Chapter 4.2: Mr. Popular Overnight

AUGUST

Rachel casually tucked her hair behind her ear before taking her time to sit right in front of me. I'm no blind person; I know when someone's trying to act cute, and Rachel's totally doing that. She lets out a tiny smile, and now that I have a closer view of her face, I must say she's a true natural. I think I'm starting to develop a girl crush on her.

"Did you know that you are the first person who stood up against Ambrose?" She said as a little trivia of my work.

"I don't, but now I do," I replied.

"Hahaha." She lets out a short chuckle. "And you are funny."

"Ha, I don't know about that."

Rachel's totally trying to flirt with me, and once again, the gayness hiding inside of me is already commencing in panic mode. There are a few girls who tried their luck to flirt with me back when I was still at Highmont high, and I just didn't like any of them. And now here's another hopeful girl, and her actions brought back those cringing memories. I may be developing a girl crush towards her, but that's only because of how naturally pretty she is, and I know she's a strong woman for not letting Ambrose get into her.

"That guy has been trying to ask me out for years and I just don't see myself dating a bully," Rachel admits.

"I know. A strong and beautiful woman like you deserves someone better and that's definitely not Ambrose." I spat, and I didn't know that I was already flattering her.

"Nor Phil." She trailed, followed by a shy chuckle. I instantly grew curious about hearing that.

"Phil?"

"Yeah, Ambrose doesn't know this but Phil has been secretly texting me," Rachel confessed, and I thought that's some hot tea. I have a strong feeling that Mary doesn't even know about this gossip.

"I'm sorry for asking but Phil and Ambrose are best friends right?"

"Yes, they are. They've been friends since middle school and Phil's doing moves behind Ambrose's back."

"That's a dick move."

"You bet. I used to have a huge crush on Phil back in middle school but he changed a lot. I don't know what happened to him but he was once the kindest kid that I know and now he's going off behind his best friends' back."

"Welp, people do change," I added.

People do really change, and there's always something that triggers the change to happen.

There was a short dead of awkward silence, and we just exchanged awkward smiles before Rachel eventually decided to open her mouth to talk.

"Uhm, me and my friends are having a karaoke night this Friday. Would you like to come and join the fun?" I can tell Rachel was so shy to ask. She must've found that courage during that short span of silence.

"Karaoke? I love karaoke." I lied. Of course, I don't like karaoke or anything that involves singing.

I'm not a good singer, but I have to take into careful consideration that this is one of the most popular people around asking me out to have fun. This is precisely what Mary is talking about. I get to write my own thing, and I'm looking at this as a golden opportunity to not have a normal high school experience. I don't want to peak in high school, that's for sure, but I certainly don't want my experience to be forgettable.

"So that's a yes?" Rachel asked, seemingly unsure of my answer.

"Ahuh," I said, nodding in absolute agreement.

"See you this Friday night then." She said and gave me that tiny smile one last time before leaving.

***

I surfed through the crowds of the cafeteria during lunch, and everyone was looking at me like I was some huge celebrity walking around. I'm feeling a mixture of embarrassment and excitement about this sudden rise to popularity. I know this is about the clip of me and Ambrose fighting and although it isn't some kind of a humiliating scandal, I don't want people to think that I'm that strong and brave enough to pick a fight with a lion. I don't want these people to think that I have the guts and muscle. I know myself, and I know that if Ambrose is the lion, I'm just the powerless gazelle.

Mary and Rock were already sitting at their usual spot. Mary waved her hand at me, and I had no other choice but to inch my way towards their table. I saw Gustav still picking his food at the counter, and I'm going to say he's one hungry human being.

"What's up Mr. Popular Overnight." Mary spat sarcastically the moment I settled down beside her.

"What are you talking about?" I said, pretending to be innocent.

"Don't mind her, she's just mad that Rachel asked you out." Rock explained.

"What? Who told you that?" I was a bit confused about that information. "She didn't ask me out. She just invited me to their karaoke night." I spat, and both Mary and Rock exchanged some looks.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?" Rock scowled. "No one gets invited to that karaoke night."

"What do you mean?"

"They're famous for that." Mary was thrilled to reveal this news. "Rachel's parents gifted that private karaoke bar for her sixteenth birthday. They've been posting pictures and clips to their Instaglam page and everything's made of lamé."

"I mean, you said they are rich so…"

"You are so lucky, August!" Mary chirped. "I hate you for that!"

"I was actually thinking of…" I was just about to finish my sentence and tell them that I don't want to go to that karaoke night, but Mary seemed to know what I was about to say and cut me off right away.

"You should go!!!" Mary slapped my shoulder.

"Why? What if I don't want to go."

"Listen August, we've been only hanging out for two days and I know this is a stretch but I'm going to ask you a small favor." Mary continued.

"Uhm, I guess so."

"You are the key,"

"The key to what?"

"You are the key for us to be finally free from being called losers." Mary spat, and my soft heart burped.

This is something I can't say no from. I know I haven't fully heard their stories, but I know how they've been marginalized for so long.

"Special delivery for August coming right up!" Gustav showed up and placed a box of cake on our table.

"A cake? Who sent this?" I asked out of curiosity. This day keeps on getting weirder and weirder for me.

"It's from Jessie," Gustav answered while fixing his tray of an assorted meal.

"Oh," I turned my head around and looked for Jessie. He was already smiling at me when I saw him with his circle of friends. I'm not running for Mr. Congeniality, but I smiled back at him.

"Thank you for being my superman!" I heard Mary speak. She was reading the sticky note on the box of cake. "XOXO, Jessie."

"Don't read that!" I said while attempting to cover up what was written on the sticky note.

"I already did." Mary teased.

"Looks like Jessie has a crush on you," Gustav trailed.

"Looks like everyone has a crush on you." Rock followed up, and they started giggling.

It's just our lunch break, and a lot of things have happened already. I don't want to conceal the fact that I'm enjoying this attention, but then I suddenly thought of Ambrose. I haven't seen him yet, which is super weird. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm trying to shake the feeling of fear away.

We enjoyed our lunch until Rock and Gustav decided to fight over who was getting the extra slice of cake. They used rock, paper, scissors to determine who shall take the last piece, and Gustav won.

I suddenly felt the need to pee. I stood up and started walking towards the comfort room when Ambrose popped right in front of me out of nowhere.