After Liv’s birthday celebration, Nora and Rory immediately coax Jessica for information about Bryden’s behavior that night. However, to their surprise, she assures them that he made no moves on her. Nora and Rory, confused and unsatisfied with this, turn to fellow employees at Marla’s with the same question. Nonetheless, the employees give them similar answers. Through deep thought and contemplation, after confronting Bryden, they let him leave unscathed. 

For the last few months of the semester, Bryden tries his hardest to improve his grades. He stops hanging out with girls, intent on proving his growth to everyone and crawling out of the “friendzone.” His attempts to persuade the genie to grant him a more “meaningful” wish are unsuccessful, so he gives up on that while being careful using the word “wish” around him. His scores for the past few reports and projects have improved, though just barely, and his determination is at its peak now that finals are around the corner.

“Ah, I always mix these two up,” Rory comments in the library, a book in his face. “How are you doing with this, Bryden? Uh, Bryden? Hello?”

“Hm?” Bryden mumbles, scrolling through his phone behind his textbook and not even bothering to look up. 

“Ugh, he’s on his phone again,” Nora rolls her eyes, shaking her head.

He puts down his phone. “Oh, come on! I’ve been studying so hard for the past few months that my brain is now dead. I’ve gotten better grades, haven’t I? I’ve been getting B’s now. Isn’t that awesome?”

“You got a seventy-two on your report,” Nora says, crossing her arms. 

Bryden waves it away, scoffing. “That was just that one time. Don’t you guys know how hard it is for me to be a nerd? Oh, right. You guys are nerds, so of course you wouldn’t find it hard.”

She snorts. “It’s not that hard if you just pay attention in your classes.”

Rory nods in agreement. “Exactly. So put that phone away and start studying.”

Bryden groans, gripping onto his phone. “Don’t you guys ever take breaks? Don’t they say to not overexert ourselves, to not burn ourselves out?”

Rory smirks. “I thought you were the one wanting to study so hard and ace your finals to impress Jessica. She only likes smart people, remember?”

Bryden rolls his eyes. “Don’t bring her into this. I’m not going to fail my finals just because I’m taking a short break.”

Rory turns his head away from him and smiles. “Oh, hey Jessica.”

Bryden smirks. “Don’t play such a petty trick on me. Even a non-nerd like me can tell—”

“Hey, Rory,” a girl’s sweet voice greets him. “Hey, Nora. Hey, Bryden.”

Bryden flushes from head to toe, shoving his phone into his pocket. “H-Hey, J-Jessica.”

Nora snorts, covering her mouth. Man, I wish I could take a picture of him. He’d be another popular meme around campus again. 

Jessica clutches her books against her chest. “Can I study here with you guys?”

“Sure,” Rory agrees, beckoning her over to the empty seat beside Nora.

To his disappointment, the seat that Jessica takes is far from where Bryden sits. She sits to the right of Nora, Nora sits to the right of Rory, and Rory sits to the right of Bryden. He can’t help but grumble and gives Rory the stink eye.

Rory adjusts his glasses and glances at him, raising an eyebrow. What?

Bryden clenches his jaw, motioning to Jessica with his head. You purposefully sat her away from me!

Rory sneers and shrugs. I sure did.

“We only have a few weeks left before graduation,” Jessica realizes, eyes widening. “Are we really never going to see each other again?”

“Well, most of us who go here live in Illinois, so I’m sure we’ll see each other,” Nora tells her. “I am excited to finally get away from Bryden, though.”

“Hey!” he exclaims. “For your information, I live in Chicago!”

“Well, I don’t,” she tells him. “Rory and I both live in Carbondale, which is nearly five hours away from Chicago, so we won’t be seeing your face anytime soon.”

“Aww, you too, Rory? You’ll miss me, won’t you?”

“Nope,” Rory instantly answers with a straight face.

Bryden blinks, sputtering. “You guys—”

Jessica laughs softly. “Aww, you guys are so lucky to live in the same state. Unfortunately, I live all the way in Oregon.”

“Oregon?!” the three of them exclaim in disbelief.

“B-But that’s so far…” Bryden mutters. “Why did you even come here then? It’s not Harvard you’re going to.”

“I know,” she chuckles, rubbing the side of her neck. “But I received a full-ride scholarship to come here out-of-state, so I had to take it.”

“Ah, that’s why,” Nora says, nodding. “Well, you’re lucky to live so far away, since that means you’ve seen the last of that annoying blond kid over there.”

“Hey!” Bryden exclaims. “Stop acting like you won’t miss me, ’cause I know you will. I’m going to miss you guys as well. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Nora snorts. “Gee, thanks, but none of us are missing you.”

“He does have a point though,” Jessica says. “I’m really going to miss you guys and all the friends that I’ve made here.”

Bryden frowns. Damn it, I forgot about that. Since she lives in Oregon, we can’t be in a relationship. There’s no way in hell that I’m doing long-distance. I doubt she’d want to either. Ugh, and I wanted to confess during graduation. Maybe I should have confessed earlier.

“Hey, we’ll miss you too,” Nora says, patting her shoulder.

A thought comes to Bryden’s head. “Hey, Nora. Isn’t your internship in Chicago? Doesn’t that mean you’ll have to come to Chicago for a couple of weeks?”

She blinks, a little stunned. “Yeah, my internship is in Chicago. So you really have listened to what I said, huh. If you knew that, then how come you didn’t know anything else I said?”

He shrugs. “I only remember what I want to remember. Oh, and Rory too. Isn’t he also going to grad school in Chicago?”

Rory purses his lips, forcing his words out through gritted teeth. “Yeah, I got accepted into a master’s program at UChicago.”

“Gosh, I’m honestly surprised that you knew that,” Nora admits. 

“Well, Rory’s always been talking so excitedly over the phone with you about getting into… UChicago, was it? And getting into grad school, blah, blah, blah.”

Rory heaves a sigh. “Like Nora said, you remember that, but not anything else?”

Bryden grins at him. “That’s just how my mind works. So, since we’ll be in the same city, we can visit each other—”

“Nope, absolutely not,” Nora refuses. “I’m only going to be in Chicago for ten weeks just for that internship. Then I’m leaving. I’m going to NYU for medical school. And you won’t see Rory over the summer since he won’t come until grad school starts.”

Bryden scoffs. “Come on. Stop denying it. I know that you guys picked that internship and that college specifically so you guys could be around me! Even if it’s only temporarily.”

Rory rolls his eyes. “What bull—”

“Um, guys,” Jessica interrupts, fumbling her fingers.

Bryden flushes, getting his act back together. Shit, I forgot she was here.

“The banter you three share is so much fun to watch,” she remarks, chuckling. “I’m not going to grad school or any internships, but I’ve gotten a couple of job offerings. I thought that I’d stay in Oregon, but now I’m thinking of moving to Chicago to be with you guys! The highest-paying job offering is actually in Chicago as well.”

Bryden breathes a sigh of relief, resisting the urge to pump his fists in the air. Oh, thank god. She’ll move to Chicago, so I’ll get to see her all I want…

“Really?” Rory questions. “Are you sure? Would your parents be okay with it?”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal,” she assures. “It pays the most, and my parents have been itching for me to move out soon.”

“Girl, same here,” Nora says. “My parents told me to move out as soon as I finish my undergrad.”

“Mine too,” Rory agrees. “I have to find an apartment this summer before they kick me out.”

Bryden scratches the back of his head, speechless. Wow, am I the only one who’s not planning to move out? And staying with my parents a while longer?

Rory sets his phone over the table, in which Bryden peers over to get a look at a picture of a Korean boy in the back of the phone. He chortles at that.

“You really like boy Korean idols that much, Rory?” Bryden teases, laughing. “Most of their fans are girls, you know.”

Rory shrugs. “So what? K-pop isn’t gender-restricted.”

Jessica gasps. “Wait, Rory, you like K-pop too? What’s your favorite band?”

He smiles at her. “BTS.”

She smiles broadly at him. “That’s my favorite band too! What’s your favorite song from them? My favorite is either ‘Euphoria’ or ‘Butterfly.’”

“Hmm, now that I think about it, my favorite from them is probably ‘Spring Day,’ but those two are also in my top favs.”

Bryden rolls his eyes. “Look at you, gushing over K-pop idols. Rory even has a poster of BTS over his bed. Like, come on, they aren’t even that handsome. Those songs you mentioned are so overrated. ‘I Need U’ is a much better song. You should listen to that instead.”

“Isn’t ‘I Need U’ also by BTS?” Rory questions, raising a brow.

“What? Is it? Oh yeah, I totally forgot. That’s the only song I like from them, anyway. What about ‘Blood Sweat & Tears’? That’s another killer song!”

“That’s also by BTS.”

“What? No way. See? Look at what you did to me. You’ve infected me with all your K-pop stuff.”

“Excuse me, but I never once asked you to listen to any of their songs. Sounds like someone’s suppressing their love of K-pop.”

Bryden laughs. “Me? Like K-pop? And gushing over K-pop idols like a fangirl? In your dreams.”

“At least I’m proud of it. Unlike someone.”

Bryden blushes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Rory looks mischievously at him. “Then why were you drooling over my poster of BTS that time?”

Bryden splutters. “Hey, I was not drooling over them! I was merely… admiring their great taste in fashion and makeup.”

“Uh huh. And how could you know those songs from them if you aren’t an ARMY?”

Jessica’s eyes widen. “Wait, Bryden likes BTS too?”

“I don’t gush over K-pop idols!” Bryden exclaims. “Why would I? I’m not into guys.”

Nora lowers her head, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. I have no idea what these people are talking about.

“You don’t have to be into guys to like K-pop,” Rory tells him. “But you just happened to be one who does. Nothing wrong with that.”

“Wh-What did you just say? Since when did I tell you I like guys? ’Cause I sure don’t.”

Rory smirks. “It’s so obvious with you drooling over K-pop idols. Also, do you remember Benson?”

Bryden freezes. “How did that guy… What nonsense did he say about me? Don’t listen to his nonsense, none of it is true!”

“Bryden, there’s nothing wrong with liking boys,” Jessica picks up with a smile. “You don’t have to deny it.”

“Yeah, Bryden, there’s nothing wrong with being bisexual,” Rory says. “I’m bi myself too.”

“Wait, really?” Jessica gasps. “I don’t want to make any assumptions, but are you out of the closet?”

Rory smiles at her. “Don’t worry, I am fully out of the closet, unlike someone.”

“Uh, come on, guys,” he clears his throat. “We have to study for our finals.”

“Yeah, he’s right,” Jessica agrees, sighing. “We’ve been chatting for a while, haven’t we?”

“This is the first time that Bryden is the one to remind us to study,” Nora remarks, glancing down at her textbook.

Bryden shoots her a cheeky grin, stretching his arms out. “I’m a genius, aren’t I?”

Rory smirks and shakes his head, picking up his book and reading through it in silence.

The table turns quiet in an instant. Bryden reads through his textbook, but after a while, he can’t help but peek up, seeing his friends’ faces glued to their study materials, and smiles. I guess the genie was right to get me to make real friends. This is way better than that “popularity” I thought I had before.

The genie watches inside the ring, his lips curving upwards to a smile. You finally have real friends, Mr. Stalling.