39 Drafted - Part 3 (2/2)

”Yeah, it's both to help you out and to save Jen. I've been thinking about it all day yesterday, and this is what I've come up with.”

I see.

She really does think of Jennifer as her best friend, huh?

”Anyway, you need to get back on their good side quickly. Tomorrow she's going to have campaign posters spread out across the halls, so everyone will know she's running for class president.”

”Wait, why? I thought only our class would be voting.”

”Well yes, but her goal isn't only to get elected as class president. She wants an important seat in the Student Body Government this spring so she's letting everyone know how serious she is.”

The Student Body Government? As if her popularity wasn't enough… Does this girl want to own the entire school or something? Just how power hungry is she?

And anyway, that's probably not the only reason she's going to be hanging up those posters either. I doubt that anyone will try contesting her for the class president seat if they see her going all out like this. She's probably trying to scare any potential candidates off.

It's the perfect strategy.

Well, I should know just how perfect her strategies are, seeing as she completely broke my spirit yesterday.

If there's any imperfection in her plans, it's Scarlet.

The fact that she's willing to go so far just to help me says a lot about how she feels about this whole situation. I'd say Jennifer messed up by not taking her feelings into account. Then again, judging by how their conversations usually go, I don't think Jennifer thinks about Scarlet's feelings very much at all.

Scarlet may as well be her Achilles Heel at this point.

”So once you get those two back on your side, we'll can move into the second part of the plan which includes the actual campaign strategy. If you can't do this today then you can forget about all of this. The elections will be held Monday morning, which means we only have Thursday and Friday left to campaign.”

”Uh… sure. I have a question though.”

”What is it?

”Shouldn't we get Momo to help? I mean, wouldn't her testimony kinda invalidate that I'm a womanizer?”

”Huh? How?”

”I mean… she could tell them it was a lie.”

”Chase…”

Scarlet sighs.

”Why would they believe her? She's the person who you cheated with in their version of the story. Of course she'd lie and try to save her reputation. My word is the only word that matters here.”

”…”

I hate this situation so much.

”Can't we at least get her to vote for me? Every vote counts, right?”

”No.”

”What?”

”I said no. If there's one vote we're not getting on Monday, it's Momo's.”

”Why?”

”Because… I've only been friends with them for about a month. Momo and Jen have known each other for all three years of middle school. Their bond is much deeper than whatever relationship I've managed to make with her. Do you really think I have enough say to just split them up like that?”

”I… guess not.”

She's right. That was dumb of me.

Seems like we'll have to do it without Momo's vote. Dammit, there's like thirty kids in our homeroom. Even if we get Nick and Sig, how are we supposed to get twelve more people on our side?

”Haaa…”

This time, Scarlet is the one who lets out a fatigued sigh. She leans back in her chair in frustration at the whole situation.

”Hey, are you okay? You seem tired.”

”Woah. If you're calling me tired then I must really look bad.”

”Well if you must know, I skipped work yesterday. I managed to get 8 whole hours of sleep last night.”

”S-seriously? That's more than I get…”

”If you think about it, it's not like I had home-work after skipping all those classes so I kinda just went to bed early.”

”I guess not… Ah, come to think of it you're kinda behind, aren't you?”

She pulls out her English, algebra 1 and geography notebooks.

”If you feel like catching up I actually brought these with me. The rest of our classes aren't the same but this should help out at least, right?”

”…”

Scarlet, are you a saint?

”Haha…”

I lean back in my chair.

Crap, why do I feel so guilty about having her help me out so much?

I guess it's because I don't feel like I deserve any of this.

I mean, she did so much and even came up with an entire strategy for beating Jennifer at her own game.

All for me…

”Doesn't feel so good, does it?”

”Huh?”

”I felt really lost and confused last week, you know. I kept wondering. 'Why is he doing so much for me? What have I ever done for him that made me deserve this?' You even took a punch because you realized how scared I was of being surrounded by guys…”

She smirks.

”I have to admit, it feels good to be on the other side of it.”

”Is… that why you were avoiding me last week?”

I didn't realize she was going through all of those feelings back then. I'd just assumed it was pity all this time.

”I wasn't avoiding you, loser! You were avoiding me!”

”Dude, come on. If you felt guilty about it then you were obviously avoiding me!”

”Weren't you the one who was embarrassed about being pitied?! If anything you were avoiding me!”

”Yeah? The only thing I'm embarrassed about is how embarrassed you were just because I did something nice for you!”

Oh.

She's pouting.

Did I go too far?

”Hmph! Nevermind. I'll just take my notebooks and head to class.”

”Wait! Scarlet I'm sorry! I was joking!”

”Ohh? You're sorry, huh?”

She grins, and once more I'm left feeling insecure about myself.

”Here, you can take as many notes as you can. But once it's lunch period your job is to get those two to forgive you. Clear?”

”Crystal. Oh and by the way.”

”What is it?”

”Thanks, Scarlet.”

”W-what? You already thanked me for this earlier today. Don't be such a creep, loser…”

”You might say that, but you still haven't thanked me for getting you out of that situation with Jack…”

”… I guess not, huh?”

She doesn't say anything else. She just turns and stares outside of the window.

Like she doesn't want anything to do with this conversation anymore.

Resigning to end things here, I open the note book and begin flipping through the pages.

I guess that's my bad for being sappy.

I didn't really do it for her gratitude, though. It just felt bad seeing her so terrified.

Is it so wrong of me to want to see the people I like with smiles on their faces?

I stop at the page of the notebook filled with information I don't remember going over in class.

”…”

But still, that awkward silence is leaving a really bad taste in my mouth.

I don't think I'll be able to focus on this at all if I don't do something.

Maybe I should try changing the subject…?

”So uh, Nick told you about himself?”

”Jealous?”

Instant response?!

Was the awkward atmosphere just my imagination…?

”O-of course not…”

”Oh really? I don't know Chase, you sound kind of jealous to me.”

”I just think it's weird that he's already talking to you about stuff like that…”

I mean, he hasn't said anything about that to me as of yet…

”So what, you're saying I'm already better friends with him than you are? Wow, talk about cucked.”

”Please don't say that word…”

”Oh please, tell me. How does it feel to know that your ex and your best friend were chatting it up under your nose? Feels like we're gonna get it on without you, doesn't it? Bet it stings, cuck.”

Actually, it kinda does.

”Stop with the jokes. You wouldn't last a second trying to keep up with Nick.”

”Really? If we're going by what happened between us on Monday then I think I'll do fine.”

”… Seriously?”

”Woah, your face is priceless! Aww, is it that sad? Don't worry, I'll make sure to text you pictures of our first date so you don't feel left out. Maybe we'll go to Disneyworld together.”

”Hey, that's not fair. I've always wanted to go to Disneyworld.”

”Oh really? Maybe you should go with Momo then.”

”…”

She looks away.

The playfulness in her voice had all but left.

Her tone was flat, but the words still sounded harsh.

Even as naïve as I am, I could sense that there was a lot of bottled-up emotions inside of her.

Because she'd been laughing when we first spoke today, I completely ignored the possibility that she was still hurt by what happened with Momo.

I should have known though, Scarlet seemed frustrated when I brought her up a while ago.

Almost like she didn't want to rely on Momo to begin with.

”Um, Scarlet…”

”Hm? What is it? Do you wanna double-date or something? I'm sure my darling Nicholas wouldn't mind.”

Seriously, hearing her say stuff really does make me feel like she's done with the whole popularity thing. The old Scarlet would hate the idea of even standing next to Nick.

But still, she doesn't have to rub it in like that…

”No, I… I just wanted to apologize for what happened on Monday. I should have at least talked to you before I went off with Momo like that. Even if we weren't dating for real, I messed up by not telling you what was going on. I'm really sorry…”

I put my honest feelings into words.

This is the best thing I can do to mend whatever heartache I've put her through.

”…”

Her shoulders suddenly slump.

All of the spirit from before has left her body.

Or maybe that spirit was just another façade of hers.

Either way, right now she looks like the same vulnerable Scarlet I've known since that day at the cafeteria with Jennifer.

No matter how much she puts on that act, she's always the same fragile girl on the inside.

”Scarlet, I promise that she didn't betray you. You were both the first and the last thing we spoke about when we went into that room. She loves you a lot, and I could tell that she was only trying her best to decide if I was a good partner for you.”

”…”

The reason we even went in there in the first place was because she was scared of that senior, but I think saying that is just an excuse.

What Scarlet needs more than anything right now is reassurance that her friend is still on her side.

”Scar, did you tell her how you felt about her skipping with me that day?”

”No.”

Ah, that explains why Momo didn't know about the break up.

Wait, but then why didn't Jennifer know? Weren't they hanging out all day yesterday?

”You don't have to worry about me.”

She stands up and stretches her arms.

”I mean, I wouldn't be helping you with all of this if I was that upset about it, right?”

I guess not, but…

”Oh come on, just focus on taking those notes! I'll be fine.”

”Ah, sure… you can help yourself to anything you see if you're bored.”

”Pfft, I'm not gonna read any nerd junk just because I'm bored.”

Okay whatever, geez.

She might be done with being popular, but she's still as condescending as ever when it comes to stuff like this.

I rub my temple and turn my attention to her notes.

Unsurprisingly, they're much cleaner than anything I've ever written. I guess she's pretty studious once she's actually in class.

Actually, now that I think about it, even if she isn't as over-the-top perfect as Jennifer, she's still got a lot of things going for her. Her work ethic, her looks, her humor… I think her insecurities might be the only thing keeping her from stepping out from under the shadow of that titanic girl.

Not that I'm one to talk about insecurities…

”Hey Chase…”

”Huh? What's up?”

”Now that I'm getting a closer look, this club room isn't actually all that bad… some of this stuff looks kinda familiar. There's Star wars, Lord of the Rings… it's all stuff from way before we were born.”

”Woah, didn't pin you for a fan of old 'nerd junk'.”

”Oh drop it already… you know I'm just kidding.”

She appears to be seriously looking around the room for something to occupy her time.

I've got to say, seeing her like this feels kind of different from the Scarlet I'm used to. I always had her as the kinda girl to watch generic romcom movies, not Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.

The only thing that'd surprise me more is if…

”Omygod, is that DnD?”

She suddenly rushes over to the box full of campaign items.

”… Huh? You know about DnD?”

”Of course I do! My dad plays it pretty much every Friday with his friends. I used to join them too sometimes when I was a kid, but these days playing with a bunch of grown men is little too weird for me. Wooow, fifth edition huh? I think we only played fourth edition back then.”

Huh, that so? I wouldn't think of her as the type to play a game with such a bad reputation among popular kids.

”Wait, you played with men?”

”Why is that surprising? They were DnD players. That's as nerdy as you can get.”

I guess nerds really are a blind spot for her condition.

”Hahaha! Oh my god! Nicholas's character is so dumb! Why is he the 'Enigma of Darkness'? I'm going to throw up!”

”I'm pretty sure if you laughed to his face like that he'd end up lecturing you for an hour about why it's the best character in DnD history.”

”Yeah, then he'd call me a thot or something for not understanding his 'brilliance'… Woah, this is Reyna's. 'Cardi B?' Pfft! Oh my god this is so good hahahaha!”

”You know Reyna?”

”Yeah, she's a pretty popular senior, and plus you mentioned her a while ago.”

Ah right, she is really popular isn't she? It's hard to remember that since she feels like just another one of the guys.

”I wonder how good she is, though…? I can't really tell from her character sheet.”

”Umm, she knows her stuff based on what I've seen. She's definitely better than I am, at least. Her only real problem is that she gets a little too flirty with the NPCs sometimes.”

”Flirty? What the heck?”

”Like, her boyfriend's the Dungeon Master, right?”

”Uhuh… oooh! So their roleplay gets kinda erotic, huh?”

For some reason, I'm not a fan of the way she phrased that.

”Ahhh, that sounds like fun… I wish I could play DnD. Hey hey, Chase.”

”Dude, I'm trying to copy notes over here. What is it?”

”How do I pronounce Sigmund's character name?”

”It's Kazugaya.”

”Ugh, why does everything have to be so Japanese with him? I bet if Japan made suicide look cool he'd actually try it out.”

If only you knew, Scarlet.

”Honor and loyalty… yup, that sounds like Sigmund alright.”

”What do you mean?”

”Oh, didn't I tell you? He was the one who got me and Nicholas to make up when we fought. When you get past how disgusting he is, he's actually a pretty nice kid too.”

Huh, really?

I guess he's always been good at softening Nick's blows. Like when Nick was suspicious of me and Scarlet, Sig went out of his way to make me feel better about it during class.

I think I'd be better at noticing it if he didn't always talk about Momo though…

”Ha! I found yours Chase! Let's see… Jacob Death…”

”…”

”Pfft…”

”S-shut up!”

”Death! He's a bard and his last name is Death! Hahahahahaha!”

”Ugh… Nick chose it for me! Don't make fun of me!”

”What, do you only play your instruments at funerals or something?”

”Close, it was supposed to be a song of death kind of thing, so technically… actually, nevermind. Just keep laughing it up.”

”Hahahaha! What a loser!”

I didn't mean literally!

”Ahaha… Mmm… still, I think it's cool that you're playing bard.”

”Huh? Why's that?”

She puffs out her chest and smiles proudly.

”Because I'm a bard player too!”