“Spending time with your charming, bubbly self is enough for me,” he drawled with a smirk.
She let out an almost imperceptible exhale of amusement coupled with the flicker of a smile.The hell? This fucktrumpet gets her to laugh after two seconds of speaking to her. The most I’ve gotten is a sort-of half-smile that honestly could’ve just been her face twitching.I resisted the urge to kick his shin under the table seeing as I missed the last time and let out a grumbled sigh instead.
“So?” I prompted her to respond. “What do you say, friends or not?”
She tapped her finger rhythmically against her water bottle and mumbled a ‘sure’. It wasn’t enthusiastic by any means, but I’d take what I could get.
“Great! Now back to getting to know each other. Someone,” Jae paused to give me a side eye, “always promises to wait to watch a show with me but ends up skipping ahead without me. Please tell me you like K-dramas, Shiloh.”
She scrunched up her face in confusion, flicking her gaze to me before focusing her attention back on Jae.
“The fuck is a K-drama?”
“You’re joking!” Jae gasped.
“Nope.”
Jae let out a sigh, placing his half-eaten sandwich down before leaning his elbows on the table. “A K-drama is a Korean TV drama that is literally the best-produced series you will everwatch. I mean, disregarding the fact that the cast are always on point, Kim Yoo-Jung, IU…” Jae looked off as if he was daydreaming and I elbowed him. “Sorry, besides the actors, the storylines and production are just...” he finished with the chef’s kiss gesture.
When she didn’t say anything, he groaned and slammed his hands down on the table, causing both of us to jump.
“That’s it! We’re binge-watchingBlackthis weekend. I don’t wanna hear any excuses. We’ll start Friday after school.”
“But I—”
Jae quickly cut Shiloh off, holding up his hand, “No. No excuses. We’re watching it even if I have to tie you both to chairs.”
The bell rang, startling us all, and Jae groaned looking down at his remaining lunch.
“What class you got, Shiloh?” I asked as I packed up.
“Calculus,” she huffed as she awkwardly stood up. “Speaking of math, I won’t be working in the tutor center after school today if you were planning on going.”
She had to be in pain with the way she was moving her body so carefully. I wanted to ask if she needed anything, but I was almost positive it would just earn me an annoyed glare, so I didn’t mention it.
“Oh,” I tried to hide my disappointment. Not that I particularly wanted to study math, but I wouldn’t have minded spending time with Shiloh. “Well, Jae and I are headed towards that hall too, we can walk together.”
I ignored her eye roll and smiled as we waited for her to put her lunch tray away so we could leave.
“Dude, we just made a friend,” Jae whispered as he slapped my arm.
“I know,” I said as I slapped him back. “Didn’t think I’d have to do that until I left for basic.”
“Just think of it as practice,” he shrugged. “I mean she’s kinda ruthless, probably the closest thing you’re gonna find around here to an MTI.”
I chuckled and elbowed him to shut up. “We’re supposed to benice, remember?”
“Right,” he responded, straightening up and saluting me. “Sir, yes sir.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved him, causing him to lose his balance and stumble. I watched Shiloh make her way back over to us, her red hair falling in her face as she focused on her feet.Friends.This year just got a hell of a lot more interesting.
Eleven
October 6, Wednesday
Shiloh
Ilet out a huff, pulling my sleeves over my hands as I looked at the various groups of rowdy shitheads still here celebrating the end of the school day. Adrian wasn’t here yet and I was tired and anxious as fuck.
