe avoid getting hit from Ashton’s paper balls, the latter grinning in amusement as he muttered about how weird his friends are--which Alonah heard, obviously.
Right, like he has any right to say that. Does he even look at the mirror? The word ‘weird’ is basically written in bold, red letters on his forehead.
“Seriously Ash, you’re weird.” Kobe said.
"Whatever." Ashton mumbled as the bell rang, signalling that lunch already ended.
Chuckling, Alonah said, "Come on, let's just go to class."
— ~ — ~ —
"I don't know if that's normal for you, but that is just weird." Lu said while Lauren laughed as a reply.
"Well, you know how my brother is. He can be very..." Lauren paused to find the right word. "destructive, as you know."
"I know. But who sets a teacher's desk on fire?" Lu asked, her tone lacing with amusement.
Alonah was honestly appalled the first time she heard Lauren utter those words that she didn’t even have anything to say. She thought hard about how that would have been possible and how the hell his brother is still alive.
Judging by all the things she heard from Lauren regarding him, she guesses it’s safe to say that he’s a troublemaker—the worst kind of troublemaker.
"Um, my brother?" Lauren replied, meaning to make it sound like a statement, but it came out as a question instead.
Lu laughed and so did Alonah. It's been exactly two days since that call and right now, despite acting all merrily towards the two girls, Alonah was actually besides herself with nervousness about what she should tell Lauren should the latter decide to confront her about not replying to her message.
There’s a high chance she will, but she would still like to hold on to that ten percent chance of alternate happiness. She didn’t even prepare what to say because she never really thought they would be talking again this soon.
"Wow, your brother sounds like a handful." Alonah remarked while the girl in question just chuckled.
"He is." She replied with a grin. “By the way, Ally, did you receive my message?”
And there it is.
Alonah silently cursed the world for being so cruel. Why couldn’t she just have enjoyed that ten percent chance? She honestly thought that was more reasonable to her situation than the former.
Should she just make up some excuse about being busy or something?
Alonah looked at Lu fleetingly before she let out an inaudible sigh.
No, that won’t work. Lu would contradict her every excuse and then she would be forced to jus tell the truth. By then, she’s pretty sure Lauren’s good impression of her is already down the drain.
So, she decided to go with the truth—despite it being hard for her to do.
She sent the girl a sheepish smile. “Yeah, I did. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to reply, I was just really nervous about what I should say. But I did plan to reply later today when I get home though.” Alonah looked at Lu. “I just didn’t expect I would be dragged here.”
Lauren laugh. “Oh, you are such a delight. It’s alright, I actually already considered that possibility when I sent you that message. I just didn’t expect you were actually that nervous.”
Alonah winced at that. “I’m just not very good with new people.”
“That, and you were embarrassed about the fact that they know about our conversation about them.” Lu added, a mischievous grin appearing on her lips.
Alonah silently promised to make the girl suffer one of these days.
Pink immediately tinted her cheeks as she heard the laughter coming from both girls. She was absolutely at loss of words. Why did this have to happen to her?
“Don’t worry about that, Ally. We were actually pretty entertained when we knew about it. Besides, we were mostly just teasing Lu about the fact that she’s bragging us to other people.” Lauren replied, a reassuring smile plastered on her lips.
Lu grunted. “That was not a great experience.”
“Oh come on. That was cute.”
“She really does like talking about you guys a lot.” Alonah commented, ignoring her best friend’s glare. “It’s especially so cute when she talks about it in detail.”
“I know! We never really knew this girl was capable of doing that.” Lauren grinned.
This time, Lu just decided to ignore both Alonah and Lauren’s comments. "So, how's little Xavier doing?"
"I am not little." They heard someone hiss in the background, who suspiciously sounds a lot like Xavier.
"You are! Now shut up. We're still talking, you know." Lauren reprimanded and Alonah could practically see Xavier roll his eyes despite the latter not even being on screen.
Xavier was instantly on Lauren's side. "Ally, don't believe anything these two idiots tell you. They don't know what they're talking about." He said and she laughed.
"I don't know. What they're saying is pretty convincing." Alonah teased and he groaned while standing up.
“Oh there you are.” Lu grinned. “I was wondering when you were going to show up. Why were you all quiet in the background? I’m surprised you didn’t comment on any of the things we mentioned, especially the part about Ally being nervous around you guys.”
Xavier glared at his cousin fleetingly before returning his stare back to Lu as he let out a grunt. “Lauren kept throwing pillows at me to stop me from coming near and it was really annoying so I just decided to let her be.”
Lauren grinned triumphantly. “Obviously, you made the right choice.”
"Girls are so infuriating.” They heard him mutter.
"Well, get used to it buddy." Lu said and they laughed while he just smiled sarcastically at them.
He was about to go out of the room, when he suddenly dashed towards Lauren and sat beside her.
"Hey Ally?" He said and she looked at him questioningly.
"Yes?” She answered, wondering what he’s up to when she saw the grin on his face.
"Can I have your Skype name?" He asked and her jaw dropped.
"W-what?" She stuttered and his grinned widened.
"Come on. Tell me. I want to talk to you without these two eavesdropping on us." He replied, referring to Lauren and Lu, who pouted at him.
Alonah laughed, albeit nervously. "Alright." She replied and he clapped his hands together and stood up.
"Yes!" He exclaimed and grinned at her. "Give it to me later. Bye!”
And with that, he was already out of the room but not before he sent her a wink that took her completely by surprise. She already knew that the guy was handsome, but there are just times where she’s reminded of it again in the most weirdest ways.
When he was already out, the two girls gave her smirk, which already said all the things they wanted to say.
"What?" She asked, knowing that her cheeks are already pink. As a response, they only laughed at her embarrassment.
They are definitely evil, no doubt about that.
Aksara