"Are they here yet?!" Jerome asked from his room.

"Once they get here I'll send her up!" Hilma replied.

"Okay mother."

The party at the Jon's house had ended quite happily for Jude. He spent every minute of the party with Felici and every minute after, he spent it thinking about her. She was 15.

Hilma had instructed him to tidy his room as the Elders were coming over for a meeting, Mr. Loknot included. Felici would be coming along with him and she'd have to stay in his room while the adults talked.

It was almost high noon and he had spent all morning cleaning up his room. He had even taken his bathe twice while waiting for Felici to arrive.

A few minutes before lunch, the Elders arrived. Jerome ran downstairs and peeped from the corner of the stairwell to see if he'd spot Felici, and he did. She was in a light blue dress and dark blue slippers. Her fluffy brown hair was braided neatly in slim long columns.

Her eyes scoured the room from behind her father when they locked on to Jeromes. He waved at her and she waved back. Hilma immediately broke their gaze when she smiled at Felici and urged her upstairs.

Jerome was about running up to his room to wait for her when he spotted an unexpected figure.

"Peter, you head upstairs with Felici, Jerome is expecting you guys", Hilma added.

On normal occasions, Jerome didn't dislike Peter's company, he was nice, friendly and fun to play with, he'd agree to hang with him anytime any day, but just not today. He'd already invested so much time in preparing himself for Felici's arrival. Having a third party would just ruin everything, and that it did.

They sat on the floor in a circle playing a card game but Jerome couldn't focus. All his attention was focused on Felici and her hands that she'd accidentally placed on his. He felt like he was drowning in a pool of ecstasy, but he tried his best not to show it.

He'd already lost twice and was well on his way to a third loss when Felici removed her hand from the top of he's. He panicked.

"Jerome, I feel like you aren't taking this seriously enough", Felici complained, "Do you still want to play or not?" She asked staring at him.

"O-Of course I do", he lied.

"Then play like you mean it!" she scattered the game and started reshuffling so they could start afresh.

Peter looked at his cup of juice, it was almost empty. "Why don't we add a wager, anyone that loses has to go get the rest of us a drink."

"My mum said we shouldn't come down or else it's an emergency." Jerome replied, he didn't want to leave Felici's side.

"Are you scared of getting in trouble, mummy's boy?" Peter teased.

"Yeah, are you?" Felici joined in, the wager sounded like a great idea to make Jerome serious with the game.

He wasn't going to fall for their taunts but he realized Felici only taunted him because she wanted him to be serious with the game. And besides, if he manages to beat the game and make Peter lose, he'd have Felici all to himself for a short period while Peter went to get them drinks, so he played along. "Alright, shall we?"

The first round was an easy win for Jerome as it was an easy loss for Peter. He was stunned by his defeat, but he had to keep his word being that he was the one that introduced the idea of the wager in the first place. So he left to get them drinks, leaving Jerome and Felici together alone.

He had at least 3 minutes before Peter came back and he didn't know what to do with the time. For the first 30 seconds he said nothing but stared at her. She was shuffling the card game for the next round. She soon finished and eventually felt Jerome's stare on her. "What is it?" She asked.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Uh nothing", He replied.

Peter came back after that.

It was at that point that Jerome realized that even though he got to spend time with Felici, he didn't know what to do. He panicked, then calmed down when he remembered how experienced Peter was with girls. He knew so many girls in the village that at some point, any girl you stopped and asked if they've had some sort of relationship with Peter, would most probably reply in the affirmative. Rumor even had it that he was no longer a virgin. Peter was 15.

Though his reputation wasn't all that good, Peter was actually a really nice guy and he was Jerome's only hope at having a proper conversation with Felici. But to do that, he'd need sometime to talk to Peter alone. So in the second round, he cheated and helped Peter win.

"Haha! You lose Felici!" Peter rejoiced.

"How?! How did this nincompoop beat me?!" She asked rhetorically in shock.

"The game's like that sometimes", Jerome said to avert any form of suspicion that might come his way.

"Tch, whatever, I'll be back real quick", She said then left to get the drinks.

"Alright so what is it you wanted to talk about?" Peter asked.

"I need you to quickly educate me on a list of things to do while I'm with Felici", Jerome replied quickly, he knew they didn't have much time.

"What? Why?" Peter asked.

Jerome winced then took a deep breathe, "Because I find her really attractive and I want things to workout between us."

"Oh", Peter was a bit surprised. "Do you mean like a spouse or a concubine? Because you're too young to have either." Peter asked with all seriousness, then he smirked, "Or is it a lustful attraction?"

"Neither! None!" Jerome retorted, "I just want her to look at me the way I look at her."

"That's immensely naive", Peter chuckled.

"Please, help me", Jerome begged.

"Okay, firstly-", Peter was about starting when they heard Felici's footsteps as she climbed up the stairs. "You know what, just lose this round and let me talk to her for you. At least you'll be completely certain that she'll be interested."

Jerome thought it was a good idea, at least that way he won't have to do all the hardwork. He'd just go get the drinks, come back and have the stage set for him. So he happily lost the game and went to get the drinks.

He took his time, and when he returned, Felici had changed positions. She was no longer sitting next to where Jerome sat, she was now all the way at the other side, sitting next to Peter. Her shoulder leaned in towards him as she balanced her weight on one arm. His hands crept towards her back and stayed there. Her hair was within smelling distance of Peter's nose. His eyes wouldn't let the sight of her developing bosoms go away, he peered at them from above her head. She knew he was looking. She blushed.

The cups fell out of Jerome's hands. Thank goodness they were wooden. He smiled and immediately excused himself to go get a rag, but he didn't come back up till they left.

Turns out Peter's plan worked, she indeed eventually became interested, just not with him.

After that day, Jerome heard a rumour that Peter and Felici were dating. They were both older than him and were both old enough to get married. They seemed like a nice couple. He tried his best to be happy for them but no matter how hard he tried, only hate and resentment seeped into him whenever he saw them. So he stopped. He begged his mum to tell them that he had moved away to the sanctuary to work with his father and the sanctuary helpers so they won't come around anymore. Hilma was confused but she did it anyway, the tears that were being held back in Jerome's eyes whenever she spoke to him was more than enough reason.

4 YEARS LATER, PRESENT DAY

"Fe-Felici, what's the problem?" He held unto her shoulder and calmly hugged her.

She gently broke free of the hug and cleaned her eyes. "My father wants me to marry Peter Jon", she said.

That familiar resentment creeped into him again alongside shock, but immediately stopped when he realized he had no reason to resent them at the moment. "And how is that a bad thing", he awkwardly looked away, "I mean you've dated him once before right?"

"That's exactly why I don't want to marry him!" She replied hastily, "He's not a man worthy of being any woman's spouse. Have you heard the things he says? He thinks of women as objects."

"That didn't stop you from going out with him the first time."

"Because I didn't know what sort of person he was." She fell down on her knees and began crying. "I'm sure you don't even know how we separated."

He knew. "No, I don't."

"I caught him having an orgy with 3 of my cousins whom I had introduced to him the day before!"

Jude remembered that day vividly. Felici had come over to their house to see him but he hid upstairs. So she confided in his mother instead.

"What? That is despicable!" Jerome feigned surprise.

"I didn't know who else to talk to at the time so I came over to your house but only your mum was in." After that day, she visited almost everyday. Jerome's mother grew fond of her and at some point, even persuaded Jerome to try his luck with her, but he refused.

He bent down, "Felici I'm truly sorry but I can't marry you." His words seemed a bit harsh but he was actually empathetic towards her.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because", he paused. "Because I don't love you."

"You don't have to." She was persistent, "The feelings will come back."

Jerome was confused, "What?"

Felici realized what she said. "No, that was a mistake, I mean the feelings will come eventually."

"It didn't seem like a mistake." Then he understood, "Wait, don't tell me you were aware that I was interested in you."

She panicked, but there was no use lying. "I mean, I suspected but I had my doubts. You didn't actually tell me so I felt it would have been wrong to assume such."

Jerome had known Peter long before he knew Felici, they became friends when they were seven. Peter was a lot of things, a womanizer, a turd, an untrained idiot, etc. But he wasn't a liar. "Peter once swore to me that he told you how I felt about you that day, but I didn't believe him."

"Jerome-"

"You weren't interested in me then, I understand, but couldn't you have at least given me a decent reply? Felici that day ruined me. I had to lock myself indoors for years before I was able to get over it." He spoke softly but his words were too heavy for his heart, and his heart to brittle for his words.

"You were around all those while?" Felici was stunned.

"Of course I was! I just didn't feel like talking to you guys. And I still don't", he stormed off.