Her green eyes bore impassively into mine, studying me for some kind of fault; there must have been some to be found. Tan fingers yanked at my collar, dragging me down to her short stature and allowing her to brush aside some strands of my messy hair. She nodded approvingly, allowing me to draw back and massage my sore neck after she kept jerking me around. “I think we finally have you looking respectable.”

“I feel like I was fine fifteen minutes ago,” I argued.

Serena tutted at me like I had no clue what I was talking about. “And you’d be wrong, but that’s fine. Luckily you have me around.”

“Yeah, lucky me.”

I moved closer to the display case to see whether there were any significant changes to my appearance. My bangs were neatly swept to the side, revealing a bit of my forehead. Any stray hairs I had sticking up were smoothed down by her incessant grooming. However, I wasn’t certain it was going to make any more of a lasting impression on them than if I had gone in without her ‘kind’ assistance.

“Am I good to go?”

She put her hands together, centering me in what must have been a makeshift picture frame. Tilting her head to get a better angle, she eventually nodded her head once in satisfaction. The girl strode forward and slapped me on the back. “I think this is the best we’ll get out of a subpar specimen like you. I’ll let Kenna and Sophia know that you’ll be coming in now.”

I mumbled a few curses under my breath. “You really didn’t need to get the two of them involved.”

“I kind of did. Otherwise, Aubrey and Nicole would have gone looking for you to see what was holding you up. You would’ve gone in there looking like a hot mess,” Serena said, typing on her phone.

“And whose fault is that exactly? You even gave me the lame excuse that they clearly didn’t buy.”

“Yours”–she threw up her hands in exasperation–“for not better preparing for something serious. And that excuse was a foundation that you were supposed to build on. It’s not my fault they didn’t believe you were staying after to ask Miss Halsey about the homework. Like you’d ever do that.”

This conversation was going nowhere except in circles. I–being the smarter, stronger, taller, and kinder person–allowed her to believe she had reigned victorious in our verbal spar. It was below me to argue with the pitiful creature otherwise.

“If you don’t wipe that stupid smirk off your face, I swear to god I’ll smack it off myself.” She huffed, shoving my shoulder and making me bump my elbow into the glass behind me. “You always have some smart-ass thing to say.”

The stupid smirk of mine grew larger. “I didn’t even say anything.”

“You think way too loud.”

“Well, it’s probably for the best that at least one of us does.”

“Whoever you ask, I hope you get rejected. Without mercy.”

“Hey, now. And here I thought we were finally getting along.”

“That’ll be the day. Now, get going.” She huffed and darted behind me, pushing on my lower back to guide me toward the club room. “Good luck, Grant.”

“Thanks.” 

I pulled open the door and walked into the dimly lit storage area. That lightbulb was on life support, flickering and plunging the place into darkness before a burst of spark resuscitated it again. Without Serena to distract me from the task at hand, my stomach twisted painfully to the rhythm of my racing heart. I wiped my sweaty palms on my pant legs and pushed onward.

 In the club room, the four girls sat around the table, with Kenna up in arms about something. She flailed about from her seat, begrudging some poor schmuck in our class for how he hadn’t appreciated the artistic vision of her wonderful, sweet Jack. And wasn’t that just a complete three-sixty from how she had been acting a couple of months ago? 

I guess liking someone really did change a person.

Shuddering at the sappy thought, I approached them. Sophia was the first to notice me with a sly smile, no doubt overly excited at what Serena’s text had implied. “Ah~, Grant! What brings you here?”

I blinked at the strange inquiry. “You mean other than the fact that this is where I go every day after school?”

“You’re so funny,” she giggled while Kenna looked about seconds away from vomiting. “Well, we better get going. Me and Kenna have been dying to try this little diner nearby.”

Kenna's brow furrowed. “This is the first I’m–”

A hand slammed over her mouth. “You’re also super funny today. Anyway, see you all later.”

They left the room, with Sophia practically dragging the other girl out after her. My nerves spiked watching them leave, knowing that I was alone with Aubrey and Nicole. There was nothing else to do now, except to push forward and do the damn thing. The curtains flapped against the sill in the March breeze, almost like they were agreeing with me.

“Well, that was a thing,” Nicole commented, likely curious as to why all her friends were freaks.

“They certainly are an interesting pair,” Aubrey agreed, putting it lightly in a way that only she could. “You want to sit, Grant?”

“Um…” I cleared my throat, attempting to gather my courage. “I’m fine standing.”

“You all are being weird today. First Serena, then them, and now you.” Nicole cooly observed me. “What’s up?”

I chuckled lightly. “That’s my fault. I might’ve put them on to the idea that I had an answer for the both of you.”

Aubrey shot me a quizzical look. “Do you? It’s only been half a day.”

“Yeah, I think I had an answer the whole time. I was just struggling with convincing myself it would work out. 

“O-oh, ok. Then… uh, what…” Aubrey became quiet, her gaze dropping to the table. Nicole placed her hand over Aubrey’s, giving it a little squeeze. Sharing a tiny grin, she pressed onward with her line of questioning. “Go ahead, Grant. We’d like to hear your decision.

The orange light of the sun burst through dancing over them before fading just as soon. Light blue eyes regarded my every move, and I suddenly wished I had taken Aubrey up on her offer to sit at the table. With a sharp exhale, I turned to the aforementioned girl. “Aubrey, you’re the whole reason we have the club we do today in the first place. I love how you always put others first and never ask for anything back from them. You brighten up my mood whenever I’m down, and I like being able to tease each other without ever meaning any of it. Being around you is always the highlight of my day.”

Aubrey's eyes widened in surprise as I confessed to her. "I feel the same, obviously. I really care about you too, Grant. So much that I’m really struggling to put it into words.” A bright blush spread across her cheeks and she ducked her head shyly. “Sorry, it looks like I’m no good at this kind of thing.”

She raised her chin a little and met my gaze with a warm smile before it morphed into barely hidden concern for her friend. Nicole brushed her worry off, her line of sight trained straight ahead and looking through me. "Well, I can't say I'm not disappointed, but I am happy for you. I’ll let you two be."

She made to stand, but I shook my head. “Sit, Nicole. I wasn’t done.”

Nicole paused, looking uncertain, but slowly sank back into her seat. I took a deep breath before turning to face her. "When we first met, we hated each other.” She scoffed but allowed me to continue. “But the more I got to know you, the more I realized how wrong I was about you. Underneath that tough exterior: you're smart, driven, and deeply caring. You see the good in people even when they can't see it themselves. And I know I can trust you to have my back."

Nicole stared at me blankly as I confessed my true feelings for her as well; she looked between me and Aubrey often.

"I care for both of you, and my feelings for each of you just keep getting stronger." My mouth was dry, so I swallowed before continuing. "I don't want to choose between you. I know it’s selfish, but I’d do my best to make you happy."

The weight of my unusual confession hung in the air like a dense fog. The only sounds were the ticking of the clock on the wall and our own shallow breathing. Aubrey and Nicole exchanged glances, their faces a storm of emotions I couldn't decipher.

Finally, Nicole spoke up. “After all this time, this is the answer you came up with?”

“It is,” I said, my voice firm.

“How would this even work?” she asked, her voice remaining neutral. “Would we be dating just you or each other too?”

“I guess that’d be something we’d have to discuss.”

She drummed her fingers on the table, a habit she had when deep in thought. "This is really weird."

I shrugged my shoulders weakly. 

Aubrey chewed her lower lip. "I don't know. I've never... we've never..."

“Sorry to spring something like this on you so suddenly,” I said, realizing how much this actually was to take in. “Why don’t I go for a little while and let you think it over?”

“Hell no,” Nicole said, shocking me into stillness. “You don’t get to drop that bombshell and walk away. You’re going to sit your ass down, and we’ll figure this out together. You also get to be in charge of figuring out date plans for this weekend. Understood?” She hummed contently to herself when I sat at the chair across from them. “That sound alright to you, Aubrey?”

“I-I would like to give this a fair shot, yes.” She swept a piece of her pink hair behind her ear. “A date to see if we could work out seems like a good first step.”

“Right,” I smiled, knowing we still had a lot to work through. “A good first step sounds promising.”

LonMair399

The title says it all. I hope I did this moment justice, and we'll continue to see their relationships develop as we go from here. In other news, I do keep hoping to release this on Wednesday, but on occasions, it may come out on a Thursday. I may have bit off a little more than I can chew with writing another series at the same time as this one. On the bright side, the new series should release every day for at least the first month once it's released! See you all on Saturday, and thanks for reading!