Jake Addams April 19th, 20XX

"Are you coming with us for lunch?"

The ends of her lips ascended into a bright, welcoming smile, but her eyes begged me to deny her request. I wondered if she was even trying to hide that she wanted to use the break to investigate Finn's three-day absence.

Well, I guess if I called her out on it, I would become the bad guy. After all, what evidence did I have beyond my suspicions?

It kind of hurt that she was going for someone that she thought was my friend, but after hearing what she thought of our relationship, I guess she didn't even consider that it would hurt my feelings or supposed friendship.

No matter all the politics involved in declining an insincere lunch invitation, I couldn't force myself to play along as I played along with her little ruse.

Honestly, it would hurt less if she just broke it off with me once and for all and stopped this ridiculous game. There was a 'couple' theme for the showcase this year, so she was probably waiting until she won before she officially broke it off with me.

I was the idiot that knew all this but still played along with her.

"No, I have something to do for a 'friend' of mine. I also have to sort out some things with the team before I officially graduate. I'm sure you have some things you have to do as well."

I couldn't hide the slight accusation in my tone, but she ignored it like it wasn't there.

She perked up at how I strained the word 'friend,' but it didn't capture her attention enough to make her stay with me. Her thin arms loosely wrapped around my shoulders, and she gave me a half-hearted kiss on the cheek before scampering off with her friends.

Vanessa had a guilty expression on her face as she watched Alice do all this, and she avoided eye contact with me. I could feel the strain in the two's relationship, but it wasn't like I could do anything to help, not that I would.

Most of the group left with Alice, but about thirty people stuck around. They all looked awkward and tried to find a good time to go, but I didn't wait around for them to decide.

My already foul mood sank like a deficient fish, and I walked away, thinking that they would all take the opportunity to drift off and do whatever they needed to do.

It came as a surprise that most of them followed me into an empty classroom. I had a few things to do to prepare for the university that had accepted me. The competition season would start almost as soon as classes began, so I planned to take some summer classes and free up my fall schedule.

I also needed to organize the information about the showcase for Finn as well. There were apparently a few special rules for management students that I'd gathered from the department head.

I wondered why I was working so hard on his behalf, but then again, it wasn't like I had much else to do.

They all sat in some weird formation around me, leaving a ring of desks empty but crowding the other outside ones. Their anticipation for me to do or say something was palpable and burdensome. It wasn't like I'd asked them to follow me, so why did they look at me like I was punishing them by staying silent.

It wasn't even like I talked a lot while the entire group was together.

Another ten minutes passed before one of them finally walked up to me and started a conversation. I recognized him as well; he was a sophomore, so he still had two years until graduation. He hadn't even finished his finals yet, so I wondered why he had enough time to hang around us seniors like a groupie.

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The sophomore circled over to my side of the table and looked over the notes I was copying.

"Are these for Alice?"

Alice hadn't taken the option to test out early, so it was a reasonable assumption. It was a logical guess, but it put me right back into the foul mood I'd tried my best to escape.

Why would I take notes for a girl that chased me off so she could chase another guy?

I restrained myself from taking out my frustration on the poor sophomore and settled for saying something else.

There was no purpose in gossiping behind her back, and I couldn't escape responsibility on my part. If I'd been clearer to her about my feelings, if I didn't keep things to myself like now and confronted her, then things probably wouldn't have gotten this bad.

"It's. for. a. friend."

I tried to sound as passive as possible, but it looked like I failed because he flinched and immediately walked back to his original spot.

The others eventually brought out their work and wrote in silence, creating an effective studying atmosphere. Well, at least the others would benefit from studying so well before finals. I exhaled and took in the rare peace but frowned when a loud knocking disrupted it.

"Is anyone in here?"

The door to the classroom slammed open, and in walked a very... vibrant girl. She had loud red hair and an athletic figure that wasn't at all missing any-

I cut off that dangerous line of thought and mentally beat them back down into the depraved hole they had crawled out of.

The girl faced all of us with an imposing but still warm air. She looked incredibly familiar but not enough to provide me with a name; she was probably pretty popular in her department.

"Is there a Jake Addams here?"

I raised an arm when I realized the others had already made it evident by training their line of vision on me.

"That's me. And you are..?"

She strode up to me and comfortably sat on the chair in front of me, breaking the circle of isolation that the others had created. The girl then spoke as comfortably as she would to someone she'd known for years.

"Sparrow, as in the bird, I'm in the design department, so that's likely why you haven't heard of me."

"That's probably why. Can I ask why you were looking for me?"

Around us, I received a bunch of thinly veiled accusatory glares as we naturally entered a friendly repertoire, and I couldn't help but nurture the growing feeling of resentment.

Why was it that when Alice openly chased another guy, no one so much as blinked, but I got glared at when another girl struck up a conversation with me?

Sparrow finally noticed the atmosphere and glares that surrounded us. I expected her to cow into herself or fall into a fluster, but she instead turned around and glared back at everyone until they looked away.

"I heard you and Finn, Finn Hall were pretty close. Do you know where he could be?"

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this. When had Finn and I become close enough for others to talk about it?

"Sorry, but I only know that he'll be back in a week."

She exhaled a sigh filled with the exasperation of an older sister… or perhaps comparing it to that of a babysitter would be more accurate.

"Well, that's more than anyone else knows."

I nodded in agreement, feeling a smile grow on my face as I spent more time speaking with her. Her extremely animated actions, paired with her bright appearance and voice, made her extremely pleasant to be around. As well, it made me forget the bitter taste in my mouth I always walked away with when I met with Ali-

Once again, I cut off my train of thought, not quite ready to reach the destination they were taking me to.

"I'm going to his house soon to drop off these notes, so if you need me to pass on a message, I can."

She beamed a killer smile at me and hoisted up her suspiciously large backpack onto the desk. Quickly and efficiently, she unzipped the various zippers in what seemed like a ritual and searched for whatever she wanted to give me on Finn's behalf.

"Can you? That would be great!"

Only, as she searched, the smile slowly fell off her face and dissolved into an annoyed frown.

"I think I left it at home…."

She then looked at me with an odd expression that caused a slight shiver down my spine, then smiled brightly once again.

"Can you come to see me tomorrow after school? I really need to get this to Finn. It'll only take a few minutes."

It wasn't by any means an excessive or problematic request, but under the glares of the surrounding group, I felt pressured and couldn't even verbally reply. I could only nod and wave her goodbye as she left.

"You can find me in room 396 in the design wing!"

The second the door closed behind her, the group stood and made hasty excuses to report to Alice on what had just happened.

I exhaled heavily and braced myself for the storm that was about to come.