Jayden was already at the bus-stop when Joyce stepped out of the bus.
"Hi! Have you waited for long?" Joyce asked sheepishly.
"A while..." Jayden replied non-chalantly. Then he suddenly took her hand and hold it tightly. Joyce was embarrassed but happy. Warmth spread through her entire body slowly.
Losing her concentration for a moment, she then realized that they were not heading towards her place. "Where are we going?" she scrunched up her eyebrow.
"To the park." Jayden said to her while still holding her hand.
"Uh.. Okay.." although she was confused, but she decided to wait for Jayden to speak first. She was sure whatever he wanted to talk to her about must be something important or he won't dragged it and had a hard time saying it. Jayden is actually a blunt person. He said what was on his mind and seldom censored his words. To him, honesty is the best policy.
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They stopped by the nearby mini-mart and bought a couple of cold drinks and went to sit on the bench in the park.
Both sat peacefully and quietly. They watched the family who brought their kids there to play and run around. They were in total silence, however they did not feel uncomfortable.
After a longer moment, Jayden finally started to speak. However, his first sentence still sent a ripple of shock through Joyce's whole body.
"Mrs. Chua begged me to pretend to be in love with Lily."
Though shocked, Joyce did not look at Jayden as it would make it easier for her to understand what he tried to say to her. She kept quiet and patiently waited for Jayden to continue.
"Yesterday, when we were going she called me. It turned out that she realized that Lily hold a torch for me. She also thanked me for making Lily ate her food since she had been refusing to eat properly for the last two days. Thus, she hoped that I could try to care for Lily and put on an act as if I truly care for her like a person who is in love. Because only by doing it this way that we can make Lily happy. Since she will listen to me just like then, it'll benefit Lily's health greatly."
They were both quiet for a while. When Joyce finally found her voice, she asked," So, did you agree?" and her heart beat faster and faster upon waiting for his answer. Even though she had ever request him to do the same thing, however, this is still somethung that was quite shocking to hear other people asked Jayden to do the same thing.
A part of her wanted him to refuse outright, but a part of her wanted to help the one person who had always been by her side since childhood. This had torn her heart into several pieces yet she was anxiously waiting for his answer.
"I have not given my reply yet."
She finally breathe again. She didn't realized that she had been holding her breath until she heard his answer. Her heart started to beat again... She had just suffocated herself unconsciously. She put one of her hand on the heart and tried to breathe slowly. Somehow, she was not comfortable about this situation.
Perhaps deep inside her heart she did not really want to let Jayden be close to Lily?? How can she be such an awful friend! She suddenly blame herself and turned self-depreciating.
Looking at her, Jayden asked, " A penny for your thought?"
"What a cheapskate! Just a penny? My thought may worth a million, you know?" Joyce tried to joke and smile. However, the smile did not reach her eyes; and Jayden know it.
"What's wrong?" Jayden asked full of concern. She turned red when he came closer and closer. One part of her was embarrassed that she had such a negative thought towards her closest friend and was afraid that Jayden might feel differently about her if he found out another part was the cupid puling string of love and kept on tugging at her heart making her fell in love with him deeper and deeper. When he looked at her with that kind of intensity and care in his eyes, she could feel her heart beating faster and faster and at the same time feeling worse and worse about herself. She shouldn't fall this deep then she would b3 able to let Lily had a taste of happiness. However, now that she had fallen deeper in love, she turned more and more selfish. This is her bestfriend she was thinking of!!!!
She shook her head as if to unclogged them. She decided right then and there that whatever decision Jayden had made, she should give him and Lily her full blessing so that her best-friend can become healthy again.
After making that decision, she looked at Jayden and said, "No, nothing is wrong. Just let me know when you have made your decision about this."
She looked at him in the eye and Jayden knew that she would totally support his decision.
However, this is one of the hardest decision Jayden had ever come across. If he agreed to this request, he would be going against his own conscience. However, rejecting the request would turn him into heartless person since Lily was his close friend too and had often helped him at school. He really was confused and felt that it was extremely hard to make a rational decision.
"I know that you had ever made a similar request, however, tell me honestly, do you really don't mind if I treat her as if she is my girlfriend in front of you?" Jayden really wanted to know what Joyce was thinking.
"Well.... Actually, deep inside I do feel a little reluctant. However, this is my best-friend we are talking about. Who has treated me the best. Who treated me like her own sister. Who cared for me when I was sick and my parents were not around. I uh.... wanted badly to help her. If there is other way, of course I would try to tell her the truth. But since Mrs. Chu had made this request to you, meaning she must be really desperate about Lily's situation." The more she said, the sadder she felt. Her tears started rolling down drop by drop. Her chest were heaving hardly.