Chapter 13
As the week went on, Friday finally arrived. I’d been waiting for this day — the guys were finally going to meet Lola in person. I was excited, but underneath that excitement was a knot of dread. I just hoped they wouldn’t bring up Evelyn or anything I’d been doing behind Lola’s back.
I sent Lola a quick text:
Hey babe, don’t forget about the plan for today at 5 p.m.
Then I messaged the group chat:
You guys still good for today?
Lola replied first:
I haven’t forgotten. See all of you soon.
The guys followed:
Yeah! See you two later.
Might be running a bit late, heads up.
It was only 2 p.m., but my nerves were already kicking in. I still hadn’t blocked Evelyn. We’d been talking earlier, and I’d told her:
I’m with Lola now. We shouldn’t be talking. I love her to pieces.
Evelyn shot back:
Do you actually? Why not break up with her and be with me?
I stared at the message longer than I should have before replying:
No. I’m not doing that.
She sent back:
Whatever you say.
I turned off notifications from her and shoved my phone away. I didn’t want to think about it anymore.
I texted the guys:
Where do you all want to meet up? So, I can let Lola know.
One of them typed back immediately:
The mall?
The others agreed, so I added:
That works for me. See you there.
Then I texted Lola:
Hey, we’re going to meet at the mall.
She replied:
Okay, see you there. I’ll let you know when I’m close.
I spent the next hour gaming in my room until it was quarter to five. Then I grabbed my things and headed out.
A few minutes later, Lola texted:
Close by.
The guys sent:
On our way there.
I reached the mall first and waited by the entrance until one of them showed up.
After five, we were all together — me, Lola, and the guys — walking through the mall. It felt good seeing her with them, everyone laughing, going in and out of stores. She bought a couple of jewelry pieces. One of the guys grabbed a video game. I held her hand as we walked, trying to act normal, trying not to think about anything else.
Eventually, we all got hungry and headed to the food court. We grabbed food and sat at one of the big tables — five of us total.
Jacob started the small talk. “So, Lola, when do you graduate high school?”
“Next year in the summer,” she said.
“That’s cool. You must be excited.”
“Definitely am. I want to be done with high school already.”
“That’s fair,” he said, taking another bite.
Finn leaned forward. “Are you a gamer by chance?”
“I am,” she said. “But not competitively. Just with friends.”
“That’s cool.”
Nicholas jumped in. “What do you like to do for fun?”
“Hanging out with my friends, gaming, writing, reading… stuff like that.”
“Oh? What do you like to write?”
“Poetry.”
“That’s cool.”
We finished eating, tossed our trash, and kept walking around before heading to the arcade. The rest of the night was easy — laughing, playing games, just having fun.
Eventually, it got late, and we all decided to call it a night.
On the outside, everything looked perfect.
But inside, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the truth was catching up to me — and I wasn’t ready for what would happen when it did.