Cedric was engrossed talking to someone over the phone that he failed to realize his girlfriend was just nearby. Alliyah, on the other hand, took this opportunity to sneak behind him to see if he was talking to another girl behind her back.
"So, have you considered my offer? I'm telling you, it's a win-win situation. You have nothing to lose here, only gains."
They overheard him saying to whoever he was talking to on the other end of the line. Meanwhile, only when the two girls where finally a few steps away did Cedric noticed their presence and he abruptly ended his call.
"Got you, bro. See you in a minute, Zeke."
Right after saying that, the guy hung up on his friend and disconnected the call straightaway.
"Is that really, Zeke you are talking to?"
Alliyah interrogated her boyfriend with a suspicious glint on her eyes, and of course, knowing those eyes, Cedric was obliged to hurriedly explain himself to pacify the situation before it could even escalate and his girl turned into a green eye demoness.
On the other hand, the second Ashley heard the name, she went stiff.
As it turned out, even after taking the exam, she still could not get over what happened to the point that even just my the mere mention of the other party's name was enough to trigger a reaction from her.
Regardless how she tried to remain indifferent, she still could not shake the awkward feeling off of her system. In fact, she could barely keep focus on answering because her mind kept reminding her of him.
This was despite the fact that a significant amount of time had already passed since her brief encounter with Zeke.
Alliyah, noticing the sudden shift in her friend's expression, abandoned the feud she was brewing for Cedric and turned to Ashley instead, worried.
"Is there something wrong?"
That was all she said and Ashley spilled the tea right away.
By the time Ashley was done recounting what had transpired at the convenience store earlier that day, the girl's face was already as red as that of a tomato.
Apparently she felt the need to share this morning incident to her good old friend, Alliyah. Otherwise, she was afraid she would just suddenly drop dead out of utter shame.
As much as she did not want people to learn about her embarrassing encounter, she knew she had to relieve what was causing her this stress because if not, she would be bound for another sleepless night.
With her brain not missing the chance to mess with her head by replaying what happened and reminding her of every detail of it until she was down wishing for the ground to open up a hole and ate her whole, so that she could escape and be done with everything.
Just how many nights had she spent tossing around the bed and kicking the air; she had already lost count.
It was for this reason why she decided to confide to her friend about what happened and she ended up telling them everything, including the part where Zeke stepped in to save her face.
Neither of the girls noticed it mainly because they were not paying him any mind, but a subtle change within Cedric's expression occurred in that split second. His lips curled into a playful grin when he heard the full story straight from Ashley's lips.
"Would you be so kind and hand this over to your pal, on my behalf?"
With a dollar on her hand, Ashley tried to hand it over to Cedric while stating her clear intention. However, the other party refused to accept the cash and insinuated that it was only right for her to do it herself.
"Tell you what, I was also about to meet him any minute now. So why don't you just give that to him in person? I am sure it would appear more sincere if you were to deliver your thanks personally, than to relay the message. Don't you think?"
The girl wanted to differ.
The voice inside her head warned her against it. She did not think that it was a good idea for her to meet Zeke today. But for some reason, she shushed it down and convinced herself that it was only her anxiety talking.
Besides, Alliyah's next words made her understand that it was the appropriate thing to do.
"I think Cedric has a point. Don't forget that not only did my Zeke saved you from embarrassing yourself due to lack of spare change, he also saved you from the possibility of running late and potentially missing out our exam altogether."
Both their arguments made sense for Ashley, so she reluctantly complied. After all, the other party indeed, did her a huge favor.
As such, just like what was agreed, when Cedric went to meet his friend Zeke later that day, the two girls tagged along.
Likewise, as usual, when the time came down for Ashley to finally approach Zeke so she could give him back the money she owed him, her heart was being silly again.
This no longer came as a surprise to her since it always happened. Nonetheless, Ashley was still flustered.
He always had this effect on her. It was as though her person was running wild whenever the other party was around.