Zak's Pov:

I don't know why Darryl kissed me under the tree like that, and I don't want to think too deeply about it. Especially now that I'm on a mission as Zoe again. This time, I came early to the party as I organized small little bags on a table. Six small bags to be exact, and they're in front of six seats at the table. I'm seated down on the seventh seat at the table, but there isn't a small bag in front of me.

I wait patiently as more guests start to arrive. Soon, the seats are filled by Zoe's friends. They each looked at me confused when they arrived at the table with a bunch of small bags on it. I would just tell each of them to sit down and wait patiently as I would explain once everyone arrived. Once all the girls were here, they all started to look at me expectantly. I give them a smile and say, "Alright, so... you all may or may not know this. But by chance, today marks the third year since I have been invited to this group of ours. To celebrate this occasion, I wanted to show my gratitude to you all as thanks to you, I have experienced marvelous times at these parties for the past few years. So, I bought you all a little gift."

The girls look at me a bit stunned. But soon, grins plaster their faces. Odelia exclaims, "Of course! How could we forget? Three years ago, today was the day that our darling Audrey invited Zoe to the group."

Audrey then says, "One of the best, if not- the best decision I ever made."

Jocelyn says, "Oooo, how exciting! I wonder what Zoe has gotten us?"

Lucretia says, "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's great!"

Allison says, "You didn't have to get us anything, Zoe..."

I say, "Oh, but I wanted to."

It seems as though everyone is talking at once. But there is just one person who is dead silent. Lily. She's just staring at the small bag with a sad look on her face. I ask, "What's wrong, Lily?"

She gets startled at the question I asked as she gets snapped out of the daze she was in. She looks at me, then back at the bag. With a sad smile on her face, she says, "I'm not sure if I deserve this gift... it hasn't even been two years since I've been in this group."

I slightly frown at the statement. I then say, "Hey, look at me, Lily..."

She looks up at me. I smile at her encouragingly and say, "You're as much my friend as the rest of the girls in this group. It doesn't matter if I've known you less. You've had as much of an impact on my life these past three years as the rest of the girls."

"...You mean that?"

"Of course I do."

A weight seems to be lifted off her shoulders as she straightens up a bit with a bright smile on her face. I then turn my attention to all of the girls and say, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and open your gifts!"

Excited, the girls start opening the small bags. Each of them taking out a small black box. They each open their boxes to reveal a ring inside of them. All of the rings look identical. The only thing that differentiates them in that the band of the rings each have a different color of gemstones embedded in them. The colors are red, orange, yellow, green, purple, and pink. The main gemstone at the head of each ring is white. Each girl marvels at their rings. They all start rambling comments and compliments to me and at the rings. In the middle of the commotion, I vaguely hear Audrey comment, "These rings look expensive...!"

That's true. All the rings are quite expensive. I actually bought them using my own money. This whole thing was my own idea, not the agency's. I thought it might be a good development to Zoe's character. Though the rings were expensive, it actually wasn't much of a burden to me since I get paid plenty from my job as an agent. Plus, I rarely ever buy anything. I'm not much of a spender. When someone looks at my house, they would never imagine that the owner was actually rich. I don't need anything fancy or extravagant. I'm quite comfortable living as someone with normal income. The only reason why I'm rich is because I'm an agent, and the only reason why I'm an agent is because my family died... if they didn't die, I would never be able to afford an extravagant house. So I'm staying in my normal house.

Once the girls have settled down, I clear my throat to have their attention. With a proud smile, I then show them my hand, which has been hidden under the table. My hand has an identical ring as theirs. But the color of the small gemstones on the band of my ring is a light blue. The girls look at me dumbfounded, and I giggle at their reactions. I say, "I thought it was a good idea to get ourselves friendship rings."

The girls eyes seem to light up once I say that. Lily then quickly puts on her ring. She got the color yellow, which I think perfectly represents her as she is like the most joyful and cheerful person out of all of us. She is quite literally the sunshine of the group. She exclaims, "I'll make sure to wear it every day!"

I smile at her joy. The others follow Lily's action and put on their own rings. Even though they don't vocally say it, I can tell that they will do the same as Lily said. The girls quickly fall into a joyous chatter. As they chat, I take a quick look at my surroundings, and something catches my eye. I notice that a guy in the distance has their full attention on our table. More specifically, they seem to be watching me. I quickly avert their eyes in a non-obvious way. How long has he been watching? He isn't the enemy agent that is meant to be on this mission. But I have a feeling that he is a different agent... My suspicion rises as from the corner of my eye, I see that he continues watching me. Looks like I'm going to have to be more cautious tonight, along with keeping my own eye on him...