“Why can’t she just reply me?” Alan screamed in frustration, glowering at his phone as he paced from one end of the room to the other. That’s what he had been doing since the past 10 minutes, after not getting any reply from Celia.
I rolled my eyes at his impatience. “When did she message you?”
He paused for a minute, looking at his phone. “Uh about 50 minutes back.”
“Alan, there are some rules for texting a girl.” I explained, pointing my right forefinger at him while I counted on the left hand. “1) Don’t take more than 30 minutes to reply. 2) Don’t reply with a K. 3) Use good grammar. 4) Ask questions. 5) Use Smileys but limited. ”
“Now you know why I didn’t reply you yesterday.” Janice hollered, throwing a pillow at a surprised Dylan.
“Hey, I didn’t know those rules.” Dylan defended, throwing the pillow back at her.
“What did he do?” Logan asked, smirking at Dylan.
“He replied me with a K when I told him how bad my day was.” Janice replied, her eyes narrowing at Dylan who shifted uncomfortably, looking sheepish.
“I was playing video games.” Dylan muttered, making Janice gasp and throw another pillow at his face. “Fucking jerk!” She exclaimed.
I looked at Britt and we burst out laughing.
“Another rule, whatever be your reason for late replies or disinterest, don’t ever say video games. It infuriates the girl even more.” Brittany informed, making the poor Dylan look more guilty and confused.
“I didn’t know that too!” He finally exclaimed, throwing his hands in air, making the pillow fall down.
“Or you could just listen to Dear Future Husband by Meghan Trainor.” I shrugged.
“Funny, these rules suck.” Alan frowned in despair, looking at his phone in distress.
“Agreed. Girls are so complicated.” Max piped in.
“Girls? Oh please! Boys are even more complicated. They just keep giving mixed signals.” Brittany spoke, staring icily at Max.
“No, girls are complicated.” Max argued back. “They do things for some stupid reason and we never know why. They think one smile, one wink, one bend and the world’s a putty in their hands.”
“Haww! Guys play with feelings, giving a girl mixed signals. It’s so complicated to understand if he’s serious or no. Say ‘Hello’ one minute and the next minute they are like ‘Get the f out of my way’, like seriously?”
“Actions speak louder than words. No guy does sweet things for just any random girl.”
I looked at Janice who was also staring with raised eyebrows at the two individuals fighting like married couples, she turned to me and shook her head in a ‘why do they fight so much?’ gesture. I shrugged, tilting my lips downwards and glancing at them in a ‘hope this ends soon’ gesture. She nodded in agreement.
“Oh they do. Just to prove how much of a gentleman he is so that he can get into a girl’s panties. Wham bam thank you ma’am.” Brittany told sarcastically, giving Max a stink eye.
“That’s the girl’s misunderstanding. A guy’s message is clear, if she is special now she will remain special, whatever happens. We just don’t fall in love with any random girl walking down a street.” Max stated.
“So is a girl’s message clear. If she loved him, he will always hold a place if her heart no matter what. She will always care for him” Brittany announced. The fighting abruptly as they stared at each other. I figured they probably forgot there were other people watching them intensely.
“Another couple with sexual tension.” Logan coughed.
I instantly narrowed my eyes at him and Brittany just turned her mouth into a grimace while Max excused himself and Ace slapped Logan’s back hard.
“Ouch dude, what was that for?” Logan muttered, trying to reach his back. “Who said I was talking about you? It could be Dylan and Janice.”
“Logan.” Janice warned.
Ace didn’t say anything, but looked at him with his always-on-the-face scowl.
Logan winked at Janice and then wiggled his brows at Ace. “So you think there’s sexual tension between you and Joanna?”
“Logan!” I exclaimed in horror.
Dylan chuckled and turned it into a cough when Ace glared at him.
“Shut up dude, tell me what to do with Celia now.” Alan told Logan, rubbing his forehead.
Logan went to help him (which will probably end in a disaster) and Dylan went to talk with Max. Janice pulled Brittany with her going outside. I knew Janice was going to force out the story out of her. I debated on following her but then saw Ace alone and decided to sit with him instead. I don’t even know why I decided that.
Looks like my brains went for a stroll in the stupid lane.
“Hi.” I said meekly, sitting awkwardly on the couch besides him.
He looked at me and then at the door through which Janice went. He was probably thinking why I didn’t go. I myself don’t know the answer to that. Maybe because I just wanted some alone time with him.
“Hey.” He finally said.
“The fest is tomorrow.” I tried to make conversation.
He nodded. “Starts at 4 right?”
“Yep. Uh you’ll come right?”
Ace grinned cheekily. “Of course. I have helped so much. The fest is basically happening because of me.” He gloated, making me snort.
“Oh please. All you did was flirt with every girl and brag about your protruding muscles.”
“Jealous?” He teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Why would I be?”
“Because you secretly want this.” He pointed to his chest and then to his crotch.
I turned away, feeling heat rush through into my face. “N-nu not at all.” I stuttered. Lie.
“It’s okay. There’s no need to hide, let your hormones take control.” I felt his grin widen as he spoke leaning close to me.
“If they took control I wouldn’t be a virgin any longer.” My hand slapped my mouth after realizing what I had just said.
I just agreed that I was a virgin and that I indirectly wanted to have sex.
Kill. Me. Now.
Ace coughed uncomfortably clearly not expecting such a reply. He neither had a sexual innuendo to that.
“So uh you are coming tomorrow right?” He asked, scratching the back of his neck.
“Yeah.” I nodded, still embarrassed by my previous sentence.
“So uh I’ll meet you tomorrow?”
Once again I nodded. I could feel the awkward air between us. We both didn’t know what to say anymore and getting up and leaving would be more uncomfortable.
“Ace.” Dylan’s voice came from the other room.
We both sighed in relief at the interruption. He gave me a brisk nod and left me sitting there alone, making me wonder if things between us would become even worse now.
After all we were never friends and probably would never be.
“Joanna. Joanna. JOANNA!”
I turned my head to find the unfamiliar voice. Searching for the voice seemed a lot difficult in the pool of students rushing everywhere. I tried once more but found no one searching for me. Dismissing it as delusion, I turned back and walked further to find Janice.
“Hey.” I heard the same voice, this time with a panting effect right next to me.
I turned. “Sean?” I gasped in shock after realizing who it is.
He grinned, flashing me his pearly white teeth. “In flesh.”
Surprisingly I had forgotten about him. With the problems between Ace and me and Brittany still not telling about her past with Max, Sean didn’t get a chance to cross my mind. In reality I didn’t even expect him to remember me.
I grinned back at him. “So you found out my name now?” I took in his ruffled hair and a drop of perspiration on his forehead. He looked really good in his lemon yellow V neck and dark blue low waist jeans.
“No no! I found out your name and number long back but with the football finals and coach’s pressure on us, I didn’t get a chance to message you.” He explained.
I nodded. “I know, our school football team is been tortured too.”
He chuckled, a soft boyish laughter which was contagious. “Nice fest.” He said, glancing around.
I followed his eyes and my heart swelled with pleasure and pride at the compliment. “Thank you.”