"Yes princess. I cannot wait to meet you later. I will miss you~"Brad cooed into the phone. He hung up smiling contently to himself, but then noticed that the Aerospace guys were staring at him with open mouths.
"Dude, you're seriously, seriously, seeeeeeeriously whipped," Philip said, rolling his eyes.
"I am embarrassed for all males in the world," Steve groaned and shook his head. Brad punched him on the arm. "Hey listen up guys," Brad shook his finger. "If the day comes and you all fall in love with someone, I bet you'll act even more whipped than I am." "Impossible," David immediately muttered. "Oh really?" Brad raised his eyebrows. "I can picture David searching the internet for jokes to make his girl laugh. Steve would act tough and stern to everyone, except for her." He turned to look at the others.
"Philip," he said while pointing. "Instead of learning girl group dances, you'll learn hip hop and b-boy moves to impress your girlfriend. Joe, your laughter will sound even more ridiculous when she's around, and your voice will crack multiple times."
"Bro!" Joe complained as the other Aerospace boys chuckled. "Why do I have the worst prediction?"
"Hey, I'm not done yet." Brad smiled. "You may crack your voice and stumble over your words, but when it comes to proving to her that she's yours, you'll do great." he reassured.
"That sounds okay." Joe agreed before elbowing Alex beside him. "What about our dear Alex over here?"
Brad raised an eyebrow in amusement at Alex.
"Do I even need to make a guess? He already has a girlfriend. You can ask him, what did you and her do this weekend?"
Alex blinked while the rest Aerospace stared at him with interest. "Hey, I didn't go out with her," he said while raising both his hands.
"What? Not again!" the boys complained. "You didn't even see her?"
"I didn't go out with her, but I did see her," Alex explained. "Actually, I went to her house to pick up Sar-" he stopped himself since it was supposed to be a secret. He mentally scolded himself for almost revealing it.
"Pick up?" Henry looked confused.
"Just, you know, I went to her house, so I went in to say hi," Alex muttered. "Nothing big."
"Oooh, so you've met the mother-in-law already?" Henry laughed. "Awesome man. You're even quicker than Brad"
Alex rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, I'll head to the newsletter room. See you guys tomorrow," Alex said before leaving.
The Aerospace guys watched him leave and tapped their chin thoughtfully. "Is it me or does he seem to be keeping something from us?" Steve murmured.
"Hey!" Joe blurted out. "Do you think he's hiding the juicy details of his love life from us? No way he's gonna share!" he huffed.
"You know, the girls have cheerleading practice today," Brad informed them. "Do you think Alex will go watch them or pick up Deliah after that?"
Joe grinned and rubbed his palms together in interest. "We'll find out."
*************
In the Newsletter room, Alex nearly dozed off. It was cozy and comfortable there, and he had been working on his part for the upcoming article until his eyes slowly fluttered close.
His head drooped slowly, his back slumping down further and further until finally, with a loud thud, his head hit the tabletop. Alex's eyes flew open in confusion, and he blinked as he tried to recall his location.
*The Newsletter Room*
Glancing at the clock, the time barely registered in his mind. "Oh, it's six," he mumbled, rubbing his tired eyes and yawning loudly.
As he prepared to lay his head back down and go back to sleep, the time suddenly clicked in his mind. "Oh no, it's six!" he exclaimed, leaping out of his chair.
Alex quickly gathered his belongings, shoving them into his bag and slinging it over his shoulder as he rushed toward the field, which was growing darker by the minute due to the late hour.
He saw several cheerleaders already on their way out of the school gates and cursed under his breath. "Damn it," he muttered, looking around for his girlfriend. He didn't want to be late when he had promised to send her home for the first time.
It just wasn't polite.
He looked around nervously, without realizing that a group of five boys was secretly following him. Brad had already left after cheerleading practice to see his girlfriend, Nancy.
"Hey, look at that panicked face right there! Is that love or what?" Philip whispered
Steve raised an eyebrow and murmured, "Well, that's the same expression I would wear if my little sister got lost, and it was getting late."
"Hey, that's not fair! I mean, Deliah is Alex's girlfriend, not his sister." David pointed out,
Steve thoughtfully replied, "Yeah, but let's not forget we kind of pushed him into this. He hadn't actually told us that he likes Deliah."
The five boys watched with interest as Alex continued looking around, oblivious to the fact that the other cheerleaders were eyeing him and wishing they were Deliah instead.
"Alex, honey!" Deliah exclaimed excitedly, running towards him. "You made it!" she added, looking adorable with her sweet bun hairstyle and a pink flower on the side.
"Oh, sorry. Did you wait for long?" Alex asked apologetically, scratching the back of his neck.
"It's alright," Deliah replied, shaking her head and smiling. She then linked her hand onto his arm and pulled him forward. "It's getting late, let's go home, Alex!" she said cheerfully.
Alex followed along, feeling a bit like a lost pup in the "boyfriend duty" business.
"Aw, how cute! They're holding hands!" Joe gushed.
"Are you stupid? She's just holding onto his arm. They're not holding hands!" Henry retorted.
"Hmm, yeah," Philip agreed.
"To be frank, this is the first time I've witnessed them engaging in physical touch, and it doesn't even seem like how a couple would do it," Joe scratched his chin.
Philip affirmed,
"And what's even worse is that she initiated it," he grumbled. "You need to step up your game, even though Deliah is already your girlfriend," he muttered under his breath.
The five of them trailed behind the unsuspecting couple, signaling to the rest of the cheerleaders to stay quiet if they spotted anything. It was quite a comical view - five burly men tiptoeing and sneaking around like cats, particularly Philip, who resembled a feline more than the others.
As Aerospace caught up to Deliah and Alex in his fancy car, the guys ogled at the vehicle like any guy would. By that point, the couple hadn't realized that they were being followed.
"Did you have a productive practice session today?" Alex inquired nonchalantly as he ignited the engine.
Deliah smiled and nodded.
"We learned new routines today. And I'm still the high-flyer of the pyramid! I'm so glad coach gave me this chance again."
Responding distractedly, Alex said "Of course he would," while turning on the air conditioning.
The brief silence that followed felt unusual for Deliah, prompting her to look at Alex questioningly. She noticed him smiling at her dreamily, causing her to giggle and say "You're so nice, Alex. You know the right things to say."
Alex, feeling awkward, tried to recall what he had just said. He thought, "Wait, what did I say?"
"Are you ready to go home?" Alex asked, clearing his throat and putting on an overly cheerful smile that wasn't typical of him. Deliah didn't seem to notice the difference, responding with a simple "Yep!"
Alex hit the accelerator and drove out of the gates. As he waved goodbye to the security guard, he recognized someone he knew walking home in a tired manner.
Alex brought his car to a sudden stop, causing the tires to screech loudly. He gestured towards a figure and asked, "Isn't that Sarah Johnson?"
Deliah's face lit up at the possibility of it being Sarah. She smiled and rolled down the window to call out to her but hesitated at the last minute, unsure if anyone else was around. Sarah had made it clear that they needed to keep their relationship a secret.
It was then that Alex, unaware of Deliah's intentions, called out to Sarah, "Hey, Sarah!"
Surprised by the sudden attention, Sarah turned slowly to see Alex and Deliah sitting in the car.
Alex then offered to drop Sarah off as he was going in the same direction, "Come on, I'll drop you off too. It doesn't make sense for you to take a taxi."
However, Sarah declined his offer and informed them that she would be taking the bus, muttering to herself as she hugged her books.
Alex asked with a grin, "So, do you want to take the bus or the Audi?" Sarah looked around to make sure no one was watching before quickly getting into the car and accidentally closing the door too hard. "Hey, that door would hurt," Alex pouted. "Sorry," Sarah mumbled, giving him a look. She was trying to be nice because Deliah was also in the car and she didn't want her sister to think that she and her boyfriend weren't getting along. Deliah turned around to face her sister
"Sissy, I didn't know you stayed back today. Thank goodness Alex saw you, or you'd have to take the bus." Sarah gave a small smile, trying not to roll her eyes at Deliah's "thank goodness for Alex" comment. "Well, I was at the library, but I fell asleep," she said sheepishly. "The librarian woke me up." Deliah giggled and said, "Hey, that happened to Alex too!"
Sarah and Alex locked eyes through the rearview mirror and Sarah rolled her eyes in response. Alex made a silly face at her in secret and checked on Sarah as she fastened her seatbelt.
"Are you girls ready to head back home?" Alex asked with a wide grin.
"Yes!" Deliah exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement.
Sarah chuckled and leaned against the window, observing the world outside. "He can't seriously expect me to answer that," she murmured under her breath.
"I heard that!" Alex snapped from the driver's seat.
"Did you see that?" Philip gasped. "He just picked up Mariah Jonas."
"It's Sarah Johnson," Joe corrected absentmindedly. He scratched his head in confusion. "What is Alex doing? Why is he picking up another girl when his girlfriend is in the car?"
Steve stroked his chin and scowled. "It looks like we need some explanations here."