“At least acknowledge that I’m here,” Austin pleaded.
It was springtime in Lyria, and Samuel had slowly been allowing Austin to grow closer to him, much to Samantha’s displeasure.
“Sam we should talk to Carl, I think this room is haunted. I seem to be hearing disembodied voices.” Samantha crossed her arms, her nose pointed straight to the ceiling. Samuel toppled over laughing at the comment and Austin sighed, defeated. He wanted to tell her off for disrespecting him, a Mayor, but he disliked using his title against people. More importantly so did Samuel. So, he held back every time. As long as Samantha’s distaste for him didn’t spread to Samuel, he could put up with her.
The three had been hanging together a lot more recently. Sort of. Samuel agreed to hang out with Austin if they kept it under wraps. No disturbing him during class. No interrupting him when he was studying. No asking to hang after school. Mainly ignoring him except for lunch. Hanging out with the Mayor in the public view would mean more eyes on him and he was not prepared for that. Austin agreed to these terms and 5 months ago they started their friendship.
Samantha on the other hand was not happy with any conditions. She had advised Samuel to just keep avoiding Austin. It had worked for them for the first two months of school. She didn’t see why it had to change. When she saw Austin, all she saw was trouble for Samuel.
When she first met Samuel, she had had other friends, but they weren’t good friends. She was none of their first choice, and when she decided to attend this school, having to leave her friends behind, none of them bothered to keep in contact. Samuel was different. He showed genuine interest in her. He was getting just as much out of their friendship as she was. She could make him smile on his worst days and vice versa. So, she had this overwhelming desire to hold on to him and not let him go.
She wasn’t worried he would replace her with Austin. No. It was something else. She knew him. When they first started to be friends, Samuel was so on edge. He had so many walls she had to navigate. She was worried that Austin was going to hurt him in a way that would revert him to that mind state, afraid of friends. That would be a much worse way to lose him.
She didn’t know why Samuel had changed his mind about Austin, and she wasn’t able to change it back. So instead, she watched each of Austin’s movements, and listened to every word, waiting for him to slip up, so she could fix it before Samuel was affected. She also wanted to make it very clear that she didn’t trust nor like him. Samuel was hers. Nothing or nobody would hurt him on her watch.
“Samuel please help me out here,” Austin begged, pushing out his bottom lip.
“Sorry man. No can do. I’m helpless here.” Samuel wiped a tear from his eye as he composed himself. “It’s your turn by the way, oh and Uno.”
“Oh, come on, that’s the 5th time in the row I swear you’re cheating.” Samantha slammed her cards down.
“I haven’t gone yet.”
“Fine. Ghost, play your turn.” Samantha narrowed her eyes to Austin as he placed a draw 2 card, smiling. “Oh, fuck you. We really need Carl to call an exorcist.” Samantha drew her two cards groaning loudly. Both Austin and she then turned to look at Samuel, whose face was as still as stone. He sighed and shook his head. “Oh, cut the act, play it already.” Samuel laughed at her comment and placed his final card before loudly announcing his win.
The lunch bell rang, and Samuel picked up on the cards, as the other two walked to the door. Austin left first as per agreement. Samantha and Samuel would then leave shortly after. People had started to assume the three had been having lunch together, but no one could quite believe it and not one dared to ask.
Exam week was fast approaching and most extracurriculars had been placed on hold to allow the students more time to study. Samantha and Samuel had been “studying” together in the empty math room, happily gifted to them by Mr. Boxable.
Samuel’s studying method was mainly to wait until the night before or, if it was a later class, the morning before and then cram like hell. Samantha was more of a routine studier. She kept orderly notes, organized by subject in alphabetical order. So, during the study period, she would often work on her notes, using Samuel to her advantage. He was like her own personal teacher. Plus, it technically made him study too. Mainly he just sat on the desk behind her seat and played with her hair.
Today, instead of studying Biology he was studying how to give her a fishtail braid. Suddenly, the door slammed open, causing Samuel to fall backward off the desk into the bookshelf behind him, “Samuel I need your help!” Austin ran into the classroom holding the messiest set of notes a human could make. Samuel let out a groan as he rubbed his head, grimacing. “Oh shit. I’m sorry. Do you need to go to the nurse? Shit.” He reached out his arm to help Samuel up, but Samantha slapped it out of the way. She shook her head in disapproval as she helped Samuel to his feet.
“I’m okay. Both of you. But if you want my help Austin, you’re gonna have to pick up all the books that fell off the shelf.” Samuel laughed at Austin’s slumped shoulders. He hopped back onto the desk and picked up where he left off.
“There. All done,” Austin spoke after 10 minutes, “Whatcha doing?”
“I’m trying to get this right and your voice is very distracting. So shhh.” Samuel, without taking his eyes off Samantha’s hair, pushed his finger against Austin’s lips. Austin froze. His finger was soft, and even though he was pushing, it was gentle. The thought caused his whole face to flush. His heart seemed to try to jump from his chest. He gulped. His eyes widened. Did Samuel hear that? Samuel didn’t budge, his hands had returned to the girl’s hair. He was in the zone. Austin let out a small sigh of relief.
What Austin didn’t notice was Samantha had had her phone camera on. She was going to take a selfie video of Samuel braiding her hair. She not only caught that but all of Austin’s flusteredness. She had seen it all. Her mind raced. Why was he so red at Samuel’s touch? It couldn’t be that… No. She refused to believe it. She must have just seen it at a weird angle, she’d rewatch the video later. And that she did. She watched it and rewatched it. He truly was blushing. Like a perfectly ripened tomato. Great. Now she had a new problem.
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