Leave / Leave not

Sky didn't text Chris at all after he left. There were no surprise burgers, either. 

Chris hated how he was feeling right now. He had never felt so anxious. He wondered if he had said or done something to make Sky mad at him. And then he got angry at himself for thinking that way. 

Why was he letting Sky affect him this much? He was Chris. Christopher Owen!

It was already evening, and even though Chris had told himself that he was not interested in going to The Pub tonight, he could not stop checking the time on his phone as he 'studied'. He kept doing it very frequently until he could no longer focus on the textbook he was supposed to be reading.

"Damn it!" He swore before closing the book angrily. Should he just go? 

Whether Sky was going to strip or crossdress, he wanted to see it. But he needed a good excuse. He didn't just want to show up there and make Sky think he had come because of or for him. 

The perfect excuse came when his phone rang with a call from Rachel. 

"Are you there yet?" Was the first question Rachel asked as soon as he answered the call. 

"Where? I'm currently reading because someone needs to maintain their scholarship slot." He tried to sound nonchalant as he opened the textbook and flipped it a little too loudly. Not because he wanted Rachel to hear it, but because it was the best way for him to assimilate what he was reading. That was it. 

"No Chris! I'm already on my way. You do realize that if you are not here, then I am going to be alone and won't be able to join Sato's table either. I really do want to join their table! And I know you are curious to know what he is going to be doing tonight too. Please come." 

He could imagine her pouting and acting cute as she tried to make him join her. 

"Fine! If you are asking me so pitifully, I guess I can just take a stroll down there and see what is so exciting about tonight." He said it with a resigned sigh. 

"YES!" Rachel exclaimed happily and hung up, but not before shouting out, "I love you!" at him. 

For someone who claimed he was not interested in going there, Chris didn't waste time getting himself dressed. Well, not like he had many choices since all of his clothing was plain and unattractive. So he wore ripped denim jeans and a black sweatshirt, not forgetting to wear his contacts and glasses. 

When he got there, he realized two things immediately. The place was crowded. He hadn't even gone inside yet, but the outside was filled with people going in. 

Secondly, Sky was indeed who he thought he was. He was sure that many people here had come for him. And as much as Chris hated to admit it, he wouldn't have shown up here if he wasn't curious too. 

"Thank goodness you are finally here! I was almost going to throw up from all the attention I have been receiving." Rachel, who had been waiting outside for him, said as she approached him excitedly.  

Chris noticed she looked really pretty tonight. Not that she wasn't already pretty, but it seemed she had put in more effort tonight. She was even wearing pronounced makeup, and her blue dress was kind of short. He wondered if it was for Sky or for Noel, who seemed into her. But he did not ask. He only hoped she wouldn't get frozen from the cold weather soon unless she had adjusted to the weather here. 

"I thought you liked the attention." Chris reminded her, joking. 

"Many of them only want to be with me..." She stood on her tiptoes to whisper into Chris's ear. "Because they think I am from a wealthy family." 

He let out a laugh. "That may be true. But trust me, if you weren't hot, many of them wouldn't even look twice at you."

"Oh... so you think I'm hot?" She asked, grinning up at him while wriggling her brows. 

"I do not think it. You are, my friend, indeed hot. Unfortunately, you are not my type." He added the last part with a smile. 

"Ouch! That hurt me!" She said it dramatically while touching her chest, making Chris laugh. 

As soon as they stepped inside, he was instantly filled with dread. The familiar feeling from yesterday came back at him. 

Seeing all of these people here with their tables filled with different kinds of drinks and assorted meat of different kinds to go with it, and a group of singers entertaining the customers, reminded Chris that Rain and Sky, who were around the same age as him, were like major shareholders of this business. While he was just him. Leeching off of his parents wealth and thinking he was better than everyone else because he was born with a golden spoon. He suddenly felt useless, and his change of mood didn't escape Rachel, who tugged on his sleeve 

"Is something wrong? Do you want to step out for a minute?" She asked with concern.

He looked down at her and was about to give his default answer that he was fine, but the way she was staring at him caught his attention. He stared right back at her and searched her eyes. She was not faking it. She was indeed worried about him. It was genuine. The thought made him smile, and he shook his head, feeling a lot better. 

"We need to make sure Sato's clique sees what a beauty you are as soon as possible." He said it with a playful wink at her before he waved at Henry, who was excitedly waving at them to come over from the table they had sat at the previous night.

"Here we go." He said to Rachel as he led her by the hand towards them. 

There were three guys already seated there: Noel, Henry, and Collins, who was not there yesterday. He looked very uncomfortable with Chris's sudden presence, thanks to their awkward first meeting where Chris's briefs were hanging off his fingers. 

Noel, especially, looked really happy to see them, but Chris could tell it was because of Rachel. 

"I'm glad you both came tonight." Noel said as they both took their seats. 

"Sky called you, right?" Henry asked, pulling Chris wandering eyes from looking around for a certain someone to look at Henry instead. 

"Sky? No. Why?"

"I was going to take your number from Sky to invite you over in case you had forgotten, but he assured us you were going to come tonight." Henry spoke carefreely and poured Chris a drink. 

Sky had assured them he was going to come tonight? 

'What an annoying jerk.' Chris thought to himself in disbelief.