A tear pricked in the corner of my eye, and I cupped a hand over my mouth to hide my yawn from view. It wasn’t that I was bored listening to Jack gush over the Magical Girl: Rising movie we had just seen or anything. I just hadn’t expected my Sunday to be quite so jam-packed full of activities. Although to be fair, most of my exhaustion could be attributed to my poor decision making. I really should have crashed when Miss Halsey reminded us not to stay up until the wee hours of the morning.

“I take it you didn’t get much sleep.”

I turned to my friend. “That obvious, huh?”

He chuckled to himself. “If it weren’t for you yawning every two seconds, the dark circles under your eyes would give it away.”

Self-consciously, I raised a hand to touch them but then thought better of it. “You’d think I’d be used to it by now, between the late-night gaming session and anime binges.”

“You might just be getting old.”

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly. “Yeah, almost fresh out of high school. Better get the walker and the retirement home ready because who knows how much time I have left?”

The steady stream of people had lessened around us, and we pushed past a few posters of the movies showing and into the lobby of the movie theater. A few patrons came in through the spinning glass door of the entrance or lingered around the concession stand–the source of the buttery popcorn smell permeating the air–but it was clear the rush hour had died down. The calm likely wouldn’t last, a brief intermission before the chaos would ensue again with the midnight premiere crowd. It was a good thing Jack had opted to go for the cheaper tickets at an earlier showing. I wasn’t confident I wouldn’t have nodded off otherwise.

“Did you want to hit up the restaurant here or just grab some fast food on the way back?” I asked, motioning toward the counter through the door to our right.

“I won’t mind just eating here,” he responded, already taking off toward the place.

Following behind him, I slipped through the door he held open and scanned the room for a place to sit. It wasn’t particularly crowded, but a good amount of the booths and tables were taken up by those eating by themselves.

I nodded towards the empty booth in the corner. "Let's grab that one."

We weaved through the scattered tables in the back. I slid into the red cushioned seat, resting my elbows on the table. Jack sat across from me, grabbing one of the laminated menus propped up behind the napkin dispenser.

"I'm feeling like a burger and fries," he said, eyes scanning over the options. "Maybe a milkshake too if I'm feeling crazy."

"Look at you being all adventurous.”

He patted his protruding belly, causing a small ripple through his coat. “You know I got to keep this baby happy.”

I laughed. “And yet you were just complaining about needing to lose a few pounds.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Hey, I always told you to do as I say, not as I do.”

“That philosophical mumbo-jumbo’s all good until I tell Kenna what you’ve been up to.”

He paled, hazel eyes wide and mouth pursed. “I’ll order for you if you keep this on the down low. With all the diet crap I’ve been enduring, one cheat meal won’t kill me.”

“Deal. I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”

As much as I was teasing him, all the exercise and dieting he’d been putting himself through had been working. It was obvious from how much slimmer his face alone was. It was also obvious why he had been working so hard to lose weight, going so far as to ask Kenna for her help on the matter. Of course, she readily agreed, and Jack gained himself a personal trainer from hell. Seriously, that girl needed to get a love life of her own to worry about.

“So, what do you want?” he asked, sliding the menu over to me.

I perused the options before closing it and returning it to its original spot. “I’ll just have the burger and fries too.”

“Milkshake?”

“Fine, if you’re going to twist my arm like that. A vanilla one please.”

He snorted and headed to the counter to place his order. I leaned back in the booth, the soft material squishing under my back. Soft music played over the speakers, some pop song that I could vaguely recognize.

My gaze settled on a couple seated a few booths away from us. The guy had his arm wrapped around the girl, whispering something in her ear that made her giggle. She playfully swatted at him, turning the motion into intertwining their fingers together at the last second. They both were quite the smooth operators, and I stored away those moves to hopefully use them in the future.

But who would I use them on?

Nicole would probably snort in derision but put up with it, quietly complaining about how I was being a moron. Aubrey might laugh and press herself closer to me, whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

I frowned, lacking any of the conviction I had when I told Nicole my answer would come soon. It had been weeks I’d been struggling with this and I was no closer to sorting out my feelings. Sure, I knew that I really liked both of them. That much was obvious by how much they were always on my mind. Still, that didn’t make the path forward any clearer.

Jack placed a tray laden with my meal on the table in front of me, startling me out of my thoughts. He slipped back into the booth opposite me with almost the exact same food, except with a chocolate milkshake. “I can see you’re hard at work thinking over there.”

“Yeah, just about the trip I went on.”

Jack raised an eyebrow as he noisily sucked his sugary dessert through a straw. “You never did tell me how it went. Anything interesting happen?”

“Just the usual craziness. You’ve seen how all of them are.”

A shit-eating grin split across his face. “You’re not much better when you’re around them. People would think you’re a totally different person if they saw you in that clubroom of yours.”

“I guess you’re right about that.”

Pulling the wrapper from my burger, I wondered whether it was worth involving Jack in my turmoil. After the anime con, I had considered asking him for advice but ultimately decided my dad would have a better scope of the situation. They always did say that beggars couldn’t be choosers, though.

“Hey, Jack.” He looked up at me midbite, a smudge of ketchup on his upper lip. “What would you do if you couldn’t choose between two girls?”

“I’d, for the first time in my life, stop watching so much anime and go touch grass.”

Hiding my face in my hands, I groaned. “What advice would you give to me?”

He chuckled, playing with the edges of the tray. He must have been considering the question because it took him awhile to respond. “Is there anything wrong with liking both of them?”

“No, I mean they're both great, but I can’t drag this on forever.”

“Choosing between them, geez,” he said. “I could see where that would cause problems.”

“Yeah…”

“I’m probably not suited for this, considering I don’t exactly have women throwing themselves at my feet”–Sophia would take exception to that–“but I would think you’d have to choose the girl you can’t imagine being without. Like, you won’t be as happy if she wasn’t in your life. Yep, that’s how I would do it! Confess to whoever makes me the happiest.”

Whoever makes you the happiest? It was simple and sweet advice, and yet I couldn’t find any fault with it. Then, if that was the criteria, I knew exactly who I was going to ask out.

“That might just be what I needed to hear.”

Jack gave me that genuine smile of his. “Glad I could help.”

Pulling out my phone, I shot Serena a text, hoping she wouldn’t kill me for interrupting her supposed beauty sleep.

‘Could you avoid the club room for a bit tomorrow? I need to sort something out with Nicole and Aubrey’

LonMair399

Whew, I know I don't have the most creative titles for chapters, but I struggled naming this one. I probably could have just called it something about the movie theater, but that played such little of a role that it almost seemed cheap. Anyway, thanks for reading, and the next chapter will be posted on Wednesday!