Drafted - Part 3

The two of us decided to meet at the SF clubroom during my free period. We chose the SF clubroom since other students would quickly figure out that we're planning something together if the two center pieces of the rumors are in the open discussing election plans.

The reason we're doing this during my free period is also relatively simple. Since I've missed about two days-worth of classes at this point, she decided that it'd be for the best if she were the one who skipped class this time. I can't have myself build too much of a reputation as a skipper before then.

In any case, once my free period arrives, I loiter around my locker for a bit to pass the time until everyone else gets to class. Once I'm done, I head straight towards the staircase that leads to the SF clubroom.

Things seem to be going well enough. I never had any trouble skipping class before so today shouldn't be different. It's just a straight beeline to the stairs and I'm there.

Feeling a bit nervous, I find myself thinking about Scarlet's change in ideals.

To be honest, it feels like another facade to me.

I don't believe that someone like her would just suddenly stop being interested in her image or popularity.

Was whatever happened with Nick that much of an eye-opener?

Or is she just pulling my leg here? I wouldn't put it past her to do something like this just to save her own reputation. If you think about it, those rumors are pretty damaging to her too.

The latter definitely sounds more like her but…

Aghh, I don't get it…! What are you thinking, Scarlet?

"Wooooaaaah! If it isn't the school-infamous degen Chase Masters! Wow, lucky me!"

"H-huh?"

My thoughts are interrupted as a bespectacled girl with braided hair suddenly pops into my view from seemingly nowhere.

"What the… Where did you come from?"

"Wow wow wow, hello Chase Masters! Fancy meeting you here! I love your hair by the way, it's really cu- I mean, uh, cool! I'm kinda jealous of it myself! What are your plans right now? Got any classes?"

"Um, I'm just walking for now, I guess. I'm a little busy so I can't stop to chat. Sorry."

Without waiting for a response, I quickly move past her and continue on my way to the staircase.

Geez, talk about weird.

Who just greets a complete stranger by screaming their ear off like that? Seems like more than a few nutcases have got their eyes on me because of those rumors. Don't tell me… Did she want to buy weed too?

"…"

Ah whatever. No point mulling over it. I just need to head to the SF clubroom.

"Hello!"

"Woah!"

I almost fell over this time.

She just suddenly appeared in front of me from out of nowhere again… what's her deal?

"You know you're supposed to have a hall pass if you're wandering around at this hour, right?"

"A hall pass?"

"Yessir! I'm Leyla Thompson, a member of the student body government and also this period's hall monitor for the main building! It is my CIVIC DUTY to ensure that there are no bad kids skipping class during this period! And you, my friend, have a pretty bad reputation of doing that already!"

Ah crap, this school had a hall monitor system? I've been skipping classes for the past two days and this is the first I've heard of it. That's what I get for sleeping through homeroom all the time.

"A-ahaha. Sorry, I actually have a free period right now, so…"

"Ah, is that so? Well the library is in the opposite direction, so if you don't mind heading that way you would be very helpful! Don't want teachers getting upset and all!"

I can't go to the library, Scarlet's skipping class right now so it has to be away from the public eye.

But there's no way I can explain that to her.

"STILL THOUGH…! To have met with the infamous pervert degen Chase Masters on such a day… Lady Luck must really have it out for me huh?"

"Okay seriously. Quit it with the titles, why don't you? It's kinda rude."

"Rude? I don't think so. I mean, they're all completely totally irrefutably true, right? Didn't you date Scarlet then play around with Momoka behind her back? Plus, there's rumors that you and Jennifer were flirting near the lockers this morning. Is she next for you? Or have you already made a move? Oh my god, you're so lucky! The things I'd give up to do lewd things with Jennifer… Hubba hubba…."

She drools and giggles to herself for a moment before wiping her face with a satisfied smile.

"No doubt, Jennifer Swift is the hottest girl at this school right now, and she's only going to get better with age. I think she's already dated three guys so far and it's only been a month! I wonder how far they got to go with her… Ugh! I wish I was a guy! I want to caress her hair! I want to touch her skin! I want to fondle her boobies! Oh godddd why can't she just notice me?!"

Okay, this Leyla girl is a complete nutcase. What the hell is she saying in the middle of the hallway?

Though, this isn't too far off from the kind of stuff Nick and Sig say in the hallways. In fact yesterday they were talking about our homeroom teacher's… Actually, you know what? She suddenly doesn't seem all that bad after all.

"IN ANY CASE!!! To the library with you, sir! Or I'll report you to the relevant authority figures! Those are the teachers, by the way. I'll report you to the teachers."

"…"

Ah great, I can't make it to the meeting spot at this rate.

What are my options here?

Maybe I could run away and just lose her?

Actually, that's a bad idea. The loud footsteps would draw too much attention my way from nearby classrooms.

So, should I just tell her the truth?

No way, I don't know her well enough. Who knows how such a crazy girl would react?

"Hey hey, Chase. Earth to Chase Masters. Bonjour monsieur! Hello! Wake up!"

"W-what?"

"The library. Chop chop! I think your friend Nicholas might be there. He's kind of a hunk too, if you don't mind me saying. I love me a guy with a cute pair of glasses. Hubba…"

Well, she seems to be going off about whatever she pleases without me prompting her much. Maybe I could distract her?

"Um… aren't you into girls? You were just going on about Jen a while ago, and now you like Nicholas…?"

"Huh? Oh, I don't really care about stuff like that. Girl, boy, trans, non-binary, doesn't make a difference to me. If they're down, I'm down. Why bother sticking to one flavor of ice cream for the rest of your life, right? Taste the rainbow is my motto, ehehehe. Seriously though, the library. I'm like THIS close to reporting you. My index fingers might seem REALLY close together right now, but they're not actually touching. That's how thin the ice you're on is!"

"O-oh. But, uh… Hey, Leyla. I have a question."

"Hmm? Chase Masters, are you trying to change the subject? Because that won't work on me! Not in a million years, no sirree! Hmm, unless maybe you wanna go make out in a corner somewhere. Because I am DOWN!"

Good lord.

"N-not at all! I was just wondering if you thought those rumors about me are true or not. I mean, the stuff about me and Scarlet and Momo…"

"And my Queen Jennifer?"

"… Sure?"

"HMMMM! Well well well, I SUPPOSE I can give you some insider info since you asked so nicely. I actually had an interview with a senior this morning who claimed to walk in on you and Momoka having a steamy kissing sesh on Monday. ALSO, I happen to have another one on Friday with someone who claims to have even MORE info on you that the public doesn't have access to yet soooo, I dunno! Things aren't looking great for you champ! If I were you I'd BOOK it! Just get outta town! Start anew! There's plenty of other fish in the sea for someone as cute as you! Like me, for example. The make-out offer is still up by the way."

Dammit, Jen really does have Ryan under her control. Why else would he go out of his way to lie in an interview?

Wait…

"Interviews? Why would you be doing interviews? Aren't you just a hall monitor?"

"Urk!"

Wait a goddamn minute.

"… Leyla. Are lying about being a part of the Student Body Government?"

"O-o-o-o-of course not! W-w-w-w-w-why would I be, huh?! You picking a fight dammit?! Well I'll take it! A steamy hot fight! In a quiet bedroom! While we're both naked!"

"… Be honest."

"Yes sorry, I lied. I'm not actually on hall monitor duty. I'm the head of the newspaper club."

I figured. There's no way someone involved with the Student Body Government would spend time doing interviews on petty drama. She was just trying to get a scoop out of me by pretending to be a hall monitor.

"Wait, this school has a newspaper?"

"Eh, not anymore. Apparently we've been doing everything digitally since I came to this school. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, all our articles are short write-ups that we post up on social media. I feel like it should just be called the Journalism club at this point, but I'm the only member so we're probably gonna disband anyway if I don't keep the scoops coming."

"So you were stalking me to get some kind of a scoop."

"Ahahahaha, well you're a sharp one aren't you Chase Masters? Guess those street smarts of yours are good for scouting lies, huh?"

"…"

I can't tell if I should be upset or impressed with her guts.

"W-well if there's nothing else I'll be heading to class! See ya!"

"Hey, wait!"

I reach my arm out, but it's too late.

She dashes off before I can get in a single reply.

I wanted to ask about the person she was going to interview on Friday.

But it seems like she was planning on escaping the moment her cover was blown.

What a strange character, though.

Even though she's only been gone for a few seconds, I can't tell if that whole thing even really happened or not. It felt like some kind of weird fever dream.

Leyla Thompson.

She seems to have a lot of information on the rumors going out about me. I'll have to ask Scarlet about the newspaper club when I get up there. She should be more familiar with it since she follows this kind of stuff closely.

After taking a deep breath, I climb the stairs and head to the SF clubroom.

Once there, I find none other than Scarlet Sterling tapping her foot impatiently as she stands outside of the room.

It's hard to believe that this is the same girl who "broke up" with me on Monday.

She looks so full of life today.

"What took you so long, loser? What if someone saw me?"

Actually, how didn't anyone see you?

"Sorry, I got held up by something. I probably should have given you the keys."

"Yeah yeah, just hurry up and open the door already. Geez, you took so long that I was starting to believe you really are a womanizer."

"Seriously…?"

I sigh and open the door, and the two of us slip inside after making sure that no one was checking in on us.

Unlike the other two times I've used this room during school hours though, I opt to open the curtains since what we're doing technically counts as a school activity. It's just… not really an activity that has to be done during school hours.

The room is filled with light much unlike the gray that had been filtering in from yesterday. The sun seems adamant about making up for lost time. Its rays shine through the windows with absolutely no concern for our own well-being.

"Oh well…"

However, upon illuminating the room, the sun's rays reveal something I unfortunately hadn't noticed when locking up yesterday.

And it's that there's a bra lazily hanging off the side of the center desk.

A black bra.

One that I'd never forget in a million years even if I wanted to.

Could it be…

"… Chase?"

Uh oh.

"Yes, Scar-"

She's smiling.

She's smiling, but it kinda looks like she's trying her hardest not to beat me to a pulp right now.

"Mind explaining this to me?"

"Uh, well…"

Oh god, now she really will think I'm a womanizer.

Quickly Chase, think!

Why is there a bra in the room?

What kind of excuse can you give?

Just say anything! Just bullshit through this!

"O-oh, that's normal for us. Our senior members Chris and Reyna sometimes get it on when club meetings are done. H-haha, those silly kids, right?"

Dammit, I'm such a terrible liar.

"… I see."

She accepts the answer and, with a calm expression, she takes the seat furthest away from the bra.

I can't tell if she bought it or not, but at least for now she seems to have dropped the subject.

Damn that Jennifer, don't tell me you went actually went all the way home without a bra on just to implicate me like this! Scarlet probably thinks it belongs to Momo now…

Oh she definitely does, she looks really unsettled right now.

Maybe I should start the conversation and take her mind off of it.

"Hey Scarlet, before we begin I uh, kinda have a question."

"What is it?"

"Well… what does the newspaper club have to do with the rumors? I met the girl who runs the club and she was bothering me quite a bit earlier…"

"Friendly advice Chase, but you should stay away from people like that. They're just trying to stir up more drama."

"Right… but that doesn't answer my question."

She takes a moment before responding this time.

"… Are you sure you want to know?"

I think it'd be better in the long run if I found out now. This is all ammunition that could potentially get used against me in the campaign, after all.

"… Sure."

But still, I have a bad feeling about this.

"Okay. Come sit then. I'll go over it with you."

I take a deep breath, then sit in a chair I pulled up from next to her.

Once I do, she immediately opens up her phone.

"Do you use any social media? You know, like at home?"

"Uh, not really. I don't have a computer or a phone so I never bothered with it. Just TV."

"Huh, I've never heard of someone our age who lives like that."

"Are you making fun of me…?"

"O-of course not! It's just uh… a bit weird, that's all!"

"Relax, I'm just kidding. Anyway, did you want to tell me?

"Geez… Anyway, apps like Twitter and Instagram are the reason rumors about you spread so quickly."

Ah right. The news posts were on apps like those, right?

"So what, some girl who runs the newspaper club posts a few things on the internet and suddenly everyone hates me now?

"Well I won't say her pages weren't a part of it, but… nevermind. I'll just show you the tweets."

She slides her finger across the screen and slowly scrolls through a bunch of messages she found through the app.

All of them seem to be about me and all of the heinous things I've done. And it's not just one account posting things like that either. It looks like there's a large group of students who absolutely despise what I stand for right now.

"…"

There's even some people on here saying that I should die…

It's escalated so much that I'm being accused of emotionally abusing Scarlet by some people.

Seriously…? All of this because of the neighborhood I'm from?

"I managed to find out who started the rumors too. I guess they made a fake account and used the school's hashtag to get it trending."

Cherrygirl826…?

"Here, this is the tweet that made everyone lose their minds. The account is private now, but the newspaper club took a screenshot of it that night and reposted it to all of their social media pages."

facts about chase masters:

-lives in a ghetto full of druggies, gangs and poor people

-womanizer, cheated on scarlet multiple times

-hangs out with nerds to flatten out his toxic image

anyone defending this sociopath is as bad as he is and does not belong at our school #SunHigh

It feels like I'm being beaten up.

Sticks and stones might just be the biggest lie I've ever heard in my life.

"This is so fucked up."

This is all it takes to ruin someone's life?

Just a few unconfirmed tweets and vague testimonies? Are you serious?

"I don't get it…"

"Chase…"

"Do people… seriously live like this? Sitting at home on their phones and at their computers, feeding off of drama and ruining other people's lives? And for what, entertainment? Because they think it means they'll be a 'good person' for it? These are the kinds of people we're trying to sway into voting for me right now?"

"…"

"Do they have ANY idea how dead I've felt these past 24 hours because of all of this?! Just because some phony rumors about me got out?!"

"…"

"Why? Why were you even trying to please this crowd of people in the first place? You say there's no such thing as good or bad, but I don't think it'd even matter if you were a living, breathing angel, would it? If they'll attack you as long as their warped minds can conjure up even a single flaw in your character then what's the point?! None of these assholes are worth anything!"

"Chase, just shut up for a sec."

"…"

Harsh.

I wasn't expecting that from her.

Granted, I was getting a bit riled up, but…

"It might not hurt me as much as it hurt you, but I promise you that I feel bad about it too."

Wait.

Is all of this also a part of why she decided that she wasn't going to try being popular anymore?

"I showed you this to bring you up to speed on why everyone hates you. If we assume that Jen is the one who made this account then these tweets count as uh… a, uh…"

"Smear campaign?"

"Yes! I think you should play for your strengths. You're just a normal guy who wants to live a normal high school life. You never asked to be involved in any gossip or drama, you were just pulled into it by a terrible misunderstanding. If we can play that card while disproving that tweet, I think we might win this election."

I see, that certainly makes sense. If we can paint Jennifer as the bad guy who resorts to smear campaigns as we run an honest one, then everything she's done would be for nothing.

"But wait, shouldn't we be directly challenging her? I mean, we have you as an inside agent and all."

"Don't be silly. We can't challenge Jen. She'll beat us both into the ground the second she finds out I've been sabotaging her. We're better off having you play to your strengths, that way we can give swing voters someone to support. My job is only to keep her campaign from pulling too far ahead before Election Day."

Okay, that makes sense.

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Well first thing's first, we'll need you to fix things with Nicholas and Sigmund. Not just for their votes, but it'll help your case too. If the rumors didn't make the two of them stop talking to you then they won't have any ammo on you, so we can write off that third point in the tweet."

Huh. I didn't think about it that way. That third point wouldn't make much sense if they were still friends with me even after hearing those rumors. I guess she really has been planning this for a while.

But…

"I did try to fix things between us, believe me. But those two didn't seem to want to talk to me after hearing those rumors."

"Well, you're going to have to do something about it quickly. If we have them onboard then campaigning might just go a lot smoother. Besides, I don't think it needs to be said, but even if we ignore the third bullet point, as things are you and I are the only people who'll vote for you right now. If you can't even get easy votes like them then you have no hope here."

"Wait, you'll vote for me too?"

"Huh? Of course I will. You think I'm doing all of this just to watch you lose?"

Right, dumb question.

"It's just… I don't like the path Jen's headed down right now. I love her, but I don't like all of this… scheming? I don't know. I hate that she manipulated me, and I'm ashamed that I didn't notice the kind of person she was until you brought it up, but… At the same time, a part of me can't help but think that this isn't the real her. I don't think I could change her mind with words, but maybe if you beat her fair and square then she might change her mind about everything."

"So you're also doing it for her?"

"Yeah, it's both to help you out and to save Jen. I've been thinking about it all day yesterday, and this is what I've come up with."

I see.

She really does think of Jennifer as her best friend, huh?

"Anyway, you need to get back on their good side quickly. Tomorrow she's going to have campaign posters spread out across the halls, so everyone will know she's running for class president."

"Wait, why? I thought only our class would be voting."

"Well yes, but her goal isn't only to get elected as class president. She wants an important seat in the Student Body Government this spring so she's letting everyone know how serious she is."

The Student Body Government? As if her popularity wasn't enough… Does this girl want to own the entire school or something? Just how power hungry is she?

And anyway, that's probably not the only reason she's going to be hanging up those posters either. I doubt that anyone will try contesting her for the class president seat if they see her going all out like this. She's probably trying to scare any potential candidates off.

It's the perfect strategy.

Well, I should know just how perfect her strategies are, seeing as she completely broke my spirit yesterday.

If there's any imperfection in her plans, it's Scarlet.

The fact that she's willing to go so far just to help me says a lot about how she feels about this whole situation. I'd say Jennifer messed up by not taking her feelings into account. Then again, judging by how their conversations usually go, I don't think Jennifer thinks about Scarlet's feelings very much at all.

Scarlet may as well be her Achilles Heel at this point.

"So once you get those two back on your side, we'll can move into the second part of the plan which includes the actual campaign strategy. If you can't do this today then you can forget about all of this. The elections will be held Monday morning, which means we only have Thursday and Friday left to campaign."

"Uh… sure. I have a question though."

"What is it?

"Shouldn't we get Momo to help? I mean, wouldn't her testimony kinda invalidate that I'm a womanizer?"

"Huh? How?"

"I mean… she could tell them it was a lie."

"Chase…"

Scarlet sighs.

"Why would they believe her? She's the person who you cheated with in their version of the story. Of course she'd lie and try to save her reputation. My word is the only word that matters here."

"…"

I hate this situation so much.

"Can't we at least get her to vote for me? Every vote counts, right?"

"No."

"What?"

"I said no. If there's one vote we're not getting on Monday, it's Momo's."

"Why?"

"Because… I've only been friends with them for about a month. Momo and Jen have known each other for all three years of middle school. Their bond is much deeper than whatever relationship I've managed to make with her. Do you really think I have enough say to just split them up like that?"

"I… guess not."

She's right. That was dumb of me.

Seems like we'll have to do it without Momo's vote. Dammit, there's like thirty kids in our homeroom. Even if we get Nick and Sig, how are we supposed to get twelve more people on our side?

"Haaa…"

This time, Scarlet is the one who lets out a fatigued sigh. She leans back in her chair in frustration at the whole situation.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem tired."

"Woah. If you're calling me tired then I must really look bad."

"Well if you must know, I skipped work yesterday. I managed to get 8 whole hours of sleep last night."

"S-seriously? That's more than I get…"

"If you think about it, it's not like I had home-work after skipping all those classes so I kinda just went to bed early."

"I guess not… Ah, come to think of it you're kinda behind, aren't you?"

She pulls out her English, algebra 1 and geography notebooks.

"If you feel like catching up I actually brought these with me. The rest of our classes aren't the same but this should help out at least, right?"

"…"

Scarlet, are you a saint?

"Haha…"

I lean back in my chair.

Crap, why do I feel so guilty about having her help me out so much?

I guess it's because I don't feel like I deserve any of this.

I mean, she did so much and even came up with an entire strategy for beating Jennifer at her own game.

All for me…

"Doesn't feel so good, does it?"

"Huh?"

"I felt really lost and confused last week, you know. I kept wondering. 'Why is he doing so much for me? What have I ever done for him that made me deserve this?' You even took a punch because you realized how scared I was of being surrounded by guys…"

She smirks.

"I have to admit, it feels good to be on the other side of it."

"Is… that why you were avoiding me last week?"

I didn't realize she was going through all of those feelings back then. I'd just assumed it was pity all this time.

"I wasn't avoiding you, loser! You were avoiding me!"

"Dude, come on. If you felt guilty about it then you were obviously avoiding me!"

"Weren't you the one who was embarrassed about being pitied?! If anything you were avoiding me!"

"Yeah? The only thing I'm embarrassed about is how embarrassed you were just because I did something nice for you!"

Oh.

She's pouting.

Did I go too far?

"Hmph! Nevermind. I'll just take my notebooks and head to class."

"Wait! Scarlet I'm sorry! I was joking!"

"Ohh? You're sorry, huh?"

She grins, and once more I'm left feeling insecure about myself.

"Here, you can take as many notes as you can. But once it's lunch period your job is to get those two to forgive you. Clear?"

"Crystal. Oh and by the way."

"What is it?"

"Thanks, Scarlet."

"W-what? You already thanked me for this earlier today. Don't be such a creep, loser…"

"You might say that, but you still haven't thanked me for getting you out of that situation with Jack…"

"… I guess not, huh?"

She doesn't say anything else. She just turns and stares outside of the window.

Like she doesn't want anything to do with this conversation anymore.

Resigning to end things here, I open the note book and begin flipping through the pages.

I guess that's my bad for being sappy.

I didn't really do it for her gratitude, though. It just felt bad seeing her so terrified.

Is it so wrong of me to want to see the people I like with smiles on their faces?

I stop at the page of the notebook filled with information I don't remember going over in class.

"…"

But still, that awkward silence is leaving a really bad taste in my mouth.

I don't think I'll be able to focus on this at all if I don't do something.

Maybe I should try changing the subject…?

"So uh, Nick told you about himself?"

"Jealous?"

Instant response?!

Was the awkward atmosphere just my imagination…?

"O-of course not…"

"Oh really? I don't know Chase, you sound kind of jealous to me."

"I just think it's weird that he's already talking to you about stuff like that…"

I mean, he hasn't said anything about that to me as of yet…

"So what, you're saying I'm already better friends with him than you are? Wow, talk about cucked."

"Please don't say that word…"

"Oh please, tell me. How does it feel to know that your ex and your best friend were chatting it up under your nose? Feels like we're gonna get it on without you, doesn't it? Bet it stings, cuck."

Actually, it kinda does.

"Stop with the jokes. You wouldn't last a second trying to keep up with Nick."

"Really? If we're going by what happened between us on Monday then I think I'll do fine."

"… Seriously?"

"Woah, your face is priceless! Aww, is it that sad? Don't worry, I'll make sure to text you pictures of our first date so you don't feel left out. Maybe we'll go to Disneyworld together."

"Hey, that's not fair. I've always wanted to go to Disneyworld."

"Oh really? Maybe you should go with Momo then."

"…"

She looks away.

The playfulness in her voice had all but left.

Her tone was flat, but the words still sounded harsh.

Even as naïve as I am, I could sense that there was a lot of bottled-up emotions inside of her.

Because she'd been laughing when we first spoke today, I completely ignored the possibility that she was still hurt by what happened with Momo.

I should have known though, Scarlet seemed frustrated when I brought her up a while ago.

Almost like she didn't want to rely on Momo to begin with.

"Um, Scarlet…"

"Hm? What is it? Do you wanna double-date or something? I'm sure my darling Nicholas wouldn't mind."

Seriously, hearing her say stuff really does make me feel like she's done with the whole popularity thing. The old Scarlet would hate the idea of even standing next to Nick.

But still, she doesn't have to rub it in like that…

"No, I… I just wanted to apologize for what happened on Monday. I should have at least talked to you before I went off with Momo like that. Even if we weren't dating for real, I messed up by not telling you what was going on. I'm really sorry…"

I put my honest feelings into words.

This is the best thing I can do to mend whatever heartache I've put her through.

"…"

Her shoulders suddenly slump.

All of the spirit from before has left her body.

Or maybe that spirit was just another façade of hers.

Either way, right now she looks like the same vulnerable Scarlet I've known since that day at the cafeteria with Jennifer.

No matter how much she puts on that act, she's always the same fragile girl on the inside.

"Scarlet, I promise that she didn't betray you. You were both the first and the last thing we spoke about when we went into that room. She loves you a lot, and I could tell that she was only trying her best to decide if I was a good partner for you."

"…"

The reason we even went in there in the first place was because she was scared of that senior, but I think saying that is just an excuse.

What Scarlet needs more than anything right now is reassurance that her friend is still on her side.

"Scar, did you tell her how you felt about her skipping with me that day?"

"No."

Ah, that explains why Momo didn't know about the break up.

Wait, but then why didn't Jennifer know? Weren't they hanging out all day yesterday?

"You don't have to worry about me."

She stands up and stretches her arms.

"I mean, I wouldn't be helping you with all of this if I was that upset about it, right?"

I guess not, but…

"Oh come on, just focus on taking those notes! I'll be fine."

"Ah, sure… you can help yourself to anything you see if you're bored."

"Pfft, I'm not gonna read any nerd junk just because I'm bored."

Okay whatever, geez.

She might be done with being popular, but she's still as condescending as ever when it comes to stuff like this.

I rub my temple and turn my attention to her notes.

Unsurprisingly, they're much cleaner than anything I've ever written. I guess she's pretty studious once she's actually in class.

Actually, now that I think about it, even if she isn't as over-the-top perfect as Jennifer, she's still got a lot of things going for her. Her work ethic, her looks, her humor… I think her insecurities might be the only thing keeping her from stepping out from under the shadow of that titanic girl.

Not that I'm one to talk about insecurities…

"Hey Chase…"

"Huh? What's up?"

"Now that I'm getting a closer look, this club room isn't actually all that bad… some of this stuff looks kinda familiar. There's Star wars, Lord of the Rings… it's all stuff from way before we were born."

"Woah, didn't pin you for a fan of old 'nerd junk'."

"Oh drop it already… you know I'm just kidding."

She appears to be seriously looking around the room for something to occupy her time.

I've got to say, seeing her like this feels kind of different from the Scarlet I'm used to. I always had her as the kinda girl to watch generic romcom movies, not Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.

The only thing that'd surprise me more is if…

"Omygod, is that DnD?"

She suddenly rushes over to the box full of campaign items.

"… Huh? You know about DnD?"

"Of course I do! My dad plays it pretty much every Friday with his friends. I used to join them too sometimes when I was a kid, but these days playing with a bunch of grown men is little too weird for me. Wooow, fifth edition huh? I think we only played fourth edition back then."

Huh, that so? I wouldn't think of her as the type to play a game with such a bad reputation among popular kids.

"Wait, you played with men?"

"Why is that surprising? They were DnD players. That's as nerdy as you can get."

I guess nerds really are a blind spot for her condition.

"Hahaha! Oh my god! Nicholas's character is so dumb! Why is he the 'Enigma of Darkness'? I'm going to throw up!"

"I'm pretty sure if you laughed to his face like that he'd end up lecturing you for an hour about why it's the best character in DnD history."

"Yeah, then he'd call me a thot or something for not understanding his 'brilliance'… Woah, this is Reyna's. 'Cardi B?' Pfft! Oh my god this is so good hahahaha!"

"You know Reyna?"

"Yeah, she's a pretty popular senior, and plus you mentioned her a while ago."

Ah right, she is really popular isn't she? It's hard to remember that since she feels like just another one of the guys.

"I wonder how good she is, though…? I can't really tell from her character sheet."

"Umm, she knows her stuff based on what I've seen. She's definitely better than I am, at least. Her only real problem is that she gets a little too flirty with the NPCs sometimes."

"Flirty? What the heck?"

"Like, her boyfriend's the Dungeon Master, right?"

"Uhuh… oooh! So their roleplay gets kinda erotic, huh?"

For some reason, I'm not a fan of the way she phrased that.

"Ahhh, that sounds like fun… I wish I could play DnD. Hey hey, Chase."

"Dude, I'm trying to copy notes over here. What is it?"

"How do I pronounce Sigmund's character name?"

"It's Kazugaya."

"Ugh, why does everything have to be so Japanese with him? I bet if Japan made suicide look cool he'd actually try it out."

If only you knew, Scarlet.

"Honor and loyalty… yup, that sounds like Sigmund alright."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? He was the one who got me and Nicholas to make up when we fought. When you get past how disgusting he is, he's actually a pretty nice kid too."

Huh, really?

I guess he's always been good at softening Nick's blows. Like when Nick was suspicious of me and Scarlet, Sig went out of his way to make me feel better about it during class.

I think I'd be better at noticing it if he didn't always talk about Momo though…

"Ha! I found yours Chase! Let's see… Jacob Death…"

"…"

"Pfft…"

"S-shut up!"

"Death! He's a bard and his last name is Death! Hahahahahaha!"

"Ugh… Nick chose it for me! Don't make fun of me!"

"What, do you only play your instruments at funerals or something?"

"Close, it was supposed to be a song of death kind of thing, so technically… actually, nevermind. Just keep laughing it up."

"Hahahaha! What a loser!"

I didn't mean literally!

"Ahaha… Mmm… still, I think it's cool that you're playing bard."

"Huh? Why's that?"

She puffs out her chest and smiles proudly.

"Because I'm a bard player too!"