Things didn’t go quite as Alex planned.
For one, she could never really hurt Lauren. Second, her friend merely had good intentions. Alex had to admit that it was a clever move. Maybe it would have been better if the video had been cut… but it would be too abrupt since she and Logan held the conversation until the end. Thinking about it made her head spin.
In the end, she let it go for some peace of mind.
“You have to admit…” Lauren spoke up, “It would have been a missed opportunity if we hadn’t filmed it.”
“We?” Alex raised an eyebrow.
“Me and Max, of course.”
Lauren stretched her arm up and offered her hand for a high five. On the opposite side of the table, Max put his pizza down, accepting the offer with enthusiasm. The skin contact made a loud sound. It caught the attention of several tables nearby.
Alex shook her head, “Then, can I choke him?”
“Kinky.”
She turned to her right, “Carla, mind hitting his leg for me?”
“Gladly.”
“HEY!”
“Relax” Lauren snorted. She folded her arms over the table, “It was mostly my idea anyway.”
Alex exhaled sharply. Light blues eyes twinkled in her direction. She really couldn’t stay mad for long around the cheerleader. The radiance was too much. The innocent smile was another blow to the heart. Who could ever hold a grudge against such a person?
“Ugh,” Alex groaned. She picked up her pizza slice, “I just hope it doesn’t reach my parents.”
Lauren bit her bottom lip, “I think they’d find out eventually.”
She just exchanged accounts with Alex’s mother the day before. She received a number of notifications as Angie scrolled through her profile. That level of energy implied that Angie was an active user—and was very supportive.
“I know. I was just hoping” Alex teeth bit down, staring at the middle of the table. Her hand tugged away the pizza and helped her slice off a piece. It wasn’t the most effective way but the crust eventually broke off.
“Damn… ” Max gasped softly. He reached out behind the two girls and grasped Logan’s shoulder, “Hope you rest in peace, bro.”
Logan lifted his chin up, marinara sauce smeared across his lips. He frowned towards the hand. It had almost startled him, “And why do you say that?”
“Have you seen her father?” Max added pressure with his fingertips, “He’d kill you after he sees you—like the moment he’d lay eyes on you, you’d be a dead man.”
“Max, sometimes I wonder if you know what the word, ‘friend’, means” Colin commented. He had finished eating and quietly watched the scenario. A deadpan expression morphed on his face.
Max scoffed, placing a hand over his chest, “I do too!”
“Shouldn’t you volunteer in Logan’s place then?”
“I could… if that means I’d have Alex to myself—”
Carla didn’t waste time. She elbowed him right in the ribs. The force of the momentum caused Max to almost topple over the bench.
“Carla, babe. What was that all about?”
“I know we had dated for sometime but you really need to stop flirting with every girl” She scolded him. She pointed her fork, “Or you’d end up single for the rest of your life.”
Max pretended to think about it for a few seconds. The exaggerated look on his face gave it away. His brows scowled and his lips frowned deeply. Then, he shrugged, “That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“And this is why we can’t work out.”
“What’s the reason again?”
“Because I want to get married someday and you don’t?” Carla snorted.
Max brushed off her claims with the wave of his “How can you be thinking of tying the knot at this age?”
“Relationship is a commitment” Carla shrugged. She cut a piece of her pasta, “I wouldn’t get into one if I didn’t want to put in the effort for the long haul. It’s different from your style.”
She had admitted her attraction to Max before. He was generally a fun guy to be around. It was still far away to be thinking about settling down but she couldn’t help it. After finding out that Max didn’t want to get married, she realized that not everyone would be in the same wavelength as her.
It would be best to wait for a few more years. By then, she hoped that she could meet decent guys. They couldn’t all be taken.
“Again, this is a time to enjoy our youth” Max protested, opening his can of grape soda, “I doubt others have that sort of thing near their minds. I think you should still date around despite not having the same goals right now.”
Jae blew a raspberry, “Is that your way of asking her to get back together?”
“Nah,” Max denied wrapping an arm around Carla’s shoulders, “She’s a bro now. I don’t date my bros.”
Lauren glanced at her phone. Her eyes widened at the screen. Her thumbs swept across it and opened the notification bar. She tapped on the latest one, slowly gaping in astonishment. Her expression made everyone curious.
Colin peeked over her shoulder.
His own eyebrows shot up.
“What is it?” Alex asked first, snapping her head towards Lauren. Her gaze hardened as her heart began to race. An ominous feeling hovered in the air. Blood slowly drained away from her head.
Lauren’s gaze flickered towards her. It took one glance for her to know what Alex was thinking. She locked her phone again and tapped its bottom corner against the table. She thought about how to answer the question, “Well… I just received another notif and…, apparently, your mom has seen the post now.”
“What are you looking at?” Ethan grumbled.
He stood at the doorway of the living room. He had gone to the toilet for a bit. Now, he came back to do more of his work and found his wife sitting on the couch. Her back towards him, she scrolled through her new feed.
It was her quiet squeal that made him curious.
Angie brimmed with too much giddiness that he didn’t feel him approach. He proceeded to stand behind her, tilting his head to one side. He came up just in time to see Logan holding Alex’s face in his hands. A faint audio flowed out of the speakers.
“`A person that deceived others? For selfish reasons? Be beautiful? Be liked?“`
Ethan’s chest gripped when he heard those words. His daughter was the second most beautiful girl he had ever met. If anyone objected to that, he’d bury the person alive.
He furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the video carefully. A certain young man was just about to give an answer.
“`Why not? I do. I like every bit of you.“`
The camera was too far away but he could tell that space between the two slowly closed in. An excited giggle came out of the video. His wife slammed a hand over her mouth. He could hear her muffled scream.
Then, the screen went blank.
“What the—”
Angie jumped in her seat, dropping her phone. She whirled around to face her husband, her hands gripping the top of the backrest. A shocked expression froze her facial muscles, “Darling!”
“Now, why are you looking at me like that?” Ethan questioned, raising a skeptical brow.
“Please tell me that you won’t kill Logan.”
He opened his mouth but closed it again. He had a retort ready but thought better of it. Instead, he walked around the couch, heading for the armchair, “Why do you think I’d do that?”
“Wouldn’t you?” His wife followed his movements with her gaze.
Ethan sat down and squeezed his eyes shut. How terrible was his image to Angie? His wife of all people? He pinched the bridge of his nose. He was protective, yes, but he was a reasonable man too.
He heaved a sigh, dropping his hand. He reached for his laptop, “That boy had asked my permission to court Alex. I’m not about to kill him when we have an arrangement.”
Angie went still while her brain processed the new information. She tucked her legs underneath her and leaned over one side of the couch. Her husband typed away on his keyboard, oblivious to her reaction. She shook her head slowly.
“You mean…” she said breathily, “He asked for your blessing?”
“No,” Ethan replied. His eyes stayed on his monitor. His tone became monotonous, “We both agreed that would depend on our daughter’s decision.”
Angie pursed her lips, scowling. Her husband really wasn’t a talker. She couldn’t comprehend why she always acted like it’s the first time she realized this. She partly blamed him for their daughter’s lack of interest in small chatter.
She clicked her tongue, “And when did this happen?”
“It was during mother’s birthday party.”
“And when did you plan to tell me about it?” Angie crossed her arms over her chest. Her voice must have been sharp because Ethan finally met her glare.
The tapping ceased.
“That’s…”
Angie rolled her eyes. She didn’t bother to hear any excuse he’d come up with. She continued on to her next question, “How come he didn’t ask for mine?”
“That’s because you already gave him your stamp of approval” her husband pointed out, giving her a look. She had been open about it all this time. There wasn’t a need to explicitly ask her. Obviously, she found Logan likeable enough for their daughter.
Angie huffed.
She flopped her back against the couch. Her lips mumbled, “It would have been nice to be asked. At least, be informed about it.”
Ethan chuckled.
He set aside his laptop and sat beside his wife. He tried to pull her arm but she yanked it away from him, keeping it crossed over her chest. The corner of his mouth curled up.
He tried again.
This time, he grabbed her shoulders. He eased her into his embrace and kissed the top of her head. He felt her muscles relax, taking it as a good sign. His hand rubbed up and down on her upper arm.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” he spoke gently. He rested his chin on her head, “I was unsure of what to think of it. I know you would have been ecstatic but I didn’t want to share it when I didn’t have my concrete opinion.”
Angie shifted in her position, glancing at his face, “Did the video help or destroy it?”
She waited for his reply and blinked innocently.
Ethan played with a section of her hair, “How about you let me watch the whole thing, hm?”
