Chapter 104 Not your friendly guy

Chapter 104 Not your friendly guy

\[Author's POV\]
'Charlotte ! Charlotte ! " Levi called loudly but it came out muffled in Charlotte's ears.

'I think she's asleep. She's snoring." Grace scoffed.

"That's not true. My Charlotte doesn't snore." Amara said with a pout.

Charlotte's eyes fluttered but did not open.

'Hey. You think she's sick?' Adolph asked in an alarmed voice.

'Shit,' Levi went to her side and pulled her up. 'Charlotte, wake up.'

He shook her shoulders and her eyes went open.

"What the?" She explained.

'Oh thank God. I thought something bad happened to you.' Levi pulled her into a hug.

'Hey, guys.' Charlotte chuckled, still dozing off.

Gracie snapped her fingers. 'Hey, mama. We gotta go. It's late.'

Ada ran her hand through her hair, annoyed. 'I can't believe we had to drive all the way from home to come see this.'

'It's not Charlotte's fault,' Levi said. With Adolph's help, he carried Charlotte on his back.

'Hold tight.' He told her and she unconsciously slung her arms over his shoulder.

'Can we go now?' Stacy stomped her feet on the floor like a child denied candy.

'Yes.' Jacob rolled his eyes and they led the way downstairs.

Margo and the Alan Queens refused to take a cab home. They made tiktoks, went live on Instagram and made goofy videos while walking home. Grace stood in the street with Margo, their faces lit up with silly laughter. Margo was doing a silly dance that was a mixture of macarena and a chicken dance. The others were laughing and clapping along.

'Oh my God. Do you know those people?' Ada covered her face with her right hand, walking briskly ahead of them.

'Aww, Ada. Come one. Don't be such a spoilsport. Chicken dance with me. Cuck caw !' Amanda made a chicken impression while dancing the chicken dance with Stacy and Margo.

'Umm…who are you again?' Ada feigned ignorance leaving the girls to gasp in shock.

Even Levi and Lenin denied them. 'Highschoolers these days are so wild.'

Lenin shook his head. 'Tell me about it.'

Stacy yelled behind them. 'We're all highschoolers here you know !'

For the goofy video, Stacy tried out and decided to try out stand-up comedy, and she was telling horrible jokes but they were actually hilarious.

Stacy held up her hand to silence her laughing friends. 'No. This one's definitely funny.' She giggled to herself before firing off the joke.

'When Charlotte goes to the bathroom, what is that called?' Stacy cupped her hand over her mouth, stifling a giggle.

Adira knew the joke wasn't going to be funny but she laughed anyway, awaiting Stacy's answer when everyone said they didn't know it.

Stacy did a drumroll impression with her hands in midair. 'Charlotte. The answer is Charlotte. As in Charlotte went to the toilet - Charlotte.'

They all cracked up so hard, they had to hold onto each other to stay upright not because the joke was funny but because it wasn't. Just as Stacy was about to move onto her next shenanigan, a random guy walking by suddenly tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and fell right into the middle of their circle. For a moment, there was a stunned silence, but then the guy stood up, dusted himself off, and started laughing along with them.

'Talk about bad timing.' Stacy laughed, clutching her Tommy.

Rose mimicked the dragon from the BBC Fantasy series, Merlin. 'It seems gravity is against you, young warlock.'

They all burst out into laughter including the stranger who was equally laughing at himself.

'Hey, come join us.' Stacy waved her arm at him.

'Don't mind if I do.' He gave a goofy smile that Stacy thought was cute. His grin wasn't the only thing Stacy found amusing, his outfit was cool. He wore a white Tshirt over Kanye West jeans and Nike's. A bit hot for the summer but cool for the summer.

'The name's Benjamin but y'all can call me Ben.' He introduced himself to everyone. Stacy did not fail to recognize the Southern lilt in his voice.

The gang welcomed him immediately. Well, some of them did. Levi and Lenin were still suspicious about the friendly stranger. What amused me was the random guy's reaction and how the girls spontaneously invited him to join them.

'This random guy is still chuckling to himself. What the heck is so funny?' Lenin shot a Ben a look that had a "What the f" expression and the guy didn't seem to notice.

Levi felt Charlotte slipping down his back and carrying her up again. 'Well, the dude does quickly fit in with the group. Look at how he's matching their energy and vibes as if he’d known them for years.'

'You keep saying this as though you're not part of this group.' Lenin rolled his eyes and pockets his hands.

'Well, yeah. He might match their energy but not mine. I'm not friendly and people know that.' Levi said with a grin and marched forward.

'Come on gang. Let's go. It's getting pretty late out here.' Lenin called out to them but they ignored him, laughing and joking around and sharing stories. Worst of all is that his boyfriend is among them.

He palmed his face when they came up with even more ridiculous dance moves. 'Dear God.'

Ben taught them a new trick where they jumped around in circles and try to tap their nose with their toes. It's as you thought. They all attend the dance and ended up falling on their faces. It seemed pretty ridiculous but soon enough, people whipped out their phones and began recording them. Lots of people came out to join their dance. Eventually, they were able to get it.

'Oh my God. We've started a tiktok dance trend.' Stacy squealed as she saw 1 million views on her Instagram live.

'I'm famous !' Adira screamed beside her.

'We are,' Margo corrected them. Then she snapped her finger. 'Promote our school prom, Stace.'

'Oh yeah. That's a great idea.' She smiled, then took her phone from the tripod stand. 'Hello, world. It's your queen, Stace. You're probably wondering why we're having a blast, right? Well, let's spill it because it's the late day of our exam.'

The crowd whooped behind her and she went on. 'This dance was created by our new friend, Ben.' She put her arm around Ben and drew him close. 'A cutie, isn't he? This dance is called spiral and if you want to remake the vid on Tiktok, you have to tag Alan Institute coz we're students there and next week Thursday is prom O'clock.'

Lenin couldn't help but laugh as they all whooped as loud as they could.

'What a silly bunch.' A goofy smile appeared on his cheek.


\[Adira's POV\]
It's a shame we had to part ways with Ben. He's a really cool guy. Turns out he's a college student. Before I could get his number, Stacy beat me to it. I'll let her have him. It's not like I have luck with guys anyways. If I am to forget anything in my life, It'd never be today. I clapped, I cheered, and I laughed hysterically as I tried to tap my nose. Ben taught us this crazy new dance move and we danced. Even a whole bunch of strangers joined us and we all bonded till the streetlights began to flicker on, signaling the end of the day. The crowd thinned till it was just us, however, we continued to enjoy ourselves, laughing over our shared silliness and fun.
Our little fun trip is over and I miss the gang already. Prom is next week and everyone's already made plans for the next adventure. They all want me to go but I'd rather spend it with Lin in Tahiti admiring hot guys than going to the prom alone to sulk while watching couples dance.

I'd gotten out of the car and into the sidewalk when a hand grabbed mine and I screamed.

'Hey, it's me.' It was Mike.

I gave him a shove in the chest. 'Jesus. Why'd you do that?'

He scratched the back of his neck. 'I kept calling you but you didn't respond.'

I heaved a sigh. 'Don't mind me. What's up? Anything wrong?'

'Kinda. You forgot this.' He stuffed his hands in his pocket and slowly removed my pink kerchief.

'Oh thanks.' That wasn't what I had expected but okay.

'Sure. Anytime.' He gave me a smile.

I looked at the pink material in my hand. 'You could've just held onto it. Why run all the way here to give me this?'

'Coz my family and I will go on a summer trip after the prom. I thought you should have it now instead of me keeping it.' He explained.

'Sure,' I put the folded kerchief in the pocket of my skirt. 'I'll be on my way now.'

I turned to leave but he grabbed my arm. 'Wait. I have to tell you something.'

I refused to look at him. I won't give him the satisfaction of playing with my emotions. One day he loves me and wants to be with me and the next, he doesn't. I need to know where I stand in this relationship or whatever it is but he's denying me that. Nothing did for days and my emotions rolled out like they're on steroids.

'Can we just talk? Can we just talk about ourselves for a minute?' He was coming closer to me but I refused to look at him.

'There's nothing to talk about. Let go of me. My parents are waiting.' When I said that, he let go of me. Why did he do that? I thought he'd still hold onto me and tell me he loves me and that he's sorry but he's letting me go because I told him to. That's just great.

I turned around to look at him. He was just staring at me. 'Isn't this the part where you go?'

'No,' He shook his head. 'I want you to tell me to leave and then I will. I just let go of your hand. That's all.'

I bit my lower lip to stop them from quivering.

'I'm really sorry for putting you through a lot,' he chuckled nervously. 'I haven't been the best person to you but I hope I'm given a chance some day.'

'What do you mean?' A whimper escaped my lips as I asked.

'What I mean is I want you to be with me.' Mikey took my hands in his.

He cupped my wet cheek. 'You don't have to cry because of me.'

'I don't want to.' I shook my head and sniffled.

'Then don't.' He drew his face closer to mine and we kissed.

\[Author's POV\]
In the middle of the greatest kiss of her life, Adira passed out in Mikey's arms. A black van drives up the sidewalk and the backseat slides open. Two gentlemen carry Adira off his arm and take her into the van.

'Here. It's for you.' One of them, a bald black skinned gentleman, gave him a burner phone.

Mikey took it to his ears. 'I have her.'

'Excellent job, Mikey. I've transferred the money to you.' The woman on the other end of the line chuckled.

Mikey heard his notification ping and took his phone from his pocket. He'd just been credited $1 million dollars. Normally, he was supposed to feel elated but there was this grave feeling in his heart.

'Do you have to do this, Lin?' He asked.

'Yes. You said you'd do anything if I help you with the money to pay your parent's loan. Is something wrong here?' Lin chuckled.

'But drugging her wasn't necessary. Adira is your best friend ! ' Mikey snapped with rage.

A man replied in Lin's stead. 'Yes, they're besties but isn't that wonderful? Do you know what will happen on Thursday? A revolution. A bloody one where I will emerge the victor.'

Mikey knew that voice and who it belonged to. 'Dominic ! ' He wondered why Dominic was with Lin. The fingers crossed themselves - They were working together.

Dominic's deep laughter echoed in his ears and he winced. 'What do you want with Adira?'

'It's not me who wants her. We're all just a pawn in a bigger chess board, . But let me spill it for you,' Dominic whispered now. 'This final Hide and Seek needed it and you just gave her to us.'

'No !' Mikey screamed at the phone but it was yanked from him and snapped in half.

'Please ! Wait !' He ran after the van as it began to move. 'Adira! No ! Don't take her !'

His screams were fruitless. The street was silent but the wind carried his crying echoes.