Turning back to the boys, he said, "Look, there's gon be a party, we're all going from here, do y'all wanna come? It's a welcome party sorta thing but it's very exclusive. Only the dopest kids will be there. It's by invite and since y'all are my dawgs y'all should come through. Password is bootah That's B-O-O-T-A-H. I'll see y'all later." Then he jogged over to his team.
Dylan could not stop staring at the blonde neighbor. He wanted to talk to her. He knew this was his chance to talk to her. He was sitting across from Mason—facing the door so he was the only one who saw the girls walk in. As they walked to the table with the guy who had been trying to eat his food but could not hold his chopsticks, Dylan became endeared to her. Mostly because of her aura lit up the guy's previously gloom countenance.
The waitress brought their order and Dylan immediately grabbed one of the sushi. "Nice password" He let out even though he was more focused on the sushi in between his chopsticks. As he bit into the juicy sushi, he took a deep breath and let out a satisfied sign that came out almost as a little moan. Mason just watched him in amusement.
"Is it that good?" He finally asked.
With a mouthful, Dylan responded, "It gets better with each bite"
"Well, let me see." Mason said before reaching out for one. As he bit into his, he realized that it tasted much better than he imagined. He felt like he just bit into the best meal he had ever tasted in his entire life.
"Nothing on earth beats a good ol' Asian meal." Mason let out after swallowing his first bite.
"Facts. This is one hill I'm willing to die on." With that, he took another bite.
"Did Ian tell you the location of the party?"
"No but I'll text him on our way back home"
"Are we going home?"
"Of course, I will need to shower and change this shirt."
"Okay. I think the party will be at Troy's. You know he's one of the few people we know who always holds exclusive parties."
Just then, they saw Jessica and Sheryl walk into the restaurant. The girls went over to the table with the basketball players. After a brief talk with the players and a few of them gesturing to where Mason was, they noticed Jessica walking to their table. As soon as Dylan saw that, he clicked his fingers at Mason and said, "I'm not trying to lose my appetite this night, go talk to her before she gets her and causes a scene"
"Ugh! She literally broke up with me! What the fuck does she want now?" Mason replied, getting irritated but Jessica was within earshot.
"For you to tell me why you have not called or texted me since we had our little issue, Mason! Couples fucking fight! And it's completely normal—"
Standing up and pulling her away before she starts yelling, Mason murmured, "Okay, you and I need to talk!"
Once they were outside the restaurant, Mason let her go and said, "You understand how breakup works right?"
Putting her hand up, close to his face, Jessica replied, "I was fucking joking!"
He gently pushed her hand away from his face and said, "Yeah, I call bullshit! I don't care if you were joking or not, I'm glad you sent that to me, I'm sick of your shit, Jessica!"
"What the fuck, Jason?! You're glad we're broken up? Have you always—Oh my God! Mason, did you even love me? Have you been using me?"
"Using? Where the fuck did you get that?!"
"I don't know, maybe because you fucking implied it?!"
"Listen to how delusional you sound! You broke up with me but now I'm the one using you."
"Yeah, maybe you tricked me into ending things with you! You sick manipulative—"
"Let me stop you right there Jessica, listen, this is not one of those on-and-off moment we have, I'm really no longer interested in you anymore."
As Jessica watched Mason, she knew that he meant what he was saying. She could see it in his eyes. But, she was not done, she could not be done. She had a reputation and a social status to maintain and she could only do so while dating one of the hottest boys in their school. She knew fighting was not going to solve their problem so she retorted to begging.
Now calm, she let out a sign and said, "Mason, please. I'm sorry. Please take me back. I promise to be better. Please"
Mason watched her, he knew she was serious but he was really not interested in her anymore and he did not want to lead her on, "Jessica, I'm sorry, but not a chance in hell."
...
After paying for his table's bill and Avery's bill, Dylan was still at the counter when Mason pulled up to him. Judging from his expression, he knew that Mason was not in the mood to hear about his meeting with their neighbor. So he asked, "Are you okay?"
"Of course. Wanna go now?"
"Sure. Oh, and I took out takeouts with your food." Dylan said, tapping the plastic bags containing the takeouts.
"Thanks man. Let me just quickly let Ian know we're leaving and also find out the location of the party, give me a second." Then he walked off to where Ian and the other players sat. When he came back, he left a $100 bill as a tip for the waitress.
"Aww, thank you so much. See you soon" she called out to them. The boys smiled because they knew she was right, they'd be back soon.
As they entered the ride Dylan ordered again , he wanted to ask Mason about the conversation he had with Jessica because he wanted to make sure Jessica was out of their lives, for real this time.
"So, are you off the street or back to the street?"
Mason chuckled and said, "We're not back together Dylan. Weird but when I was talking to Jess, I knew that it was really over."
"You've said that a couple of times."
"Yeah, but I think I mean it now. She also noticed, that's why she asked if I was using her."
"Using? That's a bit too far, if anyone was using anyone, it's Jessica."
"Well, I don't care. Now, I'm looking forward to this party."
Dylan raised a brown and cracked a smile, "Welcome back player!"
Mason just smiled, then checked his phone. He got a message from his brother, Michael. He brother wanted to know how his trip went and how he was doing overall.
"Doing good. Flight was smooth. Just ate though." He texted.
In less than a minute, his brother asked him if he had contacted their parents.
"Not yet. I'll call mum later." He texted back.
Michael asked about the new apartment and the address.
"Giona did a good job. The place is pretty nice, I honestly love it ngl." He texted as he shared his address with his brother.
His brother told him he had not stopped playing his game and how he thinks he's addicted to it.
"Lol, that's what everyone says. Funny story: I didn't even spend much time on that game. Genuinely shocked it's been blowing up. I've seen lots of great reviews and recommendation from top gamers on YouTube."
Their ride arrived at the driveway of their building and the driver announced their arrival.
The boys got down but Dylan was still on the call with his mother.
As they walked in the building, the conceirge from earlier walked to them and told them about the private rides that was provided for every residence of the building. He also informed them of the cleaning services and they collected all the contact information of the services they needed from the front desk. When they finished, they went to their apartment.
On their way to their apartment, they saw Sheryl walking towards them. She seem to have come from the apartment opposite their own. As usual, she was on her phone and they didn't say anything to her too.
When they got to their apartment, they showered and started to get dressed for the party when Ian called Mason and told him that Jessica was at the party. Mason still maintained that he was done and couldn't care less if she was at that party.
Mason wore a black t-shirt, a denim pant, a black Jordans, his favorite necklace and a wristwatch. Dylan wore a grey shirt, a denim pant, a black sneakers, a wristwatch and a beaded bracelet. When they finished, Mason called the chauffeur and he was already ready so they decided to start moving.
When they got to Troy's house, they said the password and were let in. As soon as they got into the house, they scanned the room for Ian. Some of the boys from the basketball team recognized them and said hello, some of the boys nodded at them. Mason then asked them where Ian was and they told him he must be in the lounge room. As they were making their way to the lounge room, one of the sorority girls came over to Mason and flirtingly said, "Hey Mason, how are you doing? Listen, I heard about your breakup, if you need someone to talk to, just text me or something."
Mason smiled polietly and said, "We'll see about that. Thanks" then he and Dylan walked past her. Once they were out of earshot, Dylan turned back to look at the girl walk off, then he turned back to Mason said, "Damn! You're already attracting the hotties!"
Mason shrugged and said, "Looks like the night will be fun."
"I know right! The girls here could lead a man to temptation, for real!"
"I'm all for temptations tonight" Mason replied and fistbumped Dylan. Just then, Dylan noticed Jessica and then he looked at Mason. Mason didn't say a word to her instead he walked past her. They could tell that she would be upset by that.
True to their guess, she just stomped off.
She did look stunned by Mason's statement and reaction but he didn't really care and that when he caught a glimpse of Avery with Troy. He raised a brow but didn't say a word. He just watched her smile as they continued what looked like a tour. He noted that she looked so beautiful and graceful and it looked like she was enjoying the conversation she was having with Troy. But, if Mason knew anything about Troy, it was that he was more of a flirt than a comedian. The next second, he went up to the lounge room, but just as they were about to get in, they say Ian come out and he seemed indifferent, but as soon as he saw them, he brightened up and said, "Hey, y'all came!"
"Yeah. Where were you going?" Dylan asked.
"To get drinks. I just saw Jess stomp in to talk to Lydia, and I sorta put two and two together. When did y'all get here."
Dylan chuckled and said, "Oh she's mad mad."
"Why though?"
"She saw us talking to—well, she saw Mason flirting with one of her sorority sisters." Dylan replied.
Still thinking about his crush that was basically with Troy, Mason was not interested in talking about Jessica, so he said, "Look guys, she'll come around. Let's just chill somewhere. Ian, how is the lounge?"
"Uhh, the lounge is boring, nothing fun is going on there, just a bunch of slobs smoking and drinking."
So the three boys went back downstairs and while they waited for their drinks, they started talking. After talking for while, Dylan said he needed a drink and then went to get something. Ian started talking about his love interest, Lydia, a sorority girl. Mason wasn't surprised at his choice of love interest—everyone knew that Ian had a huge crush on Lydia so now that they had officially started dating, Mason was not shocked but still, he listened to Ian talk about how they started talking. Mason was listening to Ian attentively till he saw Avery come up real close to where he stood. Troy was still talking to her and a girl came out of the room to talk to her. Now that she stood close, Mason realized that she looked very familiar. He tried to remember where he had seen her before. That's when he remembered she was the blonde girl from the airport earlier. He kept looking at her till she noticed he was staring. "Damn it!" He thought and quickly looked away. He didn't want to give her the impression that he was obsessed with her because he wasn't. He looked away but he noticed that she said something to Troy something about him because Troy also looked towards him too.
Shortly after, Troy left her, so she was by herself but she was on her phone.
I need to talk to her but how will make Ian stop talking about his girlfriend? he thought.
He could see her staring at him, it was hard not to look at her, the way she was sitting made her positioned directly behind Ian and it was distracting but it gave him a better angle to look at her stylishly but also look at Ian that was talking to him. He felt like he was killing two birds with one stone.
What Mason did not know was that Dylan saw her too. He was going to talk to her but when he followed her gaze, it was at the direction Mason stood. Was she staring at Mason? Did he know? Maybe she's just observing something else. He'd ask Mason if he knows her, he thought.
"Are you okay Dylan, you seem distracted." The girl he was with asked him.
"Yeah, I'm good. I—um—what were we talking about again?" He continued talking to her.
Then Mason watched her get up when her friend came over to where she was, and they began talking. Troy later joined them again. He was focused on that that he did not notice the girl that came over to where him and Ian were.
"Hey Ian", she said and they both turned to face her.
"Hey shawty, what's going on?" Ian replied
"Lydia needs her drink."
"I'll be there soon."
"Okay. Aren't you going to introduce me to your hot friend?" She asked pointing to Mason
Ian smiled and said, "Uh, my bad, This my boy Mason."
"Hey Mason, you look very familiar, I'm Elina" She was obviously flirting with Mason but he didn't flirt back. He didn't say anything to the girl because he didn't want to say anything to her. She was half-drunk and he knew she was only trying to get laid. He was very sober but also not interested in her. He was very much interested in the blonde stranger from the airport, he'd give anything to know her name—at least, right now. Ian sensed he was not feeling and tried to save face but calmly telling her off without being obvious. So he said, "Baby girl, can you give us a minute, we were talking about something very serious."
As she walked away, he turned to Mason who just shrugged and said he suddenly needed a drink too. As they went to the bar, the bartender asked what they wanted. Ian asked for a bottle of water for himself and a punch for Lydia. Mason asked for a bottle of water and then they overheard some of the basketball players talking about the three hot girls that came in earlier. They complained about how Troy has their attention and how selfish he was for keeping both girls to himself. As they described the girls, Mason and Ian knew who they were referring to. The players also proceeded to placing bets on who will get to second base with the girls.
"That's just nasty y'all." Ian said to the guys who looked shocked that their conversation was overheard by Ian.
"We were—"
"I expected that from everyone, but not you Twiggy, I thought you were a better human being!" Mason scolded one of the players.
"We didn't—" Twiggy tried to explain.
"Fuck outta here, you jerks! Now!" Mason interrupted again. He looked over at them in an intimidating way like he was going to hit them if they didn't leave, so they both left. They murmured "sorry" as they left.
Ian looked over at Mason, he thought Mason was upset because he knew the girls personally. So he said, "Come on, let's get outta here, they're not worth it."
"I'll be there soon, I need a drink or something" Mason replied.
As Ian left, Mason looked over at Avery, she was talking to Troy's sister. He didn't know why but he felt the urge like he just wanted to protect her—from jerks like the players who made bets on her, and stupid guys generally.
Turning to the bartender, he said "Give me something a little strong."
"Make that two." A female voice said as she stood beside him.
He didn't look, but he knew exactly who was beside him. It was her.