The next day, when I got to my first class at school, I got immediately greeted by Zak, smiling at me. He looked happy to see me, and even though I was still nervous about this new friendship of ours, I smiled back at him. When I sat next to Eiza, she gave me a confused look and said, "Why did the player speak to you just now? Did he flirt with you or something?"

     "W-what? No... he just greeted me, that's all."

     "Are you sure? He looked weirdly happy. Are you guys close now or something?"

     "Well... he did befriend me yesterday."

     "What!? And you agreed to be his friend!?"

     "Yeah, I did. It would be kinda rude not to."

     Eiza leaned her forehead on her hand, furrowing her eyebrows, clearly upset. She then said, "I know, but don't you remember what I warned you about? He's a player. This may be a part of his plan to break your heart."

     "I know, I remember. But... it wouldn't hurt to just be his friend... right...?"

     She looked at me, then looked down before saying, "I guess so... but- just watch out and try not to get too comfortable around him. I'm just trying to look out for you, you know?"

     "I know, I will. I appreciate you looking out for me, but I'll be fine, don't worry."

     I gave Eiza a smile of reassurance. She looked at me and gave me a small smile back. After that, the day continued.

     When it was Physics class, we were told to partner up in two's in order to do an assignment. We were able to choose our partners, and Zak asked me to work with him, to which I accepted since he was the only person I knew in that class. While we were working together, we also made a bit of conversation. I found out during that time that we actually got along quite well. Not only that, but he also knew quite a bit about the lesson since he helped me answer some questions every once in a while, but I was mostly the one who answered the questions while Zak just talked to me. He never did or said anything suspicious that would make me think that he wants to make me fall for him. He often made jokes to lighten the mood, which I sometimes appreciated, but other times, it made me annoyed or a bit embarrassed. But we ended up completing the assignment before class ended.

     Once again, he walked me to the cafeteria to give me some company and to just chat with me. I was slowly feeling less nervous around him. I was actually quite enjoying myself with him. But I noticed that there were students who were whispering to each other, and I could tell that they were talking about me and Zak, but I tried to not pay attention to them.

     When we got to the cafeteria, we parted ways. I went to sit with Eiza and our other friends, while Zak went to sit with his group. As soon as I sat down, everyone turned their attention towards me. I looked at them confused and asked, "What's wrong?"

     Ant then said, "Is it true that your friends with Zak now?"

     Ah... so that's what this is about. I answered him by saying, "Yes... but so far, he doesn't seem so bad."

     Everyone looked at each other worried. Then Jude spoke up, saying, "Well, I wish you luck, my dear friend. I'm going to be praying for you at the sidelines while watching your downfall."

     Then Geo scolded him by saying, "Dude, don't say that! You're basically saying that there's no hope for Darryl!"

     "Well... am I wrong?"

     Everyone stayed silent for a bit. Then Arran broke the silence by saying, "Well if you ask me, though I am worried for Darryl, I think it's quite cool. Being friends with someone from the popular group, like Karl here. But the fact that it's Zak makes the idea... not so great."

     When Arran said Karl, he moved his hand toward towards a brunette boy with gray eyes. I didn't even notice the boy was there before Arran mentioned him. The boy looked at me and said, "Hi, sorry, we haven't met before, my name's Karl. Nice to meet you, Darryl."

     I smiled at him and said, "Nice to meet you too, Karl. So, your friends with someone from the popular group?"

     "Yes, his name is Nicholas, but everyone calls him Nick. He's actually a really nice guy once you get to know him. Probably the nicest out of the whole group, actually. And well, I bet the other guys from his group aren't all that bad, but... when it comes to Zak... I can't lie when I say that it's... riskier to be his friend, and is probably the hardest to tolerate out of the whole group."

     Eiza sighed and said, "Which is why I first told you to avoid him, Darryl. Almost everyone from the school can agree to say that Zak is the worst out of his group, and that's not only because he's a player."

     Ant then said, "Well, I'm just thankful that there is never going to be a chance that I would fall for Zak if he ever tried to mess with me, because my heart already belongs to someone, unlike the rest of you."

     I got curious at what Ant meant and asked him, "What do you mean by that? Do you have a lover?"

     Ant grinned at me and said, "Yup! I have a boyfriend! We've been together for 3 years, ever since 8th grade. And I'm pretty sure Zak was a player since his freshman year, so there was zero chance of him and I ever being a thing cuz unlike some of Zak's exes, I'm loyal."

     "Well, I'm happy for you, Ant. But can we all stop talking about me and Zak's relationship, please?"

     Everyone looked at each other and nodded, obviously still worried for me, wanting to convince me to stop being friends with Zak. And though a part of me agrees with them, another believes that maybe Zak isn't that bad, considering how we got along well last class, and hopes that Zak genuinely wants to be friends.

     After lunch, me and Eiza walked together to class, but on our way there, we saw Zak talking with some girl. But i soon realized that he was actually flirting with the girl, since she was blushing a bit. I saw that Zak noticed us, but he didn't seem bothered nor worried by our presence, since he just kept talking to the girl. Honestly, seeing that gave me more hope that Zak could actually just be good friends, since it seems that he doesn't care if I witness him flirting with a girl. Because if you want to date someone, or like someone, you wouldn't want them to see you trying to flirt or get with someone else.

     After that, my next classes went smoothly, and the ones that I had with Zak, I got to talk with him a bit more, especially in P.E. We even walked to our last class, Social Studies, together. We got to talk more in that class, and when we could, we even passed some notes to each other during the lesson. After our final class, Zak wanted to walk with me out of school, and I agreed.

     As we walked, we got more stares and whispers from students, but we didn't care. We just kept walking and talking to each other. I even caught glances from some students who looked worried. I didn't pay any attention to them, though. Once we got out of the school and were ready to part ways, Zak looked at me and said, "You know, you and I get along really well, don't you think?"

     I chuckled before saying, "Yeah... I guess we do."

     "You know, at this rate, we can be best friends."

     I looked at him, shocked. He wants us to be best friends? Zak gave me a smug smile, then said, "I think we should make it official. Well, see you tomorrow, best friend."

     Zak walked away, leaving me with my thoughts. What just happened? Are we really best friends now?