The next morning, we all were peacefully having our breakfast when Theo jumped with a gasp.

"Mira invited me to her birthday party!"  He beamed.  "I forgot to tell you yesterday."

My eyes were a bit widened along with a small smile. "Calm down, Romeo. Now say, when it is? What should we buy?"

"It's today." He announced and I gaped at him.

"Wow, her birthday is just after mine." Noel smiled, continuing to pack Theo's bag.

"Her birthday is today?" I asked only to receive a pout from him.

"You should've said earlier, Theo! When will we buy her a present?"

"On the way to her home?" Noel asked and I gave him a nod.

"Yeah, right."

"What's right?" I heard Sasha's voice and turned quickly to find her standing by the door.

"Mira's gift." Theo ran to her, giving a hug.

"Who's Mira?" She frowned and I stifled a giggle.

"She's my friend." He smiled widely, earning a kiss from her.

"Who all are invited?"

"Who else? Only Romeo." I shrugged, offering her a coffee. "Hey, can you drop him? I've got April to take care of."

"Sure. But you must treat me." She told Theo and he shot a glance at me. He gave her a nod after seeing me smile.

"So, how come you're here this early?"

"Ah, Zack's got something to do. So, I thought I'll come here and then, we could go together?"

"Good idea." I finished my breakfast as Will came and said bye to boys before getting in Sasha's car.

"I want you to buy a present as well. He said this minutes ago, so I couldn't buy anything." I said, giving her some money as we reached college.

"You don't have to give me money." She narrowed her eyes and I smiled.

"Yes, I do."

"Fine. My first hour is math, yours?" She raised her eyebrows and I sighed.

"Physics."

"Yuck. I'm leaving then." She grimaced, shouting a bye as I stepped into the world of physics.

One hour felt like a day, unlike yesterday. And by lunchtime, I was really tired.

"Where's Tyler?" I blurted out, randomly scanning cafeteria.

"I don't know, why?" Sasha frowned.

"Umm nothing." I don't know why I asked that either. It just came out.

"Okaaay." She dragged the word with a frown and I was about to mention his need to talk when Cassy came by.

"Hey Cass," Sasha smiled.

"Hey, guys. Eve, I got something for you." She said, making me frown.

"Me? What?"

"Will asked me to give you this." She handed me a copy of the Da Vinci code and a smile made its way onto my face.

Reading partners. That's kind of what we are. He gives me his copies and suggests his favourites while I do the same.

"Thanks, Cassy. But where is he?"

"Oh, he isn't feeling well." Her words made me a bit uncomfortable.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he is. Just a bit tired. I'll catch you later, gotta see Ms Stan now." She smiled, walking away.

"They're a cute couple." Sasha smiled, staring at the book. "Cass and Will."

"They're dating?" I was surprised. I didn't have any idea about it.

"I don't know, I was casually saying it. But I did see them hanging out a few times, so maybe?"

"Oh,"

"Yeah, he's a silent guy. He gives off that peaceful vibes." She said, making me chuckle.

"If you know him better, he's a sweet guy too. Definitely a great friend."

"You both fit together, like, you can be bestest friends." She shrugged, smiling.

"We are."

"But after me." She frowned immediately and a laugh escaped me.

"Yes, only after you and Sophie."

"Good." She smiled, taking her bag. "Bye, Eve. See you when the class is over. Urgh, I hate this." She murmured.

I smiled, silently agreeing.

.
.
.

"She's a pretty doll, Eve." I heard Sasha sighing through the phone, describing Mira while April tried jumping out of my grip.

"Hey, no!" I tickled her, pulling her into my lap.

"What?"

"Uh, no. It's April. And yeah, where are you now?"

"I'm outside their home, waiting in the car." She said and I felt bad for her. She doesn't know anybody there, neither do I.

"Go home, Sasha. I'll go pick him up."

"Why? It's not like I'm bored. I have my phone and I'm calling you, I'll call Mark next. I'm not leaving my Theo here alone."

I smiled, hugging April tighter. We talked a bit more about some silly random stuff and said a bye as Claire came home.

"Evelyn, I wanted to ask you something." Claire said, taking April and I frowned at her. She's not someone who's friendly and she isn't the one who talks much.

"Yes?"

"Can you come tomorrow? To babysit April. I need to go somewhere. I know we said alternative days, but if you could, that'd be helpful. I'll pay you extra."

I sighed. That's it?

Tutoring, college, babysitting, cafe. Sounds tiring, but I'll manage.

"Yes, that's okay. Same time?"

"Yeah, the same." She smiled, a real genuine one this time and I was happy.

"Thank you, Claire. I better leave now."

"Thank you, Evelyn. And, do you need a ride? I'm heading that way." She took the keys and raised her eyebrows at me.

"That'd be great, thanks." I muttered happily.

Finally, I'm getting along with Claire. I mean, it's after one year but still...It's so much easier when you're working for someone who's close to you, like Annie and Janet.

On the way to café, April fell asleep in my arms and I thanked Claire once again, before stepping in to work.

"Hey, guys."

"Join me in boredom, señorita." Jake murmured as I got in and Marissa smiled.

Since there weren't any rush of customers, we spent most of the time talking and teasing each other.

Once Jake went to annoy Marissa, I texted Will.

You okay? Heard you weren't well.

I was surprised to see him reply almost instantly.

Will : Yup, all good. How's the book?

Started. Struggled to finish first two pages while babysitting.

Will : take your time.

I smiled at his reply and chatted a bit more. And finally, when he blurted out about Cassy at his home, I was not that surprised, thanks to Sasha.

So you and Cassy?

Will : sorta

I chuckled at his text and was really happy about them. Cassy is a nice girl, he said. Always a bit worried about what others think.

A total opposite of him.

But I'm glad, though. Will's a very good friend of mine. Cassy too. So it was great that they're together.

"Nowadays, you're always smiling." Jake's voice got me out of my virtual talk with Will and I sighed, sliding my phone.

"What can I say, I'm a happy person." I wasn't trying to be sarcastic, It was true. But I saw something flash in his eyes and he pulled me closer, draping an arm over my shoulder.

"Of course, you are. If you ever feel sad, I'm here."

What did I do to deserve him?

"Sophie." Jake mumbled when my phone rang, handing it out to me and then opened his mouth.

"Shit."

"What?" I asked, looking at his weird face as my phone kept ringing.

"I've to call my girlfriend." He sang, running and I laughed, taking the call.

"Eve! Where are you?"

"Uh, working?" I said, taking one last glance at the number of customers before slipping into the kitchen.

"Yeah, right. Girl, I need to tell something." She sighed.

"Shoot."

"Someone asked me out." She said and I cracked up.

"Why don't you charm them with your skills and go on?"

"Shut up. You know me, Eve. That's just the shit I talk about. I mean, checking out guys? Yeah. But who knew he'd ask me out!"

I was laughing hard by the end. "Who's this guy anyway?"

"Remember I said how we used to go to a certain cafe so that Steph can stalk her crush?"

"Yeah, I do. Your daily routine."

"Yup, that's it. The guy working there. He's not in my college, but he's our age. I was surprised, Ivy. I never saw that coming."

"Right." I stifled another laugh. "So how good is he?"

"He's quite handsome but he's a flirt."

"So are you." I chuckled and she scoffed.

"Shut up. Should I say yes?"

"You're asking the perfect person, Soph. I don't even remember what a date was."

"Stop exaggerating and tell me, woman. He's kinda smart too, I guess? I think I should go, right? A few dates and then think about it."

I smiled, "See, you know already."

"Yeah, but it feels good discussing with you. Even though you're an unromantic fool."

"Hey! I'm not unromantic."

"Yeah, sure. Who was your last crush? One in highschool? Admit it, Eve. You're unromantic."

"I was busy!" I argued and heard her laugh.

"Right. Now let me go search my wardrobe. Which colour should I wear? Black?"

"Black would do good." It would go well with her golden-brown waves.

"Okay then, let me go get ready. I'll tell you everything later."

"Don't tell me everything please," I chuckled and heard her mutter a 'stupid'.

I can't not think of how it'd have been if she never left. Probably I wouldn't have met Sasha and Zack.

I smiled, turning back to join Marissa and saw her sleeping right at the counter.

"Hey Mar-" my laugh and tease stopped abruptly as a hand covered my mouth, another snaked around my waist and pulled me back.

And I was sure it wasn't Jake.

I tried wiggling out of his grip and made some sound. But before anyone could even turn, we were in the dark. Whoever was pulling me, was a lot stronger than I was.

I should've asked Zack to teach me some moves.

Both my arms and legs were trapped. As a last resort, I went for biting those fingers which wrapped my mouth.

"Fuck!" I heard him curse.

And I knew whose voice it was.

"What the hell, Tyler?" I panted, still nervous.

"Biting? Seriously?" He muttered, flipping the lights on and I saw that we were in the restroom, the one which was hardly used. And also that we were too close. His arms were still around me while he took a close look at his finger.

"Well, it worked. But what the hell were you doing?!"

"I told you, I wanna talk." He sighed, tearing his gaze from his fingers to me.

"And you dragged me out, like a freaking-"

"Okay, fine. We've no time." He cut me off and I sighed. He was staring right at me and held my hands.

"I think I should ask you to be my girlfriend."

And my whole world went spinning, everything was blurry.

Am I in a parallel universe?

"Are you kidding me? Are you drunk? Or is this some stupid game?" I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper. He pulled me closer and sighed.

"I know it's a bit surprising for you. For me too, because until that stupid guy came in, I didn't know it too."

I gaped at him as he continued.

"See, at first I was upset that I couldn't get under your skin anymore. Like, it was fun for me and then, that dumbass came. He just pissed me off every single time. Also, you weren't friendly with any guys back in school but all of a sudden, you were talking to him and then that nerd. It just made me... I don't know more annoyed?"

He kept on talking and none of it made any sense to me because I was stuck at his very first words.

My girlfriend!

"And then I realised that I wasn't having fun with annoying you. I was having fun with you." He sighed, cupping my face. "I waited for you at the party yesterday. You didn't show up. I thought we'd make it happen yesterday.
    
 I really didn't know I liked you till you started hanging out with him. I saw you both a couple of times and...." He trailed off, looking at me. "I know you're just a friend to him but it still annoyed me. I didn't like you spending time with him or with that nerd. Or any guys, to be exact."

A shiver ran down my spine when his breath tickled my neck. I was hardly breathing and my gaze was fixed on him, meeting his ocean blue eyes.

"Not a date, not a chance. I want you to be my girlfriend, Eve." He said, looking right at me.

And I bet my eyes were wide as saucers and my mouth was hung open. After a few seconds, I realised that he was waiting for me to say something.

"Tyler?!" I heard someone shout and he closed his eyes, cursing. It was his dad.

"I'll see you after work." He said before he left.

I was like a statue. Just stood there, staring at the wall.

I thought about everything. Him splashing drinks on me, annoying me, how his pranks made me distracted from my mom's stuff. And then, how he stopped hurting me, then started talking to me, accompanied me and finally liked me.

"Evelyn!" Jake's voice startled me and I turned to move into the kitchen.

"Ha! Where were you? Five more minutes and my shift is over. Get your bag." He said. "Or is Zack coming to get you?"

"Huh?" I was only half listening.

"Zack, coming or not?" He snapped his fingers and I shook my head.

"He said he'll come if you can't drop me."

"No need then, I can. Come on," he said, grabbing his phone and I took my bag.

Tyler would meet me now. I'm barely out of the tiny shock he gave me by his confession. So I waited at the counter till his dad came back from the kitchen and the moment he turned to talk to his dad, I slipped out of the place and got in the car.

"I'm tired," Jake yawned starting the engine.

"Hmm, me too."

This is insane! I never thought something like this would happen.

"Jake?"

"Yeah?" He raised his eyebrows, eyes still on the road.

"I wanna ask you something, like, I need your help to refresh my memory."

"Of course." He smiled.

"How do we know if we like someone?" I need expert advice and who better than my Jake?

"What like? Like, not hate like or like like?"

I stared at him, "What does that even mean?"

"I have a feeling that you're asking me about the second one." He smirked. "Are you in love with someone, Ivy baby?"

"Shut up."

"Okay." He pressed his lips into a thin line, struggling to hold back a snort

"Say!"

"You said shut up!" He shrugged with a smirk and then sighed.
"When you like someone, like like someone..."

When he started speaking, I turned my full attention to him.

"You think about them every day. Not every time but, yeah... It's like why didn't I see her today or where's she now, that kinda thing."

I gulped. Hope it wasn't audible.

"The next thing is that, you don't mind their presence." His smile faltered for a second. "Shit. That came out wrong. What I meant was, you like her company."

The way he said 'her' every time, I knew he was thinking about his very own girlfriend.

I thought about how mad I used to be in Tyler's presence and then the feeling I have now.

"Whatever the topic of discussion is, your mind somehow connects it to her." He said with a smile, eyeing me.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. Because changing all those 'her' to 'him', it fits right!

Oh no! Not him. I can't!

I closed my eyes, holding back a groan as my mind rejected my request to deny the fact.

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I have a crush!

Or maybe worse.

I like him!!!!!

**************

Writing about Sophie's date, I realised one thing. I have a story for everyone in my mind. Sophie, Jake, Will......

I'm a freak😌

Well in case anyone was wondering, in my mind Justin is paired with Sophie.😜

Thanks, everyone, for bearing me and my story. Thank you so much, please do vote if you liked this chapter.

Lots of love, stay safe💕